Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – RSM Classic
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the RSM Classic
RSM Classic Fantasy Preview
It’s not a TV show that millions would tune in for, but the Brendon Todd Comeback Special continues to gather momentum.
After four years in the wilderness where making a cut was an achievement, the 34-year-old followed his redemptive victory at the Bermuda Championship by proving that ‘the heater’ is a real thing in doubling up at the Mayakoba Classic.
In truth, Todd’s win in Mexico really was a statement for him but also for DFS gamers too: in a three-ball with Vaughn Taylor and Harris English on a Monday finish caused by a complete washout on Thursday, he showed that recent experience of being involved in the think end of a PGA TOUR event really does count.
Taylor and English, both former Tour winners but a long time ago now, just seemed to lack a bit of composure at the most crucial times.
Jus imagine if Brooks Koepka’s injury does keep him out of the Presidents Cup, and captain Tiger calls up Todd to take his place. That would surely be one of the quickest and most extraordinary turnarounds in sporting history.
He has an opportunity to create history this week by joining Tiger as the last player to win in three straight weeks, which the Big Cat achieved back in ’06. Todd is breaking all sorts of boundaries right now.
Can he do it? Who knows: the RSM Classic, played on St Simons Island, certainly has a similar feel to his recent triumphs. Perhaps the most unbelievable hat-trick awaits….
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Big congrats to Brendon Todd for his second win this fall season.
Our top picks of Billy Ho and Abraham Ancer finished T8 and our sleeper pick Danny Lee put up a 62 on day one, which you know adds a lot of bonus points to your roster.
The RSM Classic Field
This is the last chance to win some cash and FedEx Cup points in 2019, Hero World Challenge invite aside, and so once again it’s a bit of a surprise to see another weak field assemble.
Matt Kuchar takes headline duties after his hole-in-one on Sunday, and he seemed to put his caddie woes in Mexico behind him.
Webb Simpson and Adam Hadwin – fellow Presidents Cup combatants alongside Kuchar, make the trip alongside Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner and defending champion Charles Howell III.
Former winners here Austin Cook, Robert Streb and Mackenzie Hughes are also making the trip, as is another who has enjoyed success on St Simons Island: Chris Kirk, who played some pretty solid stuff in Mexico last time out as he steps up his brave recovery from alcoholism.
This Week’s Course Preview
It gets pretty confusing, so let’s nip it in the bud early: the action will unfold on St Simons Island this week, and Sea Island GC – also the name of an island off the coast of Georgia – is the host venue.
It is unusual, and made even more complex by the face that we have two courses on rotation too: the Plantation layout, which hosts one of the two opening rounds, and then the Seaside track, which plays host to the other three.
There are some differences between the pair. Seaside, as the name suggests, is a coastal, almost Links-style affair, with winds whipping up off the ocean. A short Par 70 at a shade over 7,000 yards, the Seaside course features the trademark narrow fairways of architect Tom Fazio, with small, fast Bermuda greens also in evidence.
The Plantation course is a bit more inland, and while Rees Jones has tried to make it more challenging at 7,058 yards for its Par 72 you can tell already this is a tiny layout where low scores are paramount.
Fairways are tight but the rough is not all that penal, and so it’s all about making hay in the sunshine on the Plantation layout. But be warned: Davis Love III and his brother have been tinkering with this stretch in 2019, so it will be interesting to see the changes that they have made.
In design and profile, we’re looking at a similar test to that experienced at El Cameleon and Royal Port two weeks ago.
Weather Forecast for Sea Island, GA
There is some rain in the forecast this week, however we aren’t anticipating anything like the kind of precipitation that besieged Playa del Carmen in the first half of last week.
Indeed, the lead-up to the RSM Classic is looking friendly enough, with plenty of sunshine albeit at lower-than-expected temperatures of around 68°F.
Thursday and Friday are likely to be dry and bright too, and it’s only really the weekend – where ‘scattered showers’ have been prescribed – that lets the side down.
