This year’s British Masters supported by Sky Sports heads north to Close House Golf Club in Newcastle, England this week. A strong field including Masters champion Sergio Garcia, defending champion Alex Noren and the likes of Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick and Martin Kaymer will tee it up on Thursday.
Despite being under 7,000 yards, Close House presents a ball-striking test to players with a lot of variety on offer from hole-to-hole. With relatively wet conditions, fairways and greens will be easy to find with fortune favouring those who can convert birdie chances throughout the week. With that in mind, our statistics guru has selected the following three players for your Fantasy team consideration.
Pick of the Favourites: Alex Noren
Defending champion Noren returns to an event that he dominated 12 months ago. Playing in the event for the first time in eight years, Noren was two shots back after an opening round 67, before going on to card 18 birdies and just two bogeys over the final three days to win by two. He led the field in two key putting categories, needing just 1.55 Putts per Green in Regulation and 26.5 Putts per Round. The 35 year old has backed up the best season of his career in 2016 with a strong campaign so far this year, posting eight top 25 finishes, including a win at the BMW PGA Championship, and a sixth place finish in his last start at the Omega European Masters. Ranked as the 12th best player in the world entering this week, the Swede knows that a good performance this week could see him overtake Rafa Cabrera Bello and move into fourth place in the Race To Dubai with just seven events left in the season.
Form Horse:Matt Fitzpatrick
Coming into an event on home soil on the back of a fourth European Tour win in two years in his last start, at the Omega European Masters, Fitzpatrick couldn’t be in a better place. The first of the 23 year old’s victories on Tour came in this very event, at the 2015 British Masters supported by Sky Sports, when he won wire-to-wire at Woburn Golf Club. Matt then put up a good title defence last year, posting three under par rounds on the way to a top 50 finish. With the wind more than likely to blow at Close House GC this week, the Sheffield native will feel very at home and comfortable, with the Englishman regarded as a strong wind player. That reputation is backed up by two of his best finishes this season, a top five at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and a runner-up finish at the Nordea Masters, coming in windy conditions.
Wildcard: Chris Paisley
As a former Tour professional at Close House GC, Paisley is the only man in the field able to compete with this week’s host Lee Westwood when it comes to local knowledge. The Newcastle native will be keen to put on a good show in front of his home fans this week, and he might just do that if his recent form is anything to go by. The 31 year old posted a top five finish at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, before finishing tied third at the Made In Denmark the week after thanks to four rounds in the 60s and a 13 under par total. Currently ranked just inside of the all-important top 100 in the Race to Dubai presented by Rolex rankings at 97, Paisley could do with a good week here. The Englishman can take heart from three top 15 finishes in his last four starts and the fact he ranks in the top ten in Scrambling on Tour should serve him well around the challenging greens of Close House.
Those are our three picks, now it's time to make yours.Pick your seven-man Daily Fantasy teamfor each round of this week's event and play in either free or money games.
