Each week, Dave Tindall and Matt Cooper will give their picks for the two main European Tour options – DraftKings and the official season-long 2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai game run by europeantour.com.
The latter is no-salary. Simply select a team of six golfers and nominate a captain whose points are doubled. Points are based on official Race to Dubai points earned by your players.
The DraftKings lineups will be entered into a large-entry Guaranteed Prize Pool. That means we need to take a risk or two, in order to separate ourselves from the field.
The idea is to provide you a list of names to consider. We would not recommend copying these teams, golfer for golfer. Duplicate teams are no fun and don’t help anyone.
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Dave Tindall
@DaveTindallGolf
DraftKings
Hideki Matsuyama ($11,100) – Third in Korea and runner-up in Japan so you know what comes next. Won here by seven a few years ago and current form points to a huge week.
Paul Casey ($10,000) – Superb course record and current form shows a win and five other top 25s in his last seven starts.
Francesco Molinari ($8,400) – Another course horse, who won at Sheshan in 2010 when projected to be a solid journeyman rather than a superstar. Loves this place and can shine again.
Keegan Bradley ($7,000) – Three top 16s in four visits, including T6 on his last visit. Fired a 63 on the way to T13 in Japan last week so has nice converging trends.
Kurt Kitayama ($6,900) – Big hitters have thrived here so I have a sneaking suspicion that Kitayama can shine on debut. Top four in his last two European Tour starts.
Victor Perez ($6,500) – Recent winner at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and added T16 at Italian Open (Rolex Series event). Has a Challenge Tour win in China.
Total salary: $49,900
On the cusp: Rory McIlroy ($11,700), Justin Rose ($10,500), Tony Finau ($9,700), Danny Willett ($8,100), Sergio Garcia ($8,000), Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($6,800)
2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai – European Tour
Last week: A week dominated by outsiders but the small purse limited the damage. A drop of just over 100 spots. Now to turn this thing around.
Pos: 3,734th
Rory McIlroy (captain): Outscored winner Tiger Woods over the final 54 holes in Japan. This course sets up great for him; it’s time he put his name on the trophy.
Justin Rose: Has a win, a third, a fifth and a seventh in five visits. A good time of year for him and looks set for another breakout week after dropping plenty of hints.
Paul Casey: Super-consistent record here packed full of top tens and 20s. Recent winner in Germany and T17 at ZOZO with four rounds in the 60s.
Tony Finau: Last year’s runner-up was also T11 on debut in 2017 so this course is a great one for him. Two top tens in last three worldwide starts.
Matt Wallace: Didn’t make a mark here last year but third in the 2018 China Open and arrives with back-to-back top tens and he’s not giving up on winning the Race to Dubai.
Xander Schauffele: The defending champion warmed up with T10 in Japan last week. That’s more than enough to get him on board.
Matt Cooper
@MattCooperGolf
DraftKings
Rory McIlroy ($11,700) – Last week in Japan was rather Rory like (tame 72 to start, brilliant 65-63-67 to follow), but he likes this week’s track.
Sungjae Im ($9,500) – Another who flew home on a wet sail last week (71-64-67-65) and is desperate to thrive this week in order to impress Presidents Cup captain Ernie Els.
Charles Howell III ($7,900) – Has three top 20s in his last four starts and was T15 on his only course start.
Ian Poulter ($7,700) – Almost comically good at this time of year and in China especially. 14 top 20s in 24 starts in the country with two wins.
Bubba Watson ($6,800) – T8 on debut at the course and then won in 2014. Failed to make the top 30 twice since, but I rather like the fact he was being adventurous last week.
Romain Langasque ($6,400) – Bit of a hunch. He makes shots on the field from the tee box and I think that works this week at Sheshan. Makes him a value pick.
Total salary: $50,000
On the cusp: Xander Schauffele ($10,800), Tony Finau ($9,700), Shane Lowry ($8,800), Corey Conners ($8,200), Danny Willett ($8,100), Robert MacIntyre ($7,300)
2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai – European Tour
Last week: A move of two positions – you’d almost believe such a thing impossible. All moot, however. Four weeks to go and big money every time.
Position: 606th
Rory McIlroy (captain): Ten of his last 15 starts have reaped top tens and five of his seven course starts have earned top sixes (with one of the exceptions T11). That’ll do me.
Ian Poulter: Running into form with T16-T13 during the past fortnight and now returns to Sheshan. Seven top 25s from 11 course visits (plus a tournament win elsewhere) is a strong log book.
Paul Casey: Boasts four top 20s in his last five starts, ten top 20s in 12 course appearances, 20 top 20s in 27 trips to China and 31 top 20s in 50 WGC outings.
Justin Rose: Last seen playing rather oddly in Europe, mixing the very good with the frustrating, but always insisting he was close. Five trips to the course have reaped four top sevens including a win in 2017.
Xander Schauffele: The defending champion is a class act in quality events, whether it’s majors or WGC. As I type (Tuesday evening) only 18% of gamers want him on-board which seems foolhardy.
Tony Finau: Landed four top tens in his last six starts and impressed on his two course appearances. T11 on debut and then seemed headed for the win last year before suffering play-off loss.
Josh Culp
@Futureoffantasy
Yahoo DFS
Ian Poulter (30) – It’s getting to be that time of the year when Poulter starts to shine. Won this event in 2012 and finished runner-up at this course in 2013.
Paul Casey (42) – Withdrew during his 2009 HSBC debut but he’s finished T23 or better in all seven of his return visits.
Charles Howell III (28) – Finished T15 in his Sheshan debut and arrives with a run of good form this fall.
Louis Oosthuizen (34) – Always brings top-10 upside and is known to thrown in a runner-up finish every now and again. Has been hit or miss here with three top 15s mixed with three finishes outside the top 40.
Rafa Cabrera Bello (28) – Has posted finishes of T19 or better in all three trips to Sheshan International.
Sergio Garcia (33) – Has finished T11 or better in three of his last four visits to Sheshan.
FanDuel
Rory McIlroy ($11,700) – As good of course history as you can get without posting a podium finish (six finishes of T11 or better with five being T6 or better).
Henrik Stenson (10,800) – The Swede has runner-up finishes in each of his last two trips to this week’s venue.
Andrea Pavan (7,000) – The two-time Euro Tour winner heads to China with three straight finishes of T12 or better.
Patrick Reed (10,700) – He won during the Playoffs this summer but he has quietly kept his form rolling with top 20s in five of his six starts since.
Matt Wallace (9,600) – Wins at a high clip overseas and he arrives with top 15s in four of his last five starts.
Rafa Cabrera Bello (9,400) – Enters with top 10s in two of his last five worldwide starts and has some good results at Sheshan.
