2008 Fantasy PGA Golf Sleepers – Part II

My look at sleepers for the 2008 PGA Tour fantasy golf continues with a group of players who will be playing on Tour thanks to enduring the pressure-packed Q-School in early December.

First, a caveat: Q-School grads rarely make a huge impact on Tour immediately. There’s almost always an occasional winner who came out of Q-School (see McNeill, George – who was awful all season outside of two tournaments, one of which happened to be a victory in October long after the Tour’s best players began their offseason vacations). So, the following players should be considered deep sleepers with a chance at playing well at – and perhaps winning – an event or two, but are unlikely to be consistent competitors week-in and week-out.

Brett Rumford
Most people will see that Frank Lickliter won the Qualifying Tournament and secured the second-lowest score in history, but Rumford – the runner-up – is a far more attractive fantasy candidate. No, he hasn’t endured 13 seasons of mediocrity on the PGA Tour like Lickliter has, but after winning the Omega European Masters in September, the 30-year-old Aussie is exempt on the Euro circuit through 2009, so he opted to come to the States for the first time. He successfully passed the Q-School test and, as a three-time winner on the European Tour, he obviously knows how to win tournaments. Look for an adjustment period early on, but we should hear from Rumford at some point this season.

Yong-Eun Yang
Yang earned his card for the first time with a steady 20-under total that left him tied for sixth at the end of the Qualifying Tournament. If you vaguely remember seeing Yang’s name in the past, congratulations – you’ve been paying close attention. If not, allow me to remind you that it was one Yong-Eun Yang that defeated a host of stars including Tiger Woods at the 2006 HSBC Champions event on the Asian Tour. The four-time Japanese Tour winner finished inside the top 10 on that Tour three straight years and tied for 30th at the Masters a year ago. The 35-year-old is an experienced player who already ranks 94th on the Official World Golf Rankings – just behind the likes of Steve Flesch, Kenny Perry, and Chad Campbell, and ahead of well-known fantasy names like Nathan Green, Vaughn Taylor, and Troy Matteson.

Chris Stroud
The 25-year-old made a late run at keeping his Tour card the easy way when he carded three finishes of T12 or better in his final six Fall Series events a year ago, but that wasn’t quite enough to avoid Q-School. Not to worry – Stroud finished third at the Qualifying Tournament and is back for his second go-around. A T5 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal start to his rookie year in 2007, but that and his late run during the Fall Series proves he has the ability to contend. With his late-season confidence boost and his performance at Q-School, the two-time All-America selection out of little-known Lamar University is poised to make a lot more noise on Tour in his sophomore season.

See Also: 2008 Fantasy Golf Sleepers – Part I (Nationwide Tour Grads)

Part III coming later this week… Happy New Year!