DFS Golf Picks
Absorb knowledge from this article to enhance your fantasy golf picks for the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and check out FantasyData’s PGA Optimizer to bring new life to your daily fantasy lineups. Best of luck this week!
Recap from last week: Last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship saw Sergio Garcia hoist the roster trophy – his first PGA Tour win in more than 3 years, so a big congrats to the seasoned veteran!
Preview for this week: This week we will see a solid field unlike the past two weeks where the player talent level was subpar at smaller venues. U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau headlines the field along with Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson, Matthew Wolff, Rickie Fowler, and other solid golfers. The PGA Tour moves from Mississippi to sunny Las Vegas where players will compete at TPC Summerlin in an event that has been around the PGA Tour for some 37 years. The past five years of winners at this tournament include last year’s champ Kevin Na who’s a two-time winner at this tournament, Bryson DeChambeau won in 2018, 2017 saw Patrick Cantlay win it all, Rod Pampling was surprisingly victorious in 2016, and five years ago Smylie Kaufman was the best that 2015 had to offer.
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Tournament purse: The purse for this year’s event sits at $7M, the winner takes home $1.26M in prize money and earns himself the typical 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats:This tournament will be played at TPC Summerlin as per usual over the last numerous years – the track is 7,255 yards, is a par 71, and the greens consist of bentgrass. The winning score is usually around -20 or better so expect to see lots of birdies and some eagles this week on a course that’s very “gettable” from round to round – meaning going low is very possible. Cantlay won with a score of just -9 three years ago, that was due to high winds throughout the tourney, fortunately we will see calmer conditions this week but wind may still play a factor. Some of the key stats you should take into account this week are Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, Strokes Gained: Approach, Birdies or Better Gained, Strokes Gained: Par 4s from 400-450 Yards, and Scrambling Gained.
The field: We again nearly have a full field event this week with 144 players set to compete at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a B which is typical of this event from year to year, although this year it’s arguably stronger than usual. 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: Patrick Cantlay has been dominant at this tournament over the past three years by winning in 2017 and taking home runner up honors in both 2018 and 2019. Las Vegas is home to several PGA Tour professionals including two-time winner Kevin Na, Charley Hoffman, Ryan Moore, and others who reside in the area. The course record at this tournament is 260 strokes/-24 and is held by Webb Simpson (in 2013) and Ryan Moore (in 2012).
Betting strategy this week: The field quality is back up this week so you can make all sorts of builds for your lineups – stars and scrubs, balanced, or hybrid approaches of the two approaches. The key is getting 5 or 6 players into the weekend for any given lineup which is always challenging but certainly possible. Note: GPP contests typically see around 9% of the lineups having 6 players in them make the cut.
All the best for earning some contest wins 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 and FanDuel. 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
Bryson DeChambeau (Salary: DraftKings – $11.8K, FanDuel – $12.2K) – DeChambeau dominated the U.S. Open late last month and looks poised to enjoy his strongest season to date on the PGA Tour in 20-21. He had 9 top 10’s in 17 starts last season, he won the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and made almost $5M in tournament earnings for those keeping track of money earned. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T4, 2018: Won the tournament, 2017: T7, and 2016: T36.
Patrick Cantlay (Salary: DraftKings – $10.4K, FanDuel – n/a) – Cantlay hasn’t been outstanding lately like he normally is but I can’t ignore what he has done at this tournament recently – sheer brilliance, really. I have a feeling that his game is going to take off in Vegas this week at a course he knows well and seems to love based on his results. He did have 3 top 10’s last season, missed just one cut in 14 starts, and his best finish in 19-20 was at this venue where he finished runner up. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: 2nd, 2018: 2nd, and 2017: Won the tournament.
Webb Simpson (Salary: DraftKings – $11.0K, FanDuel – $11.9K) – Simpson is almost money in the bank every time he tees it up – case in point, over his past four starts he has finished in the top 12 every time and three of them were top 8’s. He had 9 top 10’s last season, won the RBC Heritage, and is coming off a T8 at the U.S. Open. He won this tournament in 2013 and has a solid record overall at TPC Summerlin. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T7, 2018: T15, 2017: T20, 2016: T31, and 2015: T56.
The $9K Range
Harris English (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K, FanDuel – $10.9K) – English is one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour and his results prove it with 11 top 25’s in his last 13 starts. He’s coming off a 4th at the U.S. Open and I can see a win coming at some point this season for him, potentially this week. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2018: T36, 2017: Missed the cut, and 2016: T4.
