Fantasy Golf Predictions – 2017 Lyoness Open

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2017 Lyoness Open

The Lyoness Open European Tour Fantasy Preview

It’s always exciting to see talented youngsters entering the winner’s circle on the European Tour, and the latest cab off the rank is Renato Paratore.

The Italian has long been fancied to do some damage on the continent with his powerful long hitting and soft touch around the green, and he finally cashed in on that latent potential with a one shot victory at the Nordea Masters last time out over defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood.

Where will Paratore go from here? Who knows, but if he is to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots he will be hoping for a more Francesco Molinari trajectory than Matteo Manassero (apologies, Matteo).

Golf on both sides of the pond feels a bit lacklustre this week what with the US Open just around the corner, and while the beauty of the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg cannot be questioned, the quality of the field in Austria for the Lyoness Open can.

It’s never been the most prestigious event on Tour, that’s for sure, and 12 months ago Ashun Wu saw off Adrian Otaegui and 54-hole leader Zander Lombard to claim his second European Tour title. But if those names don’t exactly fill you with excitement, you can be forgiven.

There is a local interest at least. The outstanding Bernd Wiesberger headlines this week on home soil, and the big Austrian will no doubt be looking to rack up another victory as he eyes a call-up to the full PGA TOUR next season. He lifted the Shenzhen International trophy just a matter of weeks ago, and would love to recapture the title in front of his own fans that he secured back in 2012.

His competition is not exactly fierce. Ryder Cup man Chris Wood and the excellent Joost Luiten deserve respect of course, but other than that it is a field made up of journeyman pros and talented youngsters. Maybe the next Renato Paratore will make his presence felt?

There aren’t many unique characteristics to Diamond CC, but is certainly a picturesque place to play your golf. A Par 72 at 7,417 yards, water is in play on nine holes but the wide fairways and fast greens have aided low scoring in the past. The leading trio here – Wiesberger, Luiten and Wood – have all won this event, carding -19 in 2012, -17 in 2013 and -15 in 2015 respectively. Last year’s winner, Ashun Wu, claimed the title in -13 despite the conditions on the Friday being nigh-on unplayable with howling winds.

So who is looking like being the key daily fantasy picks this week for the Lyoness Open?  Let’s take a look.

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Our Lyoness Open European Tour Fantasy Picks and Predictions

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The Lyoness Open European Tour Fantasy Picks

Bernd Wiesberger – $12,100 – How can we not start off with Wiesberger? Okay, so a huge chunk of your salary cap will be gone, but as we will discover later in this preview there are plenty of lower priced options to bulk out your line-up.

The Austrian’s formline on home soil reads 10-MC-2-14-1, so straight off the bat his selection is a no brainer, and when you factor in his current form – 30-4-1 – we can see he is in excellent touch too.

With nine top-five finishes on the European Tour in the past year alone and a world ranking now up to 29th, Wiesberger is streets ahead of this field. If he holds himself together when the pressure is on, he should win this event no questions asked.

Jaco van Zyl – $8,500 – This is the South African’s first visit to Diamond CC, but he possesses an excellent all-round game and should enjoy himself on a track where no demons lie.

He has finished runner-up five times on the European Tour without winning, and yet he has landed a staggering 14 Sunshine Tour titles in the past few years, so surely his breakthrough on the continent is due?

Second at the Qatar Masters in January, Van Zyl has scratched around since then but a handy trio of 36-14-24 in his last three outings suggests his best form is returning.

Eddie Pepperell – $7,200 – If anybody in the UK slipped on Sky Sports to watch the Nordea Masters coverage they may have heard Eddie Pepperell on commentary duties for a spell.

He spoke openly about the malaise his game had fallen into, and that having to return to qualifying school was exactly the kick up the backside he needed. Back with his former coach, Pepperell’s form has been improving and spiked with a T8 at the Nordea at the weekend.

Like Van Zyl, he has never played Diamond CC before, but an upbringing on parkland style courses in England will stand him in good stead.

Sebastian Soderberg – $6,900 – There is a lack of quality in this Lyoness Open field, and so it might just take a young gun to make themselves known to challenge the elite players in the mix.

On that front, you would argue that Sebastian Soderberg is capable. He has shown glimpses of outrageous skill – his first round of 61 at the Rocco Forte Open for instance – and when the Swede gets on a roll he is relentless.

Unfortunately for him the high finishes haven’t necessarily followed, but he has shown with T11 at the Jo’burg Open and T18 at Rocco Forte that he can go consistently well across four rounds.

Maybe Paratore’s victory last week will spur on this similarly talented youngster.

Chris Wood – $6,900 – DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SCREEN. Yep, somebody at DraftKings has made a major balls-up of their pricing for this event.

And so two-time European Tour winner and Ryder Cup participant Chris Wood, whose form at Diamond CC reads 6-1, is available at the same kind of price as many players not fit to lace his boots.

Factor in a pair of top-five finishes in China and at the Nordea in his last three starts and DK gamers simply have to pick the man.

Ryan Fox – $6,400 – An intriguing return to form last time out for Ryan Fox, the big-hitting Kiwi who will appreciate a bit of extra room off the tee this week.

His T21 at the Nordea Masters brought to an end a run of three starts without a weekend made, and for a player who served up a whopping EIGHT top-five finishes on the Challenge Tour between June and November last year clearly this is a ‘streaky’ guy who can connect good form.

Decent showings at the Australian PGA Championship (ninth) and the Abu Dhabi Championship (T19) highlight that Fox can mix it with good company, and so a lower-rung event offers up plenty of opportunities….doesn’t it?

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Cover photo via Instagram