Fantasy League: Andalucia Masters preview
Published: Last updated:
This week’s Today’s Golfer Fantasy League event is the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama in Spain.
With a healthy €3,000,000 prize fund up for grabs and one of the best courses in Europe as a venue, a good field has assembled, including defending champion Graeme McDowell and another six members of last year’s victorious European Ryder Cup team.
An extra incentive comes in the form of a place at next week’s WGC-HSBC Champions event in China for the winner.
As well as being one of the best and most popular courses on the schedule, Valderrama is also one of the toughest. Scoring will be nowhere near as low as at the Castello Masters last week so players will need to battle hard, limit the damage of any errant shots and stay patient.
The rough is tangly and fairways are tree-lined so accuracy is the order of the day. The greens are generous but their speed means players will be rewarded for leaving their ball on the right side of the hole.
TG’s six-man Fantasy League team for the Andalucia Masters is:
Thomas Bjorn, $1.4m
The resurgent Dane secured back-to-back victories in early September and finished T6 in the Portugal Masters in his last start. Secured a T5 here last year.
George Coetzee, $0.8m
A sixth place finish at the Castello Masters lifted the South African to 20th in the Race to Dubai standings in his debut season. A win in the last few weeks of the season should secure him the Rookie of the Year award.
Sergio Garcia, $2.0m
He demolished the field with an 11-shot victory at the Castello Masters last week and few players know Vaderrama better than the Spaniard. He’s third on the European Tour in stroke average and second in greens in regulation.
Peter Hanson, $1.7m
The Swede is hitting form at the business end of the season with T9-T6-T11 finishes in his last three starts. His fine ball striking make him a good fit for the course.
Martin Kaymer, $4.5m
The world number six hasn’t hit the heights of 2010 but he’s undoubtedly the class act in the field and will challenge this week with anything approaching his A-game. He’s 13th on Tour in putts per GIR.
Justin Rose, $2.3m
He had a strong end to the PGA Tour season with a win in the BMW Championship and will have great memories of Valderrama, having won here to clinch the European Tour Order of Merit in 2007.
> You can register for the free Today’s Golfer Fantasy League and pick your team here.
