Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – CIMB Classic

2018 CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

The wind. It’s a golfer’s nightmare, and even the best players in the world are occasionally afflicted by the yips in a breeze.

On Sunday, we saw not one but two supremely gifted golfers throw away titles in a gale that could knock the eyebrows off you if you turned your head too quickly.

Tyrell Hatton, an under-the-radar star of the European Ryder Cup team, threw away his chance of a historic three-peat at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – he led by four shots at one point, and Brandt Snedeker failed to capitalize on a similarly healthy lead at the Safeway Open.

It was breezy, to say the least, in Napa, but that’s no excuse really for an experienced campaigner like Snedeker to struggle so badly. Maybe he lacked the necessary power to hit through the wind – his two fellow play-off protagonists, Kevin Tway and Ryan Moore, are certainly not lacking for length off the tee.

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It was Tway who would eventually get the job done on the third extra hole, and that victory adds another surname to the list of father-and-son champions on the PGA TOUR.

The players head off on a three-week jaunt to Asia this week, with the CIMB Classic from the very wet TPC Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The, it’s the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in Korea next week followed by the final WGC event of the year in China at the HSBC Champions.

Many of the players in Malaysia have shared photos on social media of the weather conditions in the Far East. It’s monsoon season out there – good idea hosting a golf event there then! – and lo and behold the downpours have arrived.

The spectre of lift and clean and a Monday finish will rear their head, although a reduced field of just 78 players should hopefully help to minimize delays.

At a TPC Kuala Lumpur layout that is easy enough to handle at the best of times, with the last three winning scores being -24, -23 and -26 here, the likelihood is that the CIMB Classic will descend into a pin-seeking shootout on such soft greens.

So who are the sleepers best placed to take advantage of such a set-up in Malaysia?

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The CIMB ClassicFantasy Sleeper Report

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The CIMB Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Charles Howell III – Vegas Odds 50/1 – The one hope that Charles Howell III backers have this week is that he has been inspired by Keegan Bradley’s win at the BMW Championship.

It’s been even longer since Chucky Three-Sticks last won on the Tour, but it’s important to note that he is definitely good enough to get in the winner’s circle.

It would likely come at an event like this, incidentally at a track that he has a top-10 at, and just think about the possibilities of the rain reducing the contest to 54 holes: CHIII could win without having to go through the finishing line nerves that have clearly dogged him in the past!

Anirban Lahiri – Vegas Odds 80/1 – It has been a wretched few months for Anirban Lahiri, but a return to Asian soil should suit a player who seems to love life in Malaysia.

A former winner of the European Tour’s Malaysian Open, Anirban also has a run of form at TPC Kuala Lumpur of 10-3, and while we can debate the merits of course form until we’re blue in the face, clearly this part of the world brings the best out of Lahiri.

The 31-year-old has won eighteen – yes, you read that right – times worldwide, and while PGA TOUR followers haven’t seen the best of him be under no illusions: Lahiri can play some top-class golf.

Austin Cook – Vegas Odds 80/1 – Clearly we’re looking for players who can shoot seriously low numbers this week.

That suits Austin Cook down to the ground, who won the RSM Classic at -21 and who ranked 25th for Birdie Average in the 2018 season (if you see what we mean).

There was a round of 63 in amongst his last effort of the campaign at the BMW Championship, and a strong showing at the Sony Open – a potential correlating course for TPC Kuala Lumpur – bodes well for his chances of a decent week.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat – Vegas Odds 100/1 – It’s a bit of a cop out, backing an Asian player on home soil, but Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s record on home(ish) soil is phenomenal.

He’s won in Malaysia before, as well as China, Thailand, India and Australia, so the hot and humid conditions won’t put ‘the Barnrat’ off.

A real GIR merchant and an aggressive pin seeker, the conditions in Kuala Lumpur should suit a player desperate to make his mark in an event co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR.

James Hahn – Vegas Odds 125/1 – It’s take a punt time on James Hahn, a two-time PGA TOUR winner with some cracking form at TPC Kuala Lumpur to his name.

Ninth in 2016 and T6 a year prior to that, Hahn is a dangerous customer when he gets into the mix, and a T2 return from another of our correlating courses at Waialae excites us further.

A poor run of form of late diminishes the enthusiasm somewhat, but a chance to reset at a course he loves – and with no cut – should allow Hahn to plunder plenty of birdies in friendly conditions.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for The CIMB Classic here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2018-2019)

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