This week, DFS PGA stops in Connecticut at TPC River Highlands for the 2020 Travelers Championship. Fantasy golf advice for Draftkings and Fanduel starts with a course preview and quick statistical breakdown. Toss in a few key players to watch, and position yourself to run deep in some huge DFS contests, including another Millionaire Maker!
Follow Choppodongand DFS Army on Twitter through the week, but also look for these upcoming deeper dives into strategy and fantasy golf play:
– PGA Research Station (every key stat in one place, showdowns included!)
– Travelers Domination Station Optimizer (Ownership projections and a FREE Setup Tutorial for Lineup Building)
– Time-saving Fantasy Golf Cheatsheets (our gurus do the heavy lifting with detailed notations, confidence ratings, and both core plays and gpp leverage plays)
– Chalk Donkey Complete Course Breakdown and Player Pivots (due later in week)
– Hard-hitting Strategy Discussion for VIPs via our golf chat rooms where coaches answer member questions all week long!
Jun 21, 2018; Cromwell, CT, USA; Bubba Watson plays his shot from the first tee during the first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
TPC River Highlands At A Glance for PGA DFS
Here we go again with a shorter course by today’s standards. TPC River Highlands measures only 6,841 yards in length and, again, boasts smaller greens featuring a bentgrass/poa annua mix. There are only two par 5s, with the 13th hole a very gettable 523 yards. Birdies and eagles here all week long! For the PGA tour pros, we will also see two drivable par 4s. The 15th hole sets up well for late weekend drama at under 300 yards and may pose some interesting DFS swings to your lineups on Sunday.
Being shorter and with some drivable holes, you’d think this course has a player type. However, The Travelers Championship has seen a wide range of player types win here. The last five winners are:
2019 – Chez Reavie at -17
2018 – Bubba Watson at -17
2017 – Jordan Spieth at -12
2016 – Russell Knox at -14
2015 – Bubba Watson at -16
The top 65 and ties will play the weekend after our standard Friday cut. At first look, for PGA DFS purposes, we aren’t expecting any wild weather like rain or wind. On the surface, we don’t need to yet pay attention to any “morning or afternoon” questions when it comes to exploitable showdown tee times.
Key Statistics for Daily Fantasy Golf: Travelers Championship
1- Strokes Gained: Approach
2- Birdie or Better %
3- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
4- Strokes Gained: Around the Green
5- Bogey Avoidance or Bogey Free Round %
This week will also serve to take drivers out of some hands. Distance off the tee yields to setting up approach shots. Another heavy Pete Dye influence equalizes the longer and shorter hitters somewhat and lends to a more strategic, thinking approach as players navigate all 18 holes.
All of these key stats will be featured in one place: Our PGA Research Station! Along with odds drifts, player salaries and projections, these stats (and more) will guide your research in a profitable direction. Here is a sample of a recent week on the PGA Tour.
This graphic is literally just the tip of the iceberg. Key stats like Strokes Gained, and many tabs covering Showdown Tools, Field Ranker, and a Tournament Comparison page all team up to give you everything you could possibly need to build that winning DFS lineup!
A Few Early Players to Watch
Webb Simpson should be popular with his recent run of tourneys. As his price increases along with his popularity in DFS PGA contests, a winning gpp move might be to start lowering exposure to him (if you haven’t been already). Sure, it doesn’t look like the strategy is working now, but when the inevitable off week arrives, you will gain more and more leverage on the chalk chasers lining Webb Simpson’s fairways.
Bubba Watson will certainly be popular as a winner in two of the past five years here. If anyone seems to have figured this course out, it might be Bubba. He has only missed the cut here once in 11 starts, and due to recent form, he makes a solid DFS play here…especially in cash games.
Paul Casey seems to be picking up early buzz, too. Like previously mentioned, this course allows success from a wide variety of players regardless of length off the tee. And, Casey isn’t exactly the grip and rip type. With a couple top five finishes in recent years here (and never finishing outside the top 20), the course history sets up well for Casey to perform yet again. Another solid cash game DFS play this week.
Abraham Ancer has been really good lately, too, and might not carry the clout just yet of some of these guys with more proven track records. At $9000 on Draftkings, Ancer falls in what can be an awkward price range….lending to a drop in ownership that might provide leverage as the week shakes out in gpp play.
The Bryson DeChambeau chalk will also be real. I won’t make some early declaration to fade him, but in gpps, it does make sense to look for lower ownerships at the top of the pricing tiers. That said, another player that might lose some ownership to the “Bryson Buzz” is Justin Thomas. Three consecutive top 10 finishes and no victories might have people looking towards some of the hotter PGA golfers. A complete fade of JT is likely a no-no. In fact, you might consider increasing your exposure to him instead. An even riskier play for huge-field tournaments will be Jon Rahm.
As the week pops more data and more expert opinion, our PGA DFS Cheatsheets will save you tons of time. No longer will you need to dive deeper into numbers if your schedule won’t allow. Simply wait for our most accurate coaches (3rd party ranked) to drop their notes and pivots on this week’s key plays!
Notes regarding players don’t get any more detailed. Use your own thoughts in conjunction with our proprietary star-ratings to build confidence and build winners! You can now play any sport competitively just by reading our cheatsheets and using our optimizer. Maybe a tweak or two of your own, and you might wind up a big winner like ccanelho! Can you imagine the feeling of winning $100,000 with minimal research? It’s definitely possible here. See our Track Record of over 20 winners of $100,000+ and even an NFL $1,000,000 winner in BClinks last season!!
However, the only way to put all these tools to work for you is to become a VIP of our community. For one price, we put every sport, every site, every tool, and access to every coach in the palm of your hands. If fact, you can even try us FREE for 30 DAYS!! There is no commitment whatsoever. If you aren’t eligible for the free trials, simply use discount code DFSARMY for a 20% savings each and every month you take advantage of our tools and coaching.
As a new VIP, I would recommend starting with our tutorials page. And, if you love DFS PGA Showdowns, I’d start with Josh’s PGA-specific exploitation of the showdown format for any skill level! I hope to see you on the inside!!