Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – WGC-HSBC Champions

2019 WGC-HSBC Champions Fantasy Sleeper Report

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the jungle, out comes a hungry Tiger.

Of course, Tiger Eldrick Woods is making up for lost time, and after falling off the radar following his incredible Masters triumph he showed that he’s back in form and healthy too with a wire-to-wire victory at the inaugural ZOZO Championship.

It was perhaps fitting that it would be the 82-time winner who took the spoils in the first ever PGA TOUR tournament on Japanese soil. The big cat needs just one more victory to become the all-time leader in the most wins stakes….if, or when?

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He’s not getting any younger, so Tiger can’t play every week and that’s perhaps why he is missing from the field for the WGC-HSBC Champions this week as the Asian Swing enters its final throes.

A blank week next time around is followed by the WGC tournament in Mexico, so those that have been grinding in Asia these past few weeks will want to sign off with a bang.

They will be met with a course in Sheshan International that has been toughened in recent years, and the dip in winning scores from -23 to -14 is no coincidence. The reshaped greens, added bunkers and lengthened holes have seen to that.

Mind you, this still isn’t a long stretch at 7,260 yards for its Par 72, and all four of the Par 5s – and the drivable Par 4 – are reachable for medium to long hitters.

The main defense is the elevated, undulating Bentgrass greens, which run pure and will reject any wayward approaches. Indeed, the past two winners here – Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose – have opted to approach the greens from height by hitting wedges out of the juicy rough – it’s a unique, but successful, strategy.

With the weather set fair, there will be no repeat of the delays or sodden conditions experienced in Japan last week, so this will be a classy test of all-round golf in China.

So who will take care of business in the WGC-HSBC Champions? Let’s take a look at our sleeper shortlist.

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WGC-HSBC Champions Fantasy Sleeper Report

Billy Horschel – 50/1 – Tiger made the most birdies at the ZOZO Championship last week with 27, and next best was a group of players with 20 red numbers. Among them was Billy Horschel.

He also found 73% of greens in regulation on his way to a T6 finish, and after what was a disastrous turn at the CJ Cup it’s good to see the Floridan back in touch.

Don’t forget, he banked back-to-back top-10s in the St Jude and Wyndham Championship, as well as T4 at the BMW PGA Championship in a rare turn on the European Tour, so the form to go very deep in China is present and correct.

Tyrrell Hatton – 50/1 – The Englishman has taken quite nicely to Sheshan International in recent years, with a best finish of T11 and a worst of T23, and having been in decent touch lately that is heartening.

Hatton recorded a T6 return at the CJ Cup to follow a pair of top-20s on the European Tour, so things are trending in the right direction for a three-time champion on European soil.

He is taking a step up in class here of course, but a player with an excellent major record in majors – two British Open top-10s, plus two in the PGA Championship and one in the US Open – will have no qualms about that.

Charles Howell III – 55/1 – It’s been a handy start to the new season for Charles Howell III, who has followed T4 at the Safeway Open and T20 at the CJ Cup with T8 at the ZOZO Championship.

His game should be ideal for Sheshan International, a hard(ish) layout which rewards those with a high GIR count who keep mistakes to a minimum. The veteran ticks those boxes with his ‘old school’, grinding game.

A runner-up at East Lake, Howell III has proven that dense foliage is of no concern to him and that he can hang with the very best in the world when he’s on form.

Corey Conners – 60/1 – The Canadian continues to impress with his exceptional ball striking, and at a course where tee-to-green merchants have fared nicely in recent times we have to expect a continuation of his fine form.

T12 at the CJ Cup, Conners followed up with a T6 return at the ZOZO Championship, and that proves that he’s at his best when playing week-in, week-out.

This will be his debut at Sheshan International, but not to worry. Neither Schauffele nor former champion Hideki Matsuyama had posted a top-40 here prior to their win, while another former victor in Justin Rose hadn’t visited the track for two years prior to his triumph.

Ian Poulter – 60/1 – His basic tee-to-green stats do not make for impeccable reading, but Ian Poulter’s short game was in fine order in his T13 finish at the ZOZO last time out.

It was a second consecutive top-20 on the Asian Swing for the Englishman, and at a course where he has two top-10s – including a second place in 2013 – clearly there is the power for Poulter to add to that collection this week.

A winner in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, Poulter remains one of the most decorated current PGA TOUR players on Asian soil.

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

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2019-2020)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “2.80%” bar_text=”1 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”28.58%” bar_text=”10 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 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=”51.43%” bar_text=”18 out of 35 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram