Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2015 OHL Classic at Mayakoba

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

2015 OHL Classic Fantasy Sleeper Preview

One of the newer events on the PGA TOUR, the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, kicks off this week in Playa del Carmen, Mexico as the field hits an international venue for the third time in the past month.  They will look to conquer this par-71, 6987-yard course for the ninth consecutive season since its inception in 2007 as the venue has seen its fair share low scores in the past couple of years; especially in 2014 when Harris English posted the first score better than 20-under (-21) with his victory.

English also holds the honor of largest margin of victory in this event as he defeated Brian Stuard by four strokes.  He was the seventh consecutive American to grab the trophy here and last year it was Charley Hoffman who continued this trend with his win.  The one-stroke win over another American, Shawn Stefani, was more along the lines of what the scores have been in the past, as during the eight years of this tourneys existence, the leader on Sunday has won by two strokes three times, one stroke once, and by playoff in three of the years.

As usual with these early season events, there are not a ton of big PGA and European Tour names that will be making the trip, and up to this point no player has been able to hoist the trophy more than once.  The top ranked player in the field will be No. 16 Matt Kuchar as he makes his 2015-2016 season debut.  Also joining him will be last year’s champion, Charley Hoffman, and one of the winners from this season and a future staple on TOUR; Smylie Kauffman.

If it were to be a non-American that breaks through this week, it would be fitting for one of the few Mexican or Latin American players in the field to get it done south of the border.  There are some talented names in this group as well with 2014 Web.Com TOUR Player of the Year Carlos Ortiz hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico while being joined by Angel Cabrera (2-time Major Champion), former PGA TOUR winner Jhonattan Vegas, and four-time PGA TOUR victor Camilo Villegas from nearby South American countries.

This week the field is chalk full of names that would be considered sleepers by most, so let’s take a look at a few now and try to find a break-through player who could enjoy a nice payday come Sunday afternoon.

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2015 OHL Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

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2015 OHL 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.

Jhonatthan Vegas – Vegas Odds 50/1: Venezuelan-born PGA professional Jhonatthan Vegas will look to break the string of Americans winning in Mexico this week and has a great chance to do exactly that.  He is a former winner on the PGA TOUR, taking home the trophy at the Bob Hope Classic in 2011, and is coming off of a 2015 campaign in which he made 18-of-27 cuts (67%).  While this is not the best mark, his previous success at this level combined with recent solid play should give him a leg up on his competition.  Vegas is coming off of a solid fourth-place showing at the Sanderson Farms Championship and already has two top-10s on the young season after getting into the top-25 just once last year.  He’s also posted a score of nine-under on the par-5s in each of his tourneys this season and has hit at least 70% of GIR each week; including getting on under regulation in an incredible 88.9% of his opportunities last week.  Vegas will be looking to represent Latin America in Mexico and should show up with a competitive edge.

Alex Cejka – Vegas Odds 55/1: Continuing on with players that could steal the trophy from the grasp of America is German Alex Cejka.  He may be 44-years-old, but Cejka has 12 professional wins, five of which were either on the PGA our European Tour, and he won his only PGA event recently behind a seven-under score back in March at the Puerto Rico Open.  Cejka won that event in a playoff against four other men and re-solidified himself as a competitor at this level.  He has twice placed in the top-eight at major events, and while his win last season was the only event to write home about, he eclipsed $1 million for the first time since 2004.  He kicked off the new campaign with a runner-up performance at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open and a tie for 17th in the CIMB Classic.  Cejka doesn’t tie into the current youth movement that is taking the TOUR by storm, but he has shown a resurgence as of late and could do well against a rather weak field.

Brett Stegmair – Vegas Odds 66/1: Stegmair has spent the last three seasons on the Web.Com TOUR, making a mere 38-of-73 cuts (52%) there while getting into the top-10 eight times.  Something must have clicked for the 32-year-old, though, as his three made cuts, including a runner-up finish at the Shriners Open and a tie for 15th last week, has already more than quintupled his earnings from 2015 in just three short weeks of work.  Over that stretch, he has nailed better than 70% of GIR each time out and has gained an edge on the field in putting in each of the past two events.  Stegmair may never become a household name, but he has been able to feast on these early season, unimpressive fields with great results, which should continue down south of the boarder.

Stewart Cink – Vegas Odds 66/1: Cink is certainly the most accomplished of the “sleepers” on the list with six previous victories on the PGA TOUR; including top-three finishes in each of the majors and a win at the Open Championship back in 2009.  That big win was the last in his career, but he doesn’t seem ready to go away just yet, and he will look to build off of a 15-under score at the CIMB Classic which fetched him a tie for 17th.  In each of the first two tournaments this season, he has hit the green in regulation at least 79% of the time, but has failed to do much after getting on the putting surface.  If he can find his stroke with the flat iron, he has a chance to get somewhat back to his old form.

Blayne Barber – Vegas Odds 175/1: Barber looks the part of an early season victor these days as the 25-year-old has never won in his 32 PGA TOUR events but is a former winner on the Web.Com TOUR.  He grabbed his first professional win in 2014 at the South Georgia Classic and played his entire season last year at the highest level.  Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned as he made it to the weekend in a mere 12-of-26 attempts (46%), but he did manage to sneak into the top-10 four times.  With those solid finishes and a previous professional win, Barber looks to have a out-of-the blue massive performance coming at some point that will most likely be sooner rather than later—and when better for that to happen than against this field at a course where he grabbed a ninth-place last season.

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 OHL Classic at Mayakoba here.

Cover photo by @ricalderondelabarca on Instagram