DFS Alerts
Dominic Bozzelli return after a mysterious absence
Dominic Bozzelli will start his second PGA Tour season this week at The Sony Open. Bozzelli was last seen at the RBC Canadian Open at the end of July. He finished the year inside the top 115 in the FedEx Cup race in spite of not playing in either the Barracuda or the Wyndham Championship. There hasn’t been any information released on a potential injury, but one would have to assume that something held him back from playing and making money towards the end of his rookie season. Bozzelli should not be on the radar of many in the industry as there is some concern about the nature of his absence.
Ryan Palmer playing this week via an medical extension
Off course issues played a big role in Ryan Palmer’s 2017 PGA Tour season. Palmer played hurt most of the season and ended up taking the last few months off to repair his shoulder. In addition to this injury, the Palmer family also had indure the road to recovery as his wife Jennifer battled breast cancer. With everyone on the path to better health in 2018, the Palmer family can put the past behind them and focus on better things in the future. This three-time PGA Tour winner finished last season outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and will need to accrue 29 FedEx Cup points over his next six starts in order to keep his card. A shoe in to get these points, Palmer is hopeful to now play golf that once saw him win this event. Due to the uncertainty of how he will play after such a long lay off, Palmer should be only considered a deep GPP play only this week. In addition to his victory at the 2010 Sony Open, Palmer has three top 20 finishes in 12 starts at this event.
As reported by: PGA TOUR Gary Woodland sits at the top of the RotoGrinders projection tool
Projections are live for the Sony Open and Gary Woodland is the top overall player in terms of Pt/$/K on DraftKings. Currently ranked 55th in the official world golf rankings, Woodland has two career victories to his name, and comes into this week with great course history. Woodland has three top 15 finishes in a row at the Sony, including a third-place finish in 2015. Good ball strikers typically play well at this event, and even though Woodland is typically thought of as a bomber, his style of play leans on hitting accurate golf shots. Last year Woodland finished 15th in strokes gained approach and 31st in strokes gained off the tee. The knock on his game has always been the number of putts holed ( 165 strokes gained-putting), but Woodland should see plenty of opportunities to make birdies this week and is way underpriced in terms of his talent level. At $7,800 Woodland makes for a great play in all formats for the Sony Open.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool Cash game king for the Sony Open
If you are new to DFS golf then one of the first lessons you want to learn is that Charles Howell plays his best golf on the west coast swing of the tour, and in particular at this event. In addition to a perfect cut record ( 16 for 16) at the Sony Open, Howell has nine top ten or better finishes. In the last eight starts at the Sony, Howell is 85 under par, including 12 straight rounds of par or better. The knock on Howell has always been his inability to win, but at this price, he is a lock and load in your cash games this week, and should also be considered a fine tournament play as well.
As reported by: Expert Survey Past champion provides site specific salary relief
It’s nice to have a full field event for the first time this year. The larger field means that sites will have a harder time adjusting player pricing, and with this being the first event of the season there are plenty of new faces that makes it even harder to tighten up player pricing. One player that stands out as a great value on Draftkings this weeks is multiple Sony Open Champion, Jimmy Walker. At $7,200 on DK Walker represents 14.4 percent of the salary cap, which is quite a savings in comparison to FanDuel where his roster spot would cost 16.6 percent of the cap. Walker has struggled since winning the PGA Championship two years ago, but he is still a great talent on this tour and has an excellent track record at this event. In addition to his two wins at this event, Walker is 75 under par in his last 8 Sony Open appearances. Recent volatility makes Walker a risky cash option, but he is a high upside play in GPPs.
Defending champ has a new caddie on the bag
The 2017 season was all about Justin Thomas. This 24-year-old phenom won five times last season and quickly asserted himself as one of the best players in the game. Thomas is back to defend one of those victories this week, but he will do so without his longtime caddie Jimmy Johnson. Regarded as one of the better caddies on tour, Johnson hurt his foot and will be out for at least a month. Thomas had to finish the Sentry Tournament of Champions with his dad as a caddie but will have ex Phil Mickelson caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay on the bag for his Sony Open title defense. Mackay has not caddied since his split with Mickelson last season. Thomas will have the benefit of replacing one all-star caddie with another, but it will be interesting to see how this new relationship develops. The overall impact of this change should be pretty insignificant, but it is worth keeping an eye on if Johnson is out for some length of time. Up until now, Mackay has worked as an on the course reporter for The Golf Channel. There has been no announcement as of yet to whether Mackay will caddie more than just this week.
