Each week, Dave Tindall and Matt Cooper will give their picks for the two main European Tour options – DraftKings and the official season-long 2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai game run by europeantour.com.
The latter is no-salary. Simply select a team of six golfers and nominate a captain whose points are doubled. Points are based on official Race to Dubai points earned by your players.[[ad:athena]]
The DraftKings lineups will be entered into a large-entry Guaranteed Prize Pool. That means we need to take a risk or two, in order to separate ourselves from the field.
The idea is to provide you a list of names to consider. We would not recommend copying these teams, golfer for golfer. Duplicate teams are no fun and don’t help anyone.
Dave Tindall
@DaveTindallGolf
DraftKings
Joost Luiten ($9,800) – Winning at home isn’t easy but Luiten has pulled the stunt twice. Top 25 last time in Switzerland.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera ($9,600) – T6 at Crans last time was his fourth top ten in seven starts. T8 and T12 in two of his last three visits to this tournament
Mikko Korhonen ($8,500) – Has played well in this tournament at different venues and the new location looks a good one for him too. China Open winner in May and 5-for-5 since the end of June.
Jamie Donaldson ($7,800) – Has found his mojo again in recent weeks with two top tens in his last four starts. Added T35 in Crans.
Matthew Southgate ($7,600) – There are some nods to links at this venue which bodes well for the Englishman. T10 at Scandinavian Invitation last month.
Daniel Gavins ($6,800) – Two top 25s and a 3-for-4 slate since mid-August make him an attractive cheap option.
Total salary: $49,900
On the cusp: Thomas Pieters ($11,100), Thomas Detry ($9,200), Gavin Green ($9,000), Jorge Campillo ($8,700), Lorenzo Gagli ($7,100), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano ($6,900)
2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai – European Tour
Last week: Not making Casey captain led to a small drop. Frustrating times at the moment.
Pos: 2,875th
Thomas Pieters (captain): Has finished T12 and T20 since his win at the Czech Masters. Last time he played this event? Yep, another victory. Planets could be aligned.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera: Runner-up at Valderrama was frustrating but he’s not let up on his bid to gain that elusive first win. Has to be on the team in his current form.
Joost Luiten: Won in 2013, won in 2016 so three-year cycle suggests another! You’ll also find a second, a fifth and a sixth in his KLM Open record. Trending in the right direction with form of 32-29-23.
Patrick Reed: Didn’t get it going in Germany but leg two of his three-week European jaunt likely to be much stronger.
Sergio Garcia: Form can be picked apart but T7 and T23 in his last two regular European Tour starts shows that Sergio is still worthy of a pick in this format.
Thomas Detry: Third in this tournament last year and will hop over the border again having posted a pair of top 20s in his last two events.
Matt Cooper
@MattCooperGolf
DraftKings
Gavin Green ($9,000) – Simple: Seven of his last 11 starts have been top 20 and he’s getting closer and closer to a first win.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera ($9,600) – Three top 20s in the tournament and nine top 30s in the season (five of them top tens).
Mikko Korhonen ($8,500) – A remarkable 9-for-9 in the Netherlands and five top 30s in this event.
Victor Perez ($8,200) – Eight top 30s this season and T10 two starts ago.
Matthew Southgate ($7,600) – I have a sneaky feeling that Le Golf National and The International are a little alike; Southgate has a T11 and a T5 in Paris.
James Morrison ($6,900) – Another Englishman with a decent record at Le Golf; he’s been T7 and also second.
Total salary: $49,800
On the cusp: Thomas Pieters ($11,100), Matt Wallace ($10,700), Joost Luiten ($9,800), Sam Horsfield ($9,100), Romain Wattel ($8,000), Ashley Chesters ($7,700)
2019 Fantasy Race to Dubai – European Tour
Last week: Made the mistake of giving Xander Schauffele the armband and he looked a little lackluster in contrast to Paul Casey. But not too much damage done.
Position: 402nd
Martin Kaymer (captain): Overlooking his most recent golf because it was on the PGA and over a month ago. Before that he racked up four top 20s in as many regular ET starts.
Sergio Garcia: Horrible summer form, but he’s good enough to perform on the ET in fourth gear as evidenced by T7 at Valderrama and T23 in Crans.
Matt Wallace: Making an assumption that he had plenty of rust to knock off at Crans and he’ll be better off for the rest and that experience. He’ll be desperate to start contending again.
Gavin Green: Keeps racking up those top 20s and every chance of another here.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera: Four top tens in his last seven starts, knocking on the door of a first win, has enjoyed playing the tournament in recent years (twice top 12 in his last three starts).
Thomas Pieters: Past winner of the event and also a winner just three starts ago.
