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
*USE PROMO CODE PGA FOR 20% OFF MEMBERSHIP AND GET CONTENT FOR PGA, NFL, MLB, NFL AND EVERYTHING ELSE!*
BMW Championship review
Jason Day – All formats – (4th – 126.5 DK Points)
I was all over Day as he has consistently been putting up a high percentage of birdies over his last few tournaments. Despite finishing 4th in the tournament Jason Day finished with the second most fantasy points thanks to a few eagles and a hole in one on Friday.
Paul Casey – Cash – (T33 – 71.5 DK Points)
Casey was the safest play in cash games given his streak of top tens and affordable salary. Although Casey did not perform at that level this weekend he still finished in the top half of the field. Casey was well over 50% owned in cash and I felt the risk was not worth the reward in fading him.
Daniel Berger – GPP – (T33 – 75.5 DK Points)
I was on Berger because of his birdie potential and minimal risk with the BMW Championship being a no-cut event. Berger played alright but definitely was not a part of any team at the top of leaderboards.
Patrick Reed – Draftkings Value (65th – 56.5 DK Points)
Patrick Reed cemented his position as my least favourite player. Reed had a good salary given his ability and recent performance but did not show up at all this week.
Pat Perez – Fanduel Value (T12 – 78.5 DK Points)
Perez was one of the lowest priced players on Fanduel this week and it did not make sense. With eight golfers if you locked in Perez you were able to pay up elsewhere (Hopefully for Fowler, Day and Rose).
Tour Championship Preview
It is the final week of the PGA season! The tour is making its annual visit to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. For those who are not aware, the event will feature the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup Playoffs vying for the $10 million cheque.
East Lake is a Par 70 measuring 7,307 yards. The course features only two par fives making East Lake relatively long for a par 70. With only two par fives I will be weighting par five efficiency less and will be looking more at par 4 efficiency.
As mentioned earlier East Lake is a longer course. However, that does not mean you need to be a bomber off of the tee to be successful. Accuracy is important off of the tee as there is trouble off of the fairway. We’ve seen Spieth, Horschel, Stensen, Snedeker, and Haas win here in recent memory, all players who aren’t necessarily long off of the tee. I will not be overly weighting driving statistics for the week but I will be leaning Accuracy over distance. Within our DFS Army VIP Research Station stats are sorted within rounds and I will be looking at recent round rounds to see how players have been throughout the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Like last week with such a small field and no cut birdie or better % will be critical to winning in DFS formats. Finding the players the can put up lots of fantasy points will be the way to find yourself on the top of leaderboards.
Finally, with only 30 players and the entire field playing regularly leading up to the event I will be looking at recent form. Most guys are coming in hot but some have stumbled their way into the top thirty, avoiding these players will be part of my strategy in attacking this slate.
As far as cash games go tweaks must be made to strategy in these small field, no cut events. Last week without a PGA tournament I went over how I personally change my strategy in this VIP article. Not a member and want to check it out? No problem, sign up for a free month using the code here.
Tour Championship Picks
Hideki Matsuyama – GPP – DK: $9000 FD: 7900
Matsuyama is my favourite pivot off of the high ownership of Justin Rose and Paul Casey that we will likely be seeing this week. Although you will likely be hard-pressed to find any player low owned in a field of 30 I think Matsuyama could slip slightly under the rest of the top pack. Matsuyama’s recent results have been shaky but the underlying statistics are still showing in his favour. Our VIP Research Station has Matsuyama first in field adjusted shots gained: approach. Matsuyama has fallen out of contention in recent weeks due to his putting, the rest of his game is still there. We saw this earlier in the year leading up to the US Open where Matsuyama finished second. Any time he tees it up Matsuyama has a chance to win and he should be considered in all GPP lineups.
Justin Rose – Cash – DK: $8900 FD: $7700
Rose has a few things going for him that are making me inclined to lock him into my cash game lineups. He is affordable on both sites (especially Fanduel), coming in with good form (T2 last week) and has great course history (2nd, 4th, 6th and 2nd in his last four starts). All of this also has me thinking Rose will be incredibly chalky, making him a great cash play. Looking at our VIP Research Station we can see Rose gaining strokes on the field in every metric except shots gained: putting, something that can easily flip like we saw last week.
Kyle Stanley – GPP – DK: $6300 FD:$6200
Underpriced and putting up birdies in a not cut event? Sign me up for some shares of Kyle Stanley. Our VIP Research Station has Stanley 9th in field adjusted birdie or better percentage and first among any player priced lower than Brooks Koepka. With both formats rewarding scoring so much why not take a shot on Kyle Stanley?
Pat Perez – All formats – DK: $6200 FD: $6100
Last week Draftkings capped the lowest salary at $6900 but this week with a smaller field we are seeing players in the low 6,000’s, which is something we should be taking advantage of. Pat Perez is coming in hot and playing great golf placing T12 and T6 in his last two starts. According to our VIP Research Station Perez has been gaining strokes on the field in driving accuracy, greens in regulation and most importantly, approaching the green. Perez offers a bargain in a no-cut event that allows you to spend up for the studs in both cash games and GPP’s.
Other DFS Army PGA Golf Tools and Articles
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our PGA Research Station!
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our DFS Army Domination Station Lineup Optimizer!
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our European Tour Research Station!
Be sure to sign up to our DFS Army VIP Membership in order to utilize our custom Domination Station projections, PGA Research Station and access to chat with Taco, myself and many other proven winners. Use Coupon Code “PGA” to receive 20% all of this PGA content as well as content for MLB, NBA, NFL and every other DFS sport your heart desires.