2014 WGC-HSBC Champions: Fantasy Picks And Power Rankings

Sep 23, 2014; Auchterdarder, Perthshire, SCT; European player Sergio Garcia hits a tee shot on the 16th hole during a practice round for the 2014 Ryder Cup at The Gleneagles Hotel-PGA Centenary Course. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Making Fantasy picks this time of year is a real “crap-shoot”, when you have nearly half of the 78-man field at The WGC-HSBC Champions who haven’t struck a golf shot in competition since the Ryder Cup, and the other half trying to catch Race To Dubai leader Rory McIlroy before he comes back to work next week in Turkey.

Add the simplicity of The Sheshan International Golf Course in Shanghai, where the only defense for this 7261 yard, par 72 layout is the wind, and dry conditions, and you come up with needing a crystal ball to figure this one out.

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Dustin Johnson set an aggregate tournament record here last year with a 22 under par, 264 total score on a course that featured a total 70.890 average for all the field. They are expecting wet, sluggish conditions this year, so expect the best players in the world to get in some target practice this week in Shanghai, and whoever gets hot with the flat-stick will win this tournament.

Sergio Garcia

Other than the $ 1.4 Million Dollar winners share of the $8.5 Million Dollar purse, the only other incentive for winning this event is the 550 FedEx Cup points, and an outside chance to catch Race To Dubai points leader, Rory McIlroy. Sergio Garcia lost ground last week by playing at the CIMB Classic where he did finish in a tie for second place, but lost ground to Jamie Donaldson in the RTD standings.

The 34 year-old Spaniard is doing a lot of changing between a standard grip and the scissor on his putter, but is playing some great golf. Some bad luck, and a tree cost him a shot at the win in Malaysia, but I think he is the man to beat this week in China.

Jamie Donaldson

Thirty-nine year-old Jamie Donaldson is playing as well as anyone on either tour at this point of the season. The Welsh Ryder Cup star missed a putt on the 72nd hole at the BMW Masters on Sunday that cost him a berth in the three-way playoff that was eventually won by Marcel Siem. Donaldson has finished no worse that solo seventh in his last four stroke-play events. He finished T4 last week, and T8 at Sheshan International in 2013.

Alexander Levy

The young Frenchman has played great golf during the entire 2014 season, but other than a 78 in the final round at Lake Malaren on Sunday, Levy has been tough. In fact, it was his only round in the 70’s since before he won the rain-shortened Portugal Masters four weeks ago. Even with the eight over par Sunday, he still had a chance to win in regulation at the BMW Masters, and lost in the playoff to a lucky chip-shot. We will get a chance to see if the 24 year-old Frenchman is the real deal, or a flash-in-the-pan after the tough loss on Sunday.

Gary Woodland

As we saw last year when Dustin Johnson overpowered this golf course, Gary Woodland can do the same thing this year. The 30 year-old University of Kansas star had the lowest score on the weekend at the CIMB Classic last week, but his slow start kept him out of the winners circle on Sunday afternoon. He ended in a tie for second place, and looks to have his game on track for the 2015 season. Woodland has trouble keeping his driver in the fairway, but is ranked third on the PGA Tour in GIR at 80%. His 69.202 scoring average should fare well at this dart-board layout in Shanghai.

Henrik Stenson

The 2013 winner of everything in golf has struggled through most of the 2014 season, but started to look like the old Stenson in his last outing at the Volvo Match-Play Championships three weeks ago. He sat out last week at the BMW Masters due to the birth of his third child, but I would be remiss not to include the big Swede in my picks this week.

Source: PGATour.com

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