PGA DFS Expert Survey: Valspar Championship
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 Valspar Championship
Who is your top contrarian golfer (when considering price, key stats, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
Notorious: Eric Cole – If he doesn’t start playing better, I’m going to have to pick up shifts at my local Applebee’s. Kidding aside, he would be more expensive and much more popular had he made the cut at THE PLAYERS last week. He was -4 at one point on Thursday, but struggled from that point and ended up missing the cut. He’s not a good driver of the ball, but this is a course where you can get away with hitting less than driver on a lot of the holes. Over the last 12 months in this field, he’s 5th in approach, 18th in around the green, and 12th in putting. I’m hoping he can get back on track at low ownership this week.
STLCardinals84: Bud Cauley – It is impossible to understate just how remarkable Cauley has been with his return this year. This was a golfer who had five top-25 finishes and looked like a strong emerging player on the PGA TOUR in 2018-2019 — and he was playing with a rib injury that had not fully healed after a car accident. He had to have surgery in 2021, which didn’t go well. He dealt with infections. He couldn’t play golf. There’s a remarkable USA Today story out there about Cauley’s tumultuous few years that I highly recommend reading. Suddenly, Cauley is back on TOUR again, and he has made the cut in his first two starts. We have seen Will Zalatoris get back into a groove after a long absence, and while Cauley doesn’t have the talent of Zalatoris, I’m a believer in his short game and his story. He’s super cheap in DFS in a weak field, and the short game prowess should serve him well here. Give me Cauley as a value play to round out lineups this week.
Jbails26: Andrew Putnam – With chalkier options all around him, I think Putnam’s ownership should be held in check this week, especially since he has never made a cut here. His irons were solid last week, but he struggled with the putter, which I’m not too concerned about. Overall, Putnam ranks pretty well in the metrics I am weighing this week, including 15th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 9th in bogey avoidance over his last 50 rounds. Putnam also ranks 16th in my mixed condition model on the Rabbit Hole from Betsperts Golf.
hondizzle: Sungjae Im- After a poor start to the season, Sungjae Im has started to look a bit more like himself the last few weeks. Im has gained shots tee to green in his last two starts and heads to a course that demands a bit of accuracy, as players try to avoid the dreaded snake pit. This event used to be The Paul Casey Open, and if we were to try and archetype golfers, I think Im is very much in the mold of a Casey, meaning he is a great golfer tee to green but a streaky putter keeps him from winning more.
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
