Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2017 CIMB Classic

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2017 CIMB Classic

The 2017 CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Preview

The wraparound season on the PGA TOUR started with less of a bang and more of a shrug of the shoulders last week at the Safeway Open, but nevertheless it was intriguing to watch a few narratives play out.

Brendan Steele confirmed his status as King of Silverado with a successive title victory, and he will look forward to attempting a historic ‘three-peat’ in 12 months’ time in his home state of California.

The likes of Tony Finau and Bud Cauley cemented their status as some of the finest young talents in the game, while Graeme DeLaet edged closer to that so far elusive maiden title.

And we had hinted in our preview that the Web.com Tour guys are the ones to watch at this time of the year, and both Chesson Hadley and Tyler Duncan nearly provided the ultimate evidence of that but just missed out on the trophy. The former in particular impressed with his Friday round of -11.

Unfortunately, we kind of put a pin in US based golf for a while and head overseas for the Asian swing, with Malaysia our first stop this week for the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

It might just be about time to call it the Justin Thomas Classic if the FedExCup champ has his way. He has won here for the past two years running, and will be looking to create a slice of history this week with a three-peat of his own.

Justin Thomas of the United States reacts to his birdie on the 16th…

Justin Thomas of the United States reacts to his birdie on the 16th green during the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 24, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Standing in his way will be a small army of quality golfers, rather than tough conditions. Steele is making the trip to Malaysia, and he will be flanked by the likes of Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel, and TOUR Championship winner Xander Schauffele.

It’s stormy season in Kuala Lumpur so guess what: thunder, lightning, and heavy rain have all been forecast this week. At a course where the winning score has been -26 and -23 in the past two years, that’s not going to make conditions any more difficult and with soft greens this could become a lift, clean and replace birdie-fest.

That typically favors the in-form and the class acts, which does not necessarily make the task of finding valuable sleeper plays any easier, but nonetheless here are five to get excited about in Malaysia this week:

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2017 CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Jason Dufner – Vegas Odds 50/1 – The iron and wedge play of Jason Dufner was irresistible at times last season, and it led to one of his best campaigns in many a year. Fourteen top-25 finishes in just 24 starts is impeccable, and with six finishes of T11-T14 it’s fair to say that his top-10 returns – of which there were two – could have been exceptional as well.

So the Duf-man is back in the grove, and after taking victory at the Memorial Tournament he’s clearly got his competitive hat back on – a telling sign for a guy who is as laid back as they come.

If an event looks set to become a ‘who can hit it closest to the pin with wedge or short iron’ type affair then we are more than happy to have Dufner on side.

Chez Reavie – Vegas Odds 50/1 – We mentioned Graeme DeLaet as one of those guys closing in on a maiden PGA TOUR title, and we can kind of lump Chez Reavie into that category too since his last victory came in 2008.

Reavie is one of those guys for whom a tournament win appears a distinct possibility this season, and at an event like this where a lack of length will matter less – remember, we want our guys to be pegging fairways off the tee – he stands every chance.

He’s finished in the top-25 in five of his last seven starts, and has been gaining strokes on the field from tee-to-green for fun. He is getting closer to that premature, second tour win.

Kyle Stanley – Vegas Odds 70/1 – Kyle Stanley was one of the finest players on tour from tee to green during the main 2017 campaign, and while that is by no means a guarantee of success it just happened to coincide with the best season of his career to date.

A long awaited second PGA TOUR title came at the Quicken Loans National, and a total of five top-10 finishes was perhaps highlighted by his T4 return at THE PLAYERS Championship.

With three top-25 finishes in his four FedExCup starts, the form is there for Stanley to mount a challenge, and his excellence on approach is another reason why he is quietly fancied in Malaysia.

Jhonattan Vegas – Vegas Odds 80/1 – After the mother of all slumps in form, Jhonattan Vegas came alive completely out of the blue in July when successfully retaining his Canadian Open title.

The secret? A return to past glory helped, of course, but Vegas also dragged his old set of Mizuno irons out of the garage, dusted them off and got back to work. Now, with a victory, a T17 at a WGC event and T3 at the Northern Trust, it’s fair to say the Venezuelan has rediscovered his spark.

That form stalled towards the end of the FedExCup, but you just wonder is his singles victory over Jordan Spieth at the Presidents Cup might just have given Vegas another jolt of confidence in his own ability.

Gavin Green – Vegas Odds 90/1 – Now here’s an interesting sleeper play. A Malaysian playing on home soil, Gavin Green has long been touted as a big star to come from Asia, and he served notice of that by finishing T2 at the European Tour sanctioned Indian Open earlier in the year.

The 24-year-old now tops the Asian Tour Order of Merit after a fantastic couple of months in which he finished second at the Yeangder Heritage and Shinhan Donghae Open, T10 at the Thailand Open and claimed his first professional victory just a couple of weeks ago at the Taiwan Masters.

He comes into the CIMB Classic then in hot form at a course he knows and loves (two career top-10s at TPC Kuala Lumpur, plus two top-25s). That could well be a recipe for success.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the CIMB Classic here.

Cover photo via Instagram