Fantasy Golf Preview – Players Championship and Mauritius Open

Golf’s so called ‘fifth major’ is just two days away, which means your team selection carries even greater importance this gameweek. Not only are all the big guns back in action, but the Players Championship is one of eight bonus tournaments which will add 50% to your score.

Everyone’s favourite Yorkshireman Danny Willett is returning to the Tour for the first time since his Masters triumph and makes up a heavyweight cast list, which also includes Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and world number one Jason Day. Defending champion Rickie Fowler is also in the mix and will be eager to put his final day woes at the Wells Fargo Championship behind him.

And if you needed reminding that golf has a habit of throwing up surprises, James Hahn’s play-off victory over Roberto Castro at Quail Hollow came after missing eight cuts in succession. Still, it’s worth paying close attention to the game’s in-form men and there’s plenty of big names who fall into that category. Justin Rose, Rory, Phil Mickelson and Fowler all finished inside the top five on Sunday to more than justify their hefty price tags.

On the European Tour, a small minority of fantasy owners were left celebrating after Jeunghun Wang overcame Spain’s Nacho Elvira on the second extra hole to claim the Trophée Hassan II. The South Korean became the fourth player in as many weeks to win a maiden European Tour title. The action now shifts to the Mauritious Open which is the only event tri-sanctioned by the European, Asian and Sunshine Tours.

South African George Coetzee returns as defending champion and will be teeing it up alongside 29 different nationalities. The cosmopolitan field includes Italian Eduardo Molinari, in-form Australian Scott Hend and Shenzhen International champion Soomin Lee. To help you whittle your team down to 10 players, we’ve included five top tips and listed all the players competing at the Players and Mauritius Open this week.

Top-five fantasy picks…

Rory McIlroy (£15m) – Players Championship

TPC Sawgrass is a favourite hunting ground for the world number three. McIlroy has three top 10 finishes in as many starts and is coming off the back of a final round 66 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He hasn’t won on US soil for over a year, but his name has been a constant presence at the top of the leaderboard in recent weeks. He’s posted three top fives in his last four events and looks a good bet to contend again.

Rickie Fowler (£15m) – Players Championship

No defending champion has ever retained the title at the Players, but there’s a good chance Fowler could end that streak this week. Since triumphing at TPC Sawgrass last year, the American has been a model of consistency across the pond. A missed cut at the Masters was merely a blot on an otherwise impressive start to the year for the American, which has yielded six top 10s in his last 10 starts. He should have won over the weekend, too, but a final round 74 meant he had to settle for T4. Nevertheless, he still leads the all round ranking statistics on the PGA Tour, and it’s surely only a matter of time before he converts his impressive numbers into victories.

Chris Kirk (£10m) – Players Championship

The American endured a difficult start to the year with three missed cuts before the start of March, but recent showings suggest he’s finally starting to feel comfortable with his game again. Four top 25s in his last five starts is testament to that, including a T5 in his last outing at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He was the 54-hole leader at the Players in 2015 and has finished just outside the top 10 in his last two appearances at TPC Sawgrass. For £10m, there are few better options around.

George Coetzee (£8m) – Mauritius Open

The omens look good for the South African. All three of Coetzee’s wins have come at events that were co-sanctioned by both the European and Sunshine Tours. His victory last year may have come on a different course, but his consistency and the length off the tee makes him one of the favourites this week. He might be a bit rusty after taking two months off, but the relative weakness of the field makes it a good tournament to make his return.

Nicolas Colsaerts (£5m) – Mauritius Open

The big-hitting Belgium has slipped out of the spotlight in recent years, but he certainly has the tools to tame the 7,500-yard course in Mauritius. A T15 at the Volvo China Open hinted at a return to form for the 33-year-old, who has missed four cuts already this year. With all the big names competing on the PGA Tour, he will fancy his chances of winning just his third European Tour title this week.

Players Championship Tee Times

7:15am

1st tee: Ricky Barnes, Jason Kokrak, Patton Kizzire

10th tee: Jason Gore, Graham DaLaet, Francesco Molinari

7:26am

1st tee: Cameron Tringale, Daniel Summerhays, Will Wilcox

10th tee: Johnson Wagner, Jerry Kelly, Kevin Chappell

7:37am

1st tee: Freddie Jacobson, Chad Campbell, Matthew Fitzpatrick

10th tee: Gary Woodland, David Hearn, Hudson Swafford

7:48am

1st tee: Shane Lowry, Troy Merritt, Paul Casey

10th tee: Matt Every, Webb Simpson, Ernie Els

7:59am

1st tee: J.B. Holmes, Brian Harman, Chesson Hadley

10th tee: Tony Finau, Peter Malnati, K.J. Choi

8:10am

1st tee: Jim Herman, Emiliano Grillo, Brooks Koepka

10th tee: Danny Willett, Brand Snedeker, Justin Rose

8:21am

1st tee: James Hahn, Bill Haas, Ryan Moore

10th tee: Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson

8:32am

1st tee: Charley Hoffman, Danny Lee, Chris Kirk

10th tee: Russel Knox, Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel

8:43am

1st tee: J.J. Henry, Steven Bowditch, Nick Taylor

10th tee: Branden Grace, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth

8:54am

1st tee: Jason Dufner, Kevin Kisner, Luke Donald

10th tee: Chris Stroud, Daniel Berger, Bernd Wiesberger

9:05am

1st tee: Martin Laird, Jhonattan Vegas, Si Woo Kim

10th tee: Ian Poulter, Marc Leishman, Bernard Langer

9:16am

1st tee: Chez Reavie, Kyle Reifers, Zac Blair

10th tee: Brendan Steele, Jamie Lovemark, Jeff Overton

12:30pm

1st tee: Kevin Na, Morgan Hoffman, Chad Collins

10th tee Boo Weekley, Shawn Stefani, Andres Gonzales

12:41pm

1st tee: Jonas Blixt, Sean O’Hair, Adam Hadwin;

