Fantasy Golf Picks & Predictions – 2017 British Masters

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2017 British Masters

2017 British Masters Fantasy Preview

For the fifth week running, our European Tour picks had a genuine interest for the title heading into the Sunday shootout last time out at the Portugal Masters.

The disintegration of our pick George Coetzee was particularly disappointing for him and us then, although credit must go to eventual winner Lucas Bjerregaard. The Dane, hunting down his first European Tour title, played an error-free 65 to take the spoils. That calm under pressure is well worth noting for future reference for this talented young Scandinavian.

After a lengthy stint on mainland Europe, it’s back to the islands this week for the British Masters, a classic tournament which always attracts a decent field. And 2017 is no exception, with Rory McIlroy heading back to the British Isles to take on Sergio Garcia, defending champion Alex Noren and this week’s host, Lee Westwood, among many others.

Westy is the home professional of Close House, our host venue this week. It is the first time that the course has hosted a professional event, bar the 2015 ISPS Handa Seniors Championship, and so unfortunately it is very much an unknown quantity for DFS gamers.

Lee Westwood of Europe celebrates a birdie on the 6th green during…

Lee Westwood of Europe celebrates a birdie on the 6th green during the Afternoon Foursomes of the 2014 Ryder Cup on the PGA Centenary course at the Gleneagles Hotel on September 26, 2014 in… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

What we do know is that it has been described as ‘old English’ in style by architect Scott MacPherson, so we’re expecting a classic British parkland track like many we have seen host this event, the BMW PGA Championship and more besides in the past.

The ‘Lee Westwood Colt Course’ will play short at 6,813 yards for its Par 71, and from the images we’ve seen it is fairly exposed in some areas and tightly tree-lined in others, with classic bunkering and lengthy fescue grass.

The course is partly-named after Harry Colt, the architect responsible for Wentworth, so perhaps that offers some clues. Colt also performed renovation work at two other British classics in Royal Liverpool and Muirfield, who hosted the British Open in 2013 and 14.

The weather forecast is for typically English autumnal conditions, with rain showers and winds seemingly on rotation with sunny and cloudy spells. That’s the unpredictable nature of golf in the UK at this time of the year!

Another angle worth pursuing is that the local boys stand a great chance of winning this week. The rollcall of British Masters winners reads like a who’s who of golfing talent from the British Isles: Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie, and Justin Rose, while in 2015 young Matt Fitzpatrick lifted the trophy.

So who makes our fantasy team this week?

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This Week’s British Masters Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s British Masters Fantasy Picks

Alex Noren – $10,400 – The Swede simply loves playing golf in the UK. He’s won the British Masters (he is the defending champion here) and the BMW PGA Championship, as well as the Scottish Open and Welsh Open.

We know how hard it is to defend a title, but the good news is that Noren has at least won the same tournament twice: the Nordea Masters (2011 & 2015) and the European Masters (2009 & 2016).

The world number 14 has won five times on the European Tour since the start of 2016, and when you compare him to Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia – both unbelievably talented, of course, but with downsides to them this week – you have to say that Noren is the value play at the head of the market.

Matt Fitzpatrick – $9,200 – The young Englishman is surely set to be the next talent from UK shores to ply their trade on the PGA TOUR full time, such is his obvious ability.

At the age of barely 23, he has already won four times on the European Tour, with the last of those coming in his previous appearance at the European Masters. That came something out of the blue given that he had been out of form for a while, but a return to the winners circle – in which he showed enormous character to win a playoff against Scott Hend – was welcome.

Another who played well at the BMW PGA Championship earlier in the year, finishing T12, and that shows an aptitude for playing at Wentworth – one of the famous Harry Colt layouts. Perhaps that is a good omen for success this week.

Tyrell Hatton – $8,500 – After the mother of all slumps in form, Hatton seemed to return to somewhere near his best at the European Masters with a T3 finish, and we’re happy to suggest that rather than being a flash in the pan it is the first sign of an upward curve in form for the 26-year-old.

During a stint in America earlier in the year he recorded a trio of consecutive top-10s at the Honda Classic, WGC Mexico and Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he’s also bagged T13 and T9 returns in the last two years of this tournament.

T7 at Wentworth in 2016, Hatton is clearly a player who thrives on being back on home soil.

Graeme Storm – $7,600 – A wrist injury has ruined the summer plans of Graeme Storm, who otherwise has been in excellent form in 2017 with that win at the South African Open backed by T6 in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

But green shoots of recovery were in abundance last week at the Portugal Masters, as four rounds in the 60s catapulted him to a T3 finish. The fact that he closed with a 67 suggests there are no lingering concerns about his fitness.

Storm has spent most of his life in Hartlepool, a northern town in England not far from Close House. His familiarity with playing golf in these parts could prove invaluable.

Russell Knox – $7,300 – It’s amazing that Russell Knox has never quite played his best golf in the UK.

Lest we forget, this is a guy who was a fraction away from selection for the 2016 Ryder Cup team, and a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR should not be underestimated.

The Scot was T5 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational early in August, and but for a final round of 71 could have secured a top-20 finish at the Portugal Masters last week. That suggests a return to his best form is bubbling under the surface.

Knox was known as ‘BMW’ at college in Florida for being considered the ultimate driver, and that accuracy off the tee should serve him well on the tree-lined holes at Close House.

Jorge Campillo – $6,700 – Campillo is a fantastic play for DFS gamers. His consistency ensures he makes cuts (he’s made the weekend in 18 of his last 25 starts), and he routinely compiles top-25 finishes with eleven in the past calendar year alone.

The Spaniard tends to play well in the British Isles too, with T26 and T40 at the Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship this year backed by T8 at the Scottish last year and T18 at the British Masters at The Grove.

For what we would have to describe as a bargain basement pick this week, we really can’t ask for any more than that.

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