PGA DFS Core Plays: Genesis Scottish Open
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
While I didn’t have the best week of DFS at the John Deere Classic, Davis Thompson being first in my model was at least some consolation. Kyle Murray hit Thompson outright to go along with a few other bets. I was able to cash a made cut parlay and a couple placements as well, so it was a great week for the golf team at Scores And Odds. I will always post my golf bets here in the Core Plays article, but we’d love to have you try Scores And Odds if you like betting on other sports.
We now enter one of my favorite two-week stretches of the year. While my sleep schedule disagrees, I love the Scottish Open and the Open Championship. Even though this isn’t a Signature Event, this is one of the strongest fields that we have had all year. This is the third time the Genesis Scottish Open has been a partnership event for the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour and the sixth time the event has been held at The Renaissance Club.
Noto’s PGA Model Download & Video for the Genesis Scottish Open
While purists will argue this isn’t a true links course (due to a few trees and a wall?), I still view this as a links course. The big question this week is the weather. Windy conditions are typically a staple for both Scotland golf and links golf, but the early-week forecast is calling for some rather calm conditions. We’ve seen the winning score at this event range from -7 to -22 and all of that hinges on the weather. This is one of those weeks where you want to look at the weather right up to lock and potentially build tee time stacks.
As far as the course goes, this is a Par 70 that measures 7,237 yards. This is a unique Par 70 in that it features three Par 5s and five Par 3s. There is also a drivable Par 4. These four scoring holes do give an edge to those who can bomb it off the tee, although I wouldn’t say driving distance is a prerequisite for success at this venue. There are going to be a lot of mid and long irons hit this week, as 69% of approach shots last year came from at least 150 yards. The greens here are large and feature slow fescue grass. Looking at 3-putt avoidance might not be the worst idea.
I’m taking a heavy look at strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach, proximity from 150+ yards, bogey avoidance, strokes gained putting, and links experience.
Editor’s Note: RotoGrinders has partnered with Betsperts Golf and the Rabbit Hole!
Tool Highlights
- Build unlimited custom stat models with official PGA TOUR data.
- Hundreds of filters to find the exact data split you’re looking for.
- Save custom reports and run them again with next week’s field.
- Download anything right to your computer with the click of a button.
- See expert models each week.
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for the Genesis Scottish Open
Field Size:
- 156 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Weather Forecasts
The Renaissance Club
- Location: North Berwick, Scotland
- Designer: Tom Doak
- Style: Modern Scottish Links
- Par 70 — 7,237 yards
- Recent winners: Rory McIlroy (-15), Xander Schauffele (-7), Min Woo Lee (-18), Aaron Rai (-11), Bernd Wiesberger (-22)
- Green type: fescue
- 2023 tournament averages:
- - Fairway width: 33 yards
- - Driving accuracy: 53%
- - Driving distance: 295 yards
- - Greens in regulation: 65%
- 2023 approach shot distributions:
- - 50-100 yards: 9%
- - 100-125 yards: 8%
- - 125-150 yards: 14%
- - 150-175 yards: 20%
- - 175-200 yards: 23%
- - 200+ yards: 26%
Event and Course Notes
- 6th straight year the Renaissance Club has hosted this event
- 3rd straight year — partnership event between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour
- Given the links nature of the course and it being next to the coastline, wind is usually a big factor. However, early forecasts call for very little wind this week.
- We could see major swings in scoring from day-to-day depending on the weather
- This is a very different test of golf than the PGA TOUR regulars are used to playing
- This is a good week to do a deep dive into the DP World Tour golfers in the field
- The course will be firm and fast, which helps the shorter hitters stay competitive
- However, there are three reachable Par 5s and a drivable Par 4
- Large greens bring proximity and three-putt avoidance into play
What to Look For
- Strokes gained approach
- Strokes gained off the tee
- Links experience
- Bogey avoidance
- Strokes gained putting
Core Plays
Tom Kim
DraftKings: $9,500 / pOWN%: 18%
FanDuel: $10,800 / pOWN%: 17%
Strokes Gained Off the Tee: 35
Strokes Gained Approach: 30
Strokes Gained Around the Green: 37
Strokes Gained Putting: 51
Birdie or Better %: 20
Bogey Avoidance: 75
Kim missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage, but he was fresh off a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler the week prior. He hasn’t had the best 2024 campaign, but his game seems to be trending right in time for the final major of the season. He’s finished in the top 5 in two of his last five starts, and his statistics over the last couple of months have been encouraging — he has gained at least 2.4 strokes off the tee in five of his last seven events and has gained over 14 strokes on approach in his five events combined. He has really taken a liking to links golf — he has finished T6 or better in both of his trips to The Renaissance Club and finished T2 at last year’s Open Championship.
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
