Fantasy Golf: WGC Cadillac Championship - DS Picks & Projections

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2014-03-06 15:32:45

Honda Classic Recap

Last week’s event was full of drama. Rory Mcllroy led the tournament from start to finish only to falter down the stretch and eventually lose in a playoff to Russell Henley. While Rory’s collapse is certainly something to consider for this week’s event, he is still the odds on favorite to win. Before we get into the WGC event this week, let’s quickly recap the picks from last week. Overall, it was a solid week for me, but not as much for the featured picks:

• Adam Scott: Scott finished 4-under which was good enough for a 12th place finish. Not quite the top-10 that I was hoping for, but it was still a solid week for Scott.

• Charl Schwartzel: This pick burned a lot of people last week. Schwartzel had an awful first day and couldn’t shoot a low enough round on Friday to make the cut.

• Graeme McDowell: McDowell came into the event with high hopes, but after a bad weekend of golf, he had to have left a bit disappointed. He finished even par which tied him for 46th place.

• Billy Horschel: Horschel was another letdown. He got off to a hot start on Thursday and then just fell apart. He also missed the cut.

• Thomas Bjorn: Bjorn was probably the best pick of the week if you factor in price. He was one of the cheapest golfers on DK last week and he ended up with a 46th place finish.

WGC Cadillac Championship Preview

This week’s event is the 2nd of 4 WGC events this season and features one of the strongest fields to date. The field consists of top golfers from all around the world and features 9 of their top 10 golfers in the world rankings. The event will take place at the redesigned Blue Monster at Trump National in Doral, Florida. Water is now in play on 14 holes which is 8 more than last year. The greens are also larger and trickier and Trump has planted 5,000 new trees on the property.

This event has featured some low scores in the past, but don’t be surprised to see the new design to provide some new challenges to golfers. I’m predicting the winner to shoot somewhere around 12-under. The major difference between this event and most others is that this event will not feature a cut. That means that you can get a little more aggressive in your lineup selection because you don’t have to worry about taking the safe plays that can make the cut.

Tiger Woods won this event last season, but his status for this event is still in question after he withdrew from the Honda Classic last week after having back pain in his final round. Check for an update closer to Thursday.

This week’s picks are based on DraftStreet’s salaries and scoring system. There are a couple of new scoring changes that you need to take note of:

Bogey Free Round(BFR) – 1 Fantasy Point

Low Round of the Day(LROD) – 2 Fantasy Points

WGC Cadillac Championship – DS Picks

• Adam Scott: 26,422 – If you are paying up for a golfer this week, you should be paying up for Mr. Scott. He is the #2 ranked golfer in the world and has top-14 finishes in each of his last 4 events on tour including a 12th place finish last week at the Honda Classic. He should have finished higher too, but ended up with 4 double bogeys. Scott has had great success on this course in the past including top-13 finishes in 4 of the last 6 years in this event. Last year was his best finish as he shot a 14-under and finished tied for 3rd.

• Jim Furyk: $15,082 – I really like Furyk this week. If you can take Furyk in any event at this price he is a solid pick. But this week you get to take him in an event that he has owned in his career. Furyk has won at this event, has two 2nd place finishes, and a third place finish. Furyk doesn’t play in as many events as some of the other big names on tour, but he is as solid as they come and should play well on a course that is expected to be tough on the golfers this week. I don’t expect a win from Furyk, but I think he will be near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon.

• Nick Watney: $14,425 – Watney is off to a very slow start this season, but his swing coach has all the confidence in the world in him and Watney played well last week as he finished tied for 24th. Watney has played well in this event in the past and is one of the only golfers that I like under the $15k mark this week on DS. In order to get some of the top golfers in your lineup, you need to take a cheaper golfer and Watney should be in for a solid week as he has won this event in the past and is one of the best ball-strikers in the game.

• Graeme McDowell: 17,319 – He had a disappointing finish last week as he tied for 46th on a course to his liking, but McDowell plays his best golf on tough courses and the new design of this course this season should give the golfers some tough challenges. McDowell finished in 3rd place in this event last season and has two top-10 finishes in his last three events this season. McDowell is cheap and should be in the running for another strong top-10 finish.

• Steve Stricker: $16,415 – Stricker is flying under the radar this week, but has finished with 2nd and 8th place finishes in this event over the last two seasons. If you are new to daily fantasy golf, Stricker may not be a common name, but if you are a golf fan, you know that he is one of the best golfers in the world. He only plays in select events each season and always plays well when he is in the field. Stricker has finished in the top-13 in each of his last 7 events on tour. That’s as good as anyone in the field.

WGC Cadillac Championship – DS Projections

Since there is not a cut this week, this week’s projections are based off of Average Odds to win the tournament as well as Average Odds to Finish in the Top 10.