Daily Fantasy Golf Preview: The Memorial Tournament
Recap Crowne Plaza Invitational
It was hilariously disappointing seeing Schwartzel miss the cut. He was the only missed cut in my Fantasy Feud main lineup. Had I picked Kuchar instead of him, I would’ve won the FF Qualifier. Palmer had a good finish with a T14, Piercy was decent with T26, while Norlander made the cut but finished T73. I actually cashed in all games entered, but that was mainly because I didn’t enter any GPPs. But as I was thinking about this recap I kept going back to Norlander’s finish.
Instead of a full long preview of the Memorial, I’d like to talk about the putting aspect. Again this week Norlander’s putting was pathetic and it cost him a decent finish. That is two weeks in a row. Putting is one stat I disregard completely on a week to week basis. First of all, “putts in a tournament” is absolutely useless. A golfer that hits 18 greens in regulation in an 18 hole round will obviously have more putts than a guy that misses 18 greens in regulation. Why? Because on average the guy hitting the green in regulation is a lot further away from the hole than the guy who only has to chip up.
So, the Tour came up with a new stat, “strokes gained putting”. This is clearly the most useful stat in terms of because it lets the golfer compare how he is doing against the averages. Why does this stat not matter to me on a week to week basis? Note: I am only giving a golfer’s perspective, not a statistical analysis. There are three main reasons, type of grass, location, and the architect of the course. Each of these changes week to week. Just think, we are going from Texas to Ohio this week; a whole new terrain, definitely a different grass which varies in speed and grain, and a different architect. Jack Nicklaus once said that he believed there should be big slopes in the greens, but if you got it on the right slope, you should have a fairly flat putt. Some architects prefer only minor undulations that take a lot of course knowledge and practice. No matter what, week to week the stat “strokes gained putting” is useless. Obviously over the course of a career, or maybe even a year, it matters tremendously. I am only talking week to week though and that is why I keep going back to Norlander as a cheap pick.
Preview For The Memorial
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Let’s get right into the golfers since I took up enough of your time on my rant about putting:
Scott Piercy (DS – $15,307): I was big on Scott Piercy last week and nothing has changed this week. His ball striking is on form and hopefully he can putt a little better this time around. He has a 68th place finish last year after an 80-75 weekend finish. Piercy also has a T42 in 2011. Like I said in last week’s blog, he is a guy that is either right on or way off. He’s only made seven cuts this year out of 12 events (excluding Match Play), but in those seven he has finished in the top 25 six times. I think Piercy’s ball striking was better than anyone else last Sunday. Everyone should realize I try not to include the same players week after week, but I really feel Scott Piercy is a play on Draftstreet this week.
Jason Day (DS – $17,849): The reason why I pick Jason Day this week is the same reason I picked Ryan Palmer last week. This is his home course. He moved from Texas to Ohio (his wife’s hometown) and this is where he ended up to practice. He missed the cut here last year but let’s be honest about it all. He was clearly on the path to having a baby (find that somewhere else as a preview!!). He finished T33 in 2010 after not playing in 2011. It is a whole new ball game now though, now that he has been practicing at the venue.
Tiger Woods (FF- $200,000): Two things here…1. I won’t list him anymore since it is a given that I am taking him on Fantasy Feud when he plays. 2. Honestly I think Schwartzel is a given this week too, but since he missed the cut last week, I’ll spare him from being in the blog as a headline (aka JJ Henry who finished T42 last week). Clearly that influenced his play. There is no need for me to list Tiger Woods’ accomplishments here and will definitely be the last time I list him since you know it is a given at only 1/5th of my salary.
Gary Woodland ($10,000): If I pick the highest or near the highest price person on Fantasy Feud, I always back it up with the lowest or near lowest priced golfer. This week I am going with Gary Woodland. He is very similar to Boo Weekley in that he lost his game for a while (due to injuries, personal, or whatever), but he seems to be back on the right track although not as complete as Weekley. He’s made 10 of 13 cuts this year including the last seven in a row. Last week, he was on pace for a high finish before closing with a 79. Although he did have a missed cut here last year, Woodland finished 6th in 2011.
Good Luck this week and don’t forget to check for withdrawals. I will leave a note in the comments if any of the golfers I write about withdraw until Wednesday night at 8pm leading up to the tournament.