PGA DFS Core Plays - DraftKings & FanDuel: Tour Championship

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2022-08-23 14:40:03 Premium Content Part of the product RotoGrinders PGA Premium

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.

Tour Championship

It’s hard to believe that the final event of the season is already upon us. If you are new to fantasy golf and don’t know how the Tour Championship works, let me quickly cover the basics. There are only 30 golfers in the field and each will be awarded starting strokes based on their position in the FedExCup standings. For instance, Scottie Scheffler is in first place and will therefore start at 10-under par. The tournament will then be carried on as usual and whoever has the lowest score after the four days of the event will take home the $18 million first place prize. That golfer will win both the Tour Championship and the FedExCup Championship. For reference, here is where everyone will start:

The starting strokes bring a new element of strategy into play for both betting and for DFS. Scheffler has a big head start over the field, especially over the golfers that will start at one-under or even par. This makes him much more likely to win the event, but we have to pay that premium for him in the betting and DFS markets. Personally, I don’t worry about the starting strokes as much as most. The golfers with the best starting spots tend to have inflated ownership and inflated price points. And if you look at the scoring, that gap can easily be made up over the course of four days. The difference in finishing position points between fifth and 15th place is essentially two birdies.

Now, let’s talk about East Lake Golf Club. This is one of my favorite stops on the PGA Tour because the course is difficult, but very fair. If you take out the starting strokes, the last five winners have all finished between 11 and 15-under par. This is the longest Par 70 on the PGA Tour rotation, as it checks in at a whopping 7,346 yards. The two par fives are where most of the birdies will come from, but golfers will be able to attack some of the par fours from the fairway. Speaking of the short grass, you don’t want to miss many fairways this week. With thick bermuda rough and tree-lined fairways, it’s extremely difficult to find the putting surface on your approach shot if you aren’t hitting from the fairway. However, given the length of the course, we can’t focus primarily on driving accuracy. If the longer hitters can keep the ball in the fairway (**cough, cough Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy), they will put themselves at a huge advantage compared to the field.

The greens at East Lake are average in size and fairly difficult to hit on average (especially from the rough). With everyone expected to miss greens throughout the week, this places an emphasis on short game. The greens here feature lightning fast bermuda grass and could measure up to 12.5 on the stimpmeter. Water is in play on four holes and many golfers talk about the importance of keeping the ball below the hole given how fast and undulating the green complexes are. To sum it up, you have to drive the ball well, you have to hit your irons well, you have to be able to scramble, and you have to make putts on bermuda greens.

Downloadable and Customizable Model for the Tour Championship

Tournament Info

Field Size:

• 30 golfers

Cut Rule:

• No Cut

Weather Forecasts

• Windfinder

Key Statistics

• Strokes Gained Approach
• Total Driving
• Bogey Avoidance
• Strokes Gained Around the Green
• Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bermuda)

Core Plays

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