Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – Safeway Open

2019 Safeway Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Two weeks of the season, two maiden PGA TOUR winners. There’s a theme developing!

Okay, so the scheduling dictates that this juncture of the season is ripe for the picking for players with designs on winning silverware, but even so you still have to go and take care of business.

And that’s exactly what Joaquin Niemann did at the Greenbrier, and exactly what his friend Sebastian Munoz did at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week.

The Colombian accelerated his chances of a President’s Cup with victory in Mississippi, and he showed the kind of character needed for top-level team golf by holding his nerve in normal play and in the one-hole playoff he needed to see off Sungjae Im.

With all due respect to those concerned, there is a clear step-up in quality this week at the Safeway Open.

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The sunny Napa Valley location helps to draw the elite out of hibernation, and so bettors can take their pick from the likes of Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott and Francesco Molinari this week, as well as Californian favorite Phil Mickelson.

They will be tempted out by the warm weather and the chance to tackle the Silverado Resort layout, which is neither easy nor hard, if that makes sense.

Some holes are quite tricky, with tree-lined fairways that are thinner than is the norm, with thick rough and deep bunkers waiting to lap up any errant drives. But those are the only man-made defenses, although high winds could add to the difficulty awaiting the players – even if these Poa Annua greens run nice and slowly on the stimp, which gives even weaker putters the chance to shine.

But even so, there are plenty of scoring opportunities too, not least the stretch from sixteen through eighteen. Two Par 5s that are reachable in two, and a Par 4 that is just 375 yards, are easily reachable.

And that will set up an exciting finish on Sunday, with those a couple adrift on the leaderboard certainly not out of the equation – as shown by Kevin Tway’s hurtle through the field in round four a year ago.

He birdied 17 and 18 to force his way into a playoff, where his forward momentum proved too much for the slow-finishing Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore. That was Tway’s maiden PGA TOUR win….there’s definitely something in the air with first-time winners.

So, there’s plenty to look forward to in the Napa Valley this week, and we’ve drawn up a shortlist of five sleeper picks for the Safeway Open that will hopefully give bettors an excellent run for their money.

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

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2019-2020)

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