DFS Golf Picks & Expert PGA Rankings This Week: Zurich Classic 2022

The team format returns this week for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and for the second year in a row fans will be getting daily fantasy contests to play alongside this event. As always, Awesemo has you covered with great fantasy golf models and PGA DFS ownership projections available on the site. The pairs event features 80 teams of two golfers that will compete in both best-ball (Thursday and Saturday) and alternate-shot (Friday and Sunday) formats. The cut will still take place on Friday with just the top-33 and ties making the weekend. So it could be a tricky week when attempting to pinpoint the right DFS golf picks this week for DraftKings and FanDuel PGA lineups.

Obviously, with this event being newer to the schedule, there is not a lot of history to fall back on for daily fantasy golf. The winning teams here have not always been the elite of the elite, and the first two seasons produced winners in the 50-1 range for betting — and also produced plenty of other long-shot surprises in the top-10. TPC Louisiana is the host venue, featuring a nice blend of scoring holes that also tends to allow for lots of birdies if the weather cooperates. The traditional par-72 course is a Pete Dye venue featuring Bermuda greens and easy-to-hit fairways, but it also brings water into play on eight holes. This event is a fun layout that has produced some exciting finishes over the seasons.

DFS Golf Rankings & Expert 2022 Zurich Classic Picks

TPC Louisiana Stats and Info

Greens here tend to play a little easier. There is a higher rate of birdie putts made within 20 feet than at a regular PGA Tour venue (via Fantasy National).
Average driving distance at this event is about five to seven yards below the tour average. This fact has stayed true, as the first two winning teams here did not feature a single bomber off the tee.
The four stroke-play winners between 2013 and 2016 all gained four or more strokes putting for the week.

Putting Splits

The greens at TPC Louisiana are TifEagle Bermudagrass – the same style that was in play last week. These also tend to be easier to putt on, as players have trended towards making far fewer three-putts than at most other venues. Here is a more general look at some of the best and worst Bermudagrass putters in the field, relative to their strokes gained on other surfaces. Use caution with these in your fantasy golf picks; they are not the be-all, end-all, but they make for a nice tiebreaker.

Negative Bermudagrass Putting Splits, Last 50 Rounds

Jason Day: -8 on Bermudagrass, +25 on all other surfaces
Maverick McNealy: +2 on Bermudagrass, +27 on all other surfaces
Patrick Cantlay: +7 on Bermudagrass, +31 on all other surfaces

*+ equals total strokes gained | – equals strokes lost

Positive Bermudagrass Putting Splits, Last 50 Rounds

Cameron Smith: +41 on Bermudagrass, +17 on all other surfaces
Peter Uihlein: +15 on Bermudagrass,-3 on all other surfaces
Kevin Kisner: +33 on Bermudagrass, +8 on all other surfaces

Latest PGA DFS Content

Zurich Classic DFS Golf Picks & Fantasy Golf Rankings

Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele: Grades: A | Values: B

This will be the fourth time that Patrick Cantlay competes in this team event. While he and Xander Schauffele have not always worked together, they did pair last season and managed a decent enough 11th place finish. Both men have come close to wins in 2022, with Cantlay obviously having been snake-bit in two playoffs already. They also have good Ryder Cup and President’s Cup experience with the two having gone a combined 5-0-1 in their three team matchups at the last Ryder Cup.

The projections this week on Awesemo agree that fans should be siding with Cantlay/Schauffele over the younger team of Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa. They are ranked slightly above the previous duo in pure points and Cantlay/Schauffele are one of the best values among the top teams as well. Their $10,400 salary makes roster building slightly easier too. It is a good time to keep riding these two who seem ready to push through and really compete for the title at this event this season.

Projected PGA DFS ownership: DraftKings: 16.9% | FanDuel: 19%

The Stats:

Cantlay has posted seventh and 11th place finishes at this event. Both men posted multiple wins in team format at the last Ryder Cup.
Both men rank top 10 in strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained ball striking over the last 50 rounds, individually.

Keith Mitchell/Brandt Snedeker: Grades: B | Values: A

As far as value under $8,000 goes on DraftKings this week, the Keith Mitchell and Brandt Snedeker duo is one that sticks out from a lot of different metrics for daily fantasy golf purposes. The two combined for a fourth-place finish at this event last season and certainly look like a duo who could be set up for long-term success here as long as the event stays in a team format. Snedeker obviously brings a putter that can get red hot and ranks top-five in strokes gained with short game and putting over the last 50 rounds. It was also just two starts ago that he gained over five strokes on approach at the Valero Texas Open, so any uptick there could prove huge for this team.

Mitchell has been great all season and his consistency and power off the tee should give Snedeker plenty of solid looks in the alternate shot format. These two have the best value scores in the Awesemo Model above $7,000 on DraftKings and outperform a lot of $8,000+ teams in the projections as well. For upside in GPPs, taking the discount on them this week looks prudent.

Projected PGA DFS ownership: DraftKings: 9.2% | FanDuel: 6.3%

The Stats:

Snedeker ranks top five in long-term strokes gained putting and with short game. Mitchell ranks second in strokes gained off the tee.
Combined for a fourth-place finish at this event last season.

Awesemo golf betting experts Ben Rasa and Eytan Shander will be coming to you every week on the OddsShopper YouTube Channel with the Putting for Dough golf betting show, where they give you their expert PGA picks and predictions for the week. This week, they are giving their free golf betting picks for the 2022 Zurich Classic.

Low-Owned Daily Fantasy Golf GPP Flier

Chris Kirk/Brendon Todd

It is surprising that a veteran duo like Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd are trending at under 10% ownership at this time in the week in the Awesemo Projections. The two have played this event numerous times and placed a solid 27th here last season, despite playing just mediocre golf for the most part. In an event where experience does seem to matter, Kirk also brings a lot of good course history having finished inside the top-10 at TPC Louisiana numerous times prior to it becoming a team event, with his most recent top-10 coming in 2016.

From a recent form perspective, the missed cut by Kirk last week is likely drawing some ownership off him, which is fine. He has been quite good in 2022, posting three top-15 finishes and some fantastic short game. Todd has picked up his game of late as well, posting 26th and eighth-place finishes in his last two starts. The short games in this group should be able to avoid trouble and grind at least a made cut. If one of them gets hot with the putter this year, a top-20 or better could easily be on tap.

Projected PGA DFS ownership: DraftKings: 7.6%

Top Three Under 5% in DraftKings Fantasy Golf This Week

This section will target players that should end up under or close to 5% ownership in larger DraftKings Golf GPPs. These picks are boom/bust PGA DFS players with an almost 100% focus on the upside.

Patrick Rodgers/Brandon Wu

Brandon Wu is a quality young player who is coming into this event with confidence after making three straight cuts. He posted a third-place finish three starts ago in Corales and is paired with a player in Patrick Rodgers who is capable of carrying the group with his putter at times. It is a solid Stanford Cardinal duo to target in GPPs.

Joel Dahmen/Stephen Jaeger

Joel Dahmen is obviously the backbone of this group, coming off a strong performance last week. Both he and Stephen Jaeger have had some success at this event, posting top-25 finishes with different partners back in 2019. If some of Dahmen’s confidence rubs off on Jaeger this week, this duo has it in them to go low in the best ball formats and pay off as a nice value in GPPs.

Kelly Kraft/Kevin Tway

This pair has played in this event numerous times and often with good results. They have posted three made cuts in four trips as a duo to this event and are uber familiar with this course and layout. Kevin Tway‘s length on the par 5’s will certainly help and Kelly Kraft is a player who can get hot with his irons and putter at times. For near the min-price, they look like a solid boom/bust target this week.

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