Alfred Dunhill Links Fantasy Preview
The European Tour heads to Scotland to take on some iconic venues this week.
Similar to the CareerBuilder Challenge or the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, golfers will see a three-course rotation. Similar to Pebble Beach, these pros are also paired with celebrities or semi-celebrities as they play the event.
The courses are The Old Course at St. Andrews (x2), Kingsbarn, and Carnoustie.
All of them are set up to play as par 72s and also set up to help the amateur playing partners navigate the course is reasonable time. That means Carnoustie won’t be Carnasty this week, unless Mother Nature decides to roar.
With three courses in the mix, it brings COURSE STACKS into play this week on DraftKings. Even with the course set up for amateurs, there will still be weather days that benefit one course more than the others. Personally for course stacks I like to pick four golfers that start on the same course and then allow the last two roster spots to come from any course. This gives you a core built around one specific starting course but also lets you diversify a bit because it’s unlikely EVERYONE in contention will come from the same starting course.
You may notice I’ve been harsh on the American stars playing this week (Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, and Matt Kuchar). There is a lot less motivation for them to succeed this week, so it becomes somewhat of a vacation after the Ryder Cup, allowing them to play some great courses on their trip. If you think they are highly motivated or think they’ll contend without motivation then feel free to give them a big boost, compared to where I rank them.
Let’s look at a few stats to see who might fare well this week:
Top Performers on Links Layouts (since 2015)
Chris Wood
Tyrrell Hatton
Andy Sullivan
Eddie Pepperell
Joakim Lagergren
Jorge Campillo
Ryan Fox
Soren Kjeldsen
Richard Sterne
Tommy Fleetwood
Top Performers against Strong Fields (since 2015)
Tyrrell Hatton
Branden Grace
Tommy Fleetwood
Ross Fisher
Martin Kaymer
Shane Lowry
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Andy Sullivan
Ryan Fox
Alexander Bjork
Top Performers on Bentgrass (since 2015)
Branden Grace
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Tyrrell Hatton
Andy Sullivan
Chris Wood
Soren Kjeldsen
Shane Lowry
Tommy Fleetwood
Hao Tong Li
Martin Kaymer
Top Performers in GB&I (since 2015)
Tyrrell Hatton
Shane Lowry
Chris Wood
Andy Sullivan
Branden Grace
Soren Kjeldsen
Ross Fisher
Ryan Fox
Richard Sterne
Graeme Mcdowell
Top Performers on Par 72s (since 2015)
Branden Grace
Tyrrell Hatton
Ross Fisher
Martin Kaymer
Shane Lowry
Alexander Bjork
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Tommy Fleetwood
Alexander Levy
Andy Sullivan
Golfers that show up on all FIVE lists: Tyrrell Hatton, Andy Sullivan
Golfers that show up on 4-of-5 lists: Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Branden Grace
Golfers that show up on 3-of-5 lists: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Chris Wood, Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher, Ryan Fox, Soren Kjeldsen
My Top 25 for the 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links
1. Shane Lowry
2. Chris Wood
3. Tommy Fleetwood
4. Tyrrell Hatton
5. Soren Kjeldsen
6. Matthew Fitzpatrick
7. Branden Grace
8. Louis Oosthuizen
9. Andy Sullivan
10. Thomas Pieters
11. Brooks Koepka
12. Bradley Dredge
13. Erik van Rooyen
14. Richard Sterne
15. Graeme McDowell
16. Jordan Smith
17. Matt Kuchar
18. Ross Fisher
19. Alexander Levy
20. Thomas Detry
21. Paul Dunne
22. Mike Lorenzo-Vera
23. Ryan Fox
24. Jorge Campillo
25. Tony Finau
