The First Cut: PGA DFS Picks & Preview for the PGA Championship | DraftKings & FanDuel 5/16/21

Golf’s second major is here — the PGA Championship. As is typical with majors, DraftKings and FanDuel PGA DFS contests are the biggest and brightest here, as all of the world’s best assemble to battle it out for the Wannamaker Trophy, which makes the picks that much more difficult. Beyond the best golfers in the world gathering to compete for one of the four most coveted titles in golf, there is also the world-class venue in Kiawah Island Resort.

The last time this event was played here off the coast of South Carolina was 10 years ago when Rory McIlroy torched the field for his second of four majors titles. He did it with brute force and a superb all-around game, and with the course expected to play just shy of 7,900 yards, it’s no secret that type of play will be needed again this week. There will be 156 players competing, with the top 70 and ties making the weekend.

[GOLDRUSH]

If it is your first time joining us, here’s a brief synopsis of what you can find in this article most weeks.

  • Tournament and Format
  • Course Commentary
  • Course Facts and Figures
  • PGA DFS Course Summary and Statistical Comparison
  • PGA DFS Preview, including sweat sheet and optimal lineups from last year’s event
  • Player Preview

PGA Championship PGA DFS Picks & Preview

One of the oldest events around, this will be the 103rd playing of the event. In its first 40 playings or so, the tournament was a match-play event. But after losing money in 1957, they decided to switch the format to 72 holes of stroke play, keeping the interest and most of the players there all the way through Sunday. Since the event is typically held in the summer, it’s normally located on the East Coast. In fact, the 2020 showing of the event held at TPC Harding Park was just the 11th time the tournament has been played out west. This year the tournament heads back to Kiawah Island and the Ocean Course held at this beautiful resort.

The Course: Kiawah Island Ocean Course

It would not be fair to the Ocean Course to not mention the fact that this will be the longest course a major has ever played. While it measured a mere 7,650 yards back in 2012, the then-longest major course was eclipsed by Erin Hills for the 2017 playing of the U.S. Open, which came in with a measurement of 7,700 yards. There is no debate now, as the Ocean Course is going to be set up a full 150 yards longer than its predecessor and will surely test all parts of the golfers’ games.

It’s named the “Ocean” course for good reason, as this course features more holes along the water than any other course in North America, with 10 holes running along the Atlantic. It got its notoriety from the 1991 playing of the Ryder Cup, where the “War By the Shore” had the event come down to the final putt. In addition to those famed events, the course can also be seen on the big screen in the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”

Get 2 Risk-Free Bets Up To $2,000!

Kiawah Island Ocean Course Deep Dive

In 2012 the course played to an average of just over 74. That’s even though the winning score shot by McIlroy was 13 under. He won by eight strokes that week, with the runner-up finishing at 5 under. That is more in line for a course that boasted a scoring average higher than 74. Only four holes for the week averaged under par. Two of them were par 5’s, and the other two were Nos. 1 and 3, the shortest par 4’s on the course. In fact, the first three holes present some of the only scoring opportunities all day. Do not be surprised to see someone get out to 3 under before ultimately falling back throughout the day. There are the only two par 4’s on the course that measure under 400 yards, and the shortest par 5 measures just shy of 560 yards.

Lastly, on this beauty of a track, the course is going to play about 200 yards longer than in 2017.

Notable Changes

  • Hole No. 4: +30 yards, now a par 4 measuring 485 yards.
  • Hole No. 5: +20 yards, now a par 3 measuring 210 yards.
  • Hole No. 6: +10 yards, now a par 4 measuring 490 yards.
  • Hole No. 9: +20 yards, now a par 4 measuring 514 yards. Likely to play as one of the toughest holes on the course with the added yardage.
  • Hole No. 12: +70 yards the biggest change to the course comes on this 12th hole, which played as a 412-yard par 4 back in 2012. The additional 70 yards is surely to make this hole much more difficult, and it already played to an average of 4.15 last event. It will play as a 480-yard par 4 this year
  • Hole No. 15: +20 yards now a par 4 measuring 466 yards.
  • Hole No. 16: +25 yards, now measuring over 600 yards. It was the easiest hole on the back nine and the only one that played to an average score that was under par.

