Fantasy focus: from Georgia to the Orient

Who to select for this week's Shenzen International and RBC Heritage

Ian Poulter
The Golf Monthly fantasy tipster fancies Ian Poulter this week
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Welcome to the second Golf Monthly Fantasy Focus column - a weekly blog running alongside Golf Monthly Fantasy League

Golf Monthly Fantasy Focus: from Georgia to the Orient

Hello, and welcome to the second Fantasy Focus column - a weekly blog running alongside Golf Monthly Fantasy League that looks at the past week's events and suggests picks for upcoming tournaments.

First of all, congratulations to team 'Hazeltine Harriers' for accruing the most points during Masters week - a new Adams Blue driver is your well-earned prize.

There were many other stand-out performances, but a team led by Jordan Spieth that also included Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama was pretty much unbeatable.

The Masters competition might be over, but each weekly winner from now until the end of the month will earn themselves a new Adams Red hybrid.

And, the overall monthly winner will secure a Blue driver, fairway and hybrid, so there's much to play for as the European Tour heads to China for the inaugural Shenzen International and the PGA Tour stays in Georgia for the ever-popular RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

My Picks

Harbour Town Golf Links is serene spot located on Sea Island and one of the most popular tour stops as far as the players are concerned.

It's a tight track and one well suited to accurate players - a real contrast to Augusta National.

Genzon Golf Club, meanwhile, is a tree-lined course with multiple hazards, so a layout best suited to straight, pragmatic players.

USA 1 - Bill Haas - looked impressive at Augusta en route to a tie for 12th. His form is good enough to allay any fears I have over his indifferent record at Harbour Town.

USA 2 - Bubba Watson - the polar opposite of my ideal player for Genzong, but he's making a rare start on the European Tour this week and the highest-ranked player in the field by a distance.

GB - Ian Poulter - he's hitting the ball as well as he ever has and coming into The Heritage after two weekend rounds of 67 at Augusta

Ireland - Graeme McDowell - showed some good signs at Augusta - a course he's not typically comfortable on - and won The Heritage in 2013.

Asia - Ryo Ishikawa - in need of a good performance after some average early-season form. Should be inspired by compatriot Hideki Matsuyama's performance at The Masters

South America - Camilo Villegas - had two hole-in-ones at the Masters Par 3 Tournament, a sign that his wedge play - a key tool at Harbour Town - is in good shape.

Continental Europe - Romain Wattel - the Frenchman is so close to his first European Tour victory and coming off the back of a second-place finish at the Trophee Hassan II.

Scandinavia - Mikael Lundberg - also came close in Morocco and has a game perfectly suited to Genzon Golf Club.

Australasia - Marcus Fraser - very steady from tee to green, an exceptional putter and someone with a decent record in Asia.

Sign up

First up for those new to the game it is really easy to sign up and pick a team.

Firstly go to fantasygolf.golf-monthly.co.uk log in and click on My Team.

There you will see a grass background and 10 transparent golf bags. These represent the 10 categories that you will need to pick a golfer from.

To look at the Masters field go to http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_list.html this should help you out, last thing you want to do is pick someone who is not in the field.

The categories are split into 10 different geographical zones, so it is very simple to work out who to pick and not pick.

Each week you only get the chance to make 5 transfers, so the people who can plan ahead may do the best!

Bonus Transfer

Everyweek, we'll reveal a bonus transfer code in this colum. This week, it's 'RoryMc1lroy'. Head to your team page and input the code to get a bonus transfer this week..

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Prizes

Each week you can win a prize so don’t fret if you miss one week, out, you will still have plenty of chances to win.

There are of course great monthly and overall prizes up for grabs.

Adams Prizes

Take on the Tipster

I bet that my team, GM Tipster, will beat any team you can put together!

Join my mini-league if you think you’ve got the best managerial mind . Go to the game at http://fantasygolf.golf-monthly.co.uk and go to ‘Register to Play’, pick your team then use the ‘mini-league admin’ option to join my mini-league.

The details you need are:

League Name: Take on the GM Tipster

League password: tipster2015

TOPICS
Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x