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WGC-HSBC Champions Preview
The Tour stays across the world in Asia for another week, and we get the pleasure of a WGC Field and some prime time golf to watch on TV. Sheshan International in Shanghai is the host this week for the final WGC event of the year. Defending champ Russell Knox will be in a star studded field including eight of the top ten players in the world golf rankings. Sheshan International is a par 72 layout measuring 7,266 yards, with bentgrass greens. This is a 72 hole stroke play event with no cut, meaning all players, outside of a withdrawal, will play the full four rounds. The rough is quite punishing, and all four of the par 3's are over 200 yards, a definite pet peeve of mine with the modern course design. As with many WGC events, there will be a serious international flavor here, with 78 players from 23 different countries.
Key Stats for Sheshan International
A lot of this field doesn't have any PGA Tour stats to go off of, so a lot of selections were made by using current form and skill set as the barometer, as well as some stats. Strokes gained tee to green (T2G), Par 5 scoring (P5S) and birdie or better percentage (BoB%) were the key stats I honed in on when making my selections. Current form was weighed heavily this week as well, even though some players in the field haven't played much lately. P5S will be huge this week, with four reachable par 5's we will see a lot of eagle opportunities.
Top Pin Seekers
Rory McIlroy - DK Salary $12,100 - Red hot right now coming off of his dramatic Fed Ex Cup win, with two wins in his last three starts - has great course history at Sheshan with four top 6's in his lastg five starts - 1st in T2G, 1st in P5S & 2nd in BoB%
Dustin Johnson - DK Salary $11,900 - Forget the hiccup in the final round at East Lake, DJ will crush this track and he's in great form with three straight top 8 finishes - Won here in 2014 with 28 birdies and two eagles - 2nd in T2G, 4th in P5S & 1st in BoB%
Hideki Matsuyama - DK Salary $10,000 - in great form with a 2nd last week and a 5th a few weeks ago - Has withdrawn at this event two of the last three years which may scare some people away, don't be one of them - Top 20 in three key stats
Paul Casey - DK Salary $9,600 - Another player in fantastic form, with four top 4's in his last five starts - Has gained an average of 5.835 strokes tee to green in his last 9 events - Top 50 in T2G & P5S
Adam Scott - DK Salary $9,400 - Great price for one of the best talents in the game, has been crushing it tee to green lately as per usual, and has a career BoB% at Sheshan of 26.5% - Top 20 in three key stats
Middle Tee Plays
Patrick Reed - DK Salary $9,000 - Has a ridiculous BoB% of 38.4% in his two appearances here, and a 7th place finish last year - top 20 in P5S & BoB%
Martin Kaymer - DK Salary $8,700 - In fantastic form right now, has a win here before with four top 8 finishes - BoB% of 31.2% at Sheshan
Russell Knox - DK Salary $8,600 - Defending Champion, in great form - BoB% of 34.7% at Sheshan last year
Brooks Koepka - DK Salary $8,500 - Great price for Brooks, who will rack birdies up like he normally does with four guaranteed rounds - top 30 in three key stats
Charl Schwartzel - DK Salary $8,200 - Two straight top 10's, and has a 4th place finish here in 2011 - top 50 T2G & BoB%
GPP Dart Board Dreams
Thomas Pieters - DK Salary $8,100 - 23rd in his only appearance here, in great form - 26.4% BoB% at Sheshan last year
Emiliano Grillo - DK Salary $7,800 - All in on Grillo this week, he will pepper greens, and is in goo form - top 35 in T2G & BoB%
Rafa Cabrera Bello - DK Salary $7,600 - In great form, and this price is just too low for his skill set
Tyrrell Hatton - DK Salary $7,400 - In great form with a win and 9th in his last two starts - gained 4.686 strokes tee to green on average in his last four events
Matt Fitzpatrick - DK Salary $7,100 - 7th here last year, will have low ownership with winning upside
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