DFS Alerts
Keegan Bradley ranks as a top third tier play among experts
The thought of recommending Keegan Bradley as a pick will strike terror into even the bravest of our PGA experts. Know for his ability to completely disappoint, Bradley offers enough upside to once again grab our attention. In a no-cut event, the $7K price tag on Bradley sticks out as a glaring value for the week. The solid play of the final part of his 2017 season began to soften the stance amongst many in the industry on Bradley. In his last 10 events of 2017, Bradley posted a top 35 or better in five times and he made every cut. Poor putting plagued Bradley last week as he started off the 2018 season with a missed cut. With 4 guaranteed rounds this week ( barring injury) Bradley is just too cheap for the upside he brings to the table. Two out of his three previous attempts at the CIMB classic have resulted in a top ten finish. The need to roster high priced players will create an extra element of trying to find value, and even though the thought of rostering him makes many of us uneasy, this is the perfect week to mix in Bradley into your roster builds.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Value Rankings
Gary Woodland gaining steam
Gary Woodland has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2013 Reno Tahoe Open. Winning on the tour is never an easy thing, so we must not just look at wins alone when trying to assess the quality of a player.This veteran of the PGA Tour has played in 200 tour events and during that time he has 2 wins, 8 runner-up finishes and has posted at top ten at least 13.5 percent of the time. Woodland has only missed making it to the Tour Championship once in the last five years. The ability to win is typically factored into the pricing structure each week, and because of his lack of wins, we find Woodland at a very reasonable price tag on DraftKings this week. With both excellent form and great course history, Woodland fits easily into a wide variety of roster builds this week. Early ownership levels on Woodland are starting to gain momentum, and normally we like to try and fade this type of spot. With a no-cut event, I would rather try to fade a player who is a bit more expensive. Woodland is just too cheap for the talent and upside he brings. At $8,700 Woodland can pay off his salary even without a top 6 or better finish, thus making him a great play in any format for The CIMB Classic.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projected Ownership Using course history to find value
Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club will play host to the CIMB Classic for the fifth straight year. Kuala Lumpur is a very popular course that has served as a venue for multiple professional golf tournaments. The European Tour’s Maybank Malaysian Open has used Kuala Lumpur as it’s host course on several different occasions. The 2015 Maybank Malaysian Open Champion Anirban Lahiri, entered the final round of last year’s CIMB classic with a four-shot lead over eventual winner Justin Thomas. With a win and two top ten finishes in his last three tournaments at Kuala Lumpur, this 18-time winner in professional golf looks to be a great value play for this week’s CIMB Classic. At $5,600 on FanDuel Lahiri offers a great chance to grab an high upside value play for both tournaments and cash games.
As reported by: Josh Culp's Value Breakdown Graham Delaet ranks as a top value play on DraftKings
Graham Delaet holds the unenviable distinction as being in the conversation of talented players yet to win on the PGA Tour. Delaet started off his 8th full-time season on tour last week with a very solid 5th place finish at the Safeway Open. This 94thth ranked player in the world rates out as one of the top plays in terms of PT/$K in the DraftKings RotoGrinders Player projection tool for the CIMB Classic. At $7,500 Delaet offers a great appeal as a salary relief for almost any type of roster construction build for the CIMB Classic. His style of play very much reminds me of multiple CIMB Champion Ryan Moore. Much like Moore, Delaet is known for his ability to hit high-quality golf shots, and on a course that tends to favor accurate iron shots, he should have a ton of great looks at birdies this week. Delaet has one top ten finish at Kuala Lumpur Golf & C.C and the combination of his current form and reasonable price makes him a great play in all formats this week.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Player Projections Scott Piercy returns from long absence
