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
DFS Army Pricing – Use code PGA for 10% off membership!
A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier Review
Tony Finau – 79.5 DK Points
I wrote up Finau as an interesting play because we finally saw him as the top salary. Although it is not surprising to see Finau near the top it is interesting when you consider he hasn’t been able to win on tour in a long time. I was weary of Finau at the price especially as I expected ownership to be right around 20%. Although I was wrong on ownership it worked out being underweight on the highest salary after a T21 finish.
Xander Schauffele – 83.5 DK Points
As I discussed, I expected lower ownership on Xander given his recent performance. At 9.11%, Xander was the lowest owned of any player above $9000 on DraftKings. Of the 11 players over $9000 Xander finished 4th in scoring and I believe was a solid play although you’re likely a little tilted if you rostered him and saw him shoot down the leaderboard on Sunday.
Joaquin Niemann – 104.5 DK Points
Aside from tigers return I think Niemann is the best story on tour this season. After a great stretch of golf Niemann has earned his tour card following another T5 finish this week. I wrote up how Niemann will likely be chalk this week following a great performance and he ultimately ended up being the 6th highest owned across GPP’s. Despite this, Niemann finished tied for 3rd in DraftKings scoring and was the chalk you needed for the week.
Charles Howell – 68 DK Points
Another week and another solid performance by Charles Howell. Howell has become a cash game staple of mine because of the consistency. Well the T30 will not really help you make much money in GPP formats it’s a great start to any lineup for cash games.
Ted Potter
After a very rough Thursday Ted Potter almost came back to mack the cut but unfortunately came up one short stroke. I liked Potter this week because of his fantastic course history but the missed cut hurt many GPP lineups of mine.
DFS Army Pricing – Use code PGA for 10% off membership!
John Deere Classic Preview
The PGA Tour is making its annual stop at TPC Deer Run in Illinois for the John Deere Classic. This event has a small prize pool by PGA Tour standards, which would help explain the lackluster field. At the top we see Francesco Molinari, Bryson Dechambeau and Zach Johnson and just like recent weeks we see a whole bunch of names in the $6k salary range.
The course itself is a par 71 that measures 7,268 yards. The course is very easy by PGA tour standards. With the winner routinely finishing right around -20 we should get ready to see a lot of birdies this year. This is largely because of multiple short par fours that give players plenty of chances to rack up the birdies with their wedges. With 8 par fours less than 450 yards and 4 under 400 yards I will be targeting Short Par Fours.
I will also heavily rely on our PGA Research Station this week. Under our ‘historical performances’ tab I will be using our stat correlations heavily. This tab shows which stats have correlated for success over multiple years of data. With this tab we can eliminate any bias and false narratives about courses that persist year after year. For those that still aren’t members here’s a sneak peak of what the tab looks like and the information are members have access to weekly.
Also, Course history will be something I am looking into a bit more this week than I usually do. We have seen multiple players do well here year in and year out and I think it is worth noting.
Interesting plays
Francesco Molinari – DK: $11600 FD: $12200
For a long time the narrative the Francesco Molinari cannot close out a tournament on Sunday has followed him around. Two weeks ago he was finally able to shake that after an impressive -8 round at the Quicken Loans National to blow out the field. Now that Molinari has one (and mainly because of a week field) he sees himself as the top salary of the week. Molinari has been incredible as of late and as a result I expect him to see higher ownership than Finau last week as the top salary. However, similar to my thoughts on Finau last week, the top salary needs to finish right at the top of the leaderboard to justify playing them and I find it hard to go all out for a top salary when its not a top tier player (even if the field is subpar).
Joaquin Niemann – DK: $10400 FD: $11400
After a fantastic outing last week Niemann has earned his tour card. Niemann has been playing so well that he sees himself priced as a top tier salary after only 9 tour events, something we haven’t seen since Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth. Niemann makes for a great story and that alone should prop up his ownership. I am unsure what to do with Niemann as a result of expected increased ownership. Niemann is certainly someone I will be discussing later in my final slack chat notes.
Wesley Bryan – DK: $9100 FD: $9000
Bryan has two appearances at this event with both resulting in top ten finishes. Despite no top tens this year and plenty of missed cuts Bryan has begun to turn it around with five straight made cuts. Because of his exaggerated price on DraftKings this week I find Bryan an interesting talking point for the week. Will past results sway people to play Bryan or will his record this year and price point keep people off of him?
Chez Reavie – DK: $7500 FD: $9200
Reavie is very interesting to me this week. He’s underpriced on DraftKings, despite multiple missed cuts in recent tournaments. He also is a player who on paper is set up to succeed at this course as it plays to his strengths. Reavie has made the cut at this event in every appearance sense 2011 including a T5 and a T15. I find Reavie interesting because in this weaker field event I wonder which narrative will prevail and how will it drive his ownership?
As always, these are initial thoughts and not necessarily the plays I will be making. As the week goes on I will update my thoughts in our member SlackChat as well as discussing multiple other players and my thoughts for both Cash and GPP’s.
Other DFS Army PGA Golf Tools and Articles
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our PGA Cheatsheet!
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our DFS Army Domination Station Lineup Optimizer!
DFS Army VIP Members also have access to our Euro Tour Cheatsheet!
Be sure to sign up to our DFS Army VIP Membership in order to utilize our custom Domination Station projections, PGA spreadsheets and access to chat with Taco, myself and many other proven winners. Use Coupon Code “PGA” to receive 10% all of this PGA content as well as content for MLB, NBA, NFL and every other DFS sport your heart desires.