The wind speeds look consistent at around 5-8 mph on Thursday and Friday and 10-12 mph across the weekend.
Last Year’s Results for the RSM Classic
A sublime display of ball-striking got Charles Howell III over the line here a year ago, although he still needed a playoff to defeat the game Patrick Rodgers along the way.
Chucky served up extraordinary numbers – 84% driving accuracy from an average of 296 yards, 89% greens in regulation, and so it was no great surprise when he led pretty much all week long.
But Rodgers would not go quietly, and Howell III needed to birdie three of his last four regulation holes to force extra time – he duly delivered.
And in the playoff, he arguably made his experience count by birdieing the second extra hole to claim his first PGA TOUR title in a staggering eleven years.
Highlights | Round 4 | RSM Classic 2018
SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh In the final round of The RSM Classic 2018, Charles Howell III defeated Patrick Rodgers in a two-hole playoff by sinking a 22-foot putt for birdie at the par-4 18th hole to claim his third PGA TOUR victory.
Where to Play Fantasy Golf for RSM Classic this Week
Here we go then: the final full field event of 2019. This is as good a time as any to enjoy one final splurge of your bankroll in a tournament that can take some figuring out but which can deliver plenty of rewards too.
- PGA $150k Best Ball: There’s a rather cool $50k that will go to the winner here, and with an $8 buy-in this contest has the feel of a lottery. There are plenty of consolation prizes on offer too.
- PGA $50k Club Twirl: If you have $44 spare in your bankroll or a couple of multiples of it, this is a worthwhile contest to get involved in. The winner cops $10k, and the top 10% of players win at least $75.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the RSM Classic
Charles Howell III, Austin Cook, Mackenzie Hughes, Kevin Kisner, Robert Streb….what do they all have in common?
If you answered they are all former winners of this event then have a chocolate button. However, finding any other link is almost impossible.
They are all, to some extent, streaky putters, so maybe that is an angle in for an event where we have very little else to go on. It’s not a rogue’s gallery of flushers and stripers, anyway.
Oh, and that myth that locals have things all their own way? The truth is that Chris Kirk had moved away from St Simons when he won and Kisner was merely a temporary guest while his home in South Carolina was being renovated.
So yes, that notion can be dispelled as well.
Players have won at Sea Island on their debut, so we can’t even throw course form into the argument as important.
Really, we are looking for players who can get their ball onto the green in a efficient manner, but a hot hand with the flat stick might be crucial in separating the winner from the rest.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the RSM Classic
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the RSM Classic
Top Tier Pick:
Webb Simpson (Odds: 10/1, FPPG: 109.0, GPFP: 105.73 Salary: $11,600)
From a betting perspective, backing a player with one win in five years at a price of 10/1 seems borderline maniacal.
But from a gaming view we are simply looking to build the best roster as possible, and to be honest you couldn’t build a golf course more suitable for Webb Simpson than the two layouts at Sea Island.
A Bermuda specialist, specifically in the Eastern half of the country, Simpson is especially at home in the wind and on Par 70 tracks, where his Par 4 Scoring exploits give him an edge.
Add into the mix the fact he is a high percentage green hitter no matter what their size, and the former US Open champion really starts to excite.
Second and third here in the past, the only negative against his name is a lack of recent activity: he’s only played once since the TOUR Championship, finishing T7 at the Shriners.
But if he can shake the cobwebs off quickly, Simpson will take some stopping here.
Key Stats:
- Par 4 Scoring Average – 1st
- Greens in Regulation – 1st
- SG: Putting – 7th
Mid-Tier Pick #1:
Brian Gay (Odds: 50/1, FPPG: 93.5, GPFP: 105.73 Salary: $8,800)
Here’s a player who really thrives at this juncture of the season, and having competed well in Bermuda and Mexico we expect Brian Gay to contend once more.
Third here in 2017, the veteran has got the perfect game for Sea Island and his closing round of 65 at El Camaleon will fill him with plenty of confidence.
