Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
We are now three tournaments deep into the early 2019-2020 PGA Tour season, and already have two first time winners including Joaquin Niemann who won A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and Sebastián Muñoz won the Sanderson Farms Championship, and Cameron Champ took last week’s Safeway Open for his second Tour win. Another week of PGA Tour golf is here and the players head to Las Vegas, Nevada, to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The defending champion is Bryson DeChambeau, and he will be of course back in the field this year to defend his title. Other past winners at this tournament include Patrick Cantlay in 2017, Rod Pampling in 2016, Smylie Kaufman in 2015, and Ben Martin in 2014 round out the previous five winners. The fields are steadily getting better as this week we see the likes of Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, and many other top-tier golfers.
TPC Summerlin as per usual will host this year’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open event. It’s a 7,255-yard par 71 track with bentgrass greens, and this course has been home to the Shriners since 1992. 140 golfers are set to tee it up this week and do keep in mind that just the top 65 players plus ties get to play all four rounds. It’s proving to be more challenging to get DFS golfers into the weekend as the top 70 plus ties in previous years allowed more golfers to advance past round two. Some of the key stats to look at this week are Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, Strokes Gained: Approach, Birdies or Better Gained, Strokes Gained: Par 4s (400 – 450), and Scrambling Gained.
Onto my picks for this week – my 10 top players to pay up for are included for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and 5 value picks (in no particular order), plus I include player salaries for both DraftKings and FanDuel also.
10 Players Who Are Worth the Big Price Tag This Week
Brooks Koepka (Salaries: DraftKings – $11,700, FanDuel – $12,200) – Koepka finished off last season with a 3rd at The Tour Championship and had three wins on the PGA Tour in 2018-2019. His first start last year was at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES where he won, and he makes his season debut this week so he could be gunning for another trophy win. He was 2nd in 2016 and had a 4th in 2014.
Patrick Cantlay (Salaries: DraftKings – $11,100, FanDuel – $11,800) – Started his season off last week with a 40th, but will surely see a better finish this week as he’s elite and has a solid track record on this course. He earned a 2nd last year and he won in 2017, in his only two tournament starts so he looks like a solid bet this week.
Bryson DeChambeau (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,700, FanDuel – $10,600) – Is the defending champion of this event when he had three 66’s and a 65 to take it in 2018. He was 7th in 2017, and 36th in 2016 to round out his three starts at the Shriners. Pulled down a 13th last week at the Safeway Open thanks to his 64 in round two.
Webb Simpson (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,200, FanDuel – $11,300) – Is making his season debut this week, and is a sound play. Had a 15th last year here, was 20th in 2017, 31st in 2016, was 4th in 2014, and most notably he won here in 2013.
Adam Scott (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,000, FanDuel – $11,400) – Scott
Scottie Scheffler (Salaries: DraftKings – $8,800, FanDuel – $10,200) – Is a very good stat fit this week, and based on his first two tournaments of the season where he finished 7th at The Greenbrier and a 16th at the Sanderson Farms Championship he’s a must-start again even without any course history to go on.
Tony Finau (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,800, FanDuel – $11,200) – The big bomber is coming off a 10th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour. Was 36th here last year, 16th in 2017 and 2015, and secured a 7th in 2014.
Joaquin Niemann (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,400, FanDuel – $10,700) – Won the opening tournament of the season at The Greenbrier, and it may not be his only win this season as he’s a talented and determined young man. Had a sizzling finish to last season and was 10th here last year. A great investment who doesn’t have super high price tags.
Collin Morikawa (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,500, FanDuel – $10,900) – Already has a top 10 finish this season with a 10th last week at the Safeway Open. Won the Barracuda Championship back in the summer, and I have a feeling that he will see more wins in his career as he’s very skilled in many facets of the game.
Cameron Champ (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,300, FanDuel – $10,500) – Coming into this week hot with a big win last week at the Safeway Open, and opened his season with a 28th at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Was also 28th here last year, and I normally don’t like taking a player the week after he wins, but I think Champ can keep the momentum going.
5 Good Value Pickups
Lanto Griffin (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,200, FanDuel – $8,600) – I don’t know about you, but I like players who are well priced and are playing well at the time. Griffin fits that description as he already has a 13th, 11th, and a 17th this season in the first three events of the season. If he has another top 20 finish this week then he will be a solid investment based on his salary numbers on DK and FD.
Jim Furyk (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,500, FanDuel – $9,200) – Furyk has won this tournament three times in his career in 1995, 1998, and 1999. Played well enough last week to take home 17th.
Sebastián Muñoz (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,400, FanDuel – $9,200) – Is already a winner this season with a victory just two weeks ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Opened his season with a 17th and was 33rd last week. I really like how he’s priced this week, the only drawback is that he could be highly owned. Was 41st here last year in his tournament debut.
Cameron Percy (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,000, FanDuel – $8,700) – Is trending is a very positive direction right now as he started the season off with a 63rd, then 11th two weeks ago, and 7th last week. Made the cut here in his only start at The Shriners in 2014.
Robby Shelton (Salaries: DraftKings – $6,900, FanDuel – $8,400) – Had a couple of 74’s last weekend to settle for a 52nd, but had a 28th and a 7th in his previous two starts to start the season, so he is 3/3 so far. Making his Shriners debut this week.
Constructing DFS lineups is an enjoyable experience, and the payoffs are super rewarding when lineups actually do what you project them to. Have fun, and good luck this week!
Recapping my 15 pick’s lackluster finishes from last week
My Top Picks
- Justin Thomas – T4th
- Adam Scott – T17th
- Brandt Snedeker – T17th
- Brendan Steele – T60th
- Patrick Cantlay – T40th
- Sungjae Im – T49th
- Hideki Matsuyama – Cut
- Ryan Moore – Cut
- Chez Reavie – T33rd
- Scott Piercy – 67th
My Value Picks
- Robby Shelton – T52nd
- Kevin Tway – Cut
- Tom Hoge – Cut
- Cameron Tringale – T44th
- Doc Redman – Cut