As reported by: CBS Low owned player with a ton of upside
With golf starting in less than an hour, there is still plenty of time to make last-minute changes to a few rosters. The combination of talent and the size of this week’s field makes it very hard to get players at low ownership. In order to take down a big GPP, you must be willing to take a few calculated risks based upon ownership. With final projections released today, one player that stands out as a low owned high-end option is Brooks Koepka. With the threat of a possible wrist injury, many in the industry are off Koepka this week. Currently projected at an ownership level of under 15%, Kopeka could be a sneaky play for The Sentry Tournament of Champions. With a win on the Japanese tour in November, Koepka comes into this week with what should be good form. If you are playing multiple lineups this week, a roster or two with Koepka represents a great way to get exposure to a high upside GPP winning type of play.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Weather update for The Sentry Tournament of Champions
With only 34 players in this week’s field, tee times are condensed in such a manner that it’s impossible to gain an edge by using weather in relation to starting time. All players will start on the first tee this week, and with only a two hour and forty minute gap between the first and the last tee time, there should not be any weather advantages this week. That being said we can look at the type of weather predicted this week. In his report, Roth calls for winds to reach the 15 to 20 mph range for the majority of the week. Even though Hawaii is beautiful this time of year, the wind is something that we can expect on this Island paradise. The direction of this wind could be key this week, as for now it appears that the majority of wind will come in from the east and possibly could come out of the northeast as well. If this holds true due to the layout of the course, the wind might actually favor a shorter hitter. And while the wind direction might not be reliable enough to predict, there is one thing we can look to exploit if it is, in fact, blowing hard this week in Hawaii. Good putters have an edge on the course in general, and windy conditions tend to magnify this edge. One really cool stat about this week to take into consideration is that since 1999 the eventual winner of this event has finished no worse than 4th in putts per round. Good putting is a must this week, and with the wind predicted to blow it’s not a bad idea to give a bump to players who can roll the rock.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Can a first timer win this week
The Sentry Tournament of Champions always presents such a unique field. With only winners from the past PGA Tour season, there is a chance that some of the best players in the game miss this event from time to time. The ability to win just once let alone consistently year after year is a very hard task, so it’s not uncommon to see players fade in and out of this tournament field. With that being said there have been years where we get a decent amount of first-time players in The Sentry Tournament of Champions field. This year we have 14 or the 34 golfers playing this event for the first time, with 7 of the remaining 24 playing for only the second time. In the last 20 years there has only been one first time winner ( Sergio Garcia 2002), thus begging the question can a first-time player win this week. The influx of talented young golfers on tour suggest that we should start to see first-time participants challenge for this title. Jon Rahm is not your typical rookie to this event. This 23-year-old Spanish golfer already has three professional victories to his name, and with consistent solid play over the past two seasons, Rahm is now ranked 4th in the world. Much like his fellow countryman Garica, Rahm has the tools needed to play well this week. With excellent ball control, Rahm should handle any windy conditions fairly well, and he is an excellent putter. In just a two year span, Rahm has gone from an up and coming young talent to a player that can contend with the best in the game. First-timers typically don’t win this week, but Rahm has the talent to be an exception to this rule.
Waiting for his time to shine
The youth movement on the PGA Tour is stronger than ever. With players like defending champion Justin Thomas and multiple major winner Jordan Spieth leading the way, the game is in a great spot heading into the 2018 season. The plethora of great young players on tour makes it easy for certain players to get overlooked. Prior to this event last year, Justin Thomas was one of those players. Thomas started his season off with back to back wins in Hawaii, and then was able to round out the year by winning the PGA Championship. Even though Thomas had multiple wins under his belt at this point last year, many in the golf community were not willing to put him in the same class as Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. Players in the DFS community that were bullish on Thomas benefited from his breakout season. With so many good young players in this week’s field, you could make the case for quite a few players having a Thomas type of breakout season. At this point last season, Daniel Berger had one less victory than Justin Thomas. Berger is a great young talent on tour and could be that breakout player this season. It’s hard to get low owned players in a 34 man field, but Berger is trending towards being one of the lower owned players for the week. Using ownership projections is a great way to help build better DFS golf roster and the combination of Berger’s talent and potential low ownership makes him a very intriguing play for The Sentry Tournament of Champions.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Trying to defy father time
Pat Perez is not your typical tour player. From the type of golf he plays to the style of clothes that he wears, Perez is a one of kind on the PGA Tour. At 41 Perez is defying his age by playing the best golf of his career. With already one win this season, Perez has already qualified for this event next year and should be a great play in all formats this week. Prior to the 2017 season, nagging injuries surrounded Perez, and there was some question to how well he could play moving forward. Before his win at the 2017 OHL Classic at Mayakoba, Perez had fallen all the way to 271st position in the official world rankings. Heading into this week, Perez finds himself a three-time tour winner ranked 18th in the world and playing the best golf of his career. In his last 29 events, Perez has 17 top 25 or better finishes and rates as a great value on DraftKings this week. Heading into today Perez is one of the biggest risers in projected ownership, and at $8,000 fits in a wide variety of roster builds.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Patrick Cantlay looks to continue his good play
The comeback success of Patrick Cantlay was easily one of the best feel-good stories of the 2017 season. Sidelined by a serious back injury and struggling with the grief of losing his best friend and caddie Chris Roth, Cantlay would ultimately deal with both the physical and emotional aspects of recovery. Injuries are hard to come back from in terms of both a physical and mental standpoint and Cantlay would have to show that he could handle the wear and tear of golf on his body as well as prove that he had the mentality to compete with the best players in the world on a weekly basis. Finishing 29th in the FedEx Cup standings, Cantlay played the type of golf that once had him ranked as the top amateur in the world. Cantlay only played in 13 events last season, thus making his final year-end standings even that more impressive. With no missed cut’s in those 13 events, Cantlay posted an impressive 8 top 25 or better finishes last season. At $9,300 on FanDuel Patrick Cantlay ranks as one of the best value plays in terms of Pt/$/K on the RotoGrinders Projections Tool. The lack of playing time has kept ownership low on Cantly for most of last season, but it’s safe to now say that this PGA tour winner should be considered one of the better young players on the PGA Tour. It’s rare to consider a player in the 9K price range a value, but Cantlay is probably priced lower than he should do to his lack of rounds, and he makes a great play in all formats this week.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool Rookie of the year makes club change for the 2018 season
Xander Schauffele burst onto the scene last season by winning twice in route to a third-place finish in the FedEx Cup race. Players change equipment more than we know, but it is worth noting that Schauffele was spotted this week with a Callaway logo on his hat and glove. No official news has been released to the extent of his equipment change, but up until this week, Schauffele had been a Taylor Made Adidas man head to toe. According to Johnathan Wall on Twitter, the last person to win rookie of the year and make an equipment change the next season was John Huh in 2012. Schauffele will be a player to keep an eye on this year, and while a club change should not move the needle in terms of roster evaluation, it’s worth keeping an eye on moving forward.
As reported by: Jonathan Wall Twitter Number one player in the world with course history on his side
For some players, a trip to The Sentry Tournament of Champions is a feat that they might only get to participate in a few times in a career. Winning on the PGA tour is never an easy task, so as a player if you make the trip to Kapalua more then once in a career, then you are in a different class. Current world’s number one Dustin Johnson will tee it up for the 8th time at The Sentry Tournament of Champions and has more than just experience to rely on this week. In addition to being a past champion, Johnson has four top ten finishes in his seven trips to the Plantation Course. A great way to improve you DFS golf acumen is to try and understand why certain players play well at each venue. The weekly course analysis article is a great place to gain that knowledge. In addition to a hole by hole statistical breakdown, the article ranks the best players based on performance in six different categories. By no coincidence, this week’s number one ranked player in the article is none other than Dustin Johnson. While there will be plenty of big named players to choose from this week, Johnson’s course history and statistical course fit make him an excellent top end roster option for the first event of 2018.
As reported by: PGA Weekly Course Analysis Golf is back and projections are live
The long month and a half offseason is over and DFS golf is back. The PGA Tour will kick off the calendar year with a champions-only event in Hawaii. The Sentry Tournament of Champions is a no-cut event that will feature 34 tournament winners from last season. In a small field event with this much talent, there is always an extra need to try and find value plays in order to roster bigger named players. One of the easiest ways to find such value plays is to use the Rotogirnders projection tool. Each week you can look to see what players rate the highest in terms of Pt/$/K in order to find salary relief for the week. This week Kyle Stanley makes his second trip to The Sentry Tournament of Champions and rates as top plays in terms of Pt/$/K in the field. Stanley now ranked inside the top 50 in the world comes to this event after having his best season ever in 2017. Still, relatively young Stanley at the age of 30 has experienced both the highs and lows of PGA Tour golf and was able to have a tremendous bounce-back season last year. In 29 events Stanley posted 12 top 25 or better finishes including a win at the Quicken Loans National. With almost 3.5 million earned last season and a 24th place finish in the season-ending FedEx Cup race, Stanley feels like a great value at $6,800 on DraftKings. Known as a great ball striker, Stanley should have the game to play well this week, and he makes a great roster option for all formats.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool