This article is part of our FantasyDraft PGA series.
WGC-HSBC Champions
Shanghai, China
Sheshan International GC - Par 72 - 7,261
Field - 78 entrants
Purse - $9.75M
The Preview
Here we are again with yet another no-cut format as the PGA Tour's Asian swing heads to Shanghai to continue its fall series. This time around, however, additional excitement awaits as the season's first WGC event features a loaded, albeit top-heavy, field with nine of the Official World Golf Ranking's top-15 slated to tee it up at Sheshan International GC. At last year's edition of the WGC-HSBC Champions, Hideki Matsuyama torched the competition en route to a dominant seven-stroke victory at 23-under-par. We've also seen Sheshan International GC give up a 24-under winning score to Dustin Johnson in 2013, so if the weather's right, the world's top talent should have no issue attacking this golf course. The forecast this week calls for comfortable highs reaching 70 degrees, essentially no chance of precipitation, and winds expected to hold off until at least Saturday.
Past Champions
2016 - Hideki Matsuyama
2015 - Russell Knox
2014 - Bubba Watson
2013 - Dustin Johnson
2012 - Ian Poulter
2011 - Martin Kaymer
2010 - Francesco Molinari
FantasyDraft Value Picks - based on $100,000 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Marc Leishman - $17,700
Leishman, who turned 34 years old on Tuesday, is playing the best golf of his career as he moved up to a personal-best 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking following his playoff loss at last week's CJ Cup. He's finished 2-T24-1-3 in his last four starts, and the perfect belated-birthday present would be a win in Shanghai.
Paul Casey - $16,800
With eight top-15s throughout his past 10 starts, Casey has become one of the safest daily fantasy weapons on a weekly basis. His win drought since the European Tour's 2014 KLM Open has gotten to the point of ridiculousness given the number of high finishes he has racked up since then, and it's only a matter of time before the Englishman finally breaks through. Casey ranked top-15 in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage last week at the CJ Cup, managing a T19 result despite an iffy putting performance.
Tyrrell Hatton - $16,700
Sticking with the trend of rolling with the hot hand, Hatton heads to China coming off back-to-back wins at the Italian Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. His past four starts include finishes of 1-1-T8-T3, giving him much-needed confidence after he missed six cuts in his seven previous events. The streaky Englishman will look to ride the momentum train as he efforts to climb into to the top-15 in the OWGR for the first time since early April.
Glue Guys
Rafael Cabrera Bello - $15,200
The 21st-ranked player in the world finished T19 in China last year, and he racked up a trio of top-20s in his last four starts. He led the field in GIR percentage at last week's CJ Cup en route to carding a tournament-low six bogeys in four rounds.
Thorbjorn Olesen - $14,000
Olesen's track record at the WGC-HSBC Champions -- he has posted results of T19-T6-T11 in three career starts here -- garners the Danish 27-year-old consideration this week at an affordable price. He also placed top-10 at his last WGC appearance with a T10 at the 2017 Bridgestone Invitational in August.
Bargain Bin
Kyle Stanley - $13,900
It's hard not to like such a solid ball-striker at a price below the $14,000 mark, and it doesn't hurt that Stanley notched five top-25s in his last six starts as well. Through his first two events of the 2017-18 campaign, Stanley is averaging just over four birdies per round, as he continues to hit greens in regulation at an elite rate after ranking second on Tour in GIR percentage last season.
Haotong Li - $13,300
Just prior to his 22nd birthday, Li burst onto the international scene with a solo third-place finish at the Open Championship in late July. He has cooled off a bit since then, but played his final two rounds in a combined six-under during his last start at the CIMB Classic, carding 18 birdies through four rounds. The Chinese native owns four career appearances at the WGC-HSBC Champions, most notably finishing T7 in 2015 as a 20-year-old.
