Fantasy Golf Picks & Predictions – 2017 Fiji International

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2017 Fiji International

The Fiji International Fantasy Preview

So that’s it then: major season is over. Justin Thomas landed the final ‘biggie’ of the year at the PGA Championship, and now the PGA TOUR moves slowly into its swansong for 2017 with the FedExCup Playoffs.

But over on the European Tour and we’ve still got a packed schedule to enjoy, and while this week’s Fiji International is something of a lull the action will soon be ramped up a few notches.

This week’s event has plenty of exciting angles in for DFS gamers, not least that the best player tends to win it. Brandt Snedeker triumphed by a ridiculous seven-shots last year, and 12 months earlier Matt Kuchar had out-grinded the field to win by four strokes at -4.

Brandt Snedeker of the USA plays his approach shot to the 18th during…

Brandt Snedeker of the USA plays his approach shot to the 18th during day four of the 2016 Fiji International at Natadola Bay Golf Course on October 9, 2016 in Natadola, Fiji. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The reasons for that are two-fold, the field is genuinely very weak in this European, Asian and Australasian Tour co-sanctioned event, and so unsurprisingly the cream generally rises to the top. Secondly, this Natadola Bay course is a tough nut to crack for the average player.

The first four holes all averaged over par in 2016 – making Snedeker’s exploits all the more impressive, while the Par 4 tenth averaged 4.38 with 120 bogeys to 24 birdies.

The only respite comes at two of the four Par 5s: the sixth hole is only 514 yards and there were 159 birdies and seven eagles there last year, while on the seventeenth the birdie to bogey ratio read 247:17.

Factor in that Fiji is an island, so winds are high, and we can see that this week could turn into something of a grind, with the players having to wait for their moment to score. It will test the mental approach as much as the physical, and that could well be a factor to consider.

So who is making our draft this week? Let’s have a look…

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Our Fiji International Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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The Fiji International Fantasy Picks

Ryan Fox – $11,600 – Fox is the highest salaried player this week, the sportsbook’s favorite and, in truth, a no-brainer selection for any DFS gamer.

The New Zealander arrives in the South Pacific with a stack of quality form to his name, including a trio of back-to-back top-10s at the French, Scottish, and Irish Opens – proving he can play in windy conditions, followed by a decent showing at the PGA Championship last week where the undoubted highlight of his T54 finish was that outstanding second round of 66.

This young man is a Challenge Tour winner and has already represented his country at the Olympic Games of 2016, and like Jordan Smith, who won his first European Tour title recently, Fox simply looks ready to win at the next given opportunity.

The fact that he has course form to his name – third in 2015, sixth in 2014 – is just the icing on the cake.

Andrew Dodt – $10,200 – One of the few players in the field with full European Tour playing rights, Dodt has made the most of his status by cashing big checks at the BMW PGA Championship (T6) and the Scottish Open (T4) this season. He followed up with a T44 at the British Open that featured three excellent rounds in a 69-75-69-70 return.

There aren’t many European Tour title winners in this field, and the Australian has two to his name – the last coming in 2015 at another Southern Hemisphere event in Thailand.

Dodt played much of his golf in Australia and New Zealand growing up, and so will be well versed in these conditions, and his game looks well suited to Natadola Bay: excellent off the tee, he ranks 30th on tour for Greens in Regulation.

Jeunghun Wang – $8,600 – There are a whole bunch of players at this price point who appeal – Jbe Kruger ($9,300), who won the Sun Carnival City Challenge in South Africa last week, Siddikur Rahman ($8,800), the short hitting Bangladeshi who loves a grind, and Austin Connelly, who was so impressive in finishing 14th at the British Open.

So we’re taking a huge gamble on backing Wang given that he has missed the cut in four of his last five starts. But three of those were on Links – the Korean clearly isn’t a fan! – and in his last outing he missed the weekend at the PGA Championship by a solitary stroke.

You only have to go back to June for his last top-ten finish at the Nordea Masters, and – to be brutally honest – in this field we’re happy to take a so-called out of form player who has won three times on the European Tour since the start of 2016.

Jason Scrivener – $7,600 – This Australian boasts all of the hallmarks of a potential winner this week, ranking 101 on the European Tour for Birdies per Round, 94 for Par 5 Scoring and 70 for Bogey Avoidance.

With that make-up, Scrivener can score when required but make par on the tougher holes – a decent recipe when things become a grind.

He’s yet to win a tour level event but was the Australian Junior champion, and bits and pieces of form – T20 at the European Open in 2016, and T10 at the Hong Kong Open, fourth at the Super 6 and T5 at the Rocco Forte Open this year – suggest he can get into the mix on occasion.

Adilson Da Silva – $7,400 – Now here’s a guy who loves a co-sanctioned event. Top 20s at the Indian Open, Hong Kong Open, and the Mauritius Open suggest he likes playing in the Southern Hemisphere and that he loves a grind, too.

And why not: the veteran ranks second on the European Tour for Driving Accuracy, so no course will faze him, and he will stand in good stead tackling these tricky Par 4s.

He ranks 73rd for Par 4 Scoring and 11th for Bogey Avoidance too, so by eliminating mistakes another top-20 finish is certainly in the offing this week. Da Silva finished T4 in his last start at the Sun City Challenge in South Africa earlier in August.

Ryan McCarthy – $7,100 – McCarthy, who only plays sporadically on the European Tour and in co-sanctioned events, ranks 53rd for Driving Accuracy and 56th for Distance – that’s a Total Driving stat to be proud of.

That sets him up for a rank of seventh in Par 4 Scoring – essential this week, and 96th for Bogey Avoidance.

Can the big Australian do the business this week? Well, there have been signs in 2017 that he is ready for a breakthrough. He would have gone top-20 at the prestigious Australian PGA Championship but for a final round of 76, and followed that by just missing out on the matchplay part of the Perth upper 6, despite firing -7.

Top-25s at the Swiss Challenge and the Lyoness Open followed, before an outstanding T19 at the Porsche European Open, where he tied with Patrick Reed and outscored Jimmy Walker, was the pick of the bunch at the end of July.

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