Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
Learn from this article to elevate your fantasy golf picks for the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship, and check out FantasyData’s PGA Optimizer to elevate your daily fantasy lineups. Best of luck this week!
Last week in the Dominican Republic was an event that really any golfer could have won and proof came with Hudson Swafford winning with a score of -18, one stroke over Tyler McCumber – congrats to him! This week features another subpar field much like what we saw a week ago but there are some more talented golfers at the top including Scottie Scheffler who recently recovered from COVID-19. This week the PGA Tour moves from the DR to Mississippi – this event has been going since 1968 but didn’t land on this particular track until 2014 where it has become a mainstay since. The past five years of winners at this tournament include last year’s champ Sebastian Munoz, 2018 saw Cameron Champ win, Ryan Armour was victorious in 2017, nobody was better than Cody Gribble in 2016, and Peter Malnati lifted the roster trophy in 2015.
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Tournament purse: The purse remains the same this year at $6.6M, the winner again gets $1.188M in prize money and earns himself the usual 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: This tournament will be played at the Country Club of Jackson, the course is a fairly lengthy 7,461 yards, is a par 72, and the greens consist of Bermuda grass. We will see lots of birdies again this week as the winning score is usually around -20 for this tournament. Some of the key stats to consider this week are Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, Strokes Gained: Approach, Birdies or Better Gained, Strokes Gained: Par 5, and Strokes Gained: Putting (on Bermuda grass).
The field: We again nearly have a full field event this week with 144 players set to compete at the Sanderson Farms Championship. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a C- which is typical of this event from year to year. The top 65 plus ties after round two will get to play the weekend in rounds three and four, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Notable storylines: The last six winners at this event have been first time winners, so that’s something to keep in mind as breakout wins are common here. Isaiah Jackson is the reigning Mississippi Amateur champ and earned a spot in this year’s tournament.
Betting strategy this week: It’s another weak field so I would suggest having a balanced lineup to give yourself as many players as possible to get into weekend play. If you are playing a few lineups then by all means use a stars and scrubs approach as well and just hope your $6K golfers have a good week to play all 72 holes.
All the best for locking down some contest wins this week – here are my 15 picks which feature my top 3 players from each tier on DraftKings (DK) in no particular order, plus I include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performance at this event over the last 5 years (when available), and add in some helpful pieces of information as well.
The $10K+ Range
Sungjae Im (Salary: DraftKings – $10.5K) – I had Oosthuizen here but he has withdrawn so I was forced to change course – fortunately it’s to a worthy competitor. Im was a bit off kilter over the past few months but recently regained his composure coming in T11 at the Tour Championship and T22 at the U.S. Open which is his most recent start. He also finished T9 at the Wyndham Championship in August, had 7 top 10’s last season, and just 5 missed cuts in 26 starts in 2019-2020. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T2nd, and 2018: Missed the cut.
Will Zalatoris (Salary: DraftKings – $10.2K) – Zalatoris is taking the golfing world by storm right now – first he goes off to tie for 6th at the U.S. Open, then last week he secured a T8 thanks to his final round 65 on Sunday. The Korn Ferry Tour member has consistently been in the top 20 and I foresee another top 20 for him this week in Mississippi.
The $9K Range
Sebastian Munoz (Salary: DraftKings – $9.9K) – Munoz is the defending champion at this event and comes into this week with strong form having two 8th place finishes over his last three starts and those were the final two playoff events in the toughest of fields. He’s had 5 top 10’s in his last 27 starts and was 17 for 27 overall last season. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: Won the tournament, 2018: T50, and 2016: T35.
Doc Redman (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – Redman has two 3rd place finishes over his past three starts, the most recent of which was two weeks ago at the Safeway Open. He also had a T29 at the PGA Championship in August so he can hang tough in challenging fields as well. He was 17 for 24 last season with a lonely top ten that came in his second last tournament played and this new season he already has a 3rd thanks to his round 4 where he went off for a 62 so he’s off to a great start so far in this fresh campaign. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T52.
Adam Long (Salary: DraftKings – $9.5K) – Long is playing nice and consistent at the moment having made seven straight cuts and is coming off a T5 last week in the DR. His T13 finish three weeks ago at the U.S. Open signals to me that he’s capable of playing with the world’s best and has potential to win this week in a mediocre field. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T23, and 2018: Missed the cut.
The $8K Range
Si Woo Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $8.4K) – Much like Scheffler, Kim had a great finish to his season in 19-20 with 4 top 18’s in his last 9 tournaments and all were made cuts. He kicked off this season with a T44 at the Safeway Open and should be a factor this week in Mississippi. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2015: Missed the cut.
Patrick Rodgers (Salary: DraftKings – $8.2K) – Dating back to last season, Rodgers has made 7 straight cuts and is coming off his best finish out of those last week where he was T11. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T61, 2018: T14, 2016: Missed the cut, and 2015: T20.
Emiliano Grillo (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – Grillo has put together six solid starts to make the cut in each of them, two of them were top 9’s, and two of them were in the 20’s which happen to be the first two starts of this season. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T39.
The $7K Range
Charley Hoffman (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – I haven’t been a big Hoffman owner in a few years but do like what he’s been up to lately with three top 25’s in his last 5 starts including last week’s T14. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T23.
Stewart Cink (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Cink is coming off the big win at the Safeway Open and while he only has 2 top 10’s in his last 16 starts, he has only missed 3 cuts during that time frame. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T28.
Kristoffer Ventura (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K) – I was expecting more out of Ventura last week than his T52 but perhaps I was just a week early and he will have a strong result this week. He has only missed one cut in his last 7 starts and had 4 top 21’s during those events. He has no tournament experience at the Sanderson Farms Championship, so he’s a rookie this week.
The $6K Range
Adam Schenk (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K) – When taking a player in the $6K range you are looking for made cuts. Schenk has made 8 cuts in a row and I believe he’s undervalued this week from a pricing perspective as he also had 5 top 41’s during the stretch with a T12 at the Barracuda Championship as his best result. He’s my favorite value play for this week. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T36, 2018: T7, and 2017: T43.
Peter Malnati (Salary: DraftKings – $6.3K) – Malnati won this event five years ago and has made 3 of his last 4 cut lines. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T45, 2018: Missed the cut, 2017: T34, 2016: T68, and 2015: Won the tournament.
Tom Hoge (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Hoge has only missed a single cut in his last six starts and two of those were top 30’s including two weeks ago at the Safeway Open. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T39, 2018: Missed the cut, 2017: Missed the cut, 2016: Missed the cut, and 2015: T70.
Recapping my 15 pick’s finishes from last week’s Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship
The $10K+ Range
- MacKenzie Hughes – 3rd
- Will Zalatoris -T8
- Corey Conners – Missed the cut
The $9K Range
- Charles Howell III – Missed the cut
- Henrik Stenson – T21
- Kristoffer Ventura – T52
The $8K Range
- Adam Schenk – T56
- Henrik Norlander – Missed the cut
- Luke List – T8
The $7K Range
- Will Gordon – Missed the cut
- Graeme McDowell – Missed the cut
- Seamus Power – Missed the cut
The $6K Range
- Akshay Bhatia – Missed the cut
- Tim Wilkinson – T61
- Martin Laird – T65
