Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2021 WGC-Workday Championship
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2021 2021 WGC-Workday Championship
The 2021 WGC-Workday Championship Fantasy Preview
At a course where he watched tournament golf as a youngster and begged for high fives from Tiger Woods, life came full circle for Max Homa on Sunday when he won the Genesis Invitational and accepted the trophy from none other than the Big Cat himself.
But for most of the 72 holes, actually, it looked as if Sam Burns was going to pull off a tremendous wire-to-wire victory – that is, until the finishing line came into sight on Sunday’s back nine.
Suddenly, Burns’ assured ball-striking deserted him, and with Homa and Tony Finau pressing hard his race was all but run.
Homa could – should? – have won the event in normal time but he somehow missed a three-footer at the final hole for birdie, and that left him needing to overcome Finau in a playoff.
And that he did, despite Big Tony having chances to win and prolong the event on the first and second extra holes. Alas, he could not, and Homa went on to clinch a trophy that he might just cherish more than any other – regardless of what he goes on to achieve in his career.
It’s from west to east this week as the PGA TOUR crosses the US for the start of the Florida Swing. Ordinarily it would be off to Mexico for the first WGC event of the year, but for obvious reasons the action is staying closer to home at The Concession course in Bradenton for the Workday sponsored WGC tournament.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Our top dog last week was Patrick Cantlay. We rode the California kid into Riviera en route to a T15, which proved not to be enough to offer any substantial winnings.
Ultimately, the Homa-Finau combo was the best 1-2 punch for your DFS roster.
Let’s hope to wipe off the dust from last week and get hot at the WGC!
The 2021 WGC-Workday Championship Field
You know the score with these WGC events by now, and it’s a similarly strong field from last week that heads to Florida.
The underwhelming duo of Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas will be hoping to improve upon their Riviera blues, while Dustin Johnson – hotly fancied for the Genesis – will be getting over his own frustration after being a touch under par there.
Homa and Finau can renew hostilities, and they will be joined by other Riviera top-fivers in Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith.
Toss into the mix a catalogue of major winners in Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau, Pebble Beach winner Daniel Berger, the prolific Tyrrell Hatton, Webb Simpson and more and you have a cracking golf event on your hands!
This Week’s Course Preview
It’s a leap into the unknown with The Concession this week – this is the first professional tournament that the layout will have ever hosted!
Maybe it’s a surprise it’s taken this long, given that Jack Nicklaus is a stalwart of course design on the PGA TOUR. Here he’s teamed up with Tony Jacklin to create a layout named after their infamous meeting at the Ryder Cup of 1969, where Nicklaus conceded a two-foot putt that ultimately led to the contest being tied.
That was sportsmanship at its finest, however the duo appear to have been in less sporting mood when they drew up the blueprints for The Concession – or at they least got their hands on a job-lot of sand on the cheap.
It’s rare to see a course so brazenly covered in bunkers – fairways and greens are peppered with sand traps, and while some of those will be easier to play out than others it shows Nicklaus’ plan for a ‘championship golf course’ has come to fruition.
Measuring 7,474 yards for its Par of 72, there’s plenty for players of all lengths to get interested in at The Concession with two drivable Par 4s and a quartet of Par 5s – two of these are said to be ‘risk and reward’, and the aerial map of a couple of large lakes confirms as much.
The Bermuda greens look pretty small in stature too from the images/videos we’ve seen, and with some thick tree-lines it could be another tricky examination to follow that of Riviera a few days ago.
Weather Forecast for Bradenton, FL
A glorious week of weather awaits the players in Florida this week.
The sun is out and it will stay there throughout the four days, with temperatures tickling a rather toasty 84˚F.
There’s very little to write about here, as according to the early forecasts there is very little chance of rain and the wind will hover at around the 10mph mark. That’s pretty tame for this part of the world.
Last Year’s Results for the WGC-Workday Championship
As mentioned, this is the first edition of a WGC event to stop by at The Concession, and usually at this time of year we’d be heading down for the WGC-Mexico tournament at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
It was there that Patrick Reed claimed his second WGC win 12 months ago, just about holding off the steam train-like Bryson DeChambeau on an entertaining Sunday finale.
Reed was actually cantering home after making three consecutive birdies on the back nine, but whether he took his eye off the ball on 18 who knows – a bogey was not what the doctor ordered.
Luckily for him, Bryson blundered the seventeenth and so Reed was left to enjoy a victory made surprisingly easier by the ejection of Justin Thomas – he held the 54-hole lead but could not get anything going on a dismal Sunday for him.
Patrick Reed wins the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship | Extended Highlights
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Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the 2021 2021 WGC-Workday Championship this Week
Given that this is a 71-man, no cut event, it’s very difficult to attain an edge on your competition – other than, perhaps, in your golf course analysis. With that in mind, keep it nice and tight in your contest selection this week.
- PGA $60k Dogleg: As mentioned, it is very difficult to work an edge this week, and so single-entry contests might just be the way to go. First place banks $5k from this $33 entry, and the top 20% of entries will net at least $50.
- PGA $40k Caddie: In this silver bullet contest, there’s a jackpot prize of $5k available for the winner, and as ever there’s consolation prizes for the top entries – it will be hard to take top spot, but there’s a fantastic opportunity available if you nail your line-up.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship
It’s a case of educated guesswork this week.
You only need to look at the media content produced about The Concession to see what the players are in for, and while slightly less dense with trees than Riviera the test looks to be similar in nature.
It’s a case of finding fairways or scrambling for all your worth once more, and given the small size, undulating nature and bunker protection of the greens perhaps finding the short grass off the tee really will make a difference.