Hideki Matsuyama (Salary: DraftKings – $9.9K, FanDuel – $11.3K) – Matsuyama is a player much like English above, he’s consistent and you just know what you’re getting with him. He has 8 top 30’s in his last 9 starts and was T3 at the BMW Championship in August, so he does have upside to go along with his consistency. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T16.
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $9.4K, FanDuel – $10.8K) – Scheffler was the highest priced player last week in DFS because of his strong results prior to him contracting COVID-19. He didn’t pay off his high price tag but did finish T37 so I consider that pretty good in his return to golf where he was down and out from professional golf for almost a month. He had 6 straight top 22’s before getting the virus, all of them were in strong field events, two of those finishes were T4 and he had a solo 5th at the Tour Championship. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T74.
The $8K Range
Louis Oosthuizen (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K, FanDuel – $10.3K) – Oosthuizen is going through a great stretch of golf right now with 8 straight made cuts in a row, all of his past 5 starts have been top 33’s, and his best finish came in his most recent start at the U.S. Open where he finished 3rd by himself. He’s making his Shriners debut this week.
Cameron Davis (Salary: DraftKings – $8.2K, FanDuel – $9.9K) – Davis is in the zone these days as he has 6 straight top 36’s and is coming off a T6 last week. The young Aussie has lots of potential and could break through with his first PGA Tour win in the not too distant future. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2018: T28.
Kevin Na (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K, FanDuel – $9.5K) – Na has won this event two times in his career – last year and in 2011, and those wins are half the total number of his wins on the PGA Tour which currently sits at four. He’s a Vegas local and certainly feels very much at ease on this track. He hasn’t had a top 10 since the Memorial Tournament in July but I can certainly see him returning to top 10 glory this week in Nevada. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: Won the tournament, 2018: Missed the cut, 2016: Missed the cut, and 2015: T2.
The $7K Range
Charley Hoffman (Salary: DraftKings – $7.8K, FanDuel – $9.2K) – Hoffman was a bit spotty last season but finished his campaign off well and has started this season off nicely with 4 top 25’s in his last 6 starts – his best one coming last week where he notched a T6. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T74, 2017: T18, 2016: Missed the cut, and 2015: Missed the cut.
Kristoffer Ventura (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K, FanDuel – $8.8K) – Ventura’s combination of distance and solid putting has had me using him for a few weeks now, and why not as he has only missed the cut once in his past 8 starts, 5 of those were top 21’s, he’s coming off a T6 last week and had a T7 under a month ago at the Safeway Open. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T18, and 2018: Missed the cut.
Sebastian Munoz (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K, FanDuel – $9.3K) – Munoz has only missed the cut once in his past 8 starts and two of those were top 10’s including at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship – the final two playoff events. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: Missed the cut, and 2018: T41.
The $6K Range
Adam Schenk (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K, FanDuel – $8.1K) – Schenk just keeps on making the cut week after week, his streak is now at 9 and I see no reason why it doesn’t stretch to 10 this week. He has no top 10’s to speak of but does have 6 top 41’s during his heater and one was a T12. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2019: T18, 2018: Missed the cut, and 2017: T20.
Tom Hoge (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K, FanDuel – $7.8K) – Hoge has fared well over his past 7 times out with just one missed cut and three of those were top 30’s. He also had 3 top 10’s last season so he can go off from time to time as well. Finishes over the past 5 years include – 2018: Missed the cut, 2017: T7, and 2015: T67.
Matthys Daffue (Salary: DraftKings – $6.5K, FanDuel – $7.9K) – Daffue has earned a sponsor’s exemption this week and deservedly so as he was T12 last week thanks to his opening round 65. He has only missed one cut in his 5 PGA Tour starts from last season and this season, and he may be a bit risky of a play but he’s surely hungry to earn his PGA Tour card and will need to keep playing well to accomplish that.
Recapping my 15 pick’s finishes from last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship
The $10K+ Range
- Scottie Scheffler – T37
- Sungjae Im – T28
- Will Zalatoris – Missed the cut
The $9K Range
- Sebastian Munoz – T23
- Doc Redman – T28
- Adam Long – Missed the cut
The $8K Range
- Si Woo Kim – T37
- Patrick Rodgers – Missed the cut
- Emiliano Grillo – T35
The $7K Range
- Charley Hoffman – T6
- Stewart Cink – T12
- Kristoffer Ventura – T6
The $6K Range
- Adam Schenk – T32
- Peter Malnati – 2nd
- Tom Hoge – T28
