Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
Absorb the data and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Travelers Championship, and check out our PGA Lineup Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS lineups. Best of luck this week!
The Travelers Championship
Preview for the Travelers Championship: This year marks year number 69 in the event’s history – it started back in 1952 as the Insurance City Open, but has been the Travelers Championship since 2007 and the tournament has been played on TPC at River Highlands since 1984. The PGA Tour shifts from one corner of the country to the other making its way from the San Diego, California, area, to Hartford, Connecticut, for one of the year’s better quality tournaments. Dustin Johnson will look to defend his title from last year when he won the tournament by a single stroke over Kevin Streelman with a score of -19. The tournament record on this course is held by Kenny Perry who shot a -22 in 2009 – winning the tournament by three strokes over David Toms and Paul Goydos. The past five winners of this event include the previously mentioned Dustin Johnson in 2020, Chez Reavie in 2019, Bubba Watson won for his third time in 2018, Jordan Spieth in 2017, and Russell Knox in 2016.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this year’s event is set at $7.4M, the winner receives $1.332M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: TPC at River Highlands is a short 6,841-yard track, is a par 70, and the greens are bentgrass. The winning score at the Travelers Championship over the past decade ranges from -12 to -20, so the winning score depends on course conditions due to the weather and how organizers decide to set it up. Some of the core key stats to build into your custom models this week are strokes gained: off-the-tee, strokes gained: approach, driving accuracy, strokes gained: tee-to-green, and strokes gained: around the green.
The field: We get another full-field event this week with 156 players on tap to compete at the Travelers Championship, and the top 65 golfers plus ties after round 2 will get to play the weekend rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Despite the U.S. Open being played last week, a good number of players have made their way to play this week including five of the top ten players in the world, and the field quality is deep, as well. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a B.
Lineup construction strategy this week: Whenever we get a full field competing, we always have to be focused on the cut line, as well under half of the field will play all four rounds – so you do want your lineups to have a decent amount of star power, but also have a healthy mix of depth too, so your odds of having a bunch of 6/6 lineups is respectable. I think because the mid and lower tiers are decent this week, you can safely go with stars and scrub configurations, hybrid lineups will also play well, and balanced lineups are typically a good idea if you’re playing cash games. Take a look at ownership projections on Wednesday, leave a few hundred dollars on the table for each lineup to make each one more unique, and look for lower-owned leverage plays where available to keep your total ownership for each lineup down to 60%-80%.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are my 15 DFS golf picks which feature my top 3 players from each tier on DraftKings (DK) in no particular order, plus I include player salaries for DK, as well. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performance’s at the event over the last 5 years, and add in some tasty pieces of information and stats, as well.
The $10K+ Range
Dustin Johnson (Salary: DraftKings – $11.4K) – Johnson is starting to get his game back on track as he’s coming off a T19 at the U.S. Open last week and was T10 two weeks ago at the Palmetto Championship – his best back-to-back finishes since February. He has gained strokes in all major stat categories over the past two weeks as well, except for one, losing 0.72 strokes around the green at Torrey Pines, but don’t fault him for that as lots of the rough around the greens was darn right gnarly. I think the world’s number two-ranked golfer (Jon Rahm is now #1) will win another tournament at some point this season, and it could come this week as he’s the defending champ from a year ago and this track is ideal for DJ’s style of play. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Won.
Bryson DeChambeau (Salary: DraftKings – $11.1K) – DeChambeau could have won last week had he not lost a preposterous 8 strokes around the green. He hasn’t had outstanding results since his win and T3 in March, but he’s always a top 10 threat with the way he can spank the ball and his putter gets hot at times too – last week, for example, he gained over 5 strokes in that important category. Over the past three years here, he has finished no worse than T9 and has kept improving on his end-result – expect that trend to continue again this year. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T6, 2019 – T8, 2018 – T9, 2017 – T26, and 2016 – T47.
Patrick Cantlay (Salary: DraftKings – $10.4K) – Everyone was wondering what was going on with Cantlay as he missed four cuts in a row outside of match-play events, but he answered the call at the PGA Championship to finish T23, then he won the Memorial Tournament, and finished T15 last week, so he’s doing just fine again thank you very much. Between his recent form, past results at this tournament where he has finished no worse than T15 since 2018, and his strong stats, he’s a near-lock for another top 15 this week and has huge upside, as well. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T11, 2019 – T15, and 2018 – T15.
The $9K Range
Paul Casey (Salary: DraftKings – $9.9K) – When Casey is hot you want to jump on his scorching train and hang on for the ride – he’s smoking again with a T4 at the PGA Championship, he had a T7 at the Porsche European Open on the European Tour, and just last week at the U.S. Open he netted himself a T7 thanks to shooting -5 on the weekend. Everything is humming along perfectly at the moment for him, except for his putter, but even if he loses strokes to the field he can still finish top 5 – he lost over a stroke at the PGA Championship and still finished T4. He also has three top 5’s at this tournament since 2017 including his co-runner-up finish three years ago, I think he will add his fourth top 5 in the last five years, this week. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T32, 2019 – T5, 2018 – T2, 2017 – T5, and 2016 – T17.
