Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2016 Puerto Rico Open

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2016 Puerto Rico Open

The Puerto Rico Open Fantasy Sleeper Preview

As the top players in the world battle it out match play style, the rest of the PGA TOUR heads south this week to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach.  The par-72, 7,569-yard Coco Beach Golf and Country Club will host this event for the ninth straight year as the usually shallow field goes to work.  The course has typically allowed for a ton of scoring in the past as evidenced by an average victory score of just better than 17-under-par over the first seven years of the event before last year’s winner posted a score of seven-under.

One thing that is usually expected is a close match as each installment of this tourney has resulted in having a winner of two strokes or fewer with two years needing to be decided after extra holes.  With very few top players coming from other countries, it has also typically been an American-born player who takes home the trophy, and that held true each year until German Alex Cejka won last season in dramatic fashion, taking four others into a playoff and finishing it off on the very first extra hole with birdie.  It was his first career PGA TOUR victory just as it was for four of the other seven victors in this tourney.

With most of the top names going head-to-head in the bracket style WGC-Dell Match Play this week, the field lacks quite a bit of star power.  Leading the pack this week in terms of odds will be names such as Graham DeLaet, Scott Brown, and William McGirt with both Alex Cejka and Chesson Hadley looking pretty solid as former victors here.

Some former big names that have either lost their touch or just simply been the victim of father time will also be in attendance including former major winners Angel Cabrera, John Daly, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, and David Toms being amongst them.  In terms of Official World Golf Rankings, No. 67 Ian Poulter would take the cake as the highest ranked player this week unless he is called to match play where he is the first alternate this week.  Otherwise it will be No. 77 George Coetzee taking that honor.

This is a great time for a player to pick up their first career win and it seems as if the entire field is comprised of sleepers with just about every name in play.  Still, there are certainly some names that will be looking to turn some heads in this less heralded PGA TOUR event.  Below are some of these “sleeper” golfers who could make some noise in Puerto Rico.

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The Puerto Rico Open 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.

Sam Saunders – Vegas Odds 65/1: Saunders is still best known for being the grandson of one of the most famous golfers of all-time; Arnold Palmer.  Unfortunately, up to this point he has not played anywhere near Arnie’s level, making it to the weekend in a mere 39% of his 61 career events.  Despite that, he does have a ton of talent and has shown that off of late, putting up consecutive top-22 performances between the Honda Classic and Valspar Championship just a few weeks ago.  Saunders ranks in the top-75 in both driving distance (293.6 yards per, 73rd on TOUR) and strokes gained putting (0.215, 72nd on TOUR) which will give him balance and help him prove more relevant among a group such as this one.  For someone so inconsistent, this is a very risky pick at these odds, but the 28-year-old has shown the ability to light it up in streaks and could continue playing well at Coco Beach.

Hiroshi Iwata – Vegas Odds 66/1: Iwata is considered a rookie on the PGA TOUR, but at the age of 35 he certainly does not look the part.  He is a former professional from the Japan Golf Tour where he was able to win two events; one in each of the past two seasons.  From there he went on to a short stint on the Web.Com Tour where he was 3-for-4 in cuts made with two finishes resulting in a top-25.  To this point he has played only 19 PGA TOUR events, making a meager eight trips to the weekend (42%), but has showed his experience by already notching two finishes within the top-10.  His slow start to this season didn’t look promising, but he seems to be catching on as of late and has made three of his last five cuts among larger fields with an impressive tie for fourth coming at the AT&T Pro-Am.  Iwata is one of the best putters on TOUR, tallying 0.575 strokes gained with the flat stick (16th on TOUR) and can get out of trouble with his sand save percentage at 65.22% (5th on TOUR).  This is a name many people are not aware of just yet, but he has experienced winning before and could be clutch thanks to his putting come Sunday.

Nick Taylor – Vegas Odds 80/1: Taylor burst onto the scene last year as part of an impressive rookie class and immediately made an impact, winning the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship early on in that season.  Now, over his first 48 events as a professional, he has made the cut more often than not (54%) and has been able to have a steady yet unspectacular sophomore campaign.  The Canadian-born golfer has played all four days in just three of his past six events, but does do much better when the field is weak as evidenced by earning both of his top-25s during the early stretch of outings when many of the top names are still missing.  Taylor did not attend this tournament last year, but with his ability to do well in this type of setting and an average drive of 299.4 yards (38th on TOUR), he looks poised to put up some nice results.

Peter Malnati – Vegas Odds 100/1: Malnati is one of the higher ranked players in the FedExCup standings attending this event thanks to his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship back in early November.  That was not just a flash in the pan either, as the 28-year-old was twice a victor on the Web.Com Tour and also has been able to get back into the top-10 twice during the 2016 season.  Things have seemed to unravel for him of late though, failing to make the cut in six of his last seven outings while having just 1-of-14 rounds under par during that stretch.  This will be the perfect opportunity for him to get back on track, and despite his recent woes, he has continued to putt well and ranks in the top-20 in strokes-gained putting.  Malnati has the firepower to get things done this week and it would not be a surprise if he was a contender for his second win of the year.

Tyrone Van Aswegen – Vegas Odds 100/1: Van Aswegen will look to make it two years in a row that a player from outside of the United States wins in Puerto Rico and he should certainly have a chance to do just that as he continues his best career season.  Over his first two years on the TOUR, Van Aswegen played in 45 events and made a respectable 23-of-44 cuts (52%), but has really turned it on in 2016 with a made cut percentage of 79% in his 14 events while jumping into the top-25 on three occasions.  The South African’s best showing came at the Frys.com Open where he tied for third, but he has shown up with some big weeks against tougher competition, finishing in the top-20 at both the Waste Management Open and Northern Trust Open.  Van Aswegen is the exact type of player that can often come out of a field such as this one and win his first career PGA TOUR event, and it will be fun to see if he can do just that when Sunday afternoon rolls around.

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 Puerto Rico Open here.

Cover photo via Flickr