Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2021 Fortinet Championship

2021 Fortinet Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

After some time for everyone to replenish their batteries, it’s back to the grindstone we go for the Fortinet Championship.

This has been a really handy event for bettors in recent years, with Stewart Cink, Cameron Champ and Kevin Tway all to be filed under the ‘surprise’ winner category at odds of 100/1 or greater.

Yes, we can begin to dream of a repeat….

Of course, it’s about identifying those with the game to flourish at Silverado, our host venue this week, and that triumvirate offers up some handy clues.

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There’s no mystery to how they go about their business – hit it as far as you can off the tee, but the difference is that each of them had an excellent week with their irons and wedges. The key is that the North Course at Silverado has thin fairways, and so all players – no matter how precise – can and will miss them.

So, would you rather be hitting from the rough having driven your ball 320 yards or 290?

There are other differentiators, and an ability to put on Poa Annua greens – native to this part of the United States – can be the difference between success and failure. Quite slow in nature, Silverado’s green are pretty unique in their make-up.

Cink averaged 315 yards off the tee, ranked eighth for SG: Approach and made 23 birdies – plus just two bogeys – on his way to a two-stroke victory here in 2020, and that was a remarkable turnaround for a 47-year-old who hadn’t won on Tour for a decade. Surprise surprise, there was something of a narrative with his son Regan carrying his bag. These things can make all the difference, particularly in weak field events at the start of the season….

With the weather set fair, and with the wind seemingly at a manageable pace according to the early forecast, there will be very few demons in place at Silverado, and so a winning score of -20 or better is to be expected.

But who will make it? The bookmakers believe it will be Jon Rahm, who at 5/1 is one of the shortest-priced favorites you’re likely to see on the PGA TOUR. But with the Ryder Cup next week, will the Spaniard be fully focused on the task in hand?

Fire up the betting market and you will see players from 30/1 and outwards that don’t exactly scream likely champion, but that has been the way at this Safeway Open, which has changed its name this year for commercial reasons.

So, with all of the above in the dossier, who has made the cut for our Fortinet Championship 2021 sleeper shortlist?

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2021 Fortinet Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Cameron Champ – 50/1 – Four starts ago, Cameron Champ was taking down the 3M Open, and so consequently he has to be considered a live contender at a venue where he has also triumphed before.

There won’t be much science to his approach this week, and he will simply hit it as far as he can, hope to nudge it close and then make a putt or two.

The truth is that Champ’s iron and wedge game has been better of late, and that could propel a player with a clear appetite for winning onto another PGA TOUR title.

Sebastian Munoz – 50/1 – A birdie-fest predicated on approach play from 100-150 yards, Sebastian Munoz could really come to the fore this week.

The Colombian has been slowly and steadily improving for the past few months, culminating in a near miss for the medal places at the Olympic Games and top-30s in quality company at THE NORTHERN TRUST and BMW Championship.

If Munoz continues at that level, there is no reason why he can’t go close given the thin field this week.

Maverick McNealy – 66/1 – If we count back Maverick McNealy’s last seven strokeplay events, he has delivered six top-30 returns….four of which were top-20s.

Often such consistency gets rewarded, and would it be a surprise if a Californian on his return home found that marginal gain that takes him into the winner’s circle?

A birdie machine, McNealy has the length and the putting chops to win a PGA TOUR event sooner or later – could it come this week at Silverado?

Talor Gooch – 80/1 – We’ve stuck by Talor Gooch in the hope that he will claim that maiden PGA TOUR title sooner rather than later, and that could well come at Silverado.

It’s certainly a layout that taps into his best attributes – long enough off the tee, he possesses a quality iron game and is prolific as a birdie maker.

An excellent scrambler, Gooch is a hot outer away from contending….could Poa Annua greens, where he has shone before, be the catalyst?

Hank Lebioda – 125/1 – As golf bettors, we can from time to time be guilty of dropping in-form players when they appear to have lost a little bit of their hot streak.

That was the case for Hank Lebioda, who followed three consecutive top-10 finishes by withdrawing from the 3M Open and missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship and NORTHERN TRUST.

It was later revealed that his father was seriously ill at that time, and so with better news on that front Lebioda can concentrate on his golf again….which was going rather well not all that long ago.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Fortinet Championship here.

Sleeper Report Predictions LAST Season (2020-2021)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”3.11%” bar_text=”7 out of 225 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “9.78%” bar_text=”22 out of 225 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”22.67%” bar_text=”51 out of 225 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=4.44%” bar_text=”2 out of 45 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”6.67%” bar_text=”3 out of 45 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”60.91%” bar_text=”134 out of 220 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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