Kevin Streelman (Salary: DraftKings – $9.4K) – Streelman is on the best stretch he has experienced in quite some time as he has five straight top 26’s including a T8 at the PGA Championship, a T13 at the Memorial Tournament, and a T15 last week at the U.S. Open. His stats are very solid as he’s gaining strokes in almost every category every week, and I really like that he gained over 3 strokes around the green at Torrey Pines – something that not many golfers from last week can also claim. Add to it that he was runner-up here last year, T8 in 2017, and has finished no worse than T33 here over the last four years. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – 2nd, 2019 – T15, 2018 – T33, 2017 – T8, and 2016 – Cut.
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $9.6K) – Scheffler is hunting down his first PGA Tour win as he has three top 8’s in his last four starts – two of them were the recent majors, and his stats are quite sound to back up those finishes gaining strokes in most categories on a weekly basis. He missed the cut here last year in his first look at this event, just consider it to be valuable course knowledge that he will use to his advantage this week. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut.
The $8K Range
Brian Harman (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of Harman last week, but he surprised me a tad with a T19, and he now has seven top 19’s in his last eight starts including his sparkling T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship. He also has a pretty good track record at this venue over the last four years including two top 8’s in the last three years. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut, 2019 – T8, 2018 – T6, 2017 – T35, and 2016 – Cut.
Charley Hoffman (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K) – Hoffman has been slipping a bit over his last two starts with back-to-back T57’s including last week at the U.S. Open and at the Memorial Tournament, but prior to that he was lights out with four top 10’s and another five top 18’s since mid-February. I’m intrigued to see if he gets into top 20 territory again this week, or if he hangs out in the top 60, or worse. He has three top 25’s here over the last five years including his T3 in 2017, so he’s certainly more than capable of scoring well on this track. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T41, 2019 – Cut, 2018 – T15, 2017 – T3, and 2016 – T25.
Russell Henley (Salary: DraftKings – $8.3K) – Henley was really threatening to win last week as he was tied for the lead after round 3, but couldn’t get much going on Sunday to score a 5 over par and settle for a T13. He can get hot from time to time, and should be motivated to bounce back from that poor showing in round 4 last week. It’s encouraging that he has two top 11’s in four starts over the last five years here, and he had a T32 here a year ago. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T32, 2019 – Cut, 2018 – T6, and 2016 – T11.
The $7K Range
Keegan Bradley (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – This is a home tournament in a way for the Massachusetts resident, and he has made the most of it with a runner-up finish and a T8 over the last four years. Prior to missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament in his most recent start, he had three top 10’s and nine top 30’s in ten tournaments if you include the Zurich Classic. I expect a nice bounce-back for Bradley this week, and he should be extra focused to perform after missing the cut here last year. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut, 2019 – T2, 2018 -T47, 2017 – T8, and 2016 – T25.
Doc Redman (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Redman is coming off a co-runner-up finish at the Palmetto Championship thanks to a strong iron game both from long and short-range, he had a T9 at the Bryon Nelson four starts ago, and has only missed one cut in his last six tournaments played. In his Travelers Championship debut last year, he finished T11 thanks to gaining almost 10 strokes in the ever-important ball-striking category. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T11.
Brendan Steele (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K) – Steele has been a stud on this track with eight top 25’s in the last ten years, and his second-best showing was last year when he finished T6. He missed the cut last week, but had made 13 cuts in a row including the Zurich Classic, and this week should be a soft landing spot for him to get on a nice, new streak. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T6, 2019 – T21, 2018 – Cut, 2017 – T14, and 2016 – T17.
The $6K Range
Troy Merritt (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Merritt has some nice looking value here at his price point since he has three top 8’s in his last six starts and has only one missed cut during that stretch. His stats haven’t been off the charts, but he’s putting the lights out at the moment, and that plays well no matter which course you’re on. His course history isn’t too appealing, but he did have a T8 four years ago. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T60, 2019 – T71, 2018 – Cut, 2017 – T8, and 2016 – Cut.
Satoshi Kodaira (Salary: DraftKings – $6.5K) – Kodaira has been really good lately with a T11, a T13, and a T19 over his last three starts – his stats have been decent, especially his putting where he has gained at least 4 strokes in each of those three finishes. He’s always a risk to miss the cut, but if he puts up a fourth consecutive top 20 this week at a salary cap hit of just $6.5K on DK, then your lineups with him in it should finish very well. Also, he has missed the cut here two straight times, but keep in mind that he’s in much, much better form than he was two and three years ago. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2019 – Cut and 2018 – Cut.
Patrick Rodgers (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Rodgers had three rounds last week where he was par or better, and he finished T31 no thanks to his 77 in round 3. There are lots of risky players in the $6K range as per usual, but I do like that Rodgers has made back-to-back cut lines, and has a decent track record at this event with five top 46’s since 2014 including his T3 five years ago. Travelers Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut, 2018 – T26, 2017 – T35, and 2016 – T3.
Results of the 15 players I picked for last week’s U.S. Open
The 10K+ Range
- Jon Rahm – Won
- Jordan Spieth – T19
- Brooks Koepka – T4
The $9K Range
- Rory McIlroy – T7
- Collin Morikawa – T4
- Patrick Reed – T19
The $8K Range
- Louis Oosthuizen – 2nd
- Will Zalatoris – Cut
- Webb Simpson – Cut
The $7K Range
- Paul Casey – T7
- Jason Kokrak – Cut
- Shane Lowry – T65
The $6K Range
- Brendan Steele – Cut
- Jhonattan Vegas – T57
- Rafa Cabrera Bello – T50
