Fantasy Golf Predictions – Shenzhen International

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the Shenzhen International

The Shenzhen International Fantasy Preview

After a brief foray to Morocco for last week’s Trophee Hassan II tournament, the European Tour roadshow rolls on for its now annual two-week jaunt in China.

The action will unfold at the Genzon Golf Club for this, the Shenzhen International.  The Korean, Soomin Lee, is the defending champion after a somewhat surprising two-shot victory over Joost Luiten and Brandon Stone.  Only eleven players got within eight shots of his score, such was Lee’s dominance.

Yet such is the vagaries of golf that he really isn’t fancied to defend his title this week: he is available at 75/1 with the sportsbooks and $7,100 with DraftKings; that’s how unfavored he is!

Lee is also not helped by the quality of the field in tow, which features plenty of players capable of lifting the trophy.  Take Tommy Fleetwood, for instance.  He has been excellent on the European Tour for the past year or so, and finally ended his wait for a win in Abu Dhabi.  Since then he has bagged a pair of top-10s on the PGA TOUR – that’s how confidence works!

Fleetwood will duke it out with the likes of Bubba Watson, making his annual sojourn to China, Ross Fisher – fresh from his own decent stint Stateside – Bernd Wiesberger, Joost Luiten, and perennial China specialist Alexander Levy.

So who will be making our draft this week?  Let’s dive into the price tiers to find out.

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Our Shenzhen International Fantasy Picks and Predictions

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The Shenzhen International Fantasy Picks

Tommy Fleetwood – $11,500 – If you are going to fork out a large portion of your budget on a single player, you want certain assurances that they are going to deliver.  In Tommy Fleetwood, we can offer perhaps the best player in this field right now who boasts enough course form to get excited about.

In his three trips to Genzon GC, Fleetwood has delivered returns of 19-3-2; you simply won’t find better than that anywhere.  As if to ramp up the excitement further, he ended a long title drought earlier this year at the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi – helpfully played on Paspalum surfaces.

Then Fleetwood flew over the pond and enjoyed an excellent run: posting top tens in the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T10) and WGC Mexico (second) in company far more illustrious than this.

To complete the picture, Fleetwood had last week off in order to prepare for this event; flying out to China on Saturday and getting a 48-hour headstart on many of his competitors here.  A second trophy of the season beckons for the Englishman.

Peter Uihlein – $10,500 – The American has made no secret of his desire to get onto the PGA TOUR, and he’s going about his business very professionally so far this season.

Top five finishes in the Dubai Desert Classic and Tshwane Open confirm his good form, and DFS fanatics will love this stat: no player that has played in five or more European Tour events this term averages more birdies per tournament than Uihlein (18.66).

Long off the tee and an excellent putter, Uihlein has a top ten finish at Genzon to his name in 2015 plus a T8 at the China Open in the same year.

Hao-Tong Li – $9,300 – If we take this event and the Volvo China Open which follows next week, the last four champions have been of Asian origin: Soomin Lee, Hao-Tong Li (China Open ’16), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Shenzhen ’15), and Ashun Wu (China Open ’15).  So, you will forgive us for wanting an Asian flavor to our draft this week.

Our selection is Li, the phenomenally-talented Chinaman who has by and large dealt well with the pressure of playing in front of his home crowd.  He won the China Open almost 12 months ago of course, and that came after he finished second in this event back in 2015 (as well as sixth in the China Open of the same year).

The European Tour campaign has had its customary slow start to the year but Li has already recorded his first top-five of the campaign at the Maybank Championship, and it’s quite possible that a second will follow this week.

Thorbjorn Olesen – $7,400 – The Dane is often undervalued by DraftKings and other daily fantasy platforms – surprising given that he has four European Tour titles to his name – and that appears to be the case again here.

His form is hit and miss, but when he’s good he is very good; remember his exploits in the admittedly-easy-to-overlook World Cup earlier this year?  Since then he hasn’t offered up much with a T29 on the Paspalum of Abu Dhabi perhaps his best, but for a player whose last win came in November – one of six top-10 finishes in 2016 – we don’t need to be too alarmed.

A T8 at this event was another of those big money finishes, and a T15 at the China Open 12 months ago confirms that he enjoys playing his golf in the country.

Olesen is averaging 15 birdies per event in 2017, and that is very handy indeed.

Bradley Dredge – $7,200 – Another player who hammers in the birdie putts for fun – great news for DFS gamers – is Bradley Dredge, who is averaging 16.667 per event so far this year.

He finished T7 here a year ago to go with top-20 returns at the China Open in 2016 and 2015, plus a T19 at the HSBC Championship a few months ago.  Here’s another guy who loves his golf in the sub-continent.

Dredge hasn’t played since the Desert Swing, and as such has had plenty of time to hone his game away from prying eyes.  We’re expecting a strong showing from the Welshman.

Gary Stal – $6,200 – If you are looking for a complete budget option to supplement your draft then perhaps Gary Stal is the best bet at the bottom end of the market.

He was in the mix at the Trophee Hassan after an opening round of 70, while at this course 12 months ago his opening salvo of 68 was bettered only by three players.

He won the Abu Dhabi Championship on Paspalum back in 2015, and in his last 34 starts he has finished ‘in the money’ in eleven with a stroke average of 72.73.  Stal should make the cut here to ensure he is a value play.

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