Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge

The 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge Sleeper Preview

The PGA TOUR returns to the mainland this week with the Careerbuilder Challenge; formally known as the Bob Hope Classic (until 2012).  This event is unlike most during the year as it features a 54-hole cut after the players have each played a round on one of the three featured courses.

Both PGA West’s Nicklaus Course, a par-72, 7,204-yard venue, and La Quinta Country Club feature a par-72. 7,060-yard layout will be played once as the players put most of their focus on getting to play the PGA West Stadium course (par-72, 7,300 yards) a second time on Sunday.

After two weeks in Hawaii, the players will feel a lot better about their chances here thanks to current FedExCup leader Justin Thomas taking a week off.  The 23-year-old pulled off a Hawaiian sweep between the Tournament of Champions and Sony Open, earning his third and fourth career victories while posting a ridiculous combined score of 49-under in the wins.

With the format of this event once going five days behind the heavy contingency of celebrity players, many of the top names would shy away from making the trip to California, and as a result the past decade hasn’t seen many of the elite golfers taking home the trophy here.  The likes of Charley Hoffman (2007), Bill Haas (2010, 2015), and Patrick Reed (2014) certainly prove that some more established golfers have done well among a typically weaker field that has also allowed D.J. Trahan (2008), Mark Wilson (2012), and Brian Gay (2013) to dominate.

It takes a lot of scoring to top the leaderboard here as the victor has averaged nearly 27 strokes under par with five of the past seven installments ending with either a playoff or a one-shot difference.  Last year was no different as Jason Dufner posted a final score of 25-under-par and held off David Lingmerth over two extra holes.  It was Lingmerth’s second playoff loss in this event since 2013.

We will have the privilege of watching Phil Mickelson’s first start of the calendar year as the two-time champion (2002, 2004) looks to add to his 42 career PGA TOUR wins; none of which have come since his Open Championship victory in 2013.  Another former champion, Patrick Reed, represents the top player from the Official World Golf Rankings, coming into this week ranked ninth after being bumped a spot thanks to Thomas’ recent hot streak.

Some the other well known golfers teeing it up this week include top-50 players No. 16 Paul Casey, No. 25 Emiliano Grillo, No. 33 Francesco Molinari, No. 37 Zach Johnson, No. 41 Kevin Kisner, No. 42 Bill Haas, and No. 47 Kevin Na.  Of course we will need to continue keeping an eye on 22-year-old Jon Rahm out of Spain who has four top-10s in a mere 15 career starts.

With so few big names on the entrants list this week, the door will be open for a few sleepers to make their way to the top of the leaderboard.  Over the last few seasons we have seen Park Sung-joon, Steve Wheatcroft, Robert Garrigus, and John Mallinger all come in as the runner-up here despite owning a single career win between them.  That said, below are a few long-shots we think could make some noise in Cali and outplay their Vegas odds come Sunday.

The 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Report

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