With the NFL and NBA in full swing, the Millionaire Maker for PGA DFS is on the back burner, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t life-changing amounts of money to be won. This week, the tour heads to Maui and one of the most special places on this earth. With only 42 players in the field, getting a piece of the few under-owned golfers will be key to a profitable week. Let’s take a look at some of the key pivots and optimal PGA DFS picks for daily fantasy golf contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.
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Fantasy Golf: Awesemo’s Top 10 Projected Players
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PGA DFS Picks: $9,000+
- 10 Golfers
- Total ownership of around 180%
DraftKings was kind enough to give us exactly 10 players above $9,000 this week. What that does, especially if it’s most of the world’s best like it is this week, is relatively good ownership parity, with few bubbles. Trending towards the most owned in this price range is Xander Schauffele, which is no surprise given that he’s close to the same odds to win the tournament (10-1 in most places) as the other guys priced above him and about half the number as the next-highest golfer, Patrick Cantlay. As it typically is with the best golfers, gamers tend to gravitate to the cheaper guy rather than pay up, as Jon Rahm is projected right around 25% as well. Both Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson will trail behind Rahm and Schauffele (but not by much), coming in around 20% owned this week. Bryson DeChambeau is trending towards the lowest-owned golfer, coming in at 16%, but not the lowest-owned golfer in this section. That title goes to Cantlay.
A couple of others in this section remain, with Webb Simpson, Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama all coming in around 15% owned this week.
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for the Tournament of ChampionsÂ
It is pretty clear that I’m heading to Cantlay this week. He’s been at this week’s course a few times and has played it well. At $9,800, we need a top-five from him to pay off the salary. I like the chance of that happening, so I’ll take the leverage.
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PGA DFS Picks: Nos. 11-32 Priced Golfers ($7,500-$8,900)
- 15 Golfers
- Total ownership 235%
Four of the highest-owned golfers in the slate fall in this section; with only 42 players in the field, options are a bit limited. It should be no surprise that Tony Finau, along with Cameron Smith and Abraham Ancer, are all projected to be owned around 25% this week, as each of them provides a nice salary for either the second or third golfer in the lineup. But with all that ownership going to those three golfers, plus another 20% or so going to Harris English, it would seem like there are a few pockets pick. The least owned of the bunch is Collin Morikawa, who is only projected to be 10% owned this week.
Others like Daniel Berger, Scottie Scheffler and Joaquin Niemann will all likely push the 20% number, while Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Cameron Champ, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia are all trending around the 15%-owned mark. Sebastian Munoz will soak up a ton of ownership on FanDuel at the price over there, but his DraftKings ownership should be rather mild in the same range as the golfers I mentioned.
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for the Tournament of ChampionsÂ
Morikawa is another rather easy pick for me at depressed price and ownership. Im is also trending in that same direction, and he is another golfer I’ll leverage.
PGA DFS Picks: The Rest ($7,400 and Below)
- 17 golfers
- Total ownership 200%
The highest- and lowest-projected golfers of the slate both come from this section here. Ryan Palmer, coming in close to 30%, projects as the best value on the board. Part of the optimal lineup last year at similar prices, Palmer seems like a great fit to repeat his performance last year. He won’t be alone either in terms of golfers that are likely to be owned over 20% from this group, as recent winner Carlos Ortiz is also projected to be rather chalky.
The next highest-owned golfers in this section are Kevin Na and a min-price Robert Streb. When he last won the RSM Classic, Streb went to Maui a few months later and finished eighth. History tends to repeat itself, and while I don’t think a top-10 is in his immediate future here at Kapalua, I think at min price, Streb won’t have to do more than he typically does over four rounds to give you a solid return. Obviously, I’m not the only one to think this, as he projects to be around 16% owned. Lanto Griffin and Mackenzie Hughes are up next in terms of ownership, coming in around 15%, as is Jason Kokrak. Martin Laird finishes up the golfers that will be at least 10% owned, leaving us a handful of names that will be under that mark. They are:
- Marc Leishman
- Stewart Cink
- Michael Thompson
- Andrew Landry
- Nick Taylor
- Brian Gay
- Hudson Swafford
- Richy Werenski
Top Against the Grain PGA DFS Picks for the Tournament of ChampionsÂ
I suspect at least one of these guys will end up in the optimal lineup. If not, it’ll likely be a split pot. My top two plays out of them will be Stewart Cink and Andrew Landry.Â
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