Short but accurate, Gay also possesses that hot hand with the flat stick to make birdie opportunities count.
Key Stats:
- Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders – 14th
- Birdie Average – 17th
- SG: Putting – 27th
Mid-Tier Pick #2:
Vaughn Taylor (Odds: 60/1, FPPG: 67.2, GPFP: 53.76 Salary: $8,200)
It was so close but yet so far for Vaughn Taylor in Mexico. If he’d have hit that last putt a touch harder he may yet have been celebrating a fourth PGA TOUR title.
Nevertheless, we can have no qualms about backing him to go well again given that conditions will once again be in his favor. This is a Pebble Beach champion after all, to go with that Mayakoba runner’s up spot, and you just know that a former winner in Tennessee and playoff combatant in Houston is comfortable in the breeze.
Schooled in Georgia where he still lives to this day, Taylor could enjoy the best of homecomings at the Sea Island club.
Key Stats:
- Driving Accuracy – 31st
- Total Birdies – 66th
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 77th
Mid-Tier Pick #3:
Bronson Burgoon (Odds: 100/1, FPPG: 75.5, GPFP: 60.40 Salary: $7,100)
There are plenty who speak highly of Bronson Burgoon, and he has shown glimpses of quality over his couple of years on the PGA TOUR.
Most appealing is that he is playing reasonably well from tee to green at the moment, and given that he is a solid enough putter on fast greens that combination could work very well.
In his last six starts Burgoon has served up a top-10, two top-20s and a T33 in Mexico last time out, so maybe this is the week he makes a really significant breakthrough on the main tour.
Key Stats:
- SG: Putting – 22nd
- Scoring Average – 28th
- SG: Approach – 31st
Low-Tier Pick:
Mark Hubbard (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 76.6, GPFP: 77.34 Salary: $7,00)
The suspicion is that there is plenty more to come from Mark Hubbard, who in the first few months of the PGA TOUR season has already recorded T2 at the Houston Open, T10 at the Greenbrier and T13 at the Safeway Open.
We thought he’d take more kindly to the Bermuda-Mexico trip, but no matter he might just appreciate the return to US soil this week.
Almost uniformly his best form has come in windy conditions, and as somebody who thrives with both irons and putter in hand it’s an exciting combination at work.
A winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, Hubbard could be one to watch across the rest of the season.
Key Stats:
- SG: Putting – 31st
- SG: Approach – 35th
- Scoring Average – 44th
Sleeper Pick for the RSM Classic
J.T. Poston (Odds: 70/1, FPPG: 71.9, GPFP: 57.52 Salary: $8,400)
The world number 71 was available at sportsbook odds as short as 40/1 last week, and yet now after one so-so effort his price has almost doubled!
A return to American soil will suit, as of course you would expect from a Bermuda specialist, and lots of form in correlating events – T6 in the RBC Heritage as one example – offers reasons to be enthusiastic.
Reasons to be pessimistic about Poston? He has missed three straight cuts in this event, but if we go with the logic that he’s currently the best he’s ever been then maybe that’s nothing to worry about.
Key Stats:
- Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders – 11th
- SG: Tee-to-Green – 29th
- Putts per Round – 33rd
Alternative Sleeper Pick for the RSM Classic
Henrik Norlander (Odds: 200/1, FPPG: 48.8, GPFP: 39.03 Salary: $6,900)
Although a two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, arguably the finest moment in Henrik Norlander’s career came in the RSM Classic of 2016, when he was pipped in a playoff by Mackenzie Hughes.
The Swede fell off the radar from there, but the penny seemed to drop last season on the second-tier when he won and claimed four other top-10 finishes.
Having spent his formative years in Georgia, Norlander will feel at home this week and his natural game is perfectly suited to these short and accurate tests in the wind.
Key Stats:
- Greens in Regulation – 32nd
- Driving Accuracy – 40th
- SG: Approach – 93rd
This Week’s Sample DraftKings Lineup
Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only. Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.
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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2019-2020)
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