DFS Alerts
DraftKings projections are live and Chesson Hadley ranks as a top play
Chesson Hadley ranks as a top option in terms of PT/$K in the DraftKings RotoGrinders player projection tool for this week’s Travelers Championship. With six top ten or better finishes this season, Hadley is a player on the verge of claiming his second career PGA Tour victory. Currently ranked inside the top 20 in the FedEx standings, Hadley looks to bounce back from a missed cut at last week’s U.S. Open. Underpriced in comparison to both his recent form and upside, Hadley stands out as one of the better plays in terms of points per dollar this week on DraftKings. This former Georgia Tech Alumni will make his 3rd career start at The Travelers this week, and even though he has yet to make a cut in this event, it’s safe to say that we are seeing an improved version of Hadley this season. Hadley has played well enough this season to earn roster consideration for this week’s Travelers Championship, and at $7,300 could be considered as a fine relief option for almost any format this week.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool
Greg Chalmers no longer in the field
Struggling tour pro Greg Chalmers is no longer in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship. At this time there is no injury news associated with this move. With very inconsistent play this season, Chalmers should not be on the radar of many in the community this week, but just in case he made his way on to your roster please remove him at this time.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Ten minutes to roster lock and no major news to report
As expected no major injury or withdrawal news to report this morning. The U.S. Open will get underway in about 10 minutes. Good luck this week grinders, as always if any late news breaks we will provide the updates needed.
Final Weather update for The U.S. Open
Kevin Roth updated his final weather report this afternoon and for now, it looks like there could be an edge to be gained via weather tee time stacking. If the weather models hold and the wind speeds trend towards the highest gust on Friday afternoon, then golfers who tee off early Thursday and then late Friday could have an advantage. Predicting wind on any given day is always a tough task, so there is always a chance that the forecast for Friday could certainly change. As we have seen in the past the weather angle might serve a useful purpose in terms of building tee time stacked lineups, but the predicted edge is not big enough to completely fade half of the field. As a general rule, a weather forecast is probably best for determining a tiebreaker and less of a cornerstone in your roster building process. While weather without a doubt can determine a tee time wave advantage in terms of scoring, there have been very few instances that the predicted weather pattern holds true in terms of gaining an edge. As always we will keep an eye on the weather and provide updates as needed if the forecast changes.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Charley Hoffman gaining traction as a GPP option
As the second major of the year draws closer the search for both value and upside becomes a daunting task. The worst feeling in DFS golf is to have that one risky player in a solid GPP lineup miss the cut and crush the chance of a big payday. In order to be a great tournament player, you have to learn to endure that risk. Charley Hoffman has the type of game that fits the mold of a GPP boom or bust for this week’s U.S. Open. On the surface, Hoffman appears to be more bust than boom play, and with 2 missed cuts in his last 3 starts many game log watchers will hesitate to pull the trigger on Hoffman this week. A longer look at Hoffman can provide a compelling argument to take the risk of adding him to your roster pool this week. Hoffman has made the cut in 8 straight major championships including 5 top 25 or better finishes. Typically a guy that makes birdies in bunches Hoffman has the upside to really crush his price give four rounds of golf. Hoffman will also appear to have the favorable roster draw this week, and as we have seen a few times over the years he is not afraid to shoot a low score given the opportunity. The decision to add Hoffman to your roster pool is not without risk, but the added value that this multiple PGA Tour winner brings to the table in terms of top 25 upside makes this a great spot to embrace the variance.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Sergio Garcia trending towards low ownership
For much of his career, Sergio Garcia played the role of a villain that most American fans love to root against. Even after winning his first major and shedding the label of best player without a major win, the large majority of golf’s biggest fan base tends to overlook what has been one of the more consistent international golfers. Heading into his 76th consecutive major start, Garcia appears to be a very sneaky play in terms of projected ownership numbers. Whether it’s perceived form or the fear of a bad weather draw, Garcia could perhaps garnish an ownership number below 5% by the start of round one. Close in a large number of majors, Garcia’s skill set perhaps fits the U.S. Open the best. Garcia has made 10 consecutive cuts at The U.S. Open including 7 top 25 or better finishes. Recent form and an overall strong dislike of Garcia should continue to keep his ownership numbers low, thus creating a fantastic spot to buy low on a player very capable of winning his second major championship this week.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Emiliano Grillo looks to keep his current streak going
Much like other first time winners on the PGA Tour, Emiliano Grillo struggled with the hype and expectations associated with early success on Tour. While his lack of living up to early success on Tour is not as bad as other players before him, Grillo is the type of player that wants to win often and compete with the best players on golf’s biggest stage. Looking to take his game to the next level, Grillo only managed to post two top ten or better finishes during the 2017 season. The lack of solid play had many in the DFS community beginning to doubt the talent of Grillo, but after solid play over the last six months, the young Argentinian is trending as a solid value play for the year’s second major. Known for his excellent ball striking capabilities, Grillo has been the ultimate model of consistency this season. Grillo is 16 for 16 in cuts made this season ( individual tournaments), and already has five top 5 or better finishes. In a major championship field, it’s fairly easy to find players priced down due to the strength of the field, and Grillo’s solid recent makes him stand out as one of the more intriguing value plays on the week. When looking at a player like Grillo you can almost throw out the bad performances from the 2017 season and look more at this 2016 numbers. Grillo is not only hitting the ball great right now, but he is starting to find the touch with his putter. If he can continue to stay hot, Grillo has the upside to really crush value in terms of his price this week. Grillo was 4 for 4 in majors during the 2016 season, including three top 20 or better finishes.
