Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
Take advantage of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for THE CJ CUP, and try out our PGA Lineup Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS lineups. All the best this week!
The CJ Cup
Recap from the Shriners Children’s Championship: He has been under close watch for a while now to win again as Sungjae Im has been playing quite well for some time, and he finally broke through with a big win last week – a four-stroke win over Matthew Wolff thanks to his most impressive -9 in round 4 on Sunday. Huge congrats to Im and to Wolff as well who’s been battling back from challenges with mental health – both are champions in my book!
Preview for THE CJ CUP: We haven’t known this tournament for very long on the PGA Tour, and this year marks just the fifth installment of this fairly exclusive event that features a good portion of the world’s best players. South Korea was the original destination for THE CJ CUP as it was battled out there for the first three years, now Las Vegas will be the home for this event for the second year in a row. Winners of THE CJ CUP over the past four years include Jason Kokrak in 2020, Justin Thomas in 2019, Brooks Koepka in 2018, and Justin Thomas in 2017.
Get in the coin with more regularity in your PGA DFS contests by utilizing insightful player projections.
Tournament purse: The prize money for this year’s event is set at $9.75M, the winner receives $1.755M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: The Summit Club is 7,431 yards in length, is a par 72, and the greens are bentgrass. The winning score range at THE CJ CUP since its inception is -9 to -21, but there have only been four years since this tournament has been live on the PGA Tour and the first three took place at Nine Bridges in South Korea. Just last year, the event switched from overseas to Las Vegas at Shadow Creek, and Jason Kokrak won in 2020 with a -20 to beat Xander Schauffele by two strokes. We have a new course this year, so it’s hard to say what the winning score will end up being, but you can likely expect the players to get well into the teens, at least. Some of the key stats to look at this week are strokes gained: approach, driving distance, strokes gained: off the tee, strokes gained: putting, and strokes gained: around the green.
The field: We are back to a fairly small field that features 78 talented golfers, and every golfer will play all four rounds provided that nobody withdraws at any point in time. A good number of the world’s top-ranked golfers are in action this week including Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, and on and on. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be an A.
Three questions I have about THE CJ CUP this week:
1. Who will tame this new beast? We are on a brand new course this week, so it’s hard to say which player profile will best suit this course, but I have an interest in golfers who live and play around Las Vegas on a regular basis. Last year’s winner was Jason Kokrak who had played Shadow Creek several times, so looking for players who have played this track before could be a good strategy.
2. What will the key stats end up being? My key stats above are ones that tend to be most important on a regular basis on the PGA Tour. I’m big on strong approach players who can putt well from time to time, but we will see what the winner’s statistical line looks like come Sunday night. Last year when Kokrak won on another Vegas track that will likely end up being somewhat similar – his strokes gained were: off the tee – 0.67, approach – 3.36, ball-striking – 4.03, around the green – 2.99, putting – 10.29, short game – 13.28, tee to green – 7.01, and total – 17.31.
3. Which player should be a low-priced core play? I’ll be going hard on stars and scrubs lineups this week, and will be looking for two or three $6K players that I can lean heavily on to pair up well with my expensive golfers. He hasn’t played since the BMW Championship, but I really like what Jhonattan Vegas brings to the table this week based on his play from May until August of last season – read more about him below in my $6K range.
Lineup construction strategy this week: It’s one of those weeks where the field is small, the talent is immense, and you can build your lineups as aggressively as you want given there’s no cut line. I think a high percentage of DFS users will be going all out on the stars and scrubs approach, so if you go in the hybrid direction, you might give yourself better odds to construct unique lineups. Pay very close attention to projected ownership this week since you will want some pivot plays to avoid the chalk, and you will likely want to leave at least $500 on the table if you’re competing in the larger GPPs and want to ideally win outright.
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 performances at the event over the last 5 years, and add in some tasty pieces of information, also.
The $10K+ Range
Xander Schauffele (Salary: DraftKings – $11.3K) – The Olympic gold medalist hasn’t made a tournament appearance on the PGA Tour since finishing T5 at the Tour Championship last month, but he’s consistently in the teens for finishes and pops for top 10’s every few events. He has a great track record of playing well in small field tournaments with no cut lines also, and that’s exactly what we have on tap for this week. He finished two strokes back from Jason Kokrak last year in Vegas, and he should be considered a serious threat to finish top 5 this week, as well. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – 2nd, 2018 – T48, and 2017 – 72nd.
Justin Thomas (Salary: DraftKings – $11.1K) – He’s the most successful CJ CUP player so far with two wins in the last four years, and I’m sure he wishes he could potentially win for the third time at Nine Bridges, but if Thomas wants the tri-fecta this year then it will need to come at The Summit Club. He’s one of the best approach players in the world, and he has two top 4’s over his last three starts thanks to solid iron play and putting. The only issue I see with JT this week is that he will be likely highly owned since the DFS community tends to really pay attention to and value past results, and he has the best of anyone at this event. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T12, 2019 – Won, 2018 – T36, 2017 – Won.
Rory McIlroy (Salary: DraftKings – $10.1K) – He likely didn’t have the season he was looking for in 2020-2021, but he still won at the Wells Fargo Championship and had eight top 10’s, so that’s nothing to sneeze at. He finished 4th at the BMW Championship in the second playoff event last season, but he has lost strokes in the approach category over his last three starts, thankfully though, two of them were under one stroke. He has had a good month to figure out his approach game, and assuming that’s back on track again this week, he should be in the hunt to at least finish top 10. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T21.
