DFS Alerts
DraftKings projections are live and Francesco Molinari ranks as a top play
For some odd reason, Francesco Molinari tends to rank low in the DraftKings pricing algorithm. Part-time PGA players typically receive lower salaries in comparison to actual talent, and at $7,300 Molinari should be one of the more popular plays at this week’s Bay Hill Invitational. Currently ranked in the 25th position in the world, Molinari sits atop the RotoGrinders DraftKings projections tool for this weeks tournament. In addition to his very respectable recent form, Molinari has a great track record at Bay Hill. With four straight top 20 or better finishes at this event, including back to back top 10’s Molinari clearly stands out as a great value play this week. For what he lacks in length off the tee, Molinari makes up for in great iron play and solid putting. In his last 16 rounds at Bay Hill Molinari is a combined 35 under par, and at $7,300 Molinari is very much underpriced in comparison to his talent level.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool
Hideki Matsuyama set to return from injury
Hideki Matsuyama appears ready to return to competitive golf for the first time since early February. Matsuyama had to withdraw from the Waste Management Phoneix Open due to a left wrist and thumb injury. Currently ranked sixth in the world, Matsuyama withdrew from last week’s Valspar Championship due to the fact that his game was not quite ready for the ultimate test of PGA Tour golf. In his three previous trips to The Arnold Palmer Invitational, Matsuyama has two top 25 or better finishes. Due to the uncertainty of how his game will fair after an injury, Matsuyama could potentially be a great low owned tournament option this week. Priced as if he was fully healthy and in great competitive form, Matsuyama will make an interesting pivot off other popular players in the same price range. The threat of injury still looms with Matsuyama, but if healthy he has the talent to really play well this week. As always we will continue to monitor injury news on Matsuyama, but as of today, it looks like he will make a full return from injury.
As reported by: GolfChannel.com J.J. Spaun and Chris Stroud are no longer in the field
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is not a tournament that typically sees a ton of withdrawals, but today the tournament received news that both J.J. Spaun and Chris Stroud will not compete this week. C.T. Pan and Tyrone Van Aswegen will take their spots in the field, but due to the timing of the withdrawal, neither player will be in the pricing pools this week. Being one of the more sentimental tournament on tour, one would figure that Spaun and Stroud could potentially miss this week due to injury, but at this time neither player has confirmed the nature of his withdrawal.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Other tagged players: Chris Stroud PGA rosters lock in 10 minutes, and no major news to report
The Valspar Championship will start in less than 10 minutes and as expected no major news to report. Winds could pick up late Thursday afternoon making the early/late tee time wave a stronger play. Good luck this week grinders, as always if any late news breaks we will provide the updates needed.
Weather update for The Valspar Championship
Kevin Roth’s weather forecast for The Valspar Championship is now available to read in the main forum. For the first time in quite a while, it looks like the weather could play a role in our roster choices. As of this afternoon, the forecast calls for the wind to increase on Thursday with gusts potentially reaching 20 to 25mph. If this weather pattern holds then golfers who tee off early Thursday and then late Friday, could possibly benefit from a better weather draw. As always using the weather to make roster choices can be a hard thing to do, and I would tend to allow a situation like this to be a tiebreaker on a player instead of a determining factor. One decent way to take advantage of a potential tee time wave is to stack players from that grouping and hope that the weather forecast holds. As for now, it looks like Thursday afternoon could be the hardest time to play on the first two days. If anything changes prior we will update before the start of round one.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Rory McIlroy set to make his Valspar debut
Rory McIlroy made news earlier this season by committing to play in his first Valspar Championship. It’s not uncommon to see players participate in the same tournaments year after year, but since McIlroy decided to skip last week’s WGC event in Mexico City, it made sense to add another event in order to balance out his schedule. This former number one player in the world has struggled to find his game this calendar year, and his projected ownership number for this week is a direct reflection of the confidence level most in the DFS community have for him at this point in the season. McIlroy has just barely clipped the 10% ownership barrier in his last two starts, and our current projections have him in danger of dipping into the single digits prior to Thursday’s first round. While it’s easy to just look at recent play when making roster choices for the upcoming week, a player of McIlroy’s caliber should demand a little more attention than he is currently receiving. On a course that features a fair amount of long iron play, McIlroy should find that his game plays well at Copperhead. The most hectic part of the season is now upon us, and one would think that McIlroy feels the pressure to regain the form that saw him win the FedEx Cup in 2016. McIlroy is one of the few players in the game that we can look at as a threat to win on any course or, and this week offers a great chance to get an extremely talented player at a very low ownership number.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Jason Dufner is a horse for this course
Jason Dufner’s style of golf often is a direct reflection of his personality. With a game driven an ability to hit accurate golf shots, Dufner plays the type of golf that never seems to get too far out of control. Very rarely will we ever see this former major winner show emotion of any kind, as he just plots along and plays his game. Dufner heads into this week with one of the best course histories at Copperhead. In addition to making nine of ten cuts at this event, Dufner has 7 top 25 or better finishes. With three top 20 or better finishes already this season, Dufner comes into this event in great form and he should be able to once again play well on a course that he is 26 under par over his last 32 rounds. Reasonably priced this week, Dufner should make his way into consideration for both cash and GPP roster builds.
As reported by: PGA Cash Game Breakdown Vaughn Taylor is no longer in the field
Vaughn Taylor withdrew early Wednesday morning from the Valspar Championship. Taylor has been replaced in the field by Andrew Putnam. At this time there is no injury news associated with Taylor’s withdrawal. As more news becomes available we will update his status.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Matt Kuchar is a popular play amongst experts this week
Matt Kuchar falls into a unique price range for this week’s Valspar Championship. At first glance, the $8,200 price tag on Kuchar seems fair for a player who has not won in almost 4 years. You could also argue that the price is too low for a player that has been a model of consistency throughout his career. Over his last three seasons on the PGA Tour, Kuchar has finished inside the top 25 sixty-one percent of the time. Kuchar will tee it up in his 11th Valspar Championship this week, and his past play would indicate that he is very comfortable playing The Copperhead course. Over the last six years at this event, Kuchar is 16 under par with 4 top 25 or better finishes. With a near win at last year’s Open Championship, Kuchar has shown that he can play with the best players in the world on golf’s biggest stage, and his track record of solid play makes him a roster consideration on almost any week. When you look at all of the factor’s surrounding Kuchar’s price this week it’s easy to see why he sits atop the mid-tier value rankings for The Valspar Championship. While he may not always have the appeal associated with winning a golf tournament, his style of play very rarely sinks a roster build, and when you look at his course history at Copperhead Kuchar deserves a strong consideration for your DFS rosters this week.
As reported by: DraftKings PGA Value Rankings Henrick Stenson is set to make his 2018 PGA debut
Henrick Stenson is the last healthy highly ranked player yet to participate in a PGA Tour event this season. This former British Open Champion will make his 4th career appearance at The Valspar Championship and will look to once again play well at a course that fits his game. In his three previous visits to The Valspar Championship Stenson has finished no worse than 11th and is a combined 18 under par over his last 12 rounds at Copperhead. Accurate long iron play is always a key to success at Copperhead, and Stenson is arguably one of the best long iron players in today’s game. Typically not as popular as other foreign-born players, Stenson can often fly under the radar in comparison to his talent level. As the fourth highest priced golfer this week, it will be easy for many in the DFS community to look at other options in terms of a top end spend. When you combine Stenson’s ability to perform well on this course with a potential low ownership he becomes a great GPP play for The Valspar Championship. Even if his ownership numbers rise as the week progresses, Stenson has the type of upside that merits roster consideration this week.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Bill Haas returns to competition after the loss of a family friend
Two days prior to the start of The Genesis Open, Bill Haas was the passenger in a fatal car crash that resulted in the loss of his family friend, Mark Gibello. Haas was lucky to have walked away with only a deep bruise on his left leg and a banged up ankle. Haas will tee it up in his tenth Valspar Championship this week and the event will most likely be an emotional one for the entire Haas family. Haas will have a tough week ahead of him, but sometimes in a tragic situation like this, the golf course can be a place of refuge. As the runner-up in the 2016 Valspar Championship, Haas knows what it takes to play well at Copperhead, and if he can get through the emotions of returning to action he could be an interesting low priced GPP flyer for this year’s tournament.
As reported by: PGA TOUR Kyle Stanley is no longer in the field
Kyle Stanley has withdrawn from The Valspar Championship. With no injury news associated with this move, it appears that Stanley just decided to take this week off. He was replaced in the field by Corey Conners.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter DraftKings projections are live and Luke List ranks as a top play
Luke List has always been a frustrating player to add to a DFS roster. As an extremely talented golfer, List often finds himself a victim of a very inconsistent putter. Followers of PGA shot link data will often cringe as they see List hit it close shot after shot to only walk away with a disappointing two-putt. Evident of his second-place finish at the Honda Classic a few weeks ago, when his putter is working List can compete with the best players in the game. Often a boom or bust type of player, List posted 9 top 25 or better finishes in his 20 made cuts last season. Currently ranked inside the top 75 in the world, List already has 5 top 25 starts this season and is near the top of our RotoGrinders DraftKings projections in terms of Pt/$/K for The Valspar Championship. Still searching for his first PGA Tour win, List is hopeful to keep the momentum gained from his recent runner finish as he prepares to play in his 4th Valspar Championship.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool PGA rosters lock in 20 minutes, and no major news to report
The WGC Mexico Championship will start in less than half an hour and as expected no major news to report. Last week’s winner Justin Thomas will look to improve on his 3rd place ranking in the world, as he has his sites set on his 8th win since the start of last season. Good luck this week grinders, as always if any late news breaks we will provide the updates needed.
Rickie Fowler looks to bounce back from poor outing
Rickie Fowler left many in the DFS world disappointed as his poor play last week in defense of his Honda Classic crown resulted in his second missed cut of the season. Currently trending towards a sub 10% ownership projection, Fowler is the type of play that could stand out as a great pivot off other expensive golfers. One bad week should not have this effect on ownership, and if you liked Fowler at any point in the season, then this is the week to keep playing him. Fowler is an excellent iron player who has the ability to dominate DraftKings scoring. For those who like the narrative street angle, Fowler could have extra motivation to play well this week due to the fact that his friend Justin Thomas continues to widen the gap in PGA tournaments won. Fowler was able to follow up a missed cut earlier this season with a T11 at The Waste Management Open and should be in a great spot to do the same in the first WGC event of the year.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership