Quicken Loans National – Sleepers, Picks & Preview
This is last years post – here are my notes from 2015.
Like it or not, but when Tiger Woods enters an event, there is an extra buzz surrounding it, especially if Tiger hasn’t played for a while. This week sees exactly that scenario, so we can be assured that many of the headlines this week will be about just one player. In fantasy terms, Tiger presents difficulties, as it’s hard to know if he is coming back fully fit, or if he’ll be playing at 75% and easing back into tournament golf.
Generally the advice would be not to pick a player who has been out for an extended period of time, although with Tiger Woods having won this event twice in the last three times it has been played here, it does make the decision a little harder. Erring on the side of caution might be a good idea, especially as many participants will indeed pick Woods – and going against the tide can be a good thing in daily fantasy sports, especially in large field fantasy events.
The Quicken Loans National – The Players Quick Overview
Four of the world’s top ten players play this week with Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose teeing up as well as Tiger Woods. Other notable starters are Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley. Ernie Els also plays as well as K.J. Choi who missed out by just a shot last week. Defending champion Bill Haas will be looking for back to back victories.
The Quicken Loans National – The Course
The Blue course at Congressional is 7569 yards long and has a par of 71. The course has hosted three US Opens and a PGA Championship and has hosted this event from 2012 and from 2007-2009.
The Quicken Loans National – Past Tournaments
Last year Bill Haas won the event with a closing round 66 which took him clear of second placed Roberto Castro. Jason Kokrak and Lee Dong-hwan finished joint third, with Jordan Spieth in the chasing pack. In 2012, Tiger Woods won the tournament by two shots from Bo Van Pelt and current world number one Adam Scott in third. Jason Day was in the chasing pack. KJ Choi, Anthony Kim have also won the event, with Tiger Woods having won in 2009. Rory McIlroy won the US Open when it was played at Congressional in 2011.
The Quicken Loans National – What the Stats Tell Us
The stats are a real mixed bag here – top placed finishers in recent years have shown that good driving distance or accuracy off the tee stats are not necessary to do well here, or generally how good a putter or scrambler a player is. Even form is not necessarily a strong pointer – the top three last year all coming here off the back of missed cuts last time out. On this basis, picking players who have performed at Congressional might be the way to go this week.
The Quicken Loans National Sleepers and Eight Players to Pick
Jason Day – Day has a great record here, 8th in 2012 and 21st last year to add to his runner up spot at the US Open here in 2011. Winner of the World Golf Championship Matchplay event the world number six is a sold high salary pick this week.
Jordan Spieth – Spieth is a player who performs week in, week out. In his seventeen outings this year he has had an incredible thirteen top twenty finishes. Missed the cut here in 2012, but led the way last year going into the weekend before finishing 6th – will be looking for his first W of the year.
Robert Garrigus – Made the cut last year and 4th in 2012 as well as tied 3rd in the US Open here. Garrigus is a player who can mix it near the top of the leaderboard with two top five finishes this year.
Bill Haas – Bill Haas is having something of a mediocre season by his own standards, with just three top ten’s on the year, not once making the top five. However, there is one stat that really stands out – he is yet to miss a cut in 16 outings this year. Add this to Haas being the defending champ here makes him a very solid high to mid salary pick.
Kevin Chappell – 3rd in the US Open here in 2011, made the cut in 2012 and tied 28th last year makes this player well worth looking at for a mid-salary pick. Has missed the cut in his last two outings, but as stated earlier, taking good recent form to Congressional isn’t a necessity to do well here.
Roberto Castro (sleeper pick!) – 2nd last year and a top 30 finish the year before mean Castro is not a player to be overlooked. This is something of a gamble when you look at his recent form – 8 missed cuts out of nine with a surprising top ten in there as well. However, last year he finished 2nd the week after missing a cut by six shots in his previous outing. A player who many will avoid, and this could be to your advantage.
Charlie Wi (sleeper!)– 7th last year and made the cut in 2012. Another player whose form in general has been pretty poor, however two top thirty finishes in his last three outings add some meat to this pick. Wi is a low salary player who could surprise here.
Andres Romero (sleeper)– 34th in 2012 and 13th last year points to another player who you know can play this course. Another gamble player here, with not much form to show of late having missed 8 of 15 cuts on the year – although his missed cuts in the last two weeks have been by just a single shot, so he is clearly not far from good golf, and a return to a course where he has played well will give him a boost.
The Quicken Loans National – The Betting
Tiger Woods heads the early betting for this year’s event at 14/1, with Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose all close behind around the 18/1 mark. Keegan Bradley, Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas are the other three players seen in serious contention by the early odds makers. You can put a few bucks on your favorite golfer at the Bovada Sportsbook if you are in the USA and Bet365 is one of our favorites for most of the free world.
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