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Top daily fantasy golf (DFS) lineup picks for the European Tour's Italian Open. Fantasy PGA expert advice, DFS lineup sleepers and DraftKings starts for the European PGA Tour.
Hello and welcome to RotoBaller's DraftKings DFS Euro Tour picks! At RotoBaller, we are committed to bringing our readers the most complete fantasy golf advice available, that means we offer DFS golf coverage on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Francesco Molinari won the huge BMW PGA Championship event last week and will head to his home country for this week's Italian Open. While some players jetted back across the Atlantic for this week's PGA Tour Memorial tournament, several of the top European Tour players will participate in the Italian Open. Tyrell Hatton won last year's version that was held at Golf Club Milano. This year, Gardagolf Country Club plays host for the first time since 2003. Gardagolf is a 7,201 Yard Par 71 course that is heavily tree-lined and has water in play on several holes. This golf course has a unique layout that features four Par-3s and only three Par-5s.
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Elite Tier
Francesco Molinari - DraftKings - $11,500: I have to go with the native Italian that will be returning home to a hero's welcome after winning last week's BMW PGA Championship. DFS regulars have long been aware of Molinari's ballstriking prowess. His ability was on full display last week, as he ranked 4th in Fairways Hit and 8th in Greens in Regulation. What elevated Molinari was his work on the greens. His putter has always been...questionable at best, but the Italian found his stroke at the BMW. Molinari ranked 27th in Putts Per GIR, which is a huge improvement from his usual form with the flatstick. If Molinari can continue putting just average, we might see back-to-back wins for him.
Matthew Fitzpatrick - DraftKings - $9,600: Anytime Matthew Fitzpatrick tees it up across the Atlantic Ocean, I'm on board. Though he hasn't been able to find huge success on U.S. soil yet, the young Englishman has loads of talent. I'm especially fond of rolling with Fitzpatrick when he's in his comfort zone on the European Tour. Fitzpatrick can be streaky and is coming off a stellar performance last week, finishing in a tie for 8th at the BMW PGA Championship. The young Englishman is an elite ballstriker and I love this price tag for a player that has the ability to potentially dominate a tournament.
Mid Tier
Andy Sullivan - DraftKings - $8,800: I'm going back to the well on Andy Sullivan this week. Despite a somewhat disappointing T-35 at the BMW PGA Championship, Sullivan's form is still excellent. As I stated last week, DFS players will struggle to find more bang for their salary cap bucks. Sullivan's $8,800 price tag is a steal for the type of consistency that he has displayed in 2018. The Englishman has not missed a cut this calendar year, logging ten consecutive cuts made. In those ten tournaments, Sullivan has recorded a Top-5, two Top-10's, and three Top-25's. Yeah...pretty impressive stuff. I'm comfortable using him all both cash games and GPPs this week.
Alexander Bjork - DraftKings - $8,600: Let's stick with the consistency theme for our other Mid-Tier selection, Alexander Bjork. The Swede has been a machine since April, running off four consecutive cuts made, including a win at the Volvo China Open and a third place finish in the Trophee Hassan II. Bjork has shades of fellow-Swede Henrik Stenson in his game and is very solid tee-to-green. He drives it long and straight, hits greens, and is a good putter. In the absence of course history, I always try to find players with solid, tee-to-green games. Bjork certainly fits the bill.
Value Tier
Matteo Manassero - DraftKings - $7,200: As we move down into the Value Tier, I'm going with the hometown boy Matteo Manassero. This is practically a home game for the Italian that honed his skills at this course in his youth. Once considered golf's "next big thing", Manassero's career has stalled out a bit over the last couple of years. However, we have seen some promising signs from the 25-year-old over the last month. He has made three consecutive cuts with back-to-back 20th place finishes at the Volvo China Open and the Rocco Forte Sicillian Open, to go with a 27th place finish at last week's BMW PGA Championship. The hometown narrative will probably increase Manassero's ownership this week, but I'm willing to eat the chalk at this price point.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout - DraftKings - $7,200: Don't ask me how to pronounce his name, I just know the guy can ball out on the golf course! Christiaan Bezuidenhout is our final Value Tier selection this week. The South African fits the solid, tee-to-green profile that we are looking for this week. Bezuidenhout has made nine of ten cuts this season, including a string of five straight Top-30 finishes in his last five tournaments. The competition is a bit stiffer this week, but this is the type of consistency that we don't normally find at a $7,200 price point. He is a very viable play in large field GPPs.
Be sure to look out for another European Tour article coming next week and don't miss my weekly PGA DFS Horse For The Course right here at RotoBaller!
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