The $9K Range
Sam Burns (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K) – He’s one of the hottest players on the planet right now with two wins in his last twelve starts, two other top 2’s, an 8th, and he’s coming off a T14 last week thanks to gaining strokes in all major stat categories outside of putting where he lost 1.16 strokes. I don’t think we will see him win twice in his last three starts to claim his first big tournament victory, but a top 5 or a top 10 seems more than possible right now. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: None.
Louis Oosthuizen (Salary: DraftKings – $9.3K) – It wasn’t too long ago that Oosthuizen was on a torrid stretch where he had four runner-up or co-runner-up finishes in seven starts including the Zurich Classic, and his worst finish since late April is a T38 at the BMW Championship. He has gained in approach or been a 0.00 in thirteen straight tournaments played, and it’s likely fifteen because there was no shot tracker technology in place at The Open Championship where he finished 3rd, and the Zurich Classic where he and his partner finished 2nd. He should finish top 10 or in the low teens this week, and I like him at his price point on DK. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T48 and 2018 – T29.
Viktor Hovland (Salary: DraftKings – $9.2K) – I love excellent approach players and Hovland is one of the more impressive golfers when it comes to this key part of the game as he just keeps gaining in the stat category, and had he not lost almost 9 strokes around the green last week, he would have finished much higher than T44 at the Shriners. If his short game bounces back this week, and I do believe it will, then he should have a solid finish come Sunday evening. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T12 and 2019 – T31.
The $8K Range
Marc Leishman (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K) – I’m typically off of Leishman, but his scorching putter has led to a T4 at the Fortinet Championship and a T3 last week at the Shriners. He has also gained strokes across the board in both of those tournaments aside from losing 2.32 strokes off the tee at the Fortinet Championship. His putter could go limp at any time and he could get back into the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s for finishes again soon, but ride him in DFS while he’s hot. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T52, 2019 – T43, 2018 – T18, and 2017 – 2nd.
Jason Kokrak (Salary: DraftKings – $8.5K) – I’m not sure how much experience Kokrak has on this track, but the defending champ tends to play well in Vegas despite missing the cut last week. He was on fire earlier this year with a win at the Charles Schwab Challenge, three top 9’s from late February to mid-March, and he ended last season fairly well with a T15 at the BMW Championship and a T11 at the Tour Championship. If his putter wakes up again, then he should have a top 20 finish this week and provide decent value for DFS play. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Won and 2018 – T67.
Harris English (Salary: DraftKings – $8.9K) – English had his best season in his career in 2020-2021 with wins at the Travelers Championship and the Tournament of Champions back in January. He also had a 3rd at the U.S. Open in June and more recently he finished 4th at the WGC – FedEx St.Jude Invitational. He missed the cut last week no thanks to losing almost 6 strokes on the greens, but he will bounce back from that as that was his third-worst putting performance in his career. He has the potential to win, is consistent, and certainly won’t burn your lineups if you choose to use him in hybrid or balanced builds. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T10.
The $7K Range
Aaron Wise (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – He’s coming off a sound T8 last week at the Shriners where he gained strokes in all major stat categories and gained 9.01 total. He has been in a groove since THE NORTHERN TRUST where he finished T21, then had a T17 at the BMW Championship, followed by a T26 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and his previously mentioned T8 last week. He has also flashed some game in big field events as well including his T9 at the Memorial Tournament in June. He’s a superb value play this week, and can provide solid depth in any kind of lineup build. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: None.
Talor Gooch (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – Gooch has had a pretty good season so far with a T4 at the Fortinet Championship last month and he’s coming off a T11 at the Shriners where he gained 5.65 in approach. He has been consistently in the teens, 20’s, and 30’s for quite some time now, and he pulled off a sweet T5 at THE PLAYERS Championship in March. As long as his approach game stays hot, his good finishes will follow. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – 5th.
Harold Varner III (Salary: DraftKings – $7.3K) – He has had consistency issues throughout his career, but he has been quite solid over his last eight starts with six top 16’s including a T11 and a T12 in the first two playoff events last season, and he’s coming off a T11 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He seems like a pretty safe bet to again finish top 20 this week, and based on his price point on DK, he should be a solid investment once again. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T26 and 2017 – T26.
The $6K Range
Erik Van Rooyen (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K) – He offers the most pop potential in the $6K range this week as he won the Barracuda Championship six starts ago, and was huge at THE NORTHERN TRUST and the BMW Championship with a 7th and a 5th, respectively. He missed the cut last week at the Shriners, but if he finds his complete game once more this week, he could be part of big money-winning GPP lineups. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: None.
Kevin Streelman (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Streelman has been playing solid golf since May with seven top 26’s in thirteen starts including his T8 at the PGA Championship, a T13 at the Memorial Tournament, a T15 at the U.S. Open, a T19 at The Open Championship and a T7 at the Wyndham Championship in mid-August. He hasn’t lit it up over his past four starts but has finished anywhere from T31 to T52, so he’s certainly serviceable this week and does offer upside to finish top 20. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T21 and 2019 – T12.
Jhonattan Vegas (Salary: DraftKings – $6.3K) – I believe that Vegas has been priced far too low this week on DK, and you should take advantage of the mistake. He has six top 15’s in his last ten tournaments played including two T2’s, and he has been so sound off the tee and on approach since March. He’s statistically consistent, and he could be the player to really unlock high-end potential for your lineups this week – be overweight on him. THE CJ CUP finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T16 and 2017 – T54.
