Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – The Greenbrier Classic 2014

Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2014 Greenbrier Classic

This Week’s Tournament Preview

With half the year’s majors complete and Tiger Woods back in the hunt for a FedExCup, the TOUR now travels about 250 miles southwest from Bethesda, MD to White Sulphur Springs, WV for the 2014 Greenbrier Classic. With Ryder Cup and FedExCup playoff points on the line, the robust field at Greenbrier will also be prepping for the next major, the Open Championship, which will be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in two weeks.

The prestigious Old White track has become more of a challenge, going through numerous renovations since President Woodrow Wilson first stepped onto the course, becoming one of the first people to play this now famous track.  The fairways are generous, so driving accuracy may not be the issue this week. The greens however have been looked upon as some of the toughest on TOUR and you can bet that with these undulating greens we’ll be factoring a bigger emphasis on putting stats as well as past performance in this week’s fantasy predictions.

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

Our fantasy team successfully notched three Top 11 finishes including Brendon Todd (T5), Marc Leishman (T8), and Jordan Spieth (T11) for a total earnings between the three of $550,875. Our total fantasy earnings for the week amounted to $637,195 with 5 of 7 of our picks ultimately making the cut. The two missed cuts brings us to only 25 missed on the year out of 182 picks, which represents an 86.26% made-cuts ratio.

The Field

The favorite this week will most likely be masters champion Bubba Watson. Rumor has it that Bubba may debut his brand new pink PING G30 9-degree driver this week on Old White, but no one is 100% sure yet if he’ll have it in the bag. As mentioned, the fairways are pretty generous on this week’s course so this small equipment decision shouldn’t weigh heavily our fantasy picks if we decide to go with him this week.

And one for the gearheads: Bubba Watson’s new @PingTour G30 driver. pic.twitter.com/aq11S0oVX8

— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) June 30, 2014

Jimmy Walker, who has held the FedExCup lead for most of the year, will be among a lineup of players that includes seven of the top 30 players in this week’s world rankings. Sir Nick Faldo will ditch the broadcast booth for a second PGA TOUR start of 2014 as well as U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, who will make his fourth start in this event. Jonas Blix will certainly be ready to defend his title (2013) along but he’ll have to fight off notables like Keegan Bradley, Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson, and Chris Kirk (who happens to quietly sit 7^th on the FedExCup points list).

The Course

The Old White TPC measures in at 7,287 yards and plays as a par 70. The course was named for the Old White Hotel which has stood on the grounds for almost 92 years. We talked about the greens in our tournament preview, and there’s no denying that you should be factoring some emphasis on putting stats this week. PGATOUR.com mentions how the eighth hole features a sloped green which was landscaped after North Berwick’s 15th, and Nos. 13 and 15 look a lot like Alps at Prestwick and “Eden” at St. Andrews , respectively.

For those in the field who have qualified for the Open Championship, this week’s Greenbrier Classic will certainly serve a nice tune up for Royal Liverpool.

Also worth noting is the fact that at the debut of this event in 2010, Stuart Appleby recorded a 59 in his final round which gave him the victory in record setting fashion.

Photo by TPC.com.

Weather Forecast for Sulpher Springs, WV (from weather.com)

• Round 1: Thursday (July 3) 83 degrees, 50% chance of rain, scattered T-storms.
• Round 2: Friday (July 4) 82 degrees, 20% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 3: Saturday (July 5) 84 degrees, 0% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 4: Sunday (July 6) 87 degrees, 20% chance of rain, partly cloudy.

2013 Results

Last year’s winner, Jonas Blixt, came back from a four-shot deficit in the final round to claim his second PGA TOUR victory. What quickly became a five-man battle over the last five holes, ultimately culminated with Blixt claiming a two-shot victory with a 3-under-par 67.

Here is wrap-up of Round 4 from last year’s edition of The Greenbrier Classic:

Round 4 Recap: The Greenbrier Classic 2013

In the final round of the The Greenbrier Classic, Jonas Blixt shoots a 3-under 67 to win his first PGA TOUR trophy of the year. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

Media

• Television Broadcasts
  • Thursday-Friday, 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel).
  • Saturday-Sunday, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. (CBS).
• Radio Broadcasts
  • Thursday-Sunday, noon – 6:00 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM).
• Mobile Broadcasts
  • Simultaneous coverage on the Golf Live Extra mobile app by Golf Channel.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes

Although the greens could pose a challenge for some players this week, Old White has proven to be an easier course than most on the challenging PGA TOUR schedule. Last season the track ranked as the third easiest Par 70 on TOUR and has proven to play as a fairly short course.

Big hitters should fare well here, but this week we’re staying focused on the long-ball players who also have a hot putting stroke. With that strategy in mind we’ve selected a few names we think can run away with this event.

