Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – AT&T Byron Nelson

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the AT&T Byron Nelson

The AT&T Byron Nelson Sleeper Preview

Well, that was unexpected.  Si-Woo Kim has become the youngest PLAYERS Champion in history at the tender age of 21, and you sense that a new star has been born.

The manner in which he handled his title-winning round – nine straight pars as those around him capitulated – suggests there are many, many more to come in the future.  Detractors will point to the fact that Si-Woo is an underwhelming PLAYERS Championship winner compared to the likes of Tiger Woods, Jason Day, and Martin Kaymer…but who’s to say he won’t join such illustrious company in the major champions club in the years to come.

It’s always sad to wave the iconic TPC Sawgrass goodbye, especially when it is followed by the *whisper it* rather underwhelming TPC Four Seasons.  The players are on record as saying this is one of their least favorite courses on Tour, and as such it is perhaps no surprise to learn that it will be replaced as AT&T Byron Nelson host venue from 2019 onwards.

That said, another high-quality field has assembled in Texas.  We’ve got not one but six recent major champions in Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, and Jimmy Walker, plus a whole cavalcade of talented youngsters and Texan specialists.

Mind you, it might not be enough to be a major winner.  Garcia may be a winner of a big one – and the defending champion here – but the rollcall of recent winners here is more of a “who’s that?”  than a who’s who of world golf.  Steven Bowditch, Sangmoon Bae, and Brendan Todd have all lifted this trophy in the past five years…answers on a postcard as to why.

Maybe it’s because TPC Four Seasons is an all-round test of golf.  You don’t need to be particularly long or accurate off the tee, you can find greens or scramble well and as for putting – Garcia ranked 41st for this stat last year, so you can just about get by with the flatstick without pulling up any trees.

So who are the likely long shots sleepers that will make the most of this set up?  Let’s take a look.

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The AT&T Byron Nelson 2017 Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The AT&T Byron Nelson 2017 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.

Jason Dufner – Vegas Odds 50/1

There is a really nice feel to the Duf-man’s game at the moment, and on a track where he is a former winner – plus he’s gone six-for-six here, with three top-10s – so he has to be taken seriously.

Dufner has played well in Texas countless times, including T6 at Colonial a year ago, and his game is ideally suited to this Four Seasons assignment.  Excellent off the tee both in terms of length and accuracy, his approach play around the green is sublime and ranking 47th for SG: Putting suggests his flat stick has come to the party in 2017 too.

His formline of 60-5-11-33-12 is rather ruined by that T60 return at THE PLAYERS, but really that was tainted by a third round of 77.  His three other rounds were perfectly acceptable.

Ryan Palmer – Vegas Odds 55/1

There are a number of Texan specialists out there on the PGA TOUR, and Ryan Palmer has to be firmly classified as such…not surprising given that he is born and bred here.

His last three starts prior to THE PLAYERS Championship ended with a T11 at the RBC Heritage, T6 at the Texas Open and solo fourth (you know what we mean) at the team-based Zurich Classic, and those follow a T3 return from another Texan jaunt, the Dean & Deluca Invitational, a year ago.

Palmer is a long hitter who excels with a medium iron in his hand, and if he lives up to his ‘Par 5 killer’ billing (ranking 16th on tour for Par 5 BOBL) – while playing the Par 4s sensibly – then he could have another lofty finish to his name.

Charl Schwartzel – Vegas Odds 66/1

A missed cut at Sawgrass is not enough to put us off this South African who is a major champion, has won numerous times on US soil, and who has third and eleventh place finishes to his name at Four Seasons.

It’s not been the best of campaigns for Schwartzel but the green shoots of recovery are clearly there – third at The Masters and sixth at the Valspar Championship speak for themselves, and certainly from a betting perspective he is a far more likely winner here than many above him in the sportsbooks’ listings.

Hudson Swafford – Vegas Odds 100/1

The CareerBuilder Challenge winner’s record at Four Seasons shows an upturn from a MC in 2014 to T33 last year – not an outrageous show of enhancement, we’ll grant you, but an improvement nonetheless.

Swafford has poked his head above the parapet a few times since lifting his maiden trophy, with top-10s at the Houston Open an Arnold Palmer Invitational further evidence of what this young buck is all about.

He has the length to take on this windy challenge and the form (five cuts made from seven) to be a real asset.

J.T. Poston – Vegas Odds 175/1

He might not have made the same flying start to life as a PGA TOUR professional as some of his fellow young graduates, but you can rest assured that J.T. Poston will be delighted to have made 14 cuts from 17 starts – an excellent record.

He’s now seen the weekend in his last nine outings, with top-30s in six of those, and his game looks well matched to Four Seasons: his approach work from 125-200 yards is typically excellent, and while putting might not be his strongest suit the switch from Bermuda to Bentgrass should suit him.

So far Poston has thrived in windy conditions on the Tour’s tougher stretches, so perhaps the AT&T Byron Nelson could be a tournament where he is a factor for years to come.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the AT&T Byron Nelson here.

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