by The PGA Tour heads to Asia for the next three weeks starting with the CIMB Classic. The event is held at the recently renovated TPC Kuala Lumpur. Since last year, the course has changed from Paspalum greens to TifEagle Bermuda greens. The fairways and tees have also been changed to Celebration Bermuda. These grass types match what is currently at TPC Sawgrass. Even in rain soaked Kuala Lumpur, we can expect firmer fairways and green speeds up to 2 feet quicker than past years. We can look at course history, but we need to make sure we still consider course fit when analyzing a player’s chances this week.
DraftKings
With this being a limited field event without a cut, it makes it very difficult for us to distinguish our lineups. Here are a few players to consider:
Kyle Stanley $9,000
Stanley may go a bit overlooked this week as I believe most people will flock to Thomas at $11,700 or Moore at $10,900. That makes it very difficult to fit more than one other player $9,000 or above into your lineup. I expect a lot of people to float to Brandt Snedeker at $9,100 after his near victory at the Safeway. This leaves Stanley at much less ownership but just as much upside. TPC Kuala Lumpur puts an emphasis on approach shots from 100-150 yards. Stanley is in the top 10 in proximity from that distance over his last 6 events. He has gained strokes on approach in all but two events in the last eight months.
Si Woo Kim $7,400
I rarely play Si Woo Kim on DraftKings because of his immense volatility and variance in results that can ruin a lineup. But with no cut this week, our risk is minimized. I think a lot of people automatically skip over him because of how many times he has missed the cut for them when they have rostered him in the past. Kim has won twice and lost in a playoff another two times in the last three years on the PGA Tour. When he is on, he competes at the top of the leaderboard. He now heads to a track that should remind him a bit of TPC Sawgrass. Both courses have the exact same grass types, have water coming into play on many holes, require accurate placement off the tee and have par 5’s that are very scorable. He does have one top 10 in two appearances at this event.
One-and-Done
Similar to last week, I believe the best strategy for these fall events is to take someone who you don’t plan on using the rest of the year. There are a few players who I think could win this week and whom we won’t really regret not saving for later in the year.
Ryan Moore
Moore comes into this event after narrowly losing in a playoff at the Safeway to Kevin Tway. He won this event in 2013 and 2014, so we know he is very comfortable on this layout.
Gary Woodland
Woodland typically plays well on courses that require less than driver off the tee and put an emphasis on shots from 100-150 yards. Over his last 100 rounds, Woodland is top 15 in proximity from both 100-125 yards and 125-150 yards. He finished runner up to Moore in 2013 and 2014.
