PGA DFS Core Plays: Cadillac Championship
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various price ranges on DraftKings and FanDuel for the Cadillac Championship. Whom should you be building your lineups around? Find out below!
While I wasn’t able to get 6-of-6 through the cut in my main lineup, I had a great week at the Zurich Classic. I had Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick tagged as core plays, and I bet them in the outright market. They were both coming off wins, they obviously had chemistry being brothers, and there was plenty of motivation with a PGA TOUR card on the line for Alex. They nearly gave it away on the back 9, but Matt made a big par save on the 16th hole and then hit one of the best bunker shots you will ever see on the 18th hole. Alex was able to tap it in for birdie and secure his TOUR card. While the magnitude is different, this is right up there with Rory McIlroy winning back-to-back Masters as the best golf story of the year.
The PGA TOUR schedule kicks into hyperdrive here in the next few weeks. We have a Signature Event this week in Miami, a Signature Event next week in North Carolina, and then we head to Pennsylvania for the PGA Championship. What do you say we get on a heater over the next two events and pad our bankrolls for the second major of the year?
Editor’s Note: For more tournament notes, recent form, and course notes for the Cadillac Championship, check out this week’s PGA DFS First Look. To get access to Noto’s PGA DFS Model Breakdown & Download link, which allows you to create your own projections, click here.
It’s been 10 years since the PGA TOUR has visited the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral. There used to be a WGC event here each year, but that went away when the TOUR stopped having the WGC events. This course has hosted 2 LIV events in the last few years, but we don’t have much data to work with when it comes to course fit.
Here’s what we know: this is a Par 72 that measures nearly 7,800 yards. It’s the 2nd-longest course on TOUR behind Torrey Pines (South Course). The fairways are average in width, while the greens are quite large (7,200 square feet) and feature bermudagrass. Like many Florida courses, water hazards are lurking everywhere. They come into play on 10 of the 18 holes.
This has historically been a difficult course, and they have added over 200 yards of length to the scorecard since the last time we saw it. Driving Distance is certainly an advantage this week, but you can’t show up and spray the ball and expect to contend. I’m not completely avoiding the shorter hitters, as elite long-iron play can make up for a lack of distance. Ultimately, I expect a solid all-around game to be needed to win here.
We don’t have a cut this week, so we can afford to get a little more aggressive with our player selection. If you are playing large-field tournaments, the best way to avoid duplicated lineups is to leave salary on the table. I’m going to leave at least $300 on the table in every large-field tournament lineup that I build.
Top PGA DFS Picks on DraftKings & FanDuel for the Cadillac Championship
Core Plays
Si Woo Kim
Noto Rating: 6 / Cash Rating: 8 / GPP Rating: 5
DraftKings: $9,200 / pOWN%: 16%
FanDuel: $10,900 / pOWN%: 16%
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 8
Strokes Gained: Approach: 15
Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green: 23
Strokes Gained: Putting: 50
Kim doesn’t fit the bomber narrative this week, but I still view him as a core play. He’s not the shortest off the tee, and he’s one of the most accurate. This elite total driving is why he’s 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Combine that with elite iron play and good scrambling, and it’s hard not to like Kim. He has yet to pick up a win this year, but he already has 3 top-3 finishes and 6 top-11 finishes on TOUR. He’s one good putting week away from getting back into the winner’s circle.
Want to read more? Sign up for PGA Premium!
