This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
WGC-HSBC Champions
Shanghai, China
Sheshan International Golf Club - Par 72 - 7,264 yards
Field - 78 entrants
Purse - $10.25M
The Preview
The third and final stop along the PGA Tour's Asian Swing brings us back to a familiar site at one of China's gems, Shanghai's Sheshan International Golf Club, as 78 entrants tee it up for the first WGC event of the 2019-20 campaign. Per usual, the field at this WGC event is strong with 52 competitors pulled from the Official World Golf Rankings' top-100, but there are only three representatives from the top-10 making an appearance. Regardless of the talent level in attendance, scoring conditions should be perfect as winds remain tame and high temperatures just barely surpass the 70-degree mark, allowing players to focus on ball striking before taking advantage of slower greens than we might stateside. Let's get into a handful of value picks in Yahoo contests for the WGC-HSBC.
Recent Champions
2018 - Xander Schauffele
2017 - Justin Rose
2016 - Hideki Matsuyama
2015 - Russell Knox
2014 - Bubba Watson
2013 - Dustin Johnson
2012 - Ian Poulter (Mission Hills Golf Club)
2011 - Martin Kaymer
2010 - Francesco Molinari
2009 - Phil Mickelson
Key Stats to Victory
GIR percentage
Par-5 Scoring
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Rory McIlroy - $51
A no-cut structure allows for additional risk taking and the comfortability of selecting multiple lower-priced options without the stress of potentially forecasting only 36 holes for punt plays. This all translates to McIlroy serving as a completely viable anchor despite his inflated price above the $50 mark. He's the best player in the world off the tee and racked up 19 par-breakers, including two eagles, en route to a T3 at the Zozo Championship last week. McIlroy has carded an overall score of 14-under or better in four of his last five trips to Sheshan International.
Hideki Matsuyama - $39
A McIlroy-Matsuyama stack at the top of lineups should be quite popular as the duo averages out to a cost of $45 per player when paired, which would leave gamers with a tolerable $110 left in the budget tank for four remaining players. Matsuyama recently jumped five spots in the OWGR after capturing solo runner-up honors in his native Japan at Narashino CC, which came on the heels of a T3 at the CJ Cup during the first leg of the Asian Swing. He hit 75 percent of the greens in regulation and ranked second in putts per GIR at the Zozo Championship, resulting in an impressive 21 par-breakers.
Glue Guys
Bernd Wiesberger - $37
Despite a victory in his most recent start at the European Tour's Italian Open, the 23rd-ranked player in the OWGR could still fall under the radar here as casual gamers pivot to similarly priced weapons such as Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, Paul Casey and Adam Scott. Wiesberger notched a top-10 here at the WGC-HSBC Champions during his last attempt in 2017, while his recent form is obviously solid with results of Win-MC-T17-5 in four starts dating back to the Porsche European Open. He resides atop the Euro Tour's Race to Dubai and ranks 20th in GIR percentage.
Sungjae Im - $33
Rebounding from a mediocre T39 at the CJ Cup on the heels of a win at the Korean Tour's Genesis Championship, Im tied for third at the Zozo Championship where he averaged five birdies per round and also scrambled at an elite rate of 73.91 percent. The 21-year-old will now be playing for the fourth straight week overseas in Asia, but a hectic schedule did not bother the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year whatsoever this past season. Im ranks 21st among his peers in both SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Approach heading into his Sheshan International debut.
Ian Poulter - $30
Poulter took home medalist honors when the WGC-HSBC Champions was held at Mission Hills in 2012, but he's also been quite good at the event's usual Shanghai location with finishes of T13-T13-2-T6 throughout the years. The Englishman experienced a very brief slide in form earlier this fall when he went T60-MC at the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship and Italian Open, but he would redeem himself with back-to-back top-16s at the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship. Poulter played his final 36 holes in a collective 10-under-par last week in Japan.
Bargain Bin
Billy Horschel - $26
A T6 at the Zozo Championship marked Horschel's fourth top-10 in seven starts dating back to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The former Florida Gator has amassed six top-10s to just two missed cuts throughout the 2019 calendar year, while he also ranks third among the field in SG: Putting over his last 24 rounds. He tied for 11th at Sheshan International last year, ranking T5 in GIR percentage as he hit 50 greens in regulation.
Tyrrell Hatton - $23
Since a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship in late September, Hatton has turned things around by going T15-T18-T6 from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to the CJ Cup. The Englishman ranks fourth in SG: Approach over his last 12 measured rounds and he hasn't lost strokes from tee to green since the Valspar Championship back in March. Hatton has finished top-25 in three consecutive appearances at the WGC-HSBC.
Cameron Smith - $21
Smith's ordinary resume at Sheshan International could help limit his ownership, but he figures to be a popular play at such an affordable price, nonetheless. The Aussie followed up his T13 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with a T3 at the CJ Cup and he's now gained strokes from tee to green in seven of his last eight starts dating to the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
