Daily Fantasy Golf Tips
Take advantage of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Sanderson Farms Championship, and try out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS lineups. All the best this week!
The Sanderson Farms Championship
Recap from the Ryder Cup: It was a challenging feat to put together DraftKings lineups for the Ryder Cup not knowing who would play in what rounds, what duos would be paired up, what the matchups would consist of, who to use for the captains pick where pricing was 1.5x more expensive and points were increased by 1.5x, and other factors. It was a bit of a crapshoot to be quite frank, but it was a fun challenge to put together lineups and the golf play itself was super entertaining with the Americans revving up the crowds by doing things like chugging beer – Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger stand out in that regard. Team USA blew away Team Europe like never before, and most everyone at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was loving it – congrats to the American squad!
Preview for the Sanderson Farms Championship: It was a lot of fun to have the Ryder Cup last week, but it will be great to get back to normal golf competition this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship – an event that has been live on the PGA Tour since 1968 when it was originally known as the Magnolia Classic – Mac McLendon won in a playoff over Pete Fleming to take home $2,800. Since 2013, the tournament has been known as the Sanderson Farms Championship, and it has been played at the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi, since 2014. Winners of the Sanderson Farms Championship over the past five years include Sergio Garcia in 2020, Sebastian Munoz in 2019, Cameron Champ in 2018, Ryan Armour in 2017, and Cody Gribble in 2016.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this year’s event is set at $7M, the winner receives $1.26M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: The Country Club of Jackson is 7,460 yards in length, is a par 72, and the greens are Bermudagrass. The winning score at the Sanderson Farms Championship over the past decade ranges from -16 to -24, but the best score we have seen so far on this specific track is -21 which came three years ago when Cameron Champ beat Corey Conners by 4 strokes. Expect to see a score in the range of -16 to -21 depending on how the weather plays out and how the course is set up. Some of the core key stats to pay attention to this week, in order, are strokes gained: putting, strokes gained: approach, driving distance, strokes gained: total, and strokes gained: around the green.
The field: We don’t usually see a very strong field at this event and this year will be no different – Sergio Garcia is back with hopes of defending his title from a year ago, Will Zalatoris will look to win his first PGA Tour tournament, Sungjae Im is in action, Corey Conners is here, and there is other decent talent on tap, as well. We have 144 golfers playing this week, and the top 65 players plus ties after round 2 on Friday will move on to play the weekend rounds on Saturday and Sunday. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a C.
Three questions I have about the Sanderson Farms Championship this week:
1. Will we see a new PGA Tour winner? There are a good number of players this week who have never won on the PGA Tour before, so it will be interesting to see if one of them can capitalize and secure his first win – I’m looking at Will Zalatoris who seems poised to win sooner rather than later.
2. Will a great putter win? Strokes gained putting is by far the most important stat that resonates with success on this course, but interestingly enough, Sergio Garcia and Cameron Champ who won here in 2020 and 2018 respectively, aren’t known to be very good putters. It will be interesting to see if another less than average putter wins again this year, or if a typically strong putter seals the deal.
3. What will the best lineups look like? I think that the hybrid approach is the way to go this week with a field that isn’t top heavy but has depth throughout, but stars and scrubs and potentially even balanced lineups could do well in large GPPs too. It will be interesting to see which lineups end up with the big money on Sunday evening and look at how they were configured.
Lineup construction strategy this week: We are back to a big field that features a cut line, so you have to be thinking about getting as many players into the weekend as possible, with also a bunch at or near the top. Since there aren’t any superstars in this field and the talent is fairly dispersed throughout, I’m certainly looking at hybrid builds this week for most of my lineups. It will be interesting to see what the projected ownership looks like on Wednesday and who the pivot plays could be. You will want to leave a few hundred dollars on the table if you are after unique lineups that can win the big GPPs, and try to keep your projected ownership between 60%-80% if original configurations are a goal of yours.
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, also.
The $10K+ Range
Sam Burns (Salary: DraftKings – $11.0K) – It seems pretty crazy that Sam Burns is the most expensive player on the slate this week, especially at $11K, but here we are early in the Fall swing. Burns got his first PGA Tour win last season at the Valspar thanks to gaining a tad over 9 strokes on the greens, and his putting hasn’t let up since as he has gained strokes in the category in his past nine straight tournaments that had shot tracker technology in place. He has four top 8’s over his last ten tournaments played including a 2nd, a T2, and he had an 8th at the BMW Championship two starts ago in what was a very elite field. He had a top 5 at this event three years ago, and he sets up well to grab another this week, as well. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut, 2019 – T45, 2018 – T3, and 2017 – T43.
Sungjae Im (Salary: DraftKings – $10.3K) – Im had a solid playoff run last season with a T16, a 3rd, and a T20 – positioning him well right out of the gate for the 2021-2022 campaign. Prior to losing strokes in the ball-striking category at the Tour Championship, he had gained in that stat category in four straight tournaments including 6.98 at THE NORTHERN TRUST and 7.76 at the Wyndham Championship. He lost here in a playoff to Munoz two years ago, and his well-balanced game is well suited to succeed on this track, so I’m a buyer of Sungjae this week. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T28, 2019 – 2nd, and 2018 – Cut.
Will Zalatoris (Salary: DraftKings – $10.8K) – Last season’s rookie of the year was very impressive throughout with several top 10’s including his unforgettable runner-up finish at the Masters Tournament. We are looking for putters this week and Will-Z typically hasn’t been a good one, but he has gained in this key stat category twice over his past three starts including gaining almost 4 strokes at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational three starts ago where he finished T8. The young phenom is a win away from really breaking out, and it could come as soon as this week. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut
The $9K Range
Cameron Tringale (Salary: DraftKings – $9.4K) – Tringale is a very consistent player that you can rely on to finish in the teens, twenties, or thirties, and he pops with top 10’s here and there also. The two strongest parts of his game are putting and approach, so Tringale fits the profile for players that I want in my lineups this week. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T37, 2019 – T16, 2018 – T50, and 2017 – T53.