Piercy’s 2017 PGA Tour season was cut short by an unspecified injury. Piercy missed the cut in eight of final 12 tournaments he appeared in last season, and until last week he had not played a PGA event since June. Piercy started off the 2018 season in solid form, his T17 should provide plenty of motivation as heads into this week’s CIMB Classic. This three-time PGA tour winner has posted back to back top ten finishes at Kuala Lumpur Golf & C.C. and looks to be in line as a great pick for the week. With varying prices on Piercy across the industry, FanDuel offers the best value in terms of cost comparison. With a $5,800 dollar salary on FanDuel Piercy stands out as a clear value for the week. Although an argument could be made for using Piercy on other sites, it would be wise to get most of your exposure to him at FanDuel.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Field Update for The Safeway Championship
Brandon Hagy and Stuart Appleby are no longer in the field for The Safeway Championship. Appleby has decided to compete on the European Tour this week, and there has not yet been confirmation on the reason behind the withdrawal for Hagy. Eric Axley and Brendon de Jonge have been added to the field, but will not be available for DFS purposes. While Appleby should not be on the DFS radar, Hagy had played well enough at times last year to be in consideration for a roster spot this week. Please remove both players from your lineup.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Other tagged players: Stuart Appleby Peter Uihlein a path less traveled
Peter Uihlein was born into a golf family. His father Wally is the CEO of the Acushnet Company, the owner of the Titleist Golf Brand. Uihlein enjoyed a successful junior and amateur career highlighted by his 2010 U.S. Amateur win. This former number one ranked amateur golfer in the world struggled to find his way onto the PGA Tour. Since turning professional in 2011 Uihlein has competed on both the Challange and European Tours. Last season he began to play more on the PGA tour, and a win at the Web.Com Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship secured Uihlein a spot on the PGA Tour for the 2017-2018 season. Long regarded as a great young talent the 28-year-old Uihlein will make his 2017 PGA tour debut at The Safeway Open. With all the tools needed to play well this week Uihlein makes for an excellent GPP play. The big stage is not something that should overwhelm Uihlein, as he has won on The European tour, and has played in a handful of PGA Tour events in the past. Uihlein is in line for a great rookie campaign and this week offers us a great chance to get on board before his price starts to rise.
As reported by: STLCards' GPP Breakdown Ryan Moore offers upside at lower ownership
Midseason injuries kept Ryan Moore from a chance a representing his country in the Presidents Cup. A nagging shoulder injury caused Moore to miss almost two months of playing time during the 2017 season. After nearly winning the FedEx Cup in the previous season, Moore earned a captain’s pick birth to his first Ryder Cup Team last fall. Past Ryder Cup experiences can often turn out to be a good indicator of future success on the PGA Tour, but the nagging shoulder injury kept Moore from playing the type of golf needed to compete at a high level. Moore took the time needed to get his game back into shape, and he was able to post 3 top 25 finishes in the last month of the season. Heading into this week’s event Moore has lower predicted ownership levels than some players in the sub 10k price range. Players like Kevin Na are gaining steam and pulling ownership away from Moore. As a five-time PGA Tour, Moore offers a ton of upside if you are looking for a pivot play from higher owned players in the sub 10k range. While Moore lacks the solid course history of a player like Na, he represents a chance to roster a player with tremendous upside at nearly half the ownership.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership Chesson Hadley set to make his return to the PGA Tour
Fresh off his extremely successful stint on the Web.Com Tour, Chesson Hadley is ready to return to the PGA Tour as a fully exempt member. Known for his signature finger snap celebration, Hadley won twice on the Web.Com Tour last year and finished the season as the number one ranked player in the top 25 race for PGA Tour cards. Hadley comes into this week ranked as one of the top plays in terms of PT/$K in the FanDuel RotoGrinders Player projection tool for The Safeway Championship. The combination of his recent form and very reasonable price makes Hadley a great play on FanDuel this week. Unlike some of the other players who earned PGA Tour Cards via the Web.Com Tour, Hadley is a past winner on the PGA Tour, and he is in a great spot to build on the momentum gained via his spectacular play on the Web.Com Tour.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Player Projections Jamie Lovemark continues to gain steam
