2014 HP Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial Fantasy Sleeper Picks

This week, the PGA Tour moves on down the road from Irving, Texas to Forth Worth, Texas where a strong, limited field will take on the Colonial Country Club as it hosts the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial. As mentioned, this is a limited field (hence the “Invitational” part) and so this is some of the better golfers in the world, not all, but it’s still a very strong field nonetheless.

With that said, there are a few under-the-radar golfers I’m looking at that could surprise this week. With that said, let’s get to it:

Bo Van Pelt- I never thought I would pick Bo Van Pelt this year, but low and behold here we are. Not only do I find Van Pelt as a fantastic value pick, but I find him to be a good pick regardless of fantasy salary cap.

When you take a look at Van Pelt’s history here at Colonial, there aren’t many golfers that are better than Van Pelt. When you take a look at his last five years he hasn’t missed the cut and his finishes have been exceptional. Last year, Van Pelt finished T-31, in 2012: T-19, in 2011: solo 3rd, 2010: T-10, and in 2009: T-59.

While he has a very good history at Colonial, the key for me is Van Pelt is sorting his game out. A couple years back it looked as though Van Pelt was going to be a good, consistent golfer week in and week out, but he has been in a year long slump, but it looks as though he’s finally coming around.

In his last six tournaments, Van Pelt has made the cut in four of those tournaments and in his last tournament, at The PLAYERS, Van Pelt was looking sharp. I believe Van Pelt is getting closer and closer to getting back at that level and I think he’ll have another good result this week at a place he has had success at. I’d keep an eye on Van Pelt not only this week, but for the next weeks.

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

John Huh- John Huh is a very talented golfer and has been showing off his talent of late. Huh’s game has been very good as he has made the cut in four of his last five tournaments and the tournament he missed the cut in was at The Masters, so, not that big of a deal. Not only that, but the results have been there. Last week, at the Byron Nelson, Huh finished T-16, at The PLAYERS: T-72, RBC Heritage: T-3, and at the Shell Houston Open: T-37.

Not only has his game been on point, but he has been fantastic at Colonial. Last year, Huh finished T-11 and in 2012 he finished T-5. Huh could potentially be like a Zach Johnson type where he plays extremely well here at Colonial because of his ball striking ability.

Roberto Castro- Roberto Castro is an interesting golfer. While he has missed the cut in four of his last five tournaments, Castro is a hot and cold golfer where he’ll be right there competing in one round, in the very next round he’ll blow up and miss the cut.

For example, A few weeks back at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Castro shot a decent 69, but then in the second round he shot a 76 to miss the cut. At the Shell Houston Open he made the cut with a 71-72 on Thursday and Friday, but then an 83 on Saturday knocked him out of a possible top 30 finish. Instead he finished at a solo 76th place finish with a final round 73.  At the Masters, Castro shot a first round 73, but then missed the cut with an 80.

Castro is a wild card and I normally like taking consistent golfers, and I may not take Castro, but he’s still someone to keep your eye on. You can’t ignore the fact that Castro is a talented golfer from Houston, Texas and has played well here at Colonial.

Last year, Castro finished T-46 and in 2012 Castro finished T-14. So, all in all, while it looks like Castro is struggling with 4 missed cuts in his last 5 tournaments, he isn’t struggling as it may look like on paper. Castro is worth keeping an eye on.

Carl Pettersson-  Carl Pettersson is a little bit of Roberto Castro and a little bit like Bo Van Pelt. A couple of years ago Pettersson was a solid golfer, but of late he has struggled. Pettersson has been inconsistent this year; he’s missed the cut in four straight tournaments and then followed it up with 5 straight made cuts including a T-4.

The big reason why Pettersson is a sleeper pick is because he has played here at Colonial really well. Last year, he finished T-35; In 2012: T-26, 2010: T-22, 2009: T-64. You don’t know what Pettersson you’ll get, but he likes it here at Colonial and may make the cut and have another decent finish here.