Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
Digest data and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and check out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS lineups. Best of luck this week!
The Rocket Mortgage Classic
Recap from last week: It took Harris English 80 holes to win the Travelers Championship last week – beating Kramer Hickok with the first birdie in extra holes on hole number 8, so a big congrats to English for winning his second tournament of the season, well earned and deserved for sure!
Preview for the Rocket Mortgage Classic: This year marks the third edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and it returns to the Detroit Golf Club (North). The PGA Tour moves from Hartford, Connecticut, to the Motor City, and includes a so-so-looking field with defending champ, Bryson DeChambeau, back to defend his title from last year, beating Matthew Wolff by three strokes. Expect a birdie fest this week in Detroit as the tournament record from two years ago was set with a -25 by Nate Lashley, and DeChambeau wasn’t far behind him a year ago with a -23. To recap, the only winners of this event in its limited history are Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 and Nate Lashley in 2019.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this year’s event is set at $7.5M, the winner receives $1.35M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: Detroit Golf Club (North) is 7,370 yards in length, is a par 72, and the greens are poa annua mixed with bentgrass. The winning score at the Rocket Mortgage Classic ranges from -23 to -25, so I think we can expect the best golfer this week to have a score that closely resembles that mid -20 number. Some of the core key stats to put into your custom models this week are strokes gained: total, strokes gained: around the green, strokes gained: putting, strokes gained: tee-to-green, and birdie or better percentage.
The field: We are blessed with another decent quality field this week (at least at the top) with Bryson DeChambeau making his return, 2021 Masters’ champ Hideki Matsuyama will play in his third consecutive Rocket Mortgage Classic, Matthew Wolff will look to do one better than last year and win, Will Zalatoris is after his first PGA Tour victory, a two-time winner on the season Jason Kokrak will be here, 2021 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson will play his first tournament in Michigan in 13 years, Webb Simpson is ready to go, and we have other good star power in the field, as well. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a B-.
Lineup construction strategy this week: We again have a 156-player field, which is a full-field, playing this week, so that means you have to think about the cut line on Friday and also try to get as much win/top 10 equity into your lineups as possible. I’ll be focused on hybrid configurations for my core lineups this week, but stars and scrubs is doable, and balanced ones could be a good idea as well to potentially maximize your odds of getting 6/6 player lineups into the weekend. Pay attention to what the projected ownership looks like, and leaving a few hundred dollars on the table is always recommended. Interesting note, the optimal lineup from last week earned 637.5 fantasy points and only cost $45,000.
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
Bryson DeChambeau (Salary: DraftKings – $11.4K) – DeChambeau has two wins on the season, has six top 9’s, has consistently finished well in his other starts, and I should mention that he’s the defending champ but I think you know that by now. He’s strong throughout his bag except his wedge game could use some work, but other than that he doesn’t really have any glaring weaknesses. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Won.
Patrick Reed (Salary: DraftKings – $10.9K) – Reed won a few months ago at the Farmers Insurance Open – since then he has four top 9’s, and another five top 30’s. Around the green is the second most important stat this week, and Reed is ranked tied for 2nd in the field with Jason Day over the last 24 rounds, plus he’s also 2nd in strokes gained total over the same time period. He proved two years ago that he can play well on this course, and I see no reason why another top 10 can’t be attained by Reed this week, also. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut and 2019 – T5.
Hideki Matsuyama (Salary: DraftKings – $10.4K) – This year’s Masters’ champ hasn’t been outstanding this season like in past years, but he has been consistent and has a good track record at this event with two top 21’s. Show me a solid approach player and I’ll show you one with good results – Matsuyama is ranked 5th in this field in strokes gained approach over his last 24 rounds. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T21 and 2019 – T13.
The $9K Range
Joaquin Niemann (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K) – I’m not super-stoked about the $9K range this week, but do like Niemann as he’s another consistent player who does well on a regular basis, and pops for top 10’s every so often. His stats haven’t been rock-solid lately, but he’s good off-the-tee, in approach, ball-striking, and tee-to-green, so that’s always a positive sign, and I like that he was T5 two years ago. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T5.
Jason Kokrak (Salary: DraftKings – $9.5K) – Kokrak is a surprising two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season – his most recent was just two starts ago at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, but prior to that he had five top 13’s in nine starts and had made twelve straight cut lines, thirteen if you count the Zurich Classic. Putting is one of the most important stats to look at this week and he’s one of the best in the field in that category over his last 24 rounds along with approach, and is tops by far in strokes gained total which is our top key stat this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T29.
