The UBS Hong Kong Open heralds the European Tour’s arrival in Asia for the first time this season and with it a first appearance of the campaign for Masters Champion Danny Willett, as he joins a star-studded field for the 58th edition of the event.
With such a strong line-up assembling in Hong Kong, our stats guru has crunched the numbers and come up with three players who could be the perfect fit for yourDaily Fantasy team.
Pick of the favourites:Rafa Cabrera Bello
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The good vibes must be flowing through Rafa Cabrera Bello after a hugely consistent year in which he made the cut in every tournament he teed off in. In fact, you’d have to go back 25 tournaments, to October 2015, to find the last time the Spaniard failed to make the weekend. He made the most of his consistency, claiming six top tens and achieving an average finishing position of 19th over the course of his 23 events. An impressive Ryder Cup debut saw him take 2.5 points from his three matches and contributed to his most successful year to date. As for this week in Hong Kong, his game, long and accurate, is perfectly suited for Hong Kong Golf Club. Since we started gathering hole stats in 2009, all seven winners of this event have ranked inside the top 15 in Greens in Regulation, five ranked inside the top three and two (McIlroy 2011 and Rose 2015) led the field. And when it comes to hitting greens, fewer do it better or more often than Rafa. The 32 year old ranked inside the top ten in greens on both the European and PGA Tour last season and has featured in the top 15 in European in each of the last five seasons. Add that to his prodigious length and improved touch on and around the greens and he has every chance of picking up his first win in four years this week in Hong Kong.
Form horse: Tommy Fleetwood
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Few players, if any, arrive in Hong Kong in better form than Tommy Fleetwood. 2016 was a year of two halves for the Englishman, the first spent getting used to a new putting grip and some swing changes and the second reaping the benefits. Having missed the cut in five of seven cuts in the summer, followed by a first round exit at the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play, it would have been easy for 25 year old to get frustrated. However, he stuck at it and finished the season making 11 straight cuts, including eight top 20s, and had a run of 27 rounds of par or better (the second longest streak on Tour in the last two years). Fleetwood has ranked in the top 15 in Greens in Regulation in each of the last three seasons and is one of the most prolific birdie-makers around. Whilst this week marks his debut in Hong Kong, he has performed well in neighbouring China, finishing third at the 2015 Shenzhen International and runner-up at the 2014 Volvo China Open.
Wildcard: Nacho Elvira
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To make six top tens in your second year on Tour, including a marginal play-off defeat, suggests the best is yet to come. So, for Nacho Elvira, 2017 might have a lot to live up to, but the signs look good. The Spaniard lost out to an inspired putting performance from Jeunghun Wang as the Trophée Hassan II went to extra holes, but in the process secured his second top ten in three starts. Elvira went on to notch a top three finish at the Italian Open before finishing in the top ten in Turkey and South Africa. Elvira has an all-round game buily for consistency and seems to do well on shorter, tighter courses. In his only appearance at the Hong Kong Open in 2014 the Spaniard shot an opening round 66 and finished in the top 40, despite finishing the week ranked inside the top eight in Driving Accuracy and Putts per GIR. He is certainly an outsider this week but has the same look and feel as Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard, who finished in the top five in his last two starts at this event.
Those are our picks, now it’s time to make yours. Whether you are playing theFantasy Race to Dubaior our newDaily Fantasy Game, be sure to make your picks before Wednesday night. Good luck!
