PGA DFS & Fantasy Golf Preview for the 2022 Players Championship

It was a severe and, in some places, unfair test of PGA Golf this past weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which had a major feel. Now it is time for the biggest DFS contests in any sports, not just PGA DFS, with not one but two millionaire makers offered by DraftKings. Both FanDuel and Yahoo have put out their biggest contests as well, and all sites have released salaries already.

There are 144 golfers in the field this week at TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship, as the strongest field in golf returns once again for the biggest prize in professional golf. Let’s dig into some stats and info vital for golfers this week.

PGA DFS Preview | 2022 Players Championship

Course Facts & Figures

TPC Sawgrass is one of the most famous courses in all of golf and quite possibly has the most famous hole: The par-3 17th island green. It is a hole so renowned that there is a song about it, and golfers can score anywhere from a 1 to a 9. There have even been scores higher than 9 before, but hopefully that will not happen to any golfers here this week, as good as that content would be.

The course is a Peter Dye masterpiece. It has been quite the rotation in Florida, going from a Jack Nicklaus design to Arnold Palmer and now Peter Dye, and Sawgrass is likely the easiest of the three. That does not mean the course is easy by any stretch, with trouble lurking on almost every hole.

Par & Yardage

Par 72 — 7,454 yards

Course Length

Par 72: 7,200 yards

Course Difficulty

The course typically plays about a half stroke under par which ranks it right in the middle of all courses played in a year.

Hole Dispersion

  • Four Par 3’s: 177, 237, 181, 137
  • 10 Par 4’s: 423, 394, 471, 393, 451, 424, 302, 481, 481, 470, 523, 462
  • Four Par 5’s: 555, 574, 511, 590

Grass Types and Hazards

  • Grass Type: Bermuda
  • Rough Length: 1-2 inches
  • Green Size: 5,500 square feet
  • Holes with water in play: 17

Designer

Peter Dye

Best Stats for DFS Golf Picks This Week

Off the Tee: Driving Accuracy ticked up last year, about 3% over its normal, with roughly 65% of the fairways hit.

Approach to the Green: About 70% of the greens are hit in regulation. With rough length that is not too hard to deal with, even when a player misses the fairway they have a chance to hit the green.

Around and On the Green: The main difference between TPC Sawgrass and the first two courses of the Florida swing is the green sizes. Last two weeks they were an average of 7,500 square feet, whereas has Sawgrass is about 5,500 square feet per green. So missing these small greens can be brutal; as is typical with Peter Dye courses, the greens can be “Dye-abolical.”

Players Championship Tournament History

With so much variability in the outcomes at TPC Sawgrass, it is no surprise that few golfers have multiple top-10s without a missed cut mixed in there. Defending champion Justin Thomas ($10,800) is one of them, going 6-for-6 in his six starts since earning a spot in the field in 2015, with a win, a third and an 11th to go along with finishes of 24th, 35th and 75th. Si Woo Kim has a win and a ninth-place finish in five starts, coming in 23rd, 63rd and 56th in the other three. Jon Rahm ($11,100) and Bryson DeChambeau ($9,500) are 4-for-4 and 3-for-3 respectively, but each of them only has one top-10.

In the next tier, Sergio Garcia ($7,400) has possibly the most impressive record of anyone. He has not missed a cut since 2003, going 18 straight. In those 18 he has won, come in second twice finished top 10 three other times. Other golfers that have at least two top-10s are: Jason Day ($7,500), Rory McIlroy ($10,800), Hideki Matsuyama ($9,600), Francesco Molinari ($6,800), Adam Scott ($8,200), Matt Kuchar ($6,700), Daniel Berger ($8,800), Jhonattan Vegas ($6,800), Zach Johnson ($6,000), Lee Westwood ($7,100), Ian Poulter ($7,300), Justin Rose ($7,300), Jimmy Walker ($6,200), Martin Laird ($6,800), Kevin Na ($7,200), Brandt Snedeker ($6,500), Paul Casey ($7,400) and Lucas Glover ($6,600).

Lastly, Corey Conners ($7,200), Abraham Ancer ($7,600) and J.T. Poston ($6,100) have each played here twice, making the cut both times and averaging finishes of better than 25th in those two starts.

PGA DFS Golf Rankings & Stats

The interesting thing about TPC Sawgrass is that the scoring comes in spurts. The first and second holes are the easiest holes to score on until the ninth hole, an uphill par 5 with a difficult green complex. On the backside, 11 and 12 could yield back-to-back eagle chances, with 19 total eagles made on them in 2019. However, they lengthened the hole last year for a few more rounds, so the number of eagles was cut in half to just four last year. The next scoring streak opportunity is 16 and 17. An eagle chance awaits the short par-5 16, while 17 is a chance to pick up a stroke on the field with a birdie on what could be a disaster of a hole for others. Last year golfers made 48 doubles or worse on the hole, to go along with 60 bogeys against 80 birdies. That is quite a range of outcomes, which is why this course and this event have such great appeal.

2022 Players Championship PGA DFS Player Preview

Going by the Official World Golf Rankings, 48 of the top 50 players are here, only missing Harris English and Phil Mickelson. While this is not a major, it should be, as it is the toughest and deepest field in professional golf.


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Players Championship Stats: Strokes Gained Review

Thomas’s 8-under 64 on Saturday propelled him up the board after starting the day at 2 under, 7 strokes back of Westwood. He would close the gap on Sunday for the win, the second biggest of his career. He did it with a “through the bag” approach, gaining at least 1.5 strokes in all four facets. His leading statistic, as it typically is, was his iron play, where he gained 6.4 strokes.

Of the 16 golfers that finished in the top 10, just one of them lost strokes in more than one category: Garcia. Only five others of the 16 lost in one category. What this translates to is, a golfer that is doing everything well typically has the best chance to win. Obviously that is the case at any golf course, but with the golfers not being able to overpower this one or win with just iron play because of the difficulty of the greens, this course standouts more than others.

Averages for Last Year’s Top 10

  • Strokes Gained Off the Tee: 0.40
  • Strokes Gained on Approach: 1.06
  • Strokes Gained Around the Green: 0.45
  • Strokes Gained Putting: 0.64
  • DFS Points: 94
  • DFS Ownership: 7.17%
  • Average DFS Salary: $7,937

Golfers that are positive strokes gained every category this season include:

  • Collin Morikawa ($10,700)
  • Patrick Cantlay ($9,900)
  • Xander Schauffele ($9,700)
  • Scottie Scheffler ($9,200)
  • Sungjae Im ($8,300)
  • Matt Fitzpatrick ($7,800)
  • Marc Leishman ($7,500)
  • Russell Henley ($7,400)
  • Maverick McNealy ($7,000)
  • Keith Mitchell ($7,100)
  • Aaron Wise ($6,600)
  • Lanto Griffin ($7,000)
  • Chris Kirk ($7,000)
  • Gary Woodland ($7,400)

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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].

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