FedEx Cup Playoffs: 2014 The Barclays Fantasy Sleeper Picks

By Danny Norris | Aug 18, 2014

The FedEx Cup Playoffs is upon us this week on the PGA Tour. The first stop is at The Barclays taking place this year at Ridgewood Country Club. The Barclays has a rotating schedule and Ridgewood Country Club has been the host of The Barclays for two years, in 2008 and 2010.

So, if you’ve done some research in the past couple of years on The Barclays it might want to revise it a bit. But, before we get into the picks I want to reflect a little bit on last week.

Last week was a mixed bag. We picked the winner with Camillo Villegas, which is great, but Patrick Rodgers struggled and eventually withdrew in the middle of the second round. John Huh had decent performance and Pat Perez withdrew Wednesday afternoon, so hopefully you were able to edit your roster before the start of the game.

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Overall, not bad, because we picked the winner, but I like picking guys where they all finish in the top 10, top 25. And that’s what we’ve been doing consistently week in and week out, but last week was boom and bust. So, the goal this week is having all the picks make the cut and all finishing in the top 30. Let’s see if we can do that.

So, with that said, there are three picks this week and as we get to the final couple of playoff events there more than likely won’t be a “fantasy sleeper picks” article because once we get down to the top 70 and top 30 players there really isn’t any hiding in small fields. But, we’ll cross that bridge once we get there.

Ridgewood Country Club is a course the pros love. It’s a beautiful course, it’s a fair, but firm course, sneaky tough greens, and it’s consistently ranked as one of the top courses in the country. Every style of golfer can compete here, but typically the straighter hitters are rewarded, and of course, putting is a big key. With that said, here are The Barclays fantasy sleeper picks this week.

Bill Haas: Bill Haas is big name player, so having him as a sleeper pick is a bit strange, but when you take a look at the DFS games Haas is way down the list. Haas is massively underrated and undervalued this week.

So much so that he is a must have on all your teams. Having Haas on your team really frees up your salary cap to take some of the other expensive golfers. And again, Haas is a big name player, a golfer you see week in and week out at some point of a tournament.

Jul 18, 2014; Wirral, GBR; Bill Haas tees off on the 5th hole during the second round at the 143rd Open Championship at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports

Haas has struggled at Ridgewood Country Club as he has finished T-47 in 2010 and T-55 in 2008, but Haas is coming into this week hot off a runner up finish last week, a T-27 at the PGA Championship and has made eleven straight cuts.

Not only that, but Haas is highly motivated to make the Ryder Cup team. He’s right on the edge and could very easily get one of the three Captain’s Picks. If Haas plays well again this week, or even wins, hey, he could make the Ryder Cup team. Haas has all the motivation he needs this week.

I’m really blown away that Haas is this cheap. I kind of feel that DraftKings made a mistake and they are going to send out an email stating that they in fact did make mistake with the pricing.

It basically comes down to me trusting Haas more than say Harris English, Camillo Villegas, Patrick Reed, Kevin Streelman, and Billy Horschel, just to name a few that are more expensive than Haas. Haas, to me, is a must play this week given his monetary value. If he was in the 8,500-9,000 range then probably not, but at this price? Absolutely.

Paul Casey: In terms of value I feel Paul Casey is where he should be. You aren’t really getting a steal, but he still is below the average and Casey isn’t exactly a household name, so hence he’s a sleeper pick this week. Like Haas, Casey is still battling for a Ryder Cup spot, but Casey is very much a longshot.

Not only that, but Casey needs a good performance in order to progress in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Casey is currently 118th in the FedEx Cup playoffs and will need to get into that top 100 in order to progress on into next week. So, Casey has a lot to play for.

Casey has a very strong history here at Ridgewood with a T-12 in 2010 and T-7 in 2008. Casey is also coming in with a lot of momentum as he has really had a solid season all year long. Casey is coming off a T-18 last week and Casey has a solid game all around. He’s a solid putter, solid off the tee, he gets pretty good distance off the tee and is solid getting greens in regulation.

All in all, I’m looking for Casey to sneak into the first couple of pages at the end of Sunday. Finish somewhere in the top 25 and move on to Boston next week.

Apr 12, 2014; Augusta, GA, USA; John Senden hits his tee shot on the 7th hole during the third round of the 2014 The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

John Senden: John Senden is a lot like Casey only he’s a cheaper pick and therefore a more valuable pick. Senden has had a really good year this year which includes a win at Valspar and competing at The Masters finishing in a tie for 8th.

Like Casey, Senden has a well-rounded game. Senden is a great putter, he’s 13th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained-putting, he’s accurate off the tee hitting 64% of his drives and is 35th on Tour in Greens in Regulation. His game sets up well at Ridgewood and his history here doesn’t lie. In 2010 Senden finished T-15 and in 2008 he finished T-31.

Senden looks like a really good pick and definitely a high value pick. Also, I’m not worried about the missed cut at the PGA Championship. Stylistically, Valhalla really didn’t set up all that well for Senden given that he isn’t the biggest driver of the golf ball and the wet conditions didn’t help him there.

Putting that aside, Senden has made the cut in three straight tournaments including a T-26 at the WGC-Bridgestone. When you continue to look at his recent history you’ll see a couple of missed cuts at the U.S. Open and St. Jude Classic.

Again, the U.S. Open isn’t a big deal. Pinehurst No 2 just wasn’t a good set up for him and when you look at the T-5 at Crowne Plaza and T-11 at the Byron Nelson Classic those tournaments were more suited for his game. So, I like Senden this week. I see Senden as a really nice under-the-radar, value pick that will be a really strong number 5, number 6 golfer in your lineup.