Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge

2016 CareerBuilder Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Preview

The players head back to the continental United States this week as they begin the West Coast Swing of the 2016 schedule with a visit to multiple courses in the Coachella Valley of California for the CareerBuilder Challenge—formally the Bob Hope Classic and more recently the Humana Challenge.  This unique event will be played at three par-72 courses; PGA West Stadium Course, PGA West Palmer Course, and La Quinta Country Club, while featuring one of the better pro-am events on the schedule.  The tourney was first established in 1960 and has seen the likes of Bing Crosby and Dwight D. Eisenhower break out the clubs for the fun.

Recently, the aforementioned courses have allowed for a very close finish during each of the last six installments of the event with the winner having a margin of victory of two strokes or fewer since 2010; including twice going into a playoff (2011, 2013).  Each of the past four seasons the tourney has been sponsored by Humana, and during that stretch it was an all American winner’s circle with each man topping the leaderboard during that time being from the States and 9-of-11 runners up also coming from the U.S.

Last year it was Bill Haas winning here for the second time after putting up a score of 30-under-par in 2010 which netted him a mere single stroke victory over the likes of Tim Clark, Matt Kuchar, and Bubba Watson.  His score in 2015 (-22) was not quite as impressive, but he did need to fend off five other players (Charley Hoffman, Matt Kuchar, Park Sung-joon, Brendan Steele, and Steve Wheatcroft) in order to take home the trophy.

The field will have some impressive names with veteran Phil Mickelson kicking off his season while being joined by OWGR No. 20 and two-time runner-up here, Matt Kuchar.  The man to beat in terms of ranking will be No. 10 Patrick Reed who has been on a tear recently with three top-10s and a 12th over his first four outings of the new season.

A couple of youngsters, 24-year-old Smylie Kaufman and 23-year-old Emiliano Grillo, will seek to become the first multiple-time winners of the new year as they usher in a new core of youth into the sport.

The names that have gone home with the win in this event have rarely been huge and with the crazy amount of scoring that will be done across the three courses, many different players will have the opportunity to get their name etched on the trophy.

Let’s preview a few “sleeper” names who may not have the best odds this week (all have Vegas odds of 50/1 or greater), but could easily outperform their expectations in California.

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2016 CareerBuilder Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Report

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2016 CareerBuilder Challenge 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.

Tony Finau – Vegas Odds 66/1: Finau was one of the breakout stars from last season as he was able to make 22-of-31 cuts and get into the top-10 five times.  He frequently saw his name towards the top of the leaderboard and was competitive in the toughest of situations, raking in top-15s at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.  Much of his success stems from his immense driver, which averaged 309 yards last year (7th on TOUR), while going for 317.4 yards this season (6th on TOUR).  He doesn’t just bomb drives all day, though, also hitting 67.61% of GIR (57th on TOUR) last year while seemingly improving his putting over his four tournaments this season (0.235 strokes gained).  The 26-year-old has turned in a perfect 4-for-4 mark in making it to the weekend so far in this young campaign, including a 9th place finish at the CIMB Classic behind consecutive 66s on the weekend.  When he was here last year, a Thursday 71 and Sunday 74 derailed his final standing, but his score of 65 on the second day shows that he is capable of shooting low, and with another year of experience under his belt he should push for that top spot.

Cameron Tringale – Vegas Odds 75/1: Tringale is a top-100 player who seems to struggle when under the pressure of the big lights but thrives with the weaker fields at the beginning of the season.  He has yet to earn a win in his 167 career starts, but does have a runner-up showing during each of the past three seasons and did so already this year when he shot 15-under-par at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.  He followed that up with a 14th place finish at the CIMB Classic and seems poised to make a run at things in California behind an all-around solid game.  Last year he ranked 21st in driving accuracy (68.5%), 61st in total strokes gained (0.315), and 27th in scrambling (62.09%), so he should be ready to do well on any of the three courses this week.

James Hahn – Vegas Odds 90/1: Hahn had a breakout 2015 campaign which was highlighted by his first career PGA TOUR victory at the Northern Trust Open where he shot six-under and took home the big check after a playoff.  Overall he did well during the year, though; making 19-of-28 cuts (68%) and was in the top-25 another four times on top of his win.  Hahn has been able to parlay that success into the early going of this season with a perfect 4-for-4 record of getting to the weekend and really showed up at the CIMB Classic in early November with a score of 21-under; good enough for sixth place.  He should be able to match or do better than his tie for 20th that he had here last year behind some confidence from the past year.

John Senden – Vegas Odds 100/1: Since 2007, Senden has been in the top-50 of the FedExCup final standings 7-of-9 years and as recently as 2014 was in the top-25 (23rd).  He saw a drop off of production last season, though, ranking 73rd when all was said and done.  He did not play too poorly, though, making 16-of-24 cuts (66%) and making a visit to the top-10 three times.  For a 44-year-old, Senden has maintained solid distance off the tee, ranking 89th on TOUR last season (290.2 yards per), with great accuracy (66.6%, 37th on TOUR).  His putting was suspect, but so far in the new season, he has been able to improve that stat to the tune of 0.324 strokes gained on the field.  Senden is coming off of three consecutive made cuts and the two-time PGA TOUR victor should be able to maintain a steady stream of scoring this week.

Kevin Streelman – Vegas Odds 125/1: Streelman is by no means a worldbeater on TOUR, but he has been a consistent veteran over the last few years and even owns two trophies which were won in 2013 and 2014.  Last year, he did not have a great FedExCup finish (75th), but showed that consistency once again with trips to the weekend in 20-of-27 events (74%) and did do well enough to get a runner-up finish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.  Streelman is not a sexy pick as he doesn’t possess a terribly long drive or amazing putting ability, but he is a clean ball-striker and rarely makes mistakes as evidenced by ranking 34th in bogey avoidance 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 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge here.

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