PGA DFS Expert Survey: Cognizant Classic
Our panel of experts is here to give you their PGA DFS picks for this week’s contests by answering a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup-building decisions. Want to know who Noto has as the top three finishers? Or who is STLCards’ top overall golfer? Find out below!
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey for the Cognizant Classic
Which useful trend or statistic stuck out most during your research?
Notorious: In terms of strokes gained, the two most important statistics at this course compared to others on the PGA TOUR are approach and putting. I’m also factoring in around-the-green play, as these greens are difficult to hit on average (64% in 2023) and scrambling is no easy feat at PGA National. The average driving distance here is only 280 yards, which shows that many golfers opt to club down on many of the holes. We’ve still seen longer hitters play well here over the years, but this is at least a course where the shorter hitters have a chance. Experience in Florida, experience on difficult courses, and experience at PGA National are all positives this week.
STLCardinals84: This tournament will be played at the usual venue, but PGA National has undergone a few changes since the 2023 edition of this tournament. Most notably, the 10th hole is now going to play as a shorter par 5 as opposed to a longer par 4. The rough is also not going to be grown out as thick this year. We should see better scoring than usual. We also need to monitor the weather forecast, as early indications show that we might be able to gain a wave advantage on Friday.
Jbails26: Being dialed in with your irons will be crucial at PGA National. Looking at Data Golf’s course table, PGA National is the second-hardest course from approaches beyond 150 yards. In 2023, over 65% of approaches were from the 150+ yards. Granted, those numbers may be slightly different this year after they turned No. 10 into a par 5.
hondizzle: I’m going to use this space to talk about roster construction. This week on DK, we have 1 golfer above $12,000, 14 golfers between $11,000 and $9,000, 28 golfers between $8,900 and $7,000, 33 golfers between $6,900 and $6,100, and finally, 68 golfers between $6,000 and $5,000. This means that almost 70% of the field falls under $6,900. I think this means you have to really take stock of what players from this range can be difference-makers. The lower price range is not normally available to us on DK. Last week, we saw a decent number of $5,000 and $6,000 golfers post solid scores that made a difference. I think the pricing spectrum makes it more important to get a value-based golfer into most of your roster builds this week.
Who is your top contrarian golfer (when considering price, key stats, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
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