European Tour Fantasy Golf Predictions – Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

2018 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Preview

The European Tour rumbles on as it edges towards its Race to Dubai conclusion, and at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship the top four players, as decreed by the daily fantasy sites, are all Ryder Cup combatants.

From Team America there’s Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, who have decided to stay in Europe and try their hand at another selection of Links courses.

And from Team Europe there’s Tommy Fleetwood, who has enjoyed almost God-like status across the Atlantic for his bromance with Francesco Molinari, and Tyrrell Hatton, who will be looking to complete a three-peat in this event after taking the honours for the past couple of years.

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You have to wonder how each will fare given the stunning highs and catastrophic lows they would have felt in the aftermath of the Paris battle, and it’s telling that another former Alfred Dunhill Links champion and Ryder Cupper, Thorbjorn Olesen, has decided to withdraw from the event. The Dane has certainly earned his rest.

From a strategic perspective, it might be wise to swerve that quartet in your draft. Fleetwood and Hatton will still be on cloud nine – and probably hungover, and the heroes welcome they will receive in Scotland may just be enough to put them off their game.

As for Koepka, revelations of an alleged bust up with Dustin Johnson at the Ryder Cup after party have surfaced, and despite having a good record in this event it may be wise giving the dual major champion a week off here.

And Finau, well, he just doesn’t win enough trophies, does he?

That leaves us with a more traditional European Tour to sift through for our picks this week in an event that offers a number of unique angles in.

First off, it’s a multi-course event, with rounds played on a rotational basis at Carnoustie, host of this year’s British Open, Kingsbarns and the spiritual home of golf, St Andrews.

You might be thinking ‘wow, Carnoustie is tough!’, but the course managers do a decent job of simplifying the challenge for this event, and if the wind doesn’t blow it actually becomes quite a scoreable layout: Fleetwood producing a course record of 63 here 12 months ago.

The other courses can both be got at, and as is the case with Links golf it really does depend on how fierce the wind blows as to what score can be achieved. There are a few stiff ones forecast, and it will be darn cold to boot, and so a war of attrition is expected.

Tactically, there are a few schools of thought on how to play things. Is it best to draft players who play Carnoustie, the toughest layout of the three, in the most benign conditions? Or is it smarter to have them play Kingsbarns, arguably the most straightforward, when the going is good?

We would argue that the former strategy is arguably the best, so keep an eye on the tee times and the weather forecast to ensure your guys are playing Carnoustie in the easiest conditions. It’s one of those weeks where making your draft at the last possible moment is probably wise.

With all of the above taken into account, who makes our Alfred Dunhill Links Championship draft?

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This Week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Fantasy Picks

Branden Grace – $9,300 – With top-30 finishes in three of the four majors this term, as the record-holder for the lowest round in British Open history and as former winner of this event, Branden Grace ticks plenty of boxes.

The South African’s game is purpose-built for Links golf success. Comfortable in the wind thanks to his upbringing, Grace hits low stinging drives and approaches that enable him to take the breeze out of the equation.

He’s an eight-time European Tour winner, also losing in a play-off at the Linksy Scottish Open in 2013, and while he has rarely shown his best to US golf fans on the PGA TOUR, back on more familiar territory he will surely shine.

Chris Wood – $9,100 – Immensely talented, it’s surprising that Chris Wood hasn’t won more than just three European Tour titles.

He burst to prominence on the Links in the British Open as a younger man, and with a victory on the Desert Swing we can safely say the Englishman is comfortable playing in windy conditions.

Wood’s form is good too, finishing second twice in his last eight starts with five top-25 finishes in all, and you wonder if he will have been inspired by watching the Ryder Cup action unfold on TV rather than being a part of it first-hand.

Haotong Li – $8,300 – Another tremendous Links exponent with a T3 finish in the British Open to his name, Haotong Li is just starting to creep back into form; making him an intriguing play this week.

T24 at the KLM Open and T26 at the Portugal Masters may not sound all that exciting, but five of those eight rounds were played at 68 or lower. He was in the mix at the halfway stage in the KLM, and drove the ball peerlessly in Portugal, so Li is certainly trending in the right direction.

A winner in the desert earlier this year when he held off Rory McIlroy’s charge, Li – still just 23-years-old remember – looks set to be a prolific European Tour winner.

Brandon Stone – $7,400 – You may recall earlier in the season when Brandon Stone, who had barely made a cut since the year 150 BC, or so it felt, went out and won the Scottish Open; missing a putt on the 18th that would have seen him make the first round of 59 ever on the European Tour.

A return to Scottish shores should feel good for the South African then, whose form has been stabilized since that victory. A cut made at the British Open was followed by an outstanding T12 at the PGA Championship, so all is good in the Stone camp.

T15 here last year, Stone also has previous in the gales of the desert having grabbed a top-10 in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Oliver Fisher – $7,200 – It was roughly two weeks ago when Fisher became the inaugural member of the European Tour’s 59 club.

He produced the stunning round at the Portugal Masters, ad even had the presence of mind to close out with 69-70 to ensure a share of seventh place.

That’s handy given that he has often threatened something excellent in this tournament, with T7 and T15 finishes through the years. He opened with a 68 and closed with a 65 last year, both at St Andrews, and he ranked ninth for GIR back in 2015.

Like his namesake Ross, this is an event that seems to bring the best out of Fisher.

David Drysdale – $6,900 – Drysdale is now in the midst of his traditionally strong end to the campaign.

Quite why the Scot saves his best for last is anybody’s guess, but he’s up to his old tricks: T6 at the KLM open followed a series of decent performances including a T9 at the European Open.

With three top-20s to his name in this event, a return home seems to suit Drysdale, and at this kind of price he is a gamble worth pursuing.

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