Crowne Plaza Invitational Fantasy Preview

Sang-Moon Bae. Really? What an interesting week that was at the HP Byron Nelson. Keegan Bradley shot the course record, 10-under on Thursday then followed it up with a combined 1-under par Friday-Sunday. Bae was consistent throughout the week and got it done when it mattered on Sunday. This week we head to Colonial Country Club where a mediocre field will battle it out at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. That special word, Invitational, means the field will be a little smaller than most weeks. You got to be a classy individual to get this invite… Or just be good at golf.

Lets take a look at the course as well as the history of the tournament. First and foremost, you must be able to “go low” to win this tournament. Seven of the last eight winners have finished inside the Top 50 in Birdie of Better Percentage the year they won this tournament. Six of those seven were ranked 26th or better. This will be a key stat to look at. Driving distance… you can throw that stat out the window. The last four winners could probably get out driven by half the members at your local country club. However, the previous four winners before them all were inside the Top 100 for Driving Distance. Two other key stats I found to be important for winners of this tournament are Bogey Avoidance and Strokes Gained Putting. Kind of a no-brainer, but both of those stats are key to “going low.” There are seven golfers in the field that are currently in the Top 50 for our three important stats. These are the golfers you want to be focusing on: Charl Schwartzel, Chris Kirk, Kevin Streelman, Bryce Molder, Matt Kuchar, Jeff Overton, and Justin Leonard.

Group A

Brandon De Jonge: He is a Top 25 machine, he has seven this year in 17 attempts. Unfortunately his Strokes Gained Putting is on the negative side. That means he loses stroke putting, no gaining. That’s not a recipe for success at Colonial.

Chris Kirk: Kirk took last week off. The same week the new Star Trek movie opened in theatres. Coincidence? I think not. Kirk has all the tools required to win at Colonial. He is 15th in Birdie or Better Perecentage, 12th in Bogey Avoidance and 7th in Strokes Gained Putting. A top 25 this week is likely, and a win is not out of the question, either.

Group B

Freddie Jacobson: Fredrik Jacobson has always had a great short game but Freddie Jacobson appears to have the whole package. Freddie has eight Top 25 finishes in 10 tournaments this year. That makes him an automatic play in my books. He should be one of the favorites this week.

David Hearn: Looking for a deep sleeper? Hearn is your guy. DeLeat will be the more popular Canuck in Group B but David Hearn is playing pretty well right now and this course suits his play style well. Hearn ranks 45th in Birdie or Better Percentage, 55th in Bogey Avoidance, and 27th in Strokes Gained Putting. Those are the key stats for this course. It’s no wonder he’s finished 13th and 44th the last two years at Colonial.

Zach Johnson: This might be where I get hate mail from all the Zach Johnson fanboys out there telling me how good ZJ is at this course. I’m well aware that he’s won here twice in the last four years. I’m also aware that he finished Top 10 the other two years. I’m also aware that he was a Top 10 putter during all four of those seasons. He is currently ranked 101st in Strokes Gained Putting in 2013, and that is the main reason he has struggled this year. He clearly likes the greens at Colonial, so maybe this is the week ZJ gets his groove back, I’m just not a believer. I’m going to through out a random prediction and say Zach finishes 46th this week.

Group C

Charl Schwartzel: Another week, and another course that is new to Charl. Charl is one of three players that is Top 30 in all three key stats (the other two being Kirk and Streelman). Statistically, only six golfers have been better than Charl in 2013. None of those six golfers are in the field this week. Even without course experience, you have to make Schwartzel one of the favorites this week.

Luke Guthrie & Jordan Spieth: Two youngsters that can go low but can’t putt. A poor putter hasn’t won here since 2006, so I don’t like their odds.

Rickie Fowler: Another youngster, not as young as Guthrie and Spieth, but shares the same quality. He can’t really putt. I expect Fowler to be in the thick of things this weekend, but ultimately get held back due to his poor putting.

Keepers

Sleepers

Top 15 for the 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational

1. Charl Schwartzel
2. Chris Kirk
3. Matt Kuchar
4. Rickie Fowler
5. Freddie Jacobson
6. Charley Hoffman
7. Ryan Palmer
8. Henrik Stenson
9. Pat Perez
10. Bryce Molder
11. Brendon De Jonge
12. Jordan Spieth
13. Kevin Streelman
14. Jeff Overton
15. Jim Furyk

WEEKLY CONTESTS:

Fantasy Feud has now opened PGA Contests! They will be running weekly Freerolls and an even bigger Freerolls for the Majors, Enter Now.

Golf Radar: Golf Radar is a great new fantasy sports website. They provide a unique fantasy golf experience, that is unlike any other fantasy golf site you’ve seen. You must use your allotted coins to pick up to 10 golfers. Pick a lower cost golfer and the bonuses for Top 10 or Win are multiplied! Give it a chance this week; join the featured matches on the home page and also hop in the Future of Fantasy Private Match for a chance to win a Amazon Gift Card. Join Private Match Now

FanThrowdown: FanThrowdown has been in my rotation of Daily Fantasy website since they started. They have a great user interface, a generous rakeback program, and will often have overlay in their contests. Overlay = Free money. Free money is good. They are now offering PGA Contests are FanThrowdown. Entries range from $1 to $109, plus they have a weekly freeroll. It’s definitely worth a look, try it out.

Fantasy Golf Tour: This website offers a unique fantasy golf experience, and huge cash payouts. The way these contests work is you pick 16 golfers per week. Golfers will be broken down into four tiers based on skill-level and/or world golf rank. You must pick four golfers from each group, and then manage your golfers round-by-round. I recommend trying out their free contests before leaping into the $25 cash entry contest. You can earn vouchers while playing the freerolls which can be redeemed for golf equipment and other cool prizes.