2015 Zurich Classic Fantasy Sleeper Picks
By Danny Norris
Each week on the PGA Tour anybody can get hot for a tournament and win. That’s what makes predicting and handicapping the PGA Tour so difficult. I touched upon this in the power rankings this week, but this rings true even more at a tournament like the Zurich Classic.
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Each year results seem to widely vary, so course history doesn’t hold too much weight this week. When you take a look at players like Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Billy Horschel, they’ve all had success here, but they’ve all struggled as well. Rose has finished in the top 15 the last three years, but he missed the cut in 2011 and finished T-43 in 2010.
Fowler finished in the top ten in 2012, but he missed the cut year last year. Horschel has missed the cut here in 2014 and 2012, but he sandwiched in his first career PGA Tour victory in 2013.
So, basically, what I’m saying is that this week – more so than any other week we’ve seen on the PGA Tour thus far – is a crapshoot.
Heading into the Zurich Classic I had a few names I had in mind. Unfortunately, the ones I do like either aren’t playing or they actually aren’t sleeper picks this week.
The three players I had in mind before seeing the salary prices released on DraftKings this week were Brendon Todd, Morgan Hoffmann, and John Peterson. Todd isn’t playing this week, while Hoffman and Peterson are way up the list. DraftKings finally adjusted properly on those two golfers.
Nevertheless, I still have four golfers to keep an eye on this week. So, here are the 2015 Zurich Classic fantasy sleeper picks this week.
Robert Streb– Remember that hot start Robert Streb got off to earlier in the season? What happened to him? Well, we see it on the PGA Tour every year where in the weaker fields some golfers can really take advantage of that. Streb was that golfer who did that this year.
Streb didn’t forget how to play golf. He’s just not on that elite level year. He may or may not get there, but this is a tournament that is right in his wheelhouse.
This is a weak field and a straightforward course. Streb could potentially take advantage of that this week. I know I mentioned that course history isn’t much a factor this week, but it is worth mentioning that Streb did finish T-2 last year.
Sep 1, 2014; Norton, MA, USA; Chesson Hadley watches his tee shot on the 17th hole during the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament at TPC of Boston. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Chesson Hadley– The 2013-2014 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year has had some success of late. Before a missed cut last week at the RBC Heritage, Hadley had made five straight cuts including a T-4 at the Valero Texas Open.
Hadley is a talented golfer from Georgia Tech and a tournament like the Zurich Classic that has produced first time winners the last three years, someone like Hadley could definitely compete and win this week.
John Senden– John Senden was really feeling it last year. I remember down the stretch we just kept plugging him in and he kept on delivering the results. Senden brought in way more value than what his salary was.
Senden has hit a rough patch of late missing the cut in four of his last six tournaments. Granted, one of those tournaments he technically made the cut in was at the WGC-Cadillac Championship – you can throw that out the window if you want – but the last tournament he did play in he made the cut and that was at The Masters.
This maybe the start of Senden finding his game back or perhaps it’s just an aberration. Either way, I think Senden is a solid value play this week.
Erik Compton– It’s been a streaky year for Erik Compton. Compton started off making the cut in five straight tournaments, he followed that up with five straight missed cuts, and now has reeled of three straight made cuts heading into the Zurich Classic.
When you look at Compton’s stats from last year to this year, they are pretty similar. He was striking the ball a little better last year, but he’s putting a little better this year.
All in all, as we continue the theme, TPC Louisiana is a place that someone like Compton can go low at. And if he does, Compton will have been a major, major value play this week.