Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – Mayakoba Golf Classic

2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

The countdown is on to Christmas and the new year period. New beginnings, in golf and in life, and all that.

Many of the great and the good of the game are very much in downtime mode, and that’s perhaps why we are seeing a pretty stodgy field emerging for the Mayakoba Classic this week.

It’s particularly odd because aside from the RSM Classic next week, this is pretty much it for most of the players in 2019. There’s the select few who will be invited to the Hero World Challenge, and an even more select group will contest the Presidents Cup for their respective teams.

But as far as traditional golf is concerned, we’re into the last two tournaments of the calendar year.

Embed from Getty Images

All in the field this week in Mexico will be looking to finish their campaign off on a high, although it will take some going to better the emotions Brendon Todd must have been experiencing when he won the Bermuda Championship a couple of weeks ago.

His last win came five years ago, and a period of golfing despair – yips and all – meant that missing the cut was far more likely than contesting for silverware. Imagine the feeling then when he made the winning putt on the island to secure his immediate future on the PGA TOUR….it can’t get much better than that.

As for Rory McIlroy, well, winning golf tournaments is second nature and has been for a decade or so now. He added to his trophy collection by eventually shaking off Xander Schauffele in a play-off, and perhaps – whisper it – confirmed his status as the best player on the planet right now.

So onward we go to Playa del Carmen, where there’s a handy collection of FedExCup points available and a rich payday for the winning player and their caddie….well, that’s the idea anyway.

Nine of the last twelve winners of this event were aged 30 or older at the time of their triumph, and while we don’t want to be ageist this El Camaleon layout clearly favors those who prioritize brain over brawn.

It’s a short track found on the coast, and with some dense Paspalum rough to avoid there is very much a premium on fairways this week – Kuchar found 80% of them in his winning effort last year, which tells its own story.

And that’s the order of the day really, with small Paspalum greens that are hard to find if you are hacking out of the rough. These run really slow too, which will please the weaker flat stick wielders, and so it’s very much a tee-to-green contest this week.

The other defense for El Camaleon? The wind, but the forecast suggests that will be at a minimum this week. And with some rain around, finding fairways will be more important than ever.

With all of that in mind, who makes the shortlist for our Mayakoba Classic sleepers?

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Mayakoba Golf Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Cameron Champ – 50/1 – Backing a man who can drive the ball 350+ yards on a less-than-driver course sounds ludicrous on paper, but Champ spoke in such glowing terms about El Camaleon that he has to come under consideration.

And why not? He’s a better iron player than most give him credit for, and a T10 finish here 12 months ago highlights how this course suits his eye.

Don’t forget, this is a guy who has won twice on the PGA TOUR in the past year. That’s a hit rate that the vast majority of this field would give their right arm for.

Danny Lee – 50/1 – After an impressive Asian Swing, Danny Lee will head back to the Americas with a spring in his step.

Solo second at the CJ Cup and T10 in the ZOZO Championship, Lee is brimming with confidence and that’s a handy indicator ahead of a trip to a layout where has finishes second and third in the past.

A proven wind player, Lee has finished inside the top-five in locations as eclectic as Phoenix, Scotland, Singapore and Texas.

Brian Gay – 66/1 – These short, coastal tests are perfect for Brian Gay, a former winner here in 2008 who has also banked top-fives at the RSM Classic and Sony Open.

Age, distance….these aren’t factors at Mayakoba, so the veteran very much comes into the reckoning given his current formline.

Very much involved in the thick end of things at the Bermuda Championship, Gay was also T7 at the Shriners and T23 at the Safeway Open to confirm his upward ascendance.

Graeme McDowell – 70/1 – It’s been a tough couple of months for Graeme McDowell, who has a close affinity to the Bahamas and who watched on as friends and family lost their homes in the hurricane.

Perspective is often a useful weapon in the armory of a golfer, who can free themselves of the pressures of playing ‘selfishly’ for themselves with the benefit that hindsight brings.

So while the Irishman might be lacking in match practice, he certainly won’t be lacking in motivation ahead of a trip to a layout he won at back in 2015.

These coastal tracks suit him down to the ground, because he’s also a champion at Pebble Beach, Harbour Town and the Corales Golf Club, so there’s no doubt that conditions will be in his favour.

Si-Woo Kim – 75/1 – Trying to make an accurate prediction of what Si-Woo is going to do next is difficult.

This is a guy who missed six cuts in a row before finishing solo fifth at the Wyndham Championship, and then earlier in the season he finished no better than T56 across a seven-week span before going in for a T4 at the Texas Open.

The formbook gets thrown out of the window with the Korean, but he has a third place at El Camaleon to his name, has finished second at Harbour Town and T4 at both Pebble Beach and Waialae.

These short, coastal tracks clearly suit his eye, so maybe Si-Woo can burn bright in Mexico.

[/membership]

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

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2019-2020)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 40 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “2.50%” bar_text=”1 out of 40 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”32.50%” bar_text=”13 out of 40 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 8 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 8 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”55.00%” bar_text=”22 out of 40 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

---

Cover photo via Instagram