PGA DFS Core Plays - DraftKings & FanDuel: Arnold Palmer Invitational
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite daily fantasy golf plays at various salary ranges for the coming week’s golf tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
Arnold Palmer Invitational
After a wild Sunday at the Honda Classic, we now turn our attention to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Nothing against the other courses, but Bay Hill is my favorite stop of the Florida swing. We have a strong field, we have a tough test of golf, and we have a beautiful golf course. Before we get into the specifics, I want to note that there are only 120 golfers in the field this week, which means a higher percentage of the field will make the cut. I also want to note that Bay Hill has the fourth most predictive course history of any on tour.
The course is a Par 72 that measures 7,466 yards. They re-designed the course a bit a few years ago, taking out a bunch of trees and widening the fairways. You would think this would make the course easier, but that hasn’t been the case. The superintendent and his team have actually cut down the rough in front of the hazards, making this more of a risk/reward type of event. In terms of difficulty, this has been in the top 10 in each of the last three seasons.
There are water hazards on eight of the 18 holes. Essentially, golfers will need to score on the four par fives and hold on for dear life when it comes to the par threes and par fours. Driving distance is an advantage here (assuming you don’t spray it off the tee), but shorter hitters can make up for it with long iron play. In fact, nearly 30% of approach shots will come from at least 200 yards.
The greens feature TifEagle Bermudagrass and are quite large on average (7,500 sq. ft.). They are fairly tough to hit, but scrambling hasn’t played a big role in determining a winner here over the years. The greens are firm and they are fast. Ideally, we are looking for golfers that are solid tee-to-green, good on bermuda greens, and have a good track record in Florida.
My final note of the week is to keep an eye on the wind forecast. This course is exposed and has been known to give advantages to specific tee time waves. As of Tuesday afternoon, it looks like the worst of the wind won’t show up until the weekend. However, I will be constantly refreshing the Windfinder link below.
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Arnold Palmer Invitational 2022 Tournament Info
Field Size:
- 120 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Key Statistics for the Week
- Strokes Gained Approach
- Bogey Avoidance
- Strokes Gained Off the Tee
- Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bermuda)
- Driving Distance
Weather Forecasts
Hole Yardage Specialists (based on holes at Bay Hill)
- Jon Rahm
- Scottie Scheffler
- Talor Gooch
- Viktor Hovland
- Cameron Tringale