Fantasy Golf Picks & Predictions – D+D REAL Czech Masters

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2017 D+D REAL Czech Masters

2017 D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Preview

The European Tour rolls into the Czech Republic this week, and we head there in good form after our pick Julian Suri took the spoils in Denmark last time out.

The $7,900 man outfoxed David Horsey on Sunday to triumph by four shots, with two of our other picks – Chris Paisley and Haydn Porteous – crashing into the top-10 at T3 and T6 respectively. Not bad considering our top tier picks, Thomas Pieters and Bradley Dredge, stunk up the place!

Julian Suri of the United States poses with the trophy following his…

Julian Suri of the United States poses with the trophy following his victory during the final round of Made in Denmark at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort on August 27, 2017 in Aalborg, Denmark. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Ironically it was at this Albatross Golf Club in Prague where Pieters began his ascent up the European Tour rankings and confirmed his place on the Ryder Cup team in 2016. The Belgian won here in 2015, and then followed up a year later with a narrow defeat to Paul Peterson to cement his 1-2 at the course. But without any form to speak of in the past few weeks, he could be a costly pick for his backers in the Czech Republic.

All of the reports that come from the players at Albatross is that it is a difficult course to play, with demanding rough and new water hazards added prior to last year’s event. But the last three winning scores have been -15, -20, and -14, so perhaps that it a bit of kidology from those involved.

Albatross is long though, we can certainly say that, at 7,516 yards for its Par 72, but that didn’t stop Matt Fitzpatrick, Ryan Evans, and David Howell from gate-crashing the top-five here 12 months ago despite averaging less than 285 yards off the peg. It seems as though there are many different ways to tame this beast.

So there is plenty for DFS enthusiasts to consider this week; perhaps our picks below will help to make your mind up:

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This Week’s D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Picks

Matthew Fitzpatrick – $10,000 – Of those at the head of the salary cap it’s easy to make a case against Thomas Pieters (two missed cuts in his last two outings) despite his great course record here, while arguably Jamie Donaldson ($9,700) and Martin Kaymer ($9,500) are over-priced given that they have done very little of not of late.

Somewhere in the middle is Matt Fitzpatrick, and while his form figures are rather underwhelming we can’t stress enough how much of a ‘horses for courses’ kinda guy the Englishman is.

Take a look earlier this year when he finished T5 at the Dubai Desert Classic despite missing the cut the week before in Abu Dhabi. In 2016, he won the Nordea Masters after a run in of 47-MC, while in 2015 he enjoyed a bizarre string of form of 2-77-MC-MC-3-MC. Basically, Fitzpatrick is somebody that can destroy notions of current form being the key barometer, and any course where he has shown well before – he has two top-5s in as many appearances at Albatross – hints at another good performance to come.

His recent form figures are misleading anyway. Fitzpatrick simply does not play Links golf well – in 2016 he missed the cut at each of the British Open, Scottish Open and Alfred Dunhill Links, so his paltry 2017 return is no surprise.

Roll back a few more weeks and we see T2 at the Nordea Masters (remember that course form narrative), and T12 at the BMW PGA Championship. Is Fitzpatrick bullet-proof this week? Absolutely not, but the numbers and trends suggest he can go very well indeed.

Aaron Rai – $9,100 – Our instinct is to go for big hitters at these longer courses, but in 2016 at the Albatross it was ‘en vogue’ to be accurate off the tee, so we’re willing to give Rai the benefit of the doubt.

As our winning selection Julian Suri proved in Denmark, on the European Tour it is perhaps wise to risk playing the talented youngsters over the old veterans, such as Bradley Dredge (no offense, Bradley), who are perhaps battle-scarred from close-but-no-cigar finishes down the years.

Rai is still a young man learning his craft, but he’s already won three times on the Challenge Tour this season alone, and in his starts on the European Tour he certainly hasn’t let himself down: T10 at Made in Denmark, T22 at Open de Portugal, T7 at the Joburg Open.

He’s not the longest off the tee by any means, but that incredible GIR stat – 73.81% across the whole season – ensures he makes up for a lack of length with laser-like precision. That could be a recipe for success if the rough is up this week.

David Lipsky – $8,700 – We’d noted last week that Lipsky had played well at the Made in Denmark plenty of times before, but his hellish current form figures meant he simply had to be swerved.

But the American proved that players can snap out of a malaise at their favorite hunting grounds, finishing T23 and occupying the top-10 for most of the event.

So we’re happy to follow him in this week at a course where he has finished 6-22-19 in the past three years.

Lipsky drove the ball very well in Denmark, ranking 16th for Distance and 14th for Accuracy), and if our assumption is correct that Total Driving is a key requirement in the Czech Republic then he should have a headstart on the field.

Haydn Porteous – $8,000 – He might be a tad overpriced here for some DFS gamers’ tastes, but Porteous was excellent at the Made in Denmark last week and there’s no reason why a follow-up showing can’t be achieved.

All facets of the South African’s game were in decent working order (4th for Driving Distance, 14th for Accuracy, 30th for GIR, 17th for Putts per Round), and he proved to everyone – and himself, most importantly – that he can play well outside of his native land, where his sole European Tour victory has come.

A lack of confidence has rendered Porteous’ 2017 campaign as somewhat below par, but last week’s T6 in Denmark served as a reminder of what this player, who delivered a trio of top-10s last season, is capable of.

Mikko Korhonen – $7,000 – Occasionally when drafting your roster on DraftKings or FanDuel you will stumble across a player who has been grossly undervalued, and that man this week is Korhonen.

We’ll happily take $7,000 on a guy who has finished second twice on the European Tour this season, and someone who has finished inside the top-15 in two of his last six starts.

Korhonen hasn’t played since mid-July, but we’re not too worried about that: the Finn has had every chance to work on his game outside the demands of competitive, professional golf.

The player we will see this week should be refreshed and ready to go, and his driver is working as well as it has done for much of the campaign he can deliver the goods on his return.

Daniel Im – $6,600 – There has been a conscious effort on the part of Daniel Im to change his game this season. In 2015, he was averaging 293 yards off the tee but his accuracy was down at 61%. This season, his average drive distance is just 279 yards but his accuracy is up to 68%.

The interesting thing about that is that the American still has bombs in the locker, but a more considered approach has yielded results. He finished T4 at the Irish Open and led after 36 holes, and that was his third top-20 of the campaign. Okay, so it’s not a glittering season by general standards, but find us a better play at $6,600 this week.

Im’s record at Albatross reads 35-27-MC, and he has shown up well on both of his last two visits: his round of 67 on Friday here last year was bettered by two players only, and on the Sunday of 2015 his 68 was the joint-best of the day.

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