The European Tour stays in South Africa for the second straight week as they’ll travel 180 miles from the Joburg Open in Johannesburg over to the Gary Player-designed Leopard Creek Country Club in the Mpumalanga Province. The golfers will play in the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Championship for the second time this season. This event actually kicked off the 2020 season last December
DraftKings has expanded its offerings of European golf contests this week since the PGA is taking a week off. Just like their PGA contests, DK provides players with a salary cap of $50,000 to select six golfers for an average roster spot of $8,333. Robert Macintyre is the only golfer in the 11K range at $11,000. Christian Bezuidenhout is close behind at $10,800. Brandon Stone ($10,500), Wilco Nienaber ($10,300), and Eddie Pepperell ($10,000) round out DraftKings top-five highest priced golfers.
Whether you win or lose this week, golf is one of the most entertaining fantasy sports to follow because you get four days of action. Good luck and, most importantly, have fun!
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Tournament Notes
- DraftKings lock is Wednesday at 11:00 pm eastern time.
- Leopard Creek Country Club is located in Malalane, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is a Par 72 course measuring 7,249 yards.
- Leopard Creek is a beautiful course that is revered by South African golfers. It is located on the edge of Kruger National Park and so it is not unusual for the golfers (and TV viewers) to see wildlife such as crocodiles, giraffes, elephants, hippos, and of course, leopards.
- The event began in 2000 and was moved from the Houghton Golf Club to Leopard Creek in 2005. The event was canceled in 2017 because of course renovation.
- 156 golfers are scheduled to play in this co-sanctioned European Tour and Sunshine Tour event. The top-65 (and ties) will make the cut and play the weekend.
- The fairways are Bermuda and the greens are bentgrass. This course seems to favor all-around play as opposed to one particular type of golfer. If I had to lean on a specific stat, it would be approach and greens-in-regulation. The golfers in this field that excel in those areas are Garrick Higgo, Joel Sjoholm, Matthias Schwab, Brandon Stone, Wil Besseling, Jamie Donaldson, Lorenzo Gagli, Robert Macintyre, Adrian Otaegui, and Sean Crocker.
- Charl Schwartzel holds the course record with a 24-under par in 2012. Overall, 13 of the 15 winners at Leopard Creek have been South Africans.
European Golf Thoughts
- The DFS contests are smaller. You still can’t play all the chalk if you want to take down a tournament, but the field sizes are much smaller than you are used to playing in PGA so you don’t have to be as contrarian as usual. Get as many good players in your lineup as you can, and you’ll have a chance to make some money.
- When playing European Golf DFS, understand that the lower-end golfers are not like the lower-end PGA golfers. Whereas any PGA golfer can conceivably win an event, it is far less likely for a low-priced player to breakthrough on the European Tour. You typically get what you pay for in European golf.
- Essentially, I will be providing you with my 20-max player pool below. You will notice that I lean more balanced as I am trying to get as many quality players as possible in my lineup. Though you might recognize some of the higher-priced golfers in this field, I don’t normally believe it’s worth playing them because the bottom tier is so poor.
Favorite High-Priced Play
Brandon Stone ($10,500)
He just finished T4 last week at the Joburg Open and hopes to keep it rolling on his native soil. He was also T4 here last year, giving him his third top-20 finish in the last four years. He is not always a safe play, but when he makes the cut, he has a good chance of finishing in the top 20. He has four such finishes in his last five starts. He also is second in this field (fourth overall on Tour) in GIR percentage.
Core Plays
Matthew Jordan ($9,000)
Jordan has made 14 of his last 16 cuts, including his last 10. All but one of his last 10 starts have resulted in a top-25 finish. His T3 at the Wales Open and T9 at the Cypress Showdown demonstrates that he also has the potential to be more than just a cut maker. He has made the cut here in both of his starts.
Marcus Armitage ($8,600)
He has made 12/15 cuts since the restart, including seven straight. During that streak, he has four top-15 finishes. He has shot under par in 19 of his last 20 rounds. Probably will not contend for a win but has been extremely consistent. He was $9,800 last week so I like the discount this week. He was T42 last year here.
Jamie Donaldson ($8,000)
Ten straight made cuts for Donaldson, including top-10 finishes in two of his last four starts. He is one of the shortest hitters on the European Tour but is also one of the straightest. He also has one of the best approach games in this field. I will be placing a little extra emphasis on GIR this week and he ranks as third best in this field behind only Wil Besseling and Brandon Stone.
Scott Jamieson ($7,900)
His T20 last week at the Joburg, was his eighth made cut in his 10 events since the restart. It was also his third in a row. He had back-to-back top-10 finishes this summer, but his ceiling has not been very high otherwise. That is not the case at this event, however. He didn’t play this event last year but has made the cut in his last four starts, including back-to-back top-five finishes in 2018 and 2016. He also had a top-five finish here way back in 2012.
Zander Lombard ($7,600)
The South African has been struggling this season but coming back home seemed to get him right – at least temporarily. He finished T15 last week at the Joburg Open. Maybe he can keep up that form at a course that meets his eye. He has finished T7 and T3 the last two years here. He is 11th in this field for strokes gained on approach.
Jacques Blaauw ($7,500)
Another South African who played very well last week finishing T7 at the Joburg Open. That was his fifth straight top-10 finish on the Sunshine or European Tour. Overall, he has made the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts, including eight in a row.
Favorite Low-Priced Play
Joel Stalter ($7,100)
If you are going to take a risk on a lower priced golfer, you might as well go with someone that has made five straight cuts and won this year on the European Tour. His win was back in July, but it still gives us a glimpse into his upside. Even though his best finish recently has been a T22 at the Italian Open, his strong ball-striking has led him to make six of his last seven cuts, including five in a row. He was T23 here back in 2016, which is his only appearance.
Others Worth Considering
Robert Macintyre ($11,000), Laurie Canter ($9,300), Dean Burmester ($8,400), Daniel Van Tonder ($8,300), Jorge Campillo ($8,100), Wil Besseling ($7,800), Richard Bland ($7,700), Bryce Easton ($7,500), Keith Horne ($7,100), and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano ($6,400).
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Whether you’re new to daily fantasy golf or a seasoned professional, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Golf Glossary. You can get started with The Stats That Matter Most or head to more advanced strategy — like How To Use Vegas Odds To Generate Your Lineup — to learn more.
Jamy Bechler is a regular contributor to FantasyPros for NBA, NFL, and PGA. You can send him questions and follow him on his DFS twitter @WinningDFS101. When he is not playing DFS, Jamy is an author, host of the “Success is a Choice” podcast, and a leadership consultant, working with businesses and teams across the country (including the NBA). Even though he offers his advice on players and contests, after additional information and consideration, he may end up using different players and strategies than what he recommended in this article.
