The Millionaire Maker has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t life-changing amounts of money to still be won in PGA DFS. This week, the tour heads to Sea Island, Georgia, about three hours southeast of Augusta, for the RSM Classic. Ownership will be incredibly important as it is every week, and there are tons of against-the-grain PGA DFS picks to choose from for our fantasy golf lineups. Let’s dig in.
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PGA DFS + Fantasy Golf Player Focus | RSM Classic
PGA DFS Picks: $9,500-$12,000
- 8 Golfers
- Total ownership of around 114%
Although I’d call this a beefed-up fall swing event, Webb Simpson will still get ownership that he typically sees if he’s the only good golfer in the field. I think a lot of that is a product of gamers not really wanting to buy into Sungjae Im a week after his second-place finish at The Masters. That seems reasonable given the fact that after such a big finish there could be a bit of mental letdown. Lastly, to spend $11,000 to get Im this week seems a little too risky because the only thing that keeps Simpson from a good finish here would be a death in his family (see 2017 tournament).
Local resident Harris English seems to be catching a bid this week, as he, Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick are all expected to be around 15% owned his week. Hatton, coming off of his missed cut at The Masters because of his pond ball on 15, won’t get as much ownership as he would have had he played well all four days.
That leaves us with three golfers with whom you’ll be able to go against the grain: Russell Henley, Jason Day and the seemingly overpriced Tommy Fleetwood. All of them are expected to be under 10% owned.
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for RSM Classic
In eight PGA Tour starts since returning from the COVID break, Tommy Fleetwood has gained strokes on the approach in one of them. It was all the way back at the WGC FedEx St. Jude. However, his putter, which was his problem in the past, has been great, gaining in five of eight starts. I know his price is high, and I know his stats don’t look good at all. However, according to those who did their own strokes gained numbers for last week (see @nelsonadcock on Twitter), it seems as though he gained both tees to green and on the green. So, if that’s the case, I’ll take 5% owned Fleetwood and get at least 20-30% in GPPs this week.
PGA DFS Picks: Nos. 11-32 Priced Golfers ($7,500-$9,400)
- 27 Golfers
- Total ownership 240%
This is the largest number of golfers we’ve had in this middle section, 27, and the largest ownership amount, 240%. There are plenty of people to fade in here and plenty of chances to go against the grain as well. In his first start back since being diagnosed with COVID, Joaquin Niemann will be one of the more popular plays on the slate. However, you aren’t getting an ownership or price discount with him, so he might be on of my biggest fades this week.
A couple of other golfers are also getting quite a bit of buzz, including Louis Oosthuizen, Denny McCarthy, Brian Harman, Corey Conners, Talor Gooch, Sebastian Munoz, Doc Redman and Justin Rose. All will be owned between 13% and 17% this week. Still, plenty of other golfers are trending towards 10% owned, including:
- Brendon Todd
- Kevin Kisner
- Jason Kokrak
- Shane Lowry
After them, however, it looks like you should be able to get the rest of the golfers in this section under 10% owned. Some of those golfers include:
- Mackenzie Hughes
- Zach Johnson
- Sepp Straka
- Dylan Frittelli
- Chez Reavie
Now, if you are looking for golfers that are going to be under 5% owned, there are still a few of those left here as well, including:
- Matt Wallace
- C.T. Pan
- Austin Cook
- Lee Westwood
- Charles Howell III
- Alex Noren
- Andy Sullivan
- Bernd Wiesberger
A strong Euro contingent is here this week, making it kind of a glorified Euro Tour event in a way. However, instead of them being the focal points of gamers lineups, they now provide some nice against-the-grain options.
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for RSM Classic
I’ve mentioned Wallace a couple of times this week, and while his iron play had been bad out of COVID, he’s finally finding his stride. He went back to Europe after the brief stint here and came in second at the Scottish Championship. He had a chance at a decent finish last week before a final-round 77 derailed him, but it was really his early-round fiasco that put him behind the eight ball. Coming in with good form on a course that is one of the easiest fairways to hit on tour, nullifying Wallace’s biggest weakness, I like him under 5% ownership this week. His price is reasonable as well.
PGA DFS Picks: The Rest ($7,400 and Below)
- 114 golfers
- Total ownership 240%
Cameron Smith or Sungjae Im are not in this price section this week, making it a bit harder to fill out lineups compared to last week. Harold Varner looks to be the highest-owned golfer from this section, approaching 20% owned. He came in 15th in Houston a few weeks ago, but that was after an abysmal performance in Bermuda during a windy second round. I bring that up because they are scheduled to have lower temperatures and higher winds this week in Sea Island, which, as we’ve seen recently, could affect Varner quite negatively.
Matt Kuchar is a name we didn’t expect to see priced at $7,400 in a fall-swing event. Compare that to his salary, which was north of $9,000 here last year, and it’s no surprise that gamers want to click his name as a sense of comfort. I, on the other hand, do not. The same goes for Kevin Streelman, whose price is looked at as cheap, is garnering over 10% ownership this week and is likely to make my fade list as well.
Only two other candidates could get close to 10% owned: J.T. Poston and Joel Dahmen.
Others that are likely to get between 5% and 10% owned this week include:
- Russell Knox
- Harry Higgs
- Matthew NeSmith
- James Hahn
- Maverick McNealy
- Cameron Davis
- Peter Malnati
- Henrik Norlander
- Adam Long
- Doug Ghim.
Since there are 114 golfers here in this price section, you will undoubtedly have the ability to get a golfer under 5%, and likely one that you like. A couple of names I like that are suspected of being under 5% this week include:
- Aaron Wise
- Cameron Tringale
- Emiliano Grillo
- Wyndham Clark
- Xinjun Zhang
- Luke List
- Nick Taylor
- Sung Kang
- Robby Shelton
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for RSM Classic
I definitely have a bit of affinity for Ghim, believing in his potential and talent when results haven’t been there. But lately a trio of top-25s has me intrigued here this week, as he’s one of the last men in the field.
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