Xander Schauffele Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

There are two camps when it comes to DFS players and Xander — ones that have been playing him during this crazy stretch that say his ball striking can improve and ones that have been fading him during this crazy stretch that say regression is bound to hit with his short game. I’ve been on X almost every event he’s played since the restart, so I am obviously a member of the first camp. I do wish his ball striking numbers were a little better, but there is plenty of room for improvement in that aspect and he’s still managed to reel off nine straight top 25 finishes. We know he loves no-cut events (so many wins and seconds in his career) and he is actually contemplating a move to Vegas. He’s said how much he loves the area and his girlfriend’s parents actually live there. Does this make him any better of a play this week? Absolutely not, but it can’t hurt right? A win is on the horizon and I will be there when it happens.

It’s funny what DFS and betting does to our views of golfers. Half the community is in on Xander and half the community thinks he’s smoke and mirrors. It basically comes down to whether or not you’ve been playing him since the restart. I have been as bullish as anyone, so I obviously look at his statistics with the glass half-full perspective. Yes, he has lost strokes on approach in three of his last five events, but he has eight straight top 25 finishes on tour and he technically had the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship. His off the tee, around the green, and putting have been immaculate over the last few months and if you zoom back and look at his approach numbers over the last two years, he’s actually 18th in this field in strokes gained on approach. He loves poa annua greens and he’s never finished outside of the top 10 at the U.S. Open.

Schauffele is about as steady as they come on the PGA Tour. He cranks out top finish after top finish and doesn’t get a ton of national recognition for doing so. In fact, he is currently riding a streak of SEVEN consecutive top 25 finishes. He has 12 top 25 finishes in his last 13 starts. The wins are coming at some point, and Schauffele is likely in store for a monster 2021 season. Every element of his game is super consistent. He ranks 8th on Tour in ball striking. He ranks 5th on Tour in par four scoring. He has finished 1st, 7th, and 2nd in his three trips to East Lake. The form is great. The stats are great. The course history is great. The price is great. What else can we ask for?

Schauffele posted his seventh straight top 25 finish at the BMW Championship last week. He is one of the few golfers in the field that gains strokes in all four facets of his game — off the tee, on approach, around the green, and on the green. While bermuda is his worst putting surface, he clearly doesn’t mind the greens at East Lake. He’s played here three times and has the following finishes — a win, a seventh, and a second. He’s starting seven shots back of Dustin Johnson, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t find his way into the optimal lineup. The key is that he’s only two shots out of fifth place and he can obviously make those up over the course of four rounds. He’s affordable, he’s consistent, and he has plenty of upside at a course that he clearly loves.

Schauffele is about as steady as they come on the PGA Tour. He cranks out top finish after top finish and doesn’t get a ton of national recognition for doing so. In fact, he is currently riding a streak of SEVEN consecutive top 25 finishes. He has 12 top 25 finishes in his last 13 starts. The wins are coming at some point, and Schauffele is likely in store for a monster 2021 season. Every element of his game is super consistent. He ranks 8th on Tour in ball striking. He ranks 5th on Tour in par four scoring. He has finished 1st, 7th, and 2nd in his three trips to East Lake. The form is great. The stats are great. The course history is great. The price is great. What else can we ask for?

There are so many good options up top this week, but I keep landing on Xander as the first golfer in my main lineup. He’s cheaper than some of the other studs at the top, which really helps round out your lineups at the bottom. He’s currently 11th in the FedEx Cup standings, so he’ll have a real shot to win the whole thing if he plays well this week. There isn’t a golf course that doesn’t fit him well, as he can gain strokes in all facets of his game. He’s one of the best off the tee, he loves poa and bentgrass greens, and his around the green game has been superb over the last few months. His approach play has held him back a bit over his last three events, which can be taken one of two ways — the rest of his game can’t make up for the irons forever… or as soon as the irons show up he is going to win. I’m a glass half-full kind of guy, so I am hoping it’s the latter.

If you are looking at the key statistics, few (if any) players can match Schauffele this week. While he has not yet won a major, Schauffele is knocking on the door. He has always proven that he comes to play in big moments, and he already has five top six finishes in major championships in just 11 starts. That is remarkable. He is a superstar and a California native, and I consider him a favorite to win this week. He’s my favorite option on the board, and it is a nice bonus that he also doesn’t cost as much as the likes of Thomas, McIlroy, and Koepka. Schauffele finished sixth last week despite a disastrous quadruple bogey on Friday. One poor round held him back at The Memorial a few weeks ago, or he would have been in the mix there. He’s ready to win a major.

My pick to win and my favorite spend in DFS is Schauffele. He’s quietly going about his business and now gets a major on his own turf (California kid that loves the bentgrass/poa mix). At the Memorial Tournament, he shot six over in the first round and came back to post a T13 finish. At last week’s WGC event, he only made one bogey and one quadruple bogey all week. To play 70 of 72 holes at TPC Southwind at par or better is a great accomplishment. He’s solid off the tee, good on approach, and he has one of the best short games in this field.

Schauffele was six over par after his first round at the Memorial Tournament two weeks back. It looked like he was dead in the water, but managed to shoot three under par on Friday to make the cut on the number. He followed it up with a strong weekend and a truly impressive T13 finish. For the week, he gained 12.7 strokes tee to green which was second only to the eventual winner, Jon Rahm. Schauffele loves these no-cut events, as he’s won the Tournament of Champions, the WGC-HSBC, and the Tour Championship. Those are in addition to three second place finishes in no-cut events. Even though he hasn’t played great at TPC Southwind in the past, everything seems to align for him this week. The best part is that at this price point, he can be the first or second golfer into your lineup.

Schauffele was the biggest ownership surprise at the Genesis Invitational. Most sites had him projected for under 20% (including RotoGrinders), yet he was the most popular golfer in many contests (especially at high stakes). After nearly missing the cut, he managed to put together a nice weekend and finished in a tie for 23rd. We should be encouraged by this performance, as he gained over six strokes tee to green. I expect him to be popular again this week, but he's the type of chalk that I'm willing to eat. I would much rather take my chances with a fade in the $6,000-$7,000 range. He doesn't have a weakness in his game, which bodes well on a course that will test all aspects of golf. He's finished in the top 20 here in both of his appearances and has earned the reputation of being a strong-field and no-cut specialist. He's won the Tour Championship and the Tournament of Champions, which are both small-field, no-cut events. He's not only one of my favorite plays for DFS, but X is also one of my favorite bets of the week.