Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – The Hero World Challenge

2018 Hero World Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Report

As Frank Sinatra sort of sang ‘and now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain.’ This is the final ‘proper’ PGA TOUR betting event of 2018.

It’s been a fantastic year for golf, and the past few weeks have been nothing short of inspiration as well for those of us of a slightly older vintage. Kuchar, Westwood, Howell III – combined age of about 347 – all winning events on their respective Tours.

There is one final chance for the players to earn some coin and bag a trophy at the Hero World Challenge, which as top-level golf tournaments go has that ‘school’s out for summer’ style vibe about it.

You’re in the Bahamas, you’ve stuffed yourself full of turkey and various other goodies at Thanksgiving, and Christmas is just around the corner.

What’s your motivation for playing the Hero World Challenge? Is it the million bucks in prize money? That seems unlikely given that all 18 of the guys in this field are hardly short of a few cents.

Embed from Getty Images

Is it the chance to top up your tan and enjoy a nice vacation on a beautiful island? Quite possibly, and the inconsistent records of the likes of Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose in this event suggest that some players just don’t fancy grinding it out at certain points in their career.

Are you playing to get your hands on a trophy? That has to be the key factor in any players we bet on this week; that desire to get their hands on some silverware.

Because there is a chance they may have to go to the well to get the job done on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. The host course, Albany GC, is a wide open, exposed Links style layout, which the designers have modeled on Royal Birkdale and other layouts in the Australian sandbelt and the deserts of Dubai.

You’re on an island too, so guess what: there is some ferocious winds blowing in off the Atlantic Ocean. Winning scores here (-18, -18, -25) don’t hint at any great danger, but the truth is that if the wind does get up things could get rather interesting.

That’s the bad news for the players. The good news is that Albany is welcoming to the kind of half-hearted golf that some may opt for this week. The fairways are wide open, the greens are nice and receptive, and other than the wind there really is very little to worry about; assuming you can avoid the huge sand dunes that are not exactly hidden from view.

Unusually for a Par 70, there are five Par 3s and the same number of Par 5s, and so an ability to convert on the longer holes will be crucial: some -9 of Fowler’s -18 total a year ago came at the longer stretches.

The winners here – Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama and Bubba Watson – have very little in common other than an ability to play in high winds, and that coupled with the key factor of motivation is the inspiration behind our three sleeper plays for the Hero World Challenge.

[membership level=”0″]

The Hero World Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Report

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

The Hero World Challenge Fantasy Sleeper Report

Picks have been cut down from 5 to 3 due to the limited field this week.

Alex Noren – Vegas Odds 33/1 – High winds will be of no concern to Alex Noren, who has won on the Links of Scotland, Wales and France, and who also boasts British Open top-10s at Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St Anne’s.

The Swede will win on the PGA TOUR at some point, and why not in an event where motivation in a small field is low? He certainly won’t be lacking in hunger this week; the 36-year-old is desperate to show worldwide audiences what he is capable of.

A satisfactory Asian Swing gave way to a T9 in his last start DP World Tour Championship  the European Tour’s equivalent of the PGA event of the same name, and as mentioned Noren will be packing his clubs for the Bahamas trip with eyes on winning the whole thing; not just working on his t-shirt tan.

Gary Woodland – Vegas Odds 33/1 – Many golfers have in the past spoken of a desire, nay a necessity, to win things when in the bubble of good form.

Gary Woodland has served up six top-20 finishes in his last nine starts, and at a course which should suit his long, straight driving he will finally be looking to cash in.

After flirtations with the top-10 in the final pair of FedExCup events, Woodland banked top-fives on the Asian Swing (T5 at the CIMB Classic, solo second at the CJ Cup) ad came home for another top-10 at the Shriners.

A Phoenix Open champion, we have no qualms about the 34-year-old’s ability to play in strong winds, and right now 33/1 is a great price about him in any tournament; let alone one where there’s 18 players and some of those are only playing to bank some easy appearance money.

Keegan Bradley – Vegas Odds 40/1 – The rank outsider in the field is Keegan Bradley, which is surprising given that his confidence right now is sky high.

The BMW Championship has and will continue to reinvigorate the career of a supremely-talented ball-striker who can’t putt for toffee.

Well, the 32-year-old has improved with the flat stick, and that – combined with his arrow-straight hitting – is a formula that could bring him more glory in 2019 should he remain full of confidence.

Bradley had a good sighter of what’s to come in the Bahamas last week in Australia, where he rocked up at the Australian Open for no other reason than he is loving playing the game at the moment.

That’s a handy angle in against guys who are in holiday mode, and you can bet your bottom dollar there is a part of Keegan Bradley itching to make up for lost time after a barren few years on Tour.

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for The Hero World Challenge here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2018-2019)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”2.90%” bar_text=”1 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”14.30%” bar_text=”5 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”37.10%” bar_text=”13 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”14.30%” bar_text=”1 out of 7 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 7 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”77.10%” bar_text=”27 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

---

Cover photo via Instagram