Course Facts & Figures

Par and Yardage

  • Par 72 measuring 7,870 yards.

Course Difficulty

  • With a scoring average over 74, it was one of the hardest in 2012.

Hole Dispersion

  • Four par 3’s: 223, 238, 200, 210
  • 10 par 4’s: 390, 396, 485, 490, 510, 450, 466, 480, 500, 500, 466, 501
  • Four par 5’s: 560, 580, 590, 610

Grass Types and Hazards

  • Grass Type: Sea Spray Paspalum/Sea Isla Supreme Poa Annua
  • Average Green Size:6000 sq. feet
  • Water Hazards: Five
  • Bunkers: Tons, but won’t be played as a hazard this week.
  • Rough Length: 2 inches

Designer

  • Peter Dye (2011)

Latest PGA DFS Content


The PGA Championship PGA DFS Slate Preview

draftkings pga dfs picks daily fantasy golf lineups GPPs tournaments PGA Championship FanDUel expert projections

DraftKings has rolled out a couple of good offerings this week, with dual millionaire makers, and, for those into the new NFT craze/phase, gamers can “Putt for a Punk” and have a chance at winning a crypto punk.

Of course, all the normal offerings are bumped up, like the $5 Drive the Green moving up to $100,000 to first.

PGA DFS Sweat Sheet for Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course

*Using 2012 stats as a basis with a 10% adjustment due to strength of the field while adjusting for the yardage adds to a number of holes.

draftkings pga dfs picks daily fantasy golf lineups GPPs tournaments PGA Championship FanDUel expert projections

With so many improvements to the players and technology over the last 10 years, it will be interesting to see how the field will handle the long and difficult track. McIlroy’s winning score of 13 under may be right on the number again this year. However, second place should be better than 5 under. Lastly, the cut line was +6 back in 2012. It should not be nearly as high this year — somewhere in the +3 range.

The PGA Championship DFS Player Preview

With a win at the Wells Fargo and a win back in 2012, McIlroy comes in as the favorite in the odds market and the highest-priced golfer on DraftKings. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson hasn’t been in his best form and has a knee injury that seems to be nagging him right now. He comes in at 14-1, the first time he has been that high since before last year’s Masters’ tournament. It is no surprise to see Jordan Spieth as the biggest outlier in terms of OWGR to his salary/odds to win. He is No. 6 on the board in both categories and ranked outside the top 20 in the world.

Be sure to stay tuned all week as the team here at Awesemo revs up the coverage of golf’s second major of the year.


Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.

[PGAPAGE]

Author
Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].

Stokastic +

Premium Data and Tools
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims MLB
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Top Stack %s
MLB Data Central
FREE DATA
SoRare MLB Rankings
DraftKings Night Owl
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
MLB Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
MLB Discord Server
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Ownership Projections
PREMIUM TOOLS
Fantasy Cruncher (ADD-ON)
NHL Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
NHL Discord Server
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims PGA
PREMIUM DATA
Ownership Projections
Top Golfers Tool
PGA Tournament Models
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
PGA Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
PGA Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Drivers Tool
NASCAR Discord Server
NASCAR Fantasy Cruncher
USFL Projections
USFL Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Fighters Tool
MMA Discord Server
MMA Fantasy Cruncher
NFL Betting Tools
Stokastic Discord Server
Best Ball
Best Ball Rankings
Best Ball Stat Projections
Stokastic Discord Server
Season Long Fantasy (Coming Soon)

DFS Winners from the Stokastic Community

Subscribe to the Stokastic newsletter

DFS advice, exciting promos, and the best bets straight to your inbox

Stokastic.com - Daily Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting Data, Tools, & Analytics

Please play responsibly. Only customers 21 and over are permitted to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.