Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2015 CIMB Classic

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2015 CIMB Classic

2015 CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Preview

Following another week with a youngster taking down his first career victory at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the PGA TOUR now heads out of the country for the CIMB Classic in Malaysia.  Last week it was none other than our sleeper pick Smylie Kaufman who was able to destroy his 175/1 odds behind a score of 16-under-par and continue his strong play from the Web.com Tour during the 2014-15 season.

The Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club will be hosting the event this week and the venue is no stranger to big events, hosting tournaments for the European and LPGA TOUR as well.  The par-72, 6,951-yard course has hosted this event since 2010 and has seen four different Americans win during that time.  Big scores are attainable here as evidenced the victor here has posting a score of 22-under or better on two different occasions, with Bo Van Pelt’s 23-under in 2011 being the lowest mark.

The CIMB Classic did not become an official PGA TOUR event until 2014, and in the two years since then it has been Ryan Moore who owns the title of champion in each installment.  Over the two years, he has combined to score 31 strokes under par and he outplayed Gary Woodland, the runner-up each time, by a playoff in 2014 and three strokes last season.  Moore dominated the field last year with four consecutive rounds of 69 or better, including tallying 10-strokes under par over the weekend.

The field is a mere 78 players deep with 60 of the spots being guaranteed to players who compete in the FedExCup championship, but there are certainly a few big names looking to stop Moore from winning on his third consecutive visit.  Leading the pack is world No. 7 player Henrik Stenson who will be joined by No. 11 Sergio Garcia, and No. 15 Hideki Matsuyama from the top-15.  Also from the top-25 in the Official World Golf Rankings will be No. 16 Adam Scott, No. 19 Patrick Reed, No. 21 Kevin Na, No. 22 Branden Grace, and No. 24 Paul Casey.

With so many top names up against such a small field it will be hard for the weaker opponents to make themselves heard, but as in the previous two week we’re certain that a few will always shine thorough, so let’s take a look through the entrants and find some sleepers who could outperform their odds this week.

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2015 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

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2015 CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Kevin Chappell – Vegas Odds 75/1: Chappell has not boasted the best showings over the first two outings of the year, but will look to build off of a third consecutive season in the FedExCup standings top-55 after finishing in 52nd last year.  He has yet to hit for a win in his 142 career PGA TOUR starts, but has been the runner-up twice and was consistently near the top last year with 11 top-25s in his 17 cuts made.  Just like his results, his stats are solid across the board—despite not being elite in any one area—and he can combine a solid drive (293.5 yards per in 2015) with 0.170 strokes-gained putting (61st on TOUR in 2015) to give himself a chance moving forward.  It has been a long road for Chappell who is still searching for his first win, but the 29-year-old is moving in the right direction and one weekend it will all come together.

Matt Jones – Vegas Odds 80/1: Jones will be playing in his second event this year after a rough go of things at the Frys.com Open to kick off the season, but he is always a threat to put up some huge numbers as evidenced by him making 20-of-25 cuts (80%) last year.  Of those 20 visits to the weekend, he earned two third-place finishes and had a total of seven top-25s.  His finish to the year was also quite impressive, making four straight cuts while showing up big at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a fourth-place.  It was the Aussie’s second consecutive season making more than $1.9 million and he ranked in the top-50 in both driving distance (296 yards per, 46th on TOUR) and strokes-gained putting (0.397, 20th on TOUR).  This 35-year-old can compete any week and will likely make some moves come Sunday in Malaysia.

Rory Sabbatini – Vegas Odds 90/1: Sabbatini has seen his OWGR ranking drop to 129th, but he still should be considered a contender behind his six career PGA TOUR victories.  He has not won since 2011, but did post four top-10s last year and was in the top-100 in the FedExCup standings for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.  His 2014-15 campaign was his best since 2011 in terms of money earned and he can thank the ability to hit greens in regulation as he ranked 52nd in that key statistic last year.  Rory also had plenty of birdie chances last year with 72.22% of GIR hit as he posted a tie for 25th last week’s Shriners Open.  He may get lost in the shuffle at this point in his career, but look out for the seasoned veteran to get to the weekend and make a push at a top spot.

Hudson Swafford – Vegas Odds 125/1: Swafford is not a sexy pick, but he has shown that he plays better during fall tournaments and finished off the 2015 season with made cuts in six of his last eight events.  He also took on the Frys.com Open with a solid performance, putting 2.374 strokes better than the field and earned himself a tie for 17th.  He’s hit better than 66% of GIR in each of his first two tournaments this year and has crushed the ball to the tune of 324.5 yards per drive; good enough for fifth on the PGA TOUR so far.  His big driver should put him in position to score at this rather short course this weekend.

Nick Taylor – Vegas Odds 150/1: Taylor had just one great week last year, but it was huge one as he earned a PGA TOUR victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship behind a final round of 66.  He was generally inconsistent besides that, making it to the weekend in 17-of-28 attempts (61%) while getting into the top-25 just one other time.  Nick is coming off an early top-25 this year, tying for 25th despite a final round score of one-over par last week.  Over the first two events, he has eclipsed 0.875 strokes better than the field each time and last week hit 65.28% of greens in regulation.  The 27-year-old should continue to improve as he gains crucial experience in his second full season as a PGA TOUR professional and despite the tough field could perform well.

Need a few more options to fill up your roster?  Remember to check out our new fantasy predictions stats page for Golficity Predicted Fantasy Points, Price Per Fantasy Point, and more info on every player in this week’s field!

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions?  Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2015 CIMB Classic here.

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