So far in 2014, our fantasy staff has successfully picked seven winners in twenty-six tournaments, along with 63 Top 10s, 18 Top 3s, and we’re still happily above 85% (86.36%) “made-cuts” ratio. This stat is proven to be crucial in fantasy golf because as we always point out, missed cuts earn no money. Try our picks this week to gain an edge over the competition and use our sleeper picks to help win your DraftStreet or other cash prize leagues. Don’t forget to take a look at our full season stats below.

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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win The Greenbrier Classic

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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The Greenbrier Classic

• Brendon Todd (Golficity Odds 10/1): Is this guy hot or what? Vegas put a 22/1 on him this week and we’re seriously tempted to empty our bank accounts to take those odds. Todd’s game is in tune and he’s been firing on all cylinders lately. In his last five starts Todd has a win, two T5s, a T8, and a recent T17  at the U.S. Open. He had it in his grasp last week at Congressional, but let is slip away with a disappointing double bogey after hitting the water on a tough par 3. Did we mention he ranks 5th this week on TOUR in total putting? As mentioned earlier, those are the stats to lock in on this week.
• Jimmy Walker (Golficity Odds 14/1): Walker and Watson are the screaming favorites this week, but we like Walker’s game a little better than Bubba’s on this track. Although this is his first start since his T9 at Pinehurst, Walker now has top 10s in both majors and a total of three wins on the season. He finished T2 here last year and has a T4’s as well in each of the two previous editions of this event. Perhaps most importantly, Walker knows the course better than most in the field. He’ll cost you about the same as Bubba in most salary-cap leagues this week, so we’d opt for Walker in that spot. You should definitely have him in your Tier A brackets.
• Marc Leishman (Golficity Odds 18/1): Leish has been playing some of the best golf of his career lately. The Aussie was impressive last week up until the middle of his final round when he let things slip away. Dropping to a T8 finish, Leishman still had an impressive outing and racked up some more of those coveted FedExCup Points. With top 25 finishes in five of his last six starts, we see Leishman continuing his streak of solid play on Old White without much of a problem.
• Bubba Watson (Golficity Odds 20/1): New Driver? No problem. Whether he makes the equipment change this week  or not, we think Bubba will straighten things out at Old White. Truth is, this course suits him well, but the putting game needs to be in the bag this week if he wants a shot at the win. His putting game and his recent poor play is why we have him in a 20/1 this week and not on top like Vegas. We just don’t completely trust his putter, but things can pick up for Watson this week, and he’s proven his ability to turn things around in the past. If you haven’t picked Bubba much this year in your pick’em leagues, he’d be a good fit, but he’s overpriced for salary cap leagues in our opinion.
• Brendan Steele (Golficity Odds 26/1): Steele has been quietly running up leaderboards lately. We love how he’s playing right now and he comes into the week with T5s in the last two consecutive tournaments. Steele comes with a great price for a salary cap league, and may be the perfect pick for a 4 Tier in most pick’em leagues. Be mindful of the fact that his putting might get him in trouble this week, so pick him low.

Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win The Greenbrier Classic

• Chris Kirk (Golficity Odds 35/1): Krik is 0n the cusp of a Ryder Cup spot, currently sitting in 11th behind Mickelson. He’s also having a career year which includes a T28 at the U.S. Open which marked his 21st consecutive cut made. Kirk has three top 10s with another six top 25s in the wrap-around season and probably the most important stat is that he ranks 10th in average distance of putts made. He’s a solid sleeper pick for any type of league this week.
• Gary Woodland (Golficity Odds 50/1): With 15 cuts made in 17 events, Woodland is a fantastic sleeper choice this week. Tough calling him a sleeper given the hype around his game, but have you seen his last three consecutive finishes? We’ll make it easy for you so you don’t have to go look: a T57, T52, T46! Although Woodland is ranked high in Yahoo! tiers and costly in DraftStreet salary cap leaguesm we’re still taking him over Ben Martin this week in the “dark horse” category.

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Last Week’s Results:  Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 Quicken Loans National

• Jordan Spieth (Golficity Odds 12/1): T11 ($125,125)
• Jason Day (Golficity Odds 16/1): MC ($0)
• Brandt Snedeker (Golficity Odds 20/1): T21 ($72,800)
• Brendon Todd (Golficity Odds 24/1): T5 ($237,250)
• KJ Choi (Golficity Odds 32/1): T64 ($13,520)

Last Week’s Results: Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 Quicken Loans National

• Keegan Bradley (Golficity Odds 38/1): MC
• Marc Leishman (Golficity Odds 50/1): T5 ($188,500)

Fantasy Golf Predictions Stats: Season to Date

• Total Fantasy Dollars: $31,231,858 (Weekly average = $1,201,225).
• Total Top 10s: 63 out of 182 players picked (34.62% of players picked).
• Total Top 3s: 18 out of 182 players picked (9.89% of players picked).
• Total Missed Cuts: Only 25 out of 182 players picked (86.26% of players picked).
• Total Major Winners Picked: 1 out of 2 (50%)

Remember to visit the The Clubhouse to discuss this week’s picks for The Greenbrier Classic 2014.

(Cover Photo Credit)