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Expert picks for the CIMB Classic

Keegan Bradley is a popular pick this week despite missing the cut at the Safeway Open. Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire

After Brendan Steele defended his title at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, the PGA Tour heads to Kuala Lumpur this week for the CIMB Classic.

Our panel of ESPN and FantasyGolfInsider experts singled out the players they believe have the skills to succeed and provide big fantasy point totals.


Picks to win

Keegan Bradley

Winless since 2012, the 2011 PGA champion showed some signs of improved play toward the end of the 2016-17 season, making it to the BMW Championship in the FedEx playoffs. Although he missed the cut at the Safeway Open, it was his first since the Memorial. He finished sixth at TPC Kuala Lumpur last year. -- Bob Harig

Hideki Matsuyama

Remember what happened to Hideki last year at this event? No? Don't worry about it. All that's important is that he finished runner-up and then went on to a monster start of the season. His comfort level will again prove useful this week, but instead of a runner-up finish, I expect to see him holding the trophy on Sunday. -- Michael Collins

Justin Thomas

Here's the way I see it: JT won his first CIMB title when he was still an up-and-comer and his second when he was just about to leap into the elite tier of players. Now that he's there, now that he's a superstar, there's no reason to think he can't go for the three-peat. -- Jason Sobel

DraftKings value picks

James Hahn

Pretty obvious value here in two out of three appearances being top-10s. The form isn't at a point where I wouldn't consider him even if there were a cut, but there's not, so we're not worried at all. I like him for cash if you're into that in no-cut events; otherwise, I really like him as a high upside GPP play. -- Taras Pitra

Keegan Bradley

A rough week for Bradley missing the cut last week at Safeway, but I think he responds this week in Kuala Lumpur. In his past three appearances here he has two top-10 finishes. It's not a course that will hurt you if you're a bad putter, so it is perfect for Bradley. What this course takes is ball-striking, where he can compete and score. His price is ridiculously cheap at $7,000, which helps in salary-cap relief and is a good fit for GPPs and cash games, since there is no cut this week. -- Jeff Bergerson

DraftKings player to fade

Luke List

After disappointing at the Safeway Open for Luke List Chalk Week, List should remain one of the chalk plays this week -- in a birdie-fest with no cut, List's high potential for eagles (thanks to his success from tee to green) will set him ahead of the pack for a lot of players. Unfortunately, List is one of the most inaccurate golfers off the tee, can't putt (which will be normalized to a degree) and struggles with his irons in almost all situations inside 200 yards. It will be tempting to roster him this week as the DFS golf community talks him up, but he should be faded this week. -- Adam Daly

FanDuel value picks

Anirban Lahiri

In terms of experience, nobody has more on the course this week than Lahiri. In addition to the CIMB Classic, the Malaysian Open is also held at TPC Kuala Lumpur and Lahiri has played here in 10 events between the PGA and European Tour. He had the CIMB Classic all but wrapped up a year ago before falling apart late and allowing Justin Thomas to reclaim the title, with Lahiri finishing third. He won the Malaysian Open in 2015 and should be able to find his game after an up-and-down campaign on the PGA Tour in 2017. -- Zach Turcotte

Kevin Na

Na can be frustrating to roster in DFS golf sometimes because of his volatile form, which can lead to an occasional missed cut. Fortunately, the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this week is a no-cut event, so it is almost certain he will play all four rounds of golf. His $7,100 salary on FanDuel offers a little bit of value because he is capable of scoring a lot of fantasy points there when he can put together four solid rounds of golf. Na's top-5 finishes in 2015 and 2016 show just that, and if he can build off his decent start to the season last week at the Safeway Open, he just might be able to contend in Malaysia once again this year. -- Erik Dantoft