The PGA Tour heads to China this week for the World Golf Championships: HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai. WGC events always draw a world class field thanks to the premium prize money (a cool $10 million total purse with no cut), and a trip around the world with an opportunity for both the Tour and individual players to spread the #brand.
Course and Tournament Info
Course: Sheshan International Golf Club
Par: 72
Distance: 7,261
Fairways: Paspalum
Greens: Bentgrass
Like Nine Bridges last week, the short distance for a par 72 disguises a challenging course that can frustrate even the best golfers in the world. History doesn't give much away here, as the course has bounced all over the place in terms of difficulty over the past few years. It has ranked as high as the 12th toughest and as low as the 43rd toughest. Likewise, the winning score has been as high as 23-under par or as low as 11-under over the last couple seasons.
| Season | Par | Yardage | Avg Score | Avg O/U Par | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 72 | 7261 | 72.287 | 0.287 | 13 |
| 2017 | 72 | 7261 | 71.904 | -0.096 | 25 |
| 2016 | 72 | 7261 | 70.581 | -1.419 | 43 |
| 2015 | 72 | 7261 | 72.726 | 0.726 | 12 |
| 2014 | 72 | 7266 | 70.89 | -1.11 | 40 |
Daily fantasy players have to take a stand on how they will treat this course. Will it be a birdie-fest like in 2016 and 2017, or will it be a grind like it was in 2015 and 2018? Those who guess right will find themselves at the top of large field contests with green numbers next to their names.
Key Stats
These stats stand out as the most important this week.
| Key Stats for the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International GC |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Tee to Green |
| Strokes Gained: Par 5s |
| Birdies or Better Gained |
| Strokes Gained: Par 4s (450-500) |
Once again, the individual strokes gained data is unavailable for this event, so relying on the overall metric of Strokes Gained: Tee to Green serves to identify who the best overall golfers are (with putting variance excluded). Par 72 courses feature an extra birdie or eagle opportunity or two, so par 5 performance is key again this week. Five of the nine par 4s are between 450 - 500 yards, so DFSers should key in on golfers who succeed in that range and, if proximity stats are preferred, those who do best on their approach from 175-200 yards.
Course History Studs
The WGC brings out a lot of the big boys. That starts with Dustin Johnson, who won this event in 2014 and has two other top 5s here since then, including a T2 last year.
Rory McIlroy has professed his affinity for this course in the past and there's little wonder why -- each of the three times he's played here in the last five years has resulted in a finish of T11 or better.
Matthew Fitzpatrick has played here each of the last three seasons and has finished T9-T16-T7.
Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.