Lyoness Open Fantasy Preview
Taking a quick hop over to Austria, it’s time for a look at this week’s Lyoness Open.
The course is Diamond Country Club, a lengthy par 72. Unlike last week’s the layout it’s more traditional with four par 5s, four par 3s. There is plenty of water in play and exposed to wind. Sounds like a ball-strikers layout to me.
Since 2010, the field average is 72.65, so it’s no cakewalk, this course has some teeth if you’re not up to the task.
Players to Watch
Bernd Wiesberger… “I wanted to be fresh for my home event so I had a couple of days off in Vienna”… Bernd is not happy about missing the cut here last year. Prior to that he posted finishes of 2nd, 14th, 1st, 5th in the four years prior. He’s one of the top golfers in the field already, but add in the home country advantage/motivation, and I think it makes him the clear-cut favorite this week.
Joost Louiten… Has finished on the podium in each of the past three visits here. Safe to say he likes the layout.
Nino Bertasio… The rookie has top 15s in three of his last four starts. I may be hesitant to ride this train for too long, but this week’s field is nothing to be scared of.
Dylan Fritelli… One of my favorite GPP plays this week. My only concern is jet-lag as he played in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier on Monday. He was out of contention after 18 holes, so he withdrew (hopefully to catch an earlier plane to Austria). While most of his juicy results have come on lesser tours, he owns top 15s in five of his last eight on those lesser tours. The Texas Longhorn has the game to make it work on the Euro Tour, so I will get on board.
Dean Burmester… Much like Fritelli, this South African has crushed the Sunshine Tour, but it’s time to take a step up. He won four times last year, so we know he won’t shy away when he’s in the mix. Withdrew from a Challenge Tour event last week after an opening 80. Told me via Twitter that he had some lower back pain but feels better this week.
Jason Scrivener… Had him as a long-course specialist last week and he let me/us down. The same applies this week since Diamond CC stretches out past 7,450 yards. He’s gained strokes over the field in seven of last nine starts on longer courses. His strokes gained per round is about half-a-shot better per round in those events, compared to his baseline. Despite his mediocre form, I’m going back to the well.
Lee Slattery… Great mix of course history and form. There are some with better form/course combos but Slattery is a bit cheaper on DraftKings compared to the others.
Paul Dunne… Last week we saw Fitzpatrick win on pure cachet. Dunne could follow in his footsteps since he’s also been labeled “the next big thing”… not quite as much at Fitz, but Dunne has some nice pedigree, so I will take a strong look at him in a weak field like this.
Chris Hanson… He’s in good form and was on a squad that finished inside the top 10 for me last week in the DK Birdie. I will give him another look because of that, but he lost 5.77 strokes to the field in his lone trip to this event… I’m not going to have too much Hanson exposure for that reason.
Lyoness Open Cheatsheet… Head over to Daily Fantasy Solutions and grab this week’s DraftKings cheatsheet!
My Top 25 for the 2016 Lyoness Open
1. Bernd Wiesberger
2. Gregory Bourdy
3. Chris Wood
4. Richard Bland
5. Joost Luiten
6. Jason Scrivener
7. Magnus A. Carlsson
8. Lee Slattery
9. Nino Bertasio
10. Richie Ramsay
11. James Morrison
12. Dylan Frittelli
13. Paul Dunne
14. Dean Burmester
15. Lasse Jensen
16. Callum Shinkwin
17. David Drysdale
18. Adrian Otaegui
19. Scott Henry
20. David Howell
21. Eduardo De La Riva
22. Kristoffer Broberg
23. Anthony Wall
24. Florian Fritsch
25. Shiv Kapur