Sebastian Munoz (Salary: DraftKings – $9.0K) – Munoz won here just two years ago and he followed that up with a T23 a year ago thanks to gaining strokes across the board aside from around the green, so he clearly can manage this course quite effectively. He had a forgettable appearance at the Fortinet Championship two weeks ago, but before that, he had a 4th and a T4 in six starts and finished inside the top 29 five times during that stretch. The last time he missed a cut was at The Open Championship and he followed that up with a 4th at the Olympics – I can see him doing something similar again this week on a course that he undoubtedly loves to play. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T23, 2019 – Won, 2018 – T50, and 2016 – T35.
Harold Varner III (Salary: DraftKings – $9.2K) – He has three straight top 16’s including a T11 and a T12 at the first two playoff events last season, and he has been inside the top 16 five times in his last seven tournaments played. He gets it done thanks to his strong approach shots, putting, and around the green play, and I’ll be likely overweight on HV3 this week. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2018 – Cut.
The $8K Range
Seamus Power (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – Power really hit his stride starting at the Byron Nelson where he finished T9 then he had an additional five straight top 19’s including winning the Barbasol Championship. His stats have been very sound across the board and I see no reason why he doesn’t keep the good times rolling again this week to kick start his 21-22 season. He also has two top 19’s over his last three looks here and he is now playing better than ever, so I see a very promising week ahead for Seamus. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2019 – Cut, 2018 – T19, 2017 – T18, and 2016 – T29.
Aaron Wise (Salary: DraftKings – $8.3K) – He looked quite good in his two playoff events played last season with a T21 at THE NORTHERN TRUST and a T17 at the BMW Championship, and he got it done with a balanced bag. He has three straight top 39’s at this tournament, and I believe he can better his T17 from last year to get inside the top 15 this week – making him a wonderful mid-tier value play. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T17, 2019 – T39, 2017 – T25, and 2016 – Cut.
Kevin Streelman (Salary: DraftKings – $8.9K) – He was striding along very nicely from early May to mid-June last season with five straight top 26’s including a T15 at the U.S. Open, then he heated up again after two missed cuts with a T19 at The Open Championship and a T7 at the Wyndham Championship. He wasn’t on his game during the playoffs not too long ago, but I think he will get his mojo going again this week, and it’s perfect timing for him since he has two top 10’s here over the last four years including a top 5 in 2019. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T4, 2018 – Cut, 2017 – T10, and 2016 – T18.
The $7K Range
Scott Piercy (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – Piercy had a rocky season in 20-21 but he came on strong near the end with a 3rd at the Barracuda Championship, then followed it up with a T15 at the Wyndham Championship, and made the cut in the first leg of the playoffs to finish T64 at THE NORTHERN TRUST. He looked great in the opening tournament of this season with a T11 at the Fortinet Championship where he gained strokes in all of the major stat categories except for approach where he only lost 0.53 strokes to the field. The $7K range isn’t overly strong this week in my opinion, but I think Piercy is a player that you can get some exposure to at a fairly decent price point on DK. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T57.
Patrick Rodgers (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Rodgers got my attention when he just kept on making cut lines almost every time he played, and only missing weekend play once over his last ten events played. He has three top 13’s over his last five starts including a T5 at the Barbasol Championship, and he earned a T6 two weeks ago at the Fortinet Championship where he gained almost 5.5 strokes putting. Rodgers is a respectable play when building balanced and hybrid lineups this week. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut, 2019 – T61, and 2018 – T14.
K.H. Lee (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Lee locked up a nice win at the Byron Nelson this past May with solid play throughout his bag, and he heated up again in late July when he had three top 24’s in his last five starts including a T6 at the 3M Open and a T12 at the BMW Championship in a star-studded field. He’s a threat to finish top 25 this week, and is a $7K player that should be on your radar. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T46, 2019 – Cut, and 2018 – T35.
The $6K Range
Rory Sabbatini (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Sabbatini would be the first person to tell you that last season wasn’t what he was hoping for, but he wrapped it up in style with a silver at the Olympics, second only to Xander Schauffele’s gold, and he had a T10 at the Wyndham Championship thanks to excellent ball-striking and putting. He was just outside the top 10 here last year, and had a T20 three years ago – don’t expect another top 20 again this week, but he’s certainly capable of producing one and contributing hugely to your lineups, especially given his low price tag. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T12, 2018 – T20, and 2016 – T57.
Kevin Tway (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Tway is another player that had a rough 20-21 campaign but turned things up a notch starting with a T14 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and he added four more top 30’s after that in six starts. He has now gained strokes putting in eight straight tournaments and it’s likely nine but there’s no shot link data from the Barracuda Championship where he finished 30th to confirm my intuition. Tway can help your hybrid and stars and scrub lineups perform well this week, you just need to give him a chance and toss him into some. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – Cut and 2016 – T35.
Adam Schenk (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K) – I’m constantly looking for cut-making players in the $6K range, and I like how Schenk delivers on that since he has only missed the cut twice over his last 12 starts and has two top 4’s during that stretch of play. I also like the fact that he has finished no worse than T43 here over the last four years, and had a T7 three years ago thanks to a scorching putter where he gained 7.37 strokes on the greens. Sanderson Farms Championship finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T32, 2019 – T36, 2018 – T7, and 2017 – T43.
