Byeong-Hun An Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Analysis coming soon.I have stayed away from Benny An ever since the restart, watching him miss cut after cut at double-digit ownership every week. To his own credit, he was mocking himself on social media throughout his struggles. Well, something finally clicked for him last Friday. He was a ridiculous six-under par over his first nine holes on the day, and that allowed him to get inside the cut line… for a while. He lost the mojo after a rain delay and ended up a couple of shots short of making the weekend. However, he still gained over three strokes on approach for the day, and he has always putted better at the Memorial. Perhaps he likes the faster greens that we will see this week. In any case, he is capable of a top 20 finish based on his ball-striking ability, and early ownership projections have him in the 3-5% range. He is capable of firing plenty of darts around this course, and his history at this tournament is spectacular. Throw all that in with the low ownership and a price tag that keeps getting cheaper? He also tees off first thing Thursday morning before the winds pick up. I’ll take it.

Benny An hasn't been all that sharp since the restart of the PGA Tour. He made the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge, but had the worst final round in the field and dropped all the way down to T60. He followed that up with a missed cut at the RBC Heritage where he had one of his worst four ball striking performances of his career. He then made the cut at the Travelers Championship, but only finished T43. While his start isn't all that promising, he gained nearly three strokes ball striking his last time out and he tends to play his best on courses where the greens are hard to hit. This makes a lot of sense, as he's a great ball striker and a great scrambler. When greens are easy to hit and it becomes a putting contest, he's obviously out of luck. He clearly loves Muirfield Village, posting four straight top 25 finishes here including a second back in 2018.

It’s not a true golf sweat until Benny An misses a four foot putt while you have him favorited on Shot Tracker. It’s a tradition unlike any other. It will be interesting to see his ownership this week, as he doesn’t have the best course history — MC, T68. I personally see this as a good course fit for him. He’s strong off the tee, he’s one of the best in the field with his irons, and he’s second in this field in strokes gained around the green. So even when he misses greens, he will give himself easy looks at saving par. He’ll need to putt well to win, but I’m fine with a top 25 finish at this price point.

I really hope Benny An flies under the radar this week. The field is so stacked that everyone can’t be highly owned. After an amazing comeback at the Honda Classic where he was six-over after Thursday and managed to post a top five finish, he underwhelmed last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. What many won’t notice is that he managed to gain nearly eight strokes tee to green. The issue was the putter, as he lost over nine strokes on the greens. He’s not a good putter to begin with, so I am more than willing to overlook one really bad week. The fact that he’s gained at least seven strokes tee to green in each of his last four events is very impressive. In fact, it’s very Bryson-like. Due to his great around the green play, he’s one of the best in the field when it comes to bogey avoidance. That will be critical this week with so much water in play. He’s played at THE PLAYERS Championship three times and has posted progressively better finishes — MC, T30, and T27.

I originally had Daniel Berger as a core play, but decided to write up Benny An instead. The more research that I did about the course leads me to believe that tee to green is more important than putting. In order to win any PGA Tour event, you are going to have to putt well. However, there are certain courses where bad putters are at a big disadvantage. Generally, the tougher the course, the more I’m willing to roster a bad putter. The reasoning is fairly simple — when everyone is hitting greens and routinely giving themselves 15-20 foot birdie opportunities, it turns into a putting contest. When it’s a big advantage to save par, the bad putters see a nice boost (assuming they don’t lose strokes around the greens).

While Benny An will cause many headaches throughout the course of the season due to his numerous three-foot putts failing to find the bottom of the cup, he’s ranked first in this field in strokes gained around the green and second in bogey avoidance. That combination is huge at a course where saving par is critical. His tee to green game it elite and he’s quietly ranked third in this field in strokes gained total on Bermuda grass (and yes, this statistic includes putting). He has played here twice, posting finishes of T5 and T36. He’s currently the fourth ranked golfer in my model, yet he’s the 13th most expensive on DraftKings and the 11th most expensive on FanDuel. I still like Berger quite a bit, but will be using Benny An over him in my main lineup.

I know Benny An is coming off of two bad outings in a row, but he feels grossly mis-priced across the industry. Early ownership projections have him around 16%, but I expect him to be around 20% when lineups lock. We can forgive him for the bad outing in the birdie fest at The Amex and his T68 at the Farmers Insurance Open is a bit misleading. He gained 3.4 strokes on approach, but lost over seven strokes putting. Sure, he’s a bad putter, but he’s not that bad of a putter. He now returns to an event where he’s had a lot of success over the years. He’s played here three times, posting finishes of T6, T23, and T20. His off the tee numbers have been trending in the wrong direction, but hopefully the familiar sight lines of TPC Scottsdale will help him get back on track. We know he’s lights out with his irons and very few will notice that he’s actually first in this field in strokes gained around the green. The same golfers tend to play well at this event year in and year out, so I’m willing to eat a little more chalk than usual.

An has missed back-to-back cuts on the PGA Tour and he wasn’t particularly close to the cut line. His form is obviously a big concern. However, he’s a perfect fit for this golf course. He’s one of the best ball strikers on tour and he’s ranked first in this field in strokes gained around the green. Scrambling has been crucial here over the last two years and we should expect the same the third time around. An hasn’t been making as many birdies recently, but he’s second in the field in bogey avoidance. His best putting surface is bentgrass and he is from Seoul, South Korea, which is basically only an hour flight from Jeju. I love his upside in a no-cut event and it’s worth noting that he’s played here each of the last two years, posting finishes of T41 and T11.

Benny An has won an event on the Euro Tour, but is still searching for his first win on the PGA Tour. He came so close again last week, ultimately finishing just outside of the playoff between Sebastian Munoz and Sungjae Im. He was ranked inside the top 20 in every strokes gained category, so his game is clearly trending in the right direction. You can't afford to make bogeys this week in Napa because this will be a birdie fest. It should bode well for An, who is ranked first in the field in bogey avoidance and second in strokes gained around the green. We know he's a great ball striker that is going to gain strokes off the tee and on his approaches, so it really all comes down to the putter. It's only a matter of time before he breaks through with a win and it wouldn't surprise me to see it happen this week on a course that should fit his game nicely.

A victory is absolutely coming soon in Benny An’s future. He fought his way into contention last week before falling just one stroke short of the playoff, and he actually gained strokes in every aspect of the game — including on the greens. If An can be even remotely competent with the putter, it could be a phenomenal season for him. He ranked well ahead of field average in ball striking, strokes gained on approach, and birdie or better percentage last year, and the current form makes him even more intriguing. Even though this is his first trip to wine country for this event, I’m only hoping that scares other people away. Ride the wave.