While Bermuda can be a forgiving surface at times, don’t forget how hot and sunny it’s been in Florida lately – keeping the greens well lubricated, even though this is a ‘wetlands’ track, could prove difficult. Will we see plenty of missed greens this week?
Either way, the normal suspects should shine over in the east of the country on their favorite Bermuda greens, and while we can only speculate that having extra length will be a plus this week to set up opportunities on the drivable Par 4s (and the long Par 5s), it may be best just to stick to those who are in form and who look primed to play well once again.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The 2021 WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession
Top Tier Pick #1:
Xander Schauffele (Odds: 16/1, FPPG: 99.9, GPFP: 93.89 Salary: $10,800)
With a formline of 15-2-2-5, the perks of Xander Schauffele speak for themselves, and back on his preferred Bermuda greens he surely has to come into the reckoning.
In truth, he should have won the Phoenix Open – a final round of 71 rather ending his hopes in devastating fashion, but these are all learning experiences for a player who has been on the Tour for barely four years.
He was never really in the hunt at Riviera, but there was some solid iron play on display and that bodes nicely given that Schauffele’s short game tends to be in fine order more often than not.
Will he take to The Concession? We shall have to wait and see, but he heads to Florida in excellent form.
Key Stats:
- Scoring Average – 2nd
- SG: Putting – 6th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 20th
Top Tier Pick #2:
Collin Morikawa (Odds: 40/1, FPPG: 68.0, GPFP: 59.84 Salary: $9,000)
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Palisades on Thursday and Collin Morikawa already found himself +3.
He did well to rally to make the cut then, and while he didn’t press on from there don’t overlook his performance – particularly in the ball striking department, a Morikawa trademark, where he led the field according to our adjusted rankings.
The look of The Concession suggests that iron players will come to the fore – finding the right portion of these greens, and avoiding the sand, will presumably be vital, and as ever in such cases Morikawa finds himself towards the top of our shortlist.
Key Stats:
- SG: Approach – 3rd
- Greens in Regulation – 10th
- Birdie Average – 26th
Mid-Tier Pick #1:
Harris English (Odds: 60/1, FPPG: 77.8, GPFP: 98.03 Salary: $7,500)
Up to 19 in the OWGR, Harris English is among the most consistent players on the planet, and that was finally rewarded when he clinched the Tournament of Champions title not many moons ago.
His form has taken a slide since then, but English will cherish the switch to Bermuda and pertinently the switch to the east coast, where much of his best golf has come.
English’s measured approach should serve him well at The Concession, which should provide a reasonably stern test to the players, and his fine putting touch will hand him a competitive edge on the layout’s contoured greens.
Key Stats:
- Scoring Average – 11th
- SG: Putting – 21st
- Total Driving – 23rd
Mid-Tier Pick #2:
Carlos Ortiz (Odds: 100/1, FPPG: 78.0, GPFP: 90.48 Salary: $7,300)
It is easy to cut adrift a player after they miss a cut, but a movement of 20 points here on Carlos Ortiz with the sportsbooks – in a field of similar quality – seems a bit much.
Particularly so when you consider that the Mexican’s finest hour came on the Bermuda greens of Houston, where he hoisted his maiden PGA TOUR title. Does that guarantee an instant return to form? Of course not, but it’s certainly more than just an anecdotal guess.
Indeed, despite missing the weekend at Riviera, Ortix was in reasonable order from tee-to-green – a return to better putting efforts can lead to the kind of performance that has swept him to five top-30s in his last seven starts.
Key Stats:
- Total Driving – 24th
- Birdie Average – 27th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 48th
Low-Tier Pick:
Lanto Griffin (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 65.2, GPFP: 54.75 Salary: $6,700)
To give you a flavor of why Lanto Griffin is of premium low-tier pick pedigree, you only need to look at his record since the start of the 2019-20 season.
In his 32 appearances on the PGA TOUR in that span, Griffin has made the cut in 23 of those – 18 resulting in top-25 finishes.
You can’t ask for much more than that from a bargain play, and further evidence is provided by the return to Bermuda greens – the site of Griffin’s sole PGA TOUR title in Houston. That’s a case as to why Griffin should be an auto lock this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Putting – 13th
- SG: Approach – 32nd
- Scoring Average – 59th
Sleeper Pick for The 2021 WGC-Workday Championship
Matthew Wolff (Odds: 90/1, FPPG: 68.6, GPFP: 59.69 Salary: $7,600)
It was interesting watching Matt Wolff go about his business at Riviera.
That is a golf course that takes no prisoners, and yet he stuck to his task and made the cut, albeit doing little to improve on a T64 finish.
But his approach play was decent and so too was his putting, so Wolff – one of the most eye-catching new talents on the Tour when he joined in 2019 – is certainly heading in the right direction once more.
Having finished second in the U.S. Open and at Shriners, Wolff is still a player of considerable interest and yet he may just fly under the radar this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Approach – 28th
- SG: Putting – 62nd
- Birdie Average – 66th
Alternative Sleeper Pick for The 2021 WGC-Workday Championship
Rasmus Hojgaard (Odds: 100/1, FPPG: 65.2, GPFP: 52.16 Salary: $6,700)
He is one of the most talented new stars to emrge on the European Tour in years, with four top-three finishes – including a pair of wins – since 2019 already.
Most pleasing was his form on that Tour’s Desert Swing. The Dane shook off the rust with a couple of top-10s in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and remember these were quality field events – in Saudi Arabia, for example, he finished just four shots shy of winner Dustin Johnson and two adrift of Tony Finau in second.
Blessed with an outstanding iron game, Hojgaard will want to catch the eye this week, and he certainly has the game to do exactly that.
Key Stats:
- N/A
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 (2020-2021)
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