10th tee: Ryan Palmer, Patrick Rodgers, Carlos Ortiz

12:52pm

1st tee: Carl Pettersson, George McNeill, Jason Bohn

10th tee: Bryce Molder, William McGirt, Colt Knost

1:03pm

1st tee: Robert Streb, Kevin Streelman, Brendon Todd

10th tee: Scott Piercy, Ben Martin, Hunter Mahan

1:14pm

1st tee: Fabian Gomez, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen

10th tee: Vaughn Taylor, Matt Jones, Vijay Singh

1:25pm

1st tee: Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia

10th tee: Brian Stuard, David Lingmerth, John Senden

1:36pm

1st tee: Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar

10th tee: Justin Thomas, Davis Love III, Alex Cejka

1:47pm

1st tee: Hideki Matsuyama, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen

10th tee: Smylie Kaufman, Jimmy Walker, Russell Henley

1:58pm

1st tee: Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson

10th tee: Camilo Villegas, Harris English, Keegan Bradley

2:09pm

1st tee: Scott Brown, Harold Varner III, Byeong-Hun An

10th tee: Brendon de Jonge, Erik Compton, Soren Kjeldsen

2:20pm

1st tee: Ken Duke, Steve Wheatcroft, Andy Sullivan

10th tee: John Huh, Spencer Levin, Rafa Cabrera Bello

2:31pm

1st tee: Mark Wilson, Charles Howell III, Joe Curran

10th tee: Greg Owen, Scott Pinckney, Kiradech Aphibarnrat

Mauritius Open Tee Times

6:45am

1st tee: Ryan Fox, Lionel Weber, Christofer Blomstrand

10th tee: Mithun Perera, Daniel Chopra, Louis De Jager

6:55am

1st tee: Chris Hanson, Ryan Tipping, Chieh-Po Lee

10th tee: Tjaart Van Der Walt, Max Orrin, Sam Cyr

7:05am

1st tee: Daniel Gavins, Chris Swanepoel, Sam Brazel

10th tee: Justin Walters, Mardan Mamat, James Busby

7:15am

1st tee: Jean Hugo, Shaun Norris, Berry Henson

10th tee: Dean Burmester, Dylan Frittelli, Rashid Khan

7:25am

1st tee: Michael Hollick, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Lyle Rowe

10th tee: Andrew Dodt, Jaco Van Zyl, Haydn Porteous

7:35am

1st tee: Thitiphun Chuayprakong, Ross Mcgowan, James Kingston

10th tee: Nicolas Colsaerts, George Coetzee, Haotong Li

7:45am

1st tee: Natipong Srithong, Adrian Otaegui, Scott Vincent

10th tee: Paul Peterson, Keith Horne, Arjun Atwal

7:55am

1st tee: Francesco Laporta, Petr Dedek, Jack Harrison

10th tee: Wallie Coetsee, Jazz Janewattananond, Danie Van Tonder

8:05am

1st tee: Brett Munson, Adilson Da Silva, George Murray

10th tee: David Dixon, Clement Berardo, Titch Moore

8:15am

1st tee: Lukas Nemecz, Ludovic Bax, Rhys West

10th tee: Ryan Evans, Jbe Kruger, Chien-Yao Hung

8:25am

1st tee: Javier Colomo, Laurie Canter, Irvin Mazibuko

10th tee: Kalem Richardson, PH McIntyre, Wei-Chih Lu

11:15am

1st tee: Panuphol Pittayarat, Shubhankar Sharma, Henry Featherstone

10th tee: Joshua White, Erik Van Rooyen, Khalin H Joshi

11:25am

1st tee: Ulrich Van Den Berg, Estanislao Goya, Terry Pilkadaris

10th tee: Nicolo Ravano, Toto Thimba Jnr, Rahil Gangjee

11:35am

1st tee: Jamie Mcleary, Shiv Kapur, Soren Hansen

10th tee: Jaco Ahlers, Stuart Manley, Himmat Rai

11:45am

1st tee: Edoardo Molinari, Zander Lombard, Richard T Lee

10th tee: Matthew Southgate, Chiragh Kumar, Vaughn Groenewald

11:55am

1st tee: Miguel Tabuena, Jeunghun Wang, Brandon Stone

10th tee: Ben Eccles, Danthai Boonma, Ruan De Smidt

12:05pm

1st tee: Hennie Otto, Scott Hend, Soomin lee

10th tee: James Robinson, Marcus Kinhult, Justin Harding

12:15pm

1st tee: Jacques Blaauw, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jason Scrivener

10th tee: Mark Foster, Unho Park, Tyrone Ferreira

12:25pm

1st tee: Carlos Pigem, Garth Mulroy, Tom Lewis

10th tee: Jason Knutzon, Lasse Jensen, Christiaan Bassoon

12:35pm

1st tee: Nino Bertasio, Jyoti Randhawa, Nick Marsh

10th tee: Siddikur Rahman, Richard McEvoy, Oliver Bekker

12:45pm

1st tee: Dimitrios Papadatos, Bryce Easton, Masahiro Kawamura

10th tee: Kristopher Mueck, Phachara Khongwatmai, Rourke Van Der Spuy