Matthew Wolff (Salary: DraftKings – $9.1K) – Wolff was really howling at the U.S. Open where he was in the mix to win but ultimately settled for a T15 – not too shabby since he took a mental health break from golf for two months. He’s a high-risk/high-reward type of player, so if you can’t stomach a potential missed cut then go elsewhere in this range, but he finished runner-up last year after two missed cuts, so there’s something about this track that fits his eye. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – 2nd and 2019 – Cut.
The $8K Range
Gary Woodland (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K) – I originally had Charley Hoffman here but he has recently withdrawn so I’ll look to Woodland in this slot. He has two top 6’s since April, and has just missed one cut in his last five starts, so he’s starting to find his way back from his ailing back. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2019 – Cut.
Cameron Tringale (Salary: DraftKings – $8.1K) – Tringale was cruising through the season until the last little while, but he still has two top 32’s in his last three starts, and has been very solid around the greens which is what I want in my players this week. He had a T5 two years ago here, and followed that up with a T30 last year – I think you can count on a finish somewhere in between this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T30 and 2019 – T5.
Kevin Kisner (Salary: DraftKings – $8.5K) – I’m not really a big investor of Kisner, but I like what he did last week at the Travelers Championship finishing T5 and gaining strokes in all of the major stat categories. He was T3 here a year ago as well, so it looks like there’s a good alignment in place for another good finish this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T3 and 2019 – T46.
The $7K Range
Hank Lebioda (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K) – Lebioda is starting to gain steam as he has made the cut in five straight tournaments, has three top 17’s during that span, and is coming off his best performance last week where he finished T5 thanks to a strong bag throughout. You might be a bit nervous about him as he has missed the cut here in both years the event has taken place, but his current form was weak both times prior, so I’m expecting a top 30 finish out of him this week with upside. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut and 2019 – Cut.
Troy Merritt (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K) – Merritt has been pretty good since early May with three top 8’s, and just one missed cut in seven starts. He’s solid with his wedges and his putter, and a strong short game is much needed on the track this week, so sign me up. A top 10 finish came last year for Troy, and previous to that result he finished no higher than T60 in four starts leading up to the tournament – I’m a buyer on him this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T8 and 2019 – Cut.
Doc Redman (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – Redman had a forgettable start to his 2020-2021 campaign, but he has been much better as of late with a runner-up finish two starts ago at the Palmetto Championship, he had a T9 five starts ago at the Byron Nelson, and he has only missed a single cut in his last seven starts or eight starts if you count the Zurich Classic. He was runner-up here two years ago and had a decent finish last year too, so it’s possible that he could win his first PGA Tour tournament this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T21 and 2019 – 2nd.
The $6K Range
Satoshi Kodaira (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Kodaira keeps playing well as he has four straight cuts made, and has finished anywhere from T11 to T36 during those events with decent looking stats to back them up including a scorching putter. He was missing the cut a lot two years ago when he missed the cut here, so don’t let that missed cut turn you off from playing him this week – he’s the only $6K player that I genuinely like. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2019 – Cut.
Austin Eckroat (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K) – Eckroat isn’t a name that most of us really know just yet, but he finished T12 in Mexico late last year, is coming off a T47 last week, and had a T7 and a T13 on the Korn Ferry Tour this month, as well. He gained strokes in almost every stat category last week, and I think he’s a decent value play for your stars and scrubs lineups this week. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: None.
Henrik Norlander (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Finding a third player in the $6K range was a bit of a challenge for me, but I dug up Norlander like a dirty potato from the vegetable garden. He has back-to-back made cuts including a T25 at the Palmetto Championship two starts ago, has made the cut in four of his last six tournaments, and finished just outside the top 10 here last year. His stats look pretty nice lately too, he just needs to straighten out his short game to be a more consistent top 25 threat. Rocket Mortgage Classic finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T12.
Results of the 15 players I picked for last week’s Travelers Championship
The 10K+ Range
- Dustin Johnson – T25
- Bryson DeChambeau – T19
- Patrick Cantlay – T13
The $9K Range
- Paul Casey – T36
- Kevin Streelman – Cut
- Scottie Scheffler – T47
The $8K Range
- Brian Harman – T5
- Russell Henley – T19
- Charley Hoffman – T30
The $7K Range
- Doc Redman – T61
- Keegan Bradley – Cut
- Brendan Steele – Cut
The $6K Range
- Troy Merritt – T36
- Satoshi Kodaira – T36
- Patrick Rodgers – T76
