Fantasy Golf: Northern Trust

The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin this week at the Northern Trust Open, ensuring a stellar line-up of the World’s best at Glen Oaks

The main focus this week is the first FedEx Cup series event in the United States, where most of the World’s best will be teeing up in hope of boosting their chances of winning the title.

It means that you’ve got a tough pick between high tariff players, but if you’re struggling – remember the European Tour hosts their Made in Denmark event this week, and there’s a lot of quality in that field despite lower Fantasy Prices.

Currently the FedEx Cup is wide open – and while defending champion Rory McIlroy will hope he can make the best out of a tumultuous season to rally here for his title, there are several other big contenders that will hope to get off the mark strongly this week. 

With Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth having three titles each in 2017 and winning the last two major titles of the year, there is a good chance there could be a brilliant battle between the good friends, although they aren’t the only contenders. Hideki Matsuyama has been a big factor in 2017 and been very threatening when he can find the pace of the greens, while those like Jason Day and Patrick Reed will be hoping to make up for somewhat lost seasons. 

Dustin Johnson is still in the mix, but ever since he fell down some stairs in Augusta prior to the first major of the year he hasn’t managed to regain the form he had when he won three tournaments in a row – but he’s started to trend in the right direction recently. 

And then there is the likes of two-time FedEx Cup champion Henrik Stenson – who turned a varied season of results around with a win last week at the Wyndham Championship.

So who should be in your Fantasy Golf team this week? 

Fantasy Picks: Northern Trust Open

Henrik Stenson: Fantasy Price £15m
Last year’s Open Champion struggled at the start of the year, but he has really gained momentum in his last few events – culminating in a victory last week at the Wyndham Championship. Prior to that he was T13 at the PGA Championship and that was preceeded by a T17 at the WGC Bridgestone and T11 at the The Open. He’s a two-time FedEx Cup champion who clearly likes this side of the year – the Iceman could definitely be a threat this week.

Dustin Johnson: Fantasy Price £15m
The World No.1 had hit a bit of a dip in form before a T8 finish at the Canadian Open, and a final four-under round that left him T17 at the WGC and a T13 at the PGA Championship will give him a lot of confidence as he targets the top of the FedEx rankings. He’s won three times already (including both WGC’s) in 2017 and is ranked first in strokes gained for off-the-tee and tee-to-green, so we won’t be ruling him out! 

Jordan Spieth: Fantasy Price £15m
With three victories in 2017 already at The Open, Pebble Beach and the Travelers Championship, there’s no doubt Jordan Spieth could be a real contender this week. Spieth has 13 top 25 finishes in his last 19 events (T28 at PGA Championship) and is ranked 1st for approaches to the green, 1st for both scoring and birdie average and 4th for greens in regulation. The World No.2 had a lot of pressure on his shoulders to become the youngest player in history to win the grand-slam, but with that over – he’ll no doubt be poised for a good week.

Rory McIlroy: Fantasy Price £15m
The Northern Irishman struggled with a series of missed cuts before his Open showing of 4th, but having split with his caddie of nine years, McIlroy returned to the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and finished 5th. He was disappointed with a T22 finish at the PGA Champion, but a final-round 68 will have spurred him on – particulary as he is determined to defend his FedEx Cup title.

Hideki Matsuyama: Fantasy Price £14.5m
WGC Bridegstone Invitational winner Matsuyama is having a wonderful season. He came close to challenging Koepka on the final day at the US Open in June, was 14th at The Open and T5 at the PGA Championship before claiming the World No.2 spot in the process – and has become the highest ranked Japanese player in history. With four victories under his belt in the 2016/17 season – expect a strong finish from Matsuyama. 

Rickie Fowler: Fantasy Price £14.5m
Fowler has already had a win at the Honda Classic this year and has been pretty consistent all season in every part of his game –  with eight top 10 finish in 16 starts (including T6 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last week). Ranked third for total driving, 2nd for scoring average, and 1st for strokes gained putting, sand save percentage and scrambling from the fringe.

Patrick Reed: Fantasy Price £14.5m
Following his first top 10 in a major (finally!) at the PGA Championship, Patrick Reed comes in with a lot of confidence. In his last seven tournaments he’s had two top 10s, five top 20s, a T36 and one missed cut. 

Justin Thomas: Fantasy Price £14m
The newly crowned 2017 PGA Championship winner has had a phenomenal year. Three victories, a 59, a scoring record at the US Open and victory at the PGA Championship – and not to mention ranking 1st for eagle average, par four average and putting average. He had a slight dip in form in June/July before bouncing back with his first major win – and although it’s probably a tall ask to record back-to-back wins, he’s already done that this earlier this season at SBS Tournament of Champions followed by the Sony Open.

Brooks Koepka: Fantasy Price £13.5m
The US Open champion has been threatening the top of the leaderboards almost every week since March, and it wouldn’t surprise us if he added a second title to his achievements this year. The World No.12 doesn’t have outstanding stats, but he is ranked 5th for birdie average, 13th for scoring average and 8th for putting average. His last four results? T1-T6-T16-T13

Paul Casey: Fantasy Price £13.5m
Casey has knocked on the door plenty of times this year already, particularly in the US Open and The Open, before having at least one really off day. He hasn’t finished worse than 26th in his last nine starts, which includes five top 10s. His T5 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitaitonal and T13 at PGA Championship was a confident showing from Casey, and it could definitely be his week. 

Zach Johnson: Fantasy Price £12.5m
Zach Johnson had really hit his stride in the past few weeks (with exeption of T48 at PGA), recording top 5s at both the John Deere Classic and WGC Bridgestone, with an impressive T14 display at The Open sandwiched in between. Although it’s a bit risky, there’s a good chance he’ll turn up with the same good form he seems to have discovered lately – so there’s a good chance he could get back in the mix. 

Kevin Kisner: Fantasy Price £12m
It’s hard to say at -7 (T42) Kisner struggled at the Wyndham Championship, but it was always going to be a tough one after his heartache at the final major of the year. However, Kisner already had a win this year, and with a few top 10s under his belt and a fairly consistent season – we wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes fairly high.

Charley Hoffman: Fantasy Price £10.5m
Hoffman has been a danger man in each of the opening rounds of the year’s majors, and he backed that up with a T2 at the Canadian Open followed by a T3 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. A T48 at the PGA was disappointing, but with three top-fives and a top 10 finish in his last seven starts, Hoffman could be a real danger man this week. And given that he told his caddie he was fed up of finishing second – we think he’ll be really be going for it. 

Other good bets this week 
Louis Oosthuizen (£13m), Francesco Molinari (£12m), Marc Leishman (£12m), Tony Finau (£9m)