PGA DFS Core Plays - DraftKings & FanDuel: Fortinet Championship
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS plays at various salary ranges for the coming week’s golf tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
Fortinet Championship
Many will complain that the offseason in golf is too short, but the two-week break feels like an eternity for us true golf fans (at least those of us that like to play DFS and bet on tournaments each week). The new season kicks off in wine country, as Silverado Resort and Spa is located in Napa Valley, California. We don’t have the strongest field lined up this week, but there are some good names up top and plenty of up-and-comers looking to make a name for themselves on the PGA Tour.
The North Course at Silverado is a Par 72 that measures 7,123 yards. On a par-adjusted basis, this is one of the shortest courses on tour. While it’s not the easiest, it should still play well under par. The winner is typically in the 17 to 21-under par range and it seems like golfers get better and better with each passing year. Barring some extreme wind that’s not currently in the forecast, this will be one of the many birdie-fests during the spring season.
We have quite the mix of grass types in play this week. The fairways feature a mix of bermuda and poa annua, the rough features Kentucky bluegrass, and the greens have a mix of bentgrass and poa annua. The greens themselves are average in size (6,200 square feet) and fairly easy to hit on average (over 70% greens in regulation). The four easiest holes are the four par fives and golfers will need to take advantage if they want to be in contention on Sunday.
In terms of width, these are some of the most narrow fairways on the PGA Tour (27 yards wide on average). They are tough to hit, but the rough is playable if you have an angle into the green. The biggest penalty for being wide off the tee is having to deal with the trees that line the fairways. In the past, we’ve seen a lot of good total drivers succeed here (Brendan Steele and Emiliano Grillo come to mind).
While I am certainly placing an emphasis on ball striking and on bent/poa putting, there are a lot of Korn Ferry Tour graduates that have very few starts on the PGA Tour. If you are building strictly based on stats, you’ll overlook a lot of good plays. If you are playing DFS or betting on the Italian Open or the LIV Golf Invitational in Chicago, I’ll have you covered with some content that will be out later in the week.
Downloadable and Customizable Model for the Fortinet Championship
Tournament Info
Field Size:
- 156 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Weather Forecasts
Key Statistics
- Strokes Gained on Approach
- Total Driving
- Birdie or Better %
- Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bent/Poa)
- Greens in Regulation
Core Plays
These are plays that I feel confident using in both cash games and tournaments.