As reported by: Pga Value Breakdown Weather update for The U.S. Open
RotoGrinders own Cheif Meteorologist Kevin Roth has his early U.S. Open forecast up in the main forum. Please make sure to check back for updates in weather predictions as we get closer to Thursday morning. For now, it looks like there is a weather angle to exploit if the forecast holds. Roth predicts that winds gust near 30mph on Thursday afternoon potentially making the late Thursday/ early Friday tee time wave a much worse draw. It’s very important to check back for updates on the weather this week, due to the overall unpredictability of handicapping via potential high winds. If the timing of the winds is off by a few hours, then there could be a significant change to using the angle of weather to narrow down roster choices. Roth will update the weather forecast no later than 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Rickie Fowler looks to shed unwanted title
The title of best player to never win a major is not something that any PGA Tour player dreams of having. With a win at last years, Masters Sergio Garcia was able to remove the title from his game, and Rickie Fowler heads into his 34th career Major with that very same goal in mind. With 8 top 5 or better finishes in his 33 majors, Fowler definitely has the resume to merit the pressure associated with a lack of major victories. In a post-round interview after this year’s Masters Fowler confirmed that he feels like his game is close to winning a major and that he has the confidence to get this monkey off his back. Fowler also heads into this U.S. Open with a bit of a positive narrative street on his side. To the dismay of many female golf fans, Fowler recently got engaged to his girlfriend Allison Stokke. With his life off the course heading in a great direction, Fowler could now have the right intangibles in place to finally win a major. Fowler loves links-style golf, and the USGA is once again providing their version of links golf for this years U.S. Open. Fowler would like nothing more than to become the second first-time major winner of the 2018 season.
Finding Form Ahead of Shinnecock
Stirred up the pot with recent Twitter comments but he made a pre-tournament comment about it and I’d expect that to the last he’ll comment on it. Now onto the good stuff, Walker arrives with stellar lead-in form. He’s gained 6 or more strokes tee-to-green in each of his last four starts. The approaches have been especially good (+6.4, +5.0, +2.1, +5.0). That confidence has spilled over into his putting which has gained 3.8 or more strokes in three of his last four starts. This all coincides with his wife saying she has the “Old Jimmy” back in terms of his health. Lastly, he won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol so we know he can contend on a tough course in this region.
Could be the Biggest Win of his Career
My main man Fleetwood is back in our lives. If it weren’t for Tiger, he would be my favorite golfer on tour. I love the swag and I love the hair. Much like Tiger, Fleetwood is a grinder. He may not win many events where the winning score is 20-under par, but he’s always going to be in the mix where par is a good score. Since June of last year, he has only missed one cut on tour and he’s coming off of a solid performance at TPC Sawgrass where he finished T7 at the Players. He is a world class golfer that is only $8,100 on DraftKings this week. I plan to be massively overweight on Fleetwood in both cash games and tournaments. Don’t forget that he nearly won the U.S. Open last year and he’s clearly a better golfer (at least on U.S. soil) a year later.
Good Form, Loves the U.S. Open, and Sub-5% Ownership
On last week’s show, I mentioned that I liked Lowry at the St. Jude Classic, but that I liked him even more at the U.S. Open. He has quietly been rounding into form after seemingly disappearing for a year. He has made five straight cuts on tour and has gained at least five strokes tee to green in three of those events. He loves links-style golf and he seems to love the U.S. Open. He nearly won in 2016 and posted another top ten in 2015. He should be very low owned, even though he’s a much safer play than most of the golfers in this price range. If the wind picks up, that will only make me like Lowry even more.
Time to Break Through at a Major
I went back and forth on Grillo and Snedeker for this last spot. I picked Grillo, but may change to Snedeker if it looks like the wind is going to really pick up. Grillo has certainly been in the better form of the two, as he has made 19 straight cuts on tour and he has four top ten finishes in his last ten events. He’s one of the best total drivers of the ball, as he’s above the tour average in distance and in accuracy, which should be a big weapon this week. He’s also one of the best on tour with approach shots. The best part is that he was a late add to the field (added to the sites on Monday), so he could fly under the radar a bit.
No Ankle? No Problem
Finau fits that mold that we are looking for at a U.S. Open. You have to be long off the tee and you have to be able to compete on courses where par is a good score. Finau is one of the longest on tour, he’s ranked 26th in approaches, and he seems to putt much better anytime he’s not on Bermuda. He’s another golfer that feels underpriced across the industry. We are only a couple months away from Finau dislocating his ankle at the Masters, snapping back into place, and then finishing with a T10. His missed cut at last week’s tournament should help keep him from being the highest owned golfer in the field, even though he probably should be at this price point.
Who Said Chalk Always Tastes Bad?
If someone forced me to hit the “lock button” (100% exposure) on a golfer this week, I would pick Casey. How on earth is he $8,000 on DraftKings this week? He’s the 11th ranked golfer in the world, the 13th ranked golfer in my model, and he’s the 20th most expensive on DraftKings. He’s one of the best ball strikers in the world. He’s strong off the tee, he’s great with his long irons, and he’s good around the green. He’s not the best putter in the field, but as we saw at Valspar, the flatstick can certainly get hot at any time. Casey has a long track record of playing difficult courses well and he has made four of his last five cuts at the U.S. Open. Eat the chalk because it tastes good.