In a week in which it has become increasingly hard to find trustworthy names in decent pricing spots, Jamie Lovemark has emerged as a very popular play for The Safeway Open. Over the last two seasons on The PGA Tour, Lovemark has amassed over 3.8 million and earnings. Still searching for his first PGA Tour win, Lovemark does have a great track record of finishing inside the top 25. Over his last 45 starts, Lovemark has 18 top 25 or better finishes. Like many other players in this week’s field, Lovemark hopes to take advantage of what appears to be a weaker than normal field. Midweek ownership projections show an already popular Lovemark trending towards an even higher ownership. With all of the tools needed to play well at a course like Silverado CC, Lovemark ranks as an excellent play for this week’s Safeway Open. With the ability to make birdies in bunches, Lovemark is the type of player that can easily pay off his DK salary without a high finish.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership Luke List ranks as a top mid tier play among experts
Luke List will need to take every opportunity ahead of him if he has any plans on improving on his career-best 2017 PGA tour season. As he prepares for his fourth full season on Tour, List will look to find the early season form that helped him earn a spot inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup rankings. The 2017 season saw List post 5 top 25 finishes out of his first six events. List struggled to play well towards the middle of the season, but he was able to salvage his season by make three consecutive cuts during the FedEx Cup race and finished the year with 9 top 25 or better finishes. At 32 List is no longer a young player on tour and it’s time for and it’s time for him to take his game to the next level. Reasonably priced across the industry List makes sense for a wide variety of roster builds. The lack of overall depth in this field makes this a great opportunity for List to potential go out and compete for his first win.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Value Rankings Angel Cabrera is no longer in the field
Angel Cabrera has withdrawn from The Safeway Open. There is no information yet available on the reason for his withdrawal. This former major championship winner has struggled to play well in the last few seasons. Cabrera has not finished inside the top 180 in the FedEx Cup standings since the 2014 season. Charlie Wi has taken Cabrera’s spot in the field, but will not be available for DFS pricing.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Kevin Na trending as a top play
Kevin Na is getting ready to start his 15th full season on the PGA tour. This 67th ranked player in the world rates out as one of the top plays in terms of PT/$K in the DraftKings RotoGrinders Player projection tool for Safeway Open. With more than his fair share of ups and downs in his career, Na looks to build on excellent course history as he prepares for the start of the season. In three previous starts at the Silverado North Course, Na has not finished worse than a tie for seventh. Looking to build on the momentum gained at the end of last season, Na comes into this week on the heels of two top ten finishes in his four FedEx Cup events. The reasonable price for Na will make him an easy plug and play in cash games this week, but by no means does he have the game and pedigree to make him a lock and load in tournaments.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Player Projections Sang-Moon Bae set to return to the PGA Tour
The 31-year-old past champion of The Safeway Open has spent the last 21 months as a rifleman in the army, honoring the requirement for all Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 to undertake military service as a deterrent to North Korean aggression. Unable to touch a club during his stint with the military, Bae was only able to lift weights and run during his almost two years of service. Bae made his return to competitive golf on the Asian Tour at the Shinhan Donghae Open. The lack of any golf over the last two years showed, and Bae missed the cut after posting rounds of 74 and 75. Prior to his mandatory service, Bae had reached as high as 26 in the official world golf rankings and was a member of the Presidents Cup in 2015. Bae will have full status on tour this season, and while his return to golf makes for a very good story, the choice to roster Bae is probably best left for deep GPP roster considerations.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Player of the year race still up for grabs
Thursday’s final morning pairing will feature a preview of what is likely to be the showdown for the player of the year award. Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas share the unique bond of being both great friends and fierce competitors. Motivation to keep an up and coming to Justin Thomas in his shadows will be at an all-time high for Spieth as he looks to become only the second person to win the FedEx Cup twice. Making it to the tour championship is a major accomplishment in itself. Playing in his fifth straight tour championship, Spieth is the only past champion represented in this year’s field. Currently ranked number one in the FedEx Cup standings, a win this week would make the race for player of the year a bit more interesting. Thomas will look to improve on a sixth-place finish in last year