FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – OHL Classic at Mayakoba

2017 OHL Classic at Mayakoba Fantasy Preview

Although it is merely the beginning of a new season, there have been plenty of fireworks to go along with some great performances in recent events.

We were able to watch 25-year-old Patrick Cantlay take home his first career PGA TOUR trophy last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open following a three-man playoff in which Cantlay pulled off a miraculous shot to put himself in position to win.

This week, the players will take their talent just south of Cancun at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The OHL Classic is one of the newer tournaments on the schedule, laying its roots in 2007 among the picturesque setting of the Caribbean Sea and topical forests. The layout created by Greg Norman features 6,987 yards of par-71 golf which have seen plenty of scoring over the last handful of years.

It was here last season that Pat Perez kicked off his tremendous campaign, earning his first win since 2009 behind a 21-under final score, defeating runner-up Gary Woodland by a pair of strokes. His weekend scores of 62-67 put him over the top as he matched the tournament record winning score posted by Harris English during the 2013-14 season.

Pat Perez of the United States hits to the sixth green from a…

Pat Perez of the United States hits to the sixth green from a greenside bunker during the final round of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba on November 13, 2016 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The 41-year-old will be back once again to defend his title following a tremendous start to 2017-18 with a win in the CIMB Classic and top-five in the CJ Cup. A victory this week would make him the only player to have won at this event on multiple occasions. He joined a group of nine other victors who primarily call the United States home as only 2015 winner, Graeme McDowell out of Northern Ireland, hails from another country.

The biggest competition that Perez will be facing this weekend comes from the tenth-ranked player in the world; Rickie Fowler. He is the only player out of the top-10 playing this week to go along with No. 18 Perez, No. 22 Patrick Reed, and No. 24 Charley Hoffman from the top-25. With another strong week here, Hoffman would add to his current streak of 18 consecutive cuts made, trailing just Paul Casey’s current streak of 23.

Also among the entrants will be 30-year-old Chesson Hadley who currently ranks seventh in the FedExCup standings after posting a top-four finish in each of his first three starts this year.

FanDuel continues to provide a fantastic platform for golf fans to put together a roster and compete against others using their favorite golfers. It really makes the weekend a great time and creates a more intense experience for some of these events that may otherwise go under the radar.

Of course it is important to understand the difference between how you should put together a lineup in a cash game (50/50, double-up, head-to-head) versus what you should do in a tournament. Looking just at last week’s results, names like Alex Cejka, Whee Kim, and J.T. Potson where in the top-five and were extremely low owned; giving anyone who happened to roster them a huge advantage.

This obviously does not mean to just take random shots in the dark, but try to target players that the rest of the field may not be all over despite some signs that may be pointing to a good week. Cash is where you play the safe names that carry the least amount of volatility since your main goal is to simply beat about half of the people in the given game.

Below are some names we like for the upcoming week that could be used to help you win some money.

OHL Classic at Mayakoba FanDuel Fantasy Picks

Rickie Fowler – $10,300 – If there is only one elite talent in a field we like to take him in my cash games for this type of tournament. Fowler’s pedigree and raw skill far outweighs any other player that is in this event and should provide a strong floor with the most likely path to the top of the leaderboard.

This will be Fowler’s first start of the new season as he comes off a year in which he finished in a career-best spot in the FedExCup standings. The 28-year-old tied his career-high with ten top-10 finishes and made it to the weekend in all but three of his 21 starts (86%); one of which ended in his fourth career win at the Honda Classic. It is impressive to look back at Fowler’s past 10 starts, six of which ended in ninth or better, while all ended no worse than 26^th. His consistent play stems from a tremendous ability both on and around the greens as he ranked second in strokes gained with the putter (0.761), was best on TOUR in sand save percentage (68.66%), and finished eighth overall in scrambling (63.86%). This all led to a 69.083 scoring average (2^nd on TOUR) behind 24.20% of his holes ending in a birdie or better (4^th on TOUR).

It is difficult to find something in Fowler’s game that is not above average, and although this is his first visit to this course, it is hard to construct a scenario in our mind in which he is not competitive on Sunday.

Rickie Fowler of the United States reacts after making par on the…

Rickie Fowler of the United States reacts after making par on the 17th green during the first round of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills on June 15, 2017 in Hartford, Wisconsin. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Pat Perez – $9,300 – Perez has been a different golfer over the last Calendar year and it all seemed to start after his victory on this very course a last season. After finishing in the top-15 of the FedExCup standings last year, Perez was able to quickly quiet any non-believers with a trio of top-25s to start the 2017-18 campaign.

One of those starts was at the CIMB Classic where he carded a score of 24 shots better than par and took home his third career trophy. When he torched this course last year, it was to the tune of 21-under as he pounded 76.39% of the greens in regulation.

In his three events played thus far, the former Sun Devil has put together a lethal combination of GIR (76.85%) and fairways hit (73.81%) while posting a birdie or better 27.31% of the time. Perez may still not be working out or eating right, but he has found something in his game that DFS players should ride until it is over.

Chez Reavie – $8,200 – Reavie, like Perez, found a way to come out of nowhere to post a career year in 2016-17 and finished just outside of the cut line for the TOUR Championship after heading into the playoffs in 63^rd. The 35-year-old made 75% of the cuts over his 28 starts and had eleven top-25 finishes; improving on his previous best of nine in this area from back in 2011.

Reavie has continued his solid play with four straight cuts made to open up 2017-18 and is doing so in a similar fashion with an average finish of 17.25. He will not match the youngsters in the field with his length off the tee, but has proven he has no issues hitting the fairway (75%, 10^th on TOUR this season) or getting onto the green in regulation (73.96%, 31^st on TOUR) with accuracy (32’ proximity to hole, 4^th on TOUR).

Reavie should also fare better on a course where the par is less than 72 as he gains a much bigger edge on the shorter holes than when he needs to overextend his shot. This was evident last year when he took a fourth at this venue and a similar performance would be no surprise.

Anirban Lahiri – $7,100 – Lahiri has really been a letdown over the weekend in his first few events of this year and is now a combined three over par in the fourth round of those outings. He has shown no issues getting to the weekend, though, and his experience up to this point in his career should allow him to put in plenty of week-long impressive performances.

Between the tours in Europe, Asia, and India, Lahiri has taken home a total of 18 trophies and made some big improvements on the PGA TOUR last year; going from 117^th in the final standings during his first full season to a finish of 51^st after the playoff dust had settled. He possesses a grind-it-out approach when out there and it is just a matter of time before the 30-year-old shows his true colors on the PGA TOUR.

Jason Kokrak – $6,900 – This has been a very safe event for Kokrak in the past as he has finished 16^th, 17^th, and 15^th over the past three seasons. In that stretch he has tallied 32 shots better than par while never shooting a round worse than even. This is likely to continue as he pushes on with a great start to the new season in which he has three straight top-20s; including a top-10 in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

This is important because he only had one such finish on his resume last season; his lowest since his rookie year in 2012. Kokrak’s nice start has been aided by a big driver (313.4 yards per, 29^th on TOUR), his aggressiveness at going for the green (74.07%, 14^th on TOUR), and a 69.70% scrambling mark (6^th on TOUR).

Watch out for Kokrak to continue his nice run at a course where he has felt very comfortable over the last few attempts.

Jason Kokrak of the United States plays his third shot from a bunker…

Jason Kokrak of the United States plays his third shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round of the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on July 28, 2016 in Springfield, New… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Stewart Cink – $6,900 – A new season has kicked off and Cink is back to putting up nice outings in early season matchups. When there is elite talent absent from the field, the veteran is able to use his steady game to post top-25s at will. Last year he was in the top-15 at three of his first four events, one of which was this tournament, and he tied for 13^th at the CIMB Classic to start the 2017-18 campaign.

Over his first eight rounds of this season, Cink has been able to get a green in regulation 81.25% of the time and has a birdie or better on 22.5% of his opportunities on par four holes; a must on a course like El Camaleon. As mentioned already, Cink did well here last year with tie for 15^th after going 12-under with a green in regulation on 72.22% of the holes and will be looking to prey on the inexperienced field once again.

Luke List – $6,400 – List’s price just continues to be far too low on FanDuel with his recent surge of great play and ceiling behind his massive driver. The 32-year-old improved over each of his first three seasons on the PGA TOUR and is certainly looking to continue that trend after making the cut in each of his first four events of this season; finishing no worse than 20^th in his last three.

List tends to give himself a chance for some big scoring on every hole with his drive which is averaging 322.7 yards per (12^th on TOUR) thus far. He has converted 26.04% of his holes into a birdie or better (23^rd on TOUR) after finishing ninth in the category last year. He provides an even higher ceiling when you consider he had the most total eagles (18) on TOUR last season and had the ability to bounce back (23.55%, 23^rd on TOUR).

On top of all of this he has a nice track record after coming in seventh here last year and we will continue to play him until his price pushes over the $8k mark.

Bronson Burgoon – $4,900 – There will be plenty of concern with Burgoon to anybody thinking of putting him on their roster as he withdrew from the Sanderson Farms Championship due to a lingering back injury. While he is expected to tee it up this week, it is always questionable if he will make it all four rounds, making him a perfect tournament play if you are putting together multiple lineups.

The 30-year-old had looked good when he made his first start of the year in the Safeway Open, going nine-under over the first three rounds before falling off with a Sunday 74 and a tie for 17^th in the end. He had finished off his year on the Web.com Tour last season with a fifth in the DAP Championship and fourth at the Web.com Tour Championship as he looks to get himself back on track on golf’s biggest stage.

Burgoon’s one visit to El Camaleon ended in a 25^th-place and he is a great pick as a tournament flyer to save money this week.

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