Schnarr’s Super Picks DFS PGA Preview – WGC Bridgestone Invitational

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Every week of the year the PGA Tour plays on a new course. There are some examples in other DFS Sports of environments impacting performance, such as Coors Field in Baseball; Golf, however, offers an entirely unique environment each and every week. This article will break down the week’s PGA course and attempt to find what skill sets are needed for success. This article will then combine the course breakdown with the DFS Army Domination Station and give a few players to target in both Cash Game and GPP formats. For more updates throughout the week follow me on twitter @_bschnarr

Canadian Open Recap

Dustin Johnson – GPP – (T8 111.5 DK Points)

DJ was the most obvious play on the board with a good course history and being the tournament favourite well still having an affordable price.  DJ finished inside of the top 10 for the tournament and for fantasy points, not bad.

Tony Finau – All Formats – (T5 -118DK Points)

Every week Finau looks like a guy ready to contend and win.  This week Finau fell a little short but put up a fantastic fantasy performance.  The price was right and the finish should have helped both cash and GPP teams vault into the money.

Ian Poulter – Cash- (3 – 124 DK Points)

Poulter has been playing super consistent as of late and I felt he was a safe play following his performance at The Open Championship.  Poulter had a huge surge Sunday landing him in third spot for the week.

Seasmus Power – GPP – (T10 – 99.5 DK Points)

Seasmus was my favourite play under a $7000 salary as I felt his game lined up great for Glen Abbey and he had been trending in the right direction.  Power didn’t disappoint with the top ten finish.

 

WGC Bridgestone Coure Preview

The tour is leaving my home and native land and heading to Akron, Ohio for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.  The event is played at Firestone Country Club, a Par 70 measuring just over 7,400 yards.  The event is also a little different from the format we are used to seeing as it is an invitational comprised of 76 golfers.  With 76 players and no cut the strategy employed to be successful in GPP’s is entirely different.  I’ll have more on the strategy in these low field, no cut events within our DFS Army Slack Chat.  Want access? Try a free week trial today using code WIN at dfsarmy.com

As far as the course goes 7,400 yards for a par 70 is very long by PGA Tour standards.  However, we have seen both long and accurate hitters have performed well here over the years.  Although a smaller field yearly will likely see many players get to the top I think it is important to weight both accuracy and distance off of the tee this week.  The fairways aren’t necessarily thin but the rough is long and wayward shots will be penalized.

With the course being long players will be faced with long approach shots throughout the week, regardless of distance off of the tee.  The course features many long par 4’s, three par threes over 200 yards and even a 667 yard par five.  Keying in on players proximity to the pin over 200 yards  will be important this week.

As mentioned earlier the course is a par 70, meaning there are only two par fives.  When there is only two par fives we can worry much less about scoring on these holes, especially with one of them being so long (667 yards).  Instead of keying in on par five scoring like I did last week I will be focusing on par 4 scoring and par 4 BOB% (Birdie or Better).  With 11 par fours throughout the course and longer than average par threes and par fives it becomes crucial to score on the par fours.

Finally, with every player making the cut I will be looking for players who can rack up the fantasy points.  Although you should always be doing this it is even more imperative in a no cut event, as a result I will be weighting Birdie or Better % higher than usual.

 

Picks

Jason Day – GPP – DK: $9400 FD: $8800

Want a way to differentiate your team? Look no further then Jason Day.  I think with Day’s price and relative performance this year he should realistically see smaller ownership as Rahm, Stenson, Kuchar and Garcia all eat up some of his exposure within the same price range.  In Day’s  latest appearance at The Open Championship he showed signs of his game returning with a T27 finish.  Playing in his American backyard, Day has finished T3 and T12 the past two years.  Day certainly isn’t the safest play on the board but he also isn’t a throwaway roster spot.   If you are looking to differentiate a player at the top of your lineup, Day is your man.

Justin Rose – Fanduel – DK: $9900 FD: $7900

I am not quite sure why but Justin Rose’s price on Fanduel just does not make sense.  Anything under 100% ownership in a no cut 8 person cash team makes zero sense and you should jump all over the free square option this week.  Even in GPP’s with no cut and the affordable price tag it still makes sense to be on Rose regardless of ownership.  With three top five’s her in his last five starts Rose has the game that can contend when he’s rolling.  Rose didn’t look great at the Open but he is in the elite range of players that can win any given week and no one would be shocked.  I’ll say this one more time, play Rose on Fanduel.

Justin Thomas – GPP –  DK: $8200 FD: $7400

Thomas has been struggling as of late which should suppress his ownership.  Despite three straight missed cuts Thomas has still been scoring and missed the cut by one and two strokes in his last two events despite a quadruple bogey in both.  Luckily with no cut the quadruple bogey will only give -1 points and Thomas can keep playing and racking up the birdies.  According to our VIP Spreadsheet his is #1 in the field in that category.

Thomas Pieters – GPP – DK: $7300 FD: $6600

If you are looking for a guy with scoring upside look no further than Thomas Pieters.  Pieters us second in field adjusted Birdie or Better % according to our VIP Spreadsheet.  Despite not having quite the breakout season many were anticipating Pieters has still been playing solid golf with three top five’s in twelve starts this season.

Charley Hoffman – Cash – DK: $7400 FD: $6300

Hoffman’s price is fair given the quality of field but I think given his recent form he makes for a terrific cash game play.  According to our VIP Spreadsheet Hoffman has been gaining strokes in every metric except driving accuracy (where he still isn’t bad) but is among the top of the field in birdie or better %.  Barring any withdrawals players will be accumulating points for all four rounds.  Although Hoffman might drive you crazy if you constantly check his score and see him going up and down the leaderboard if he can score at a greater rate than his competitors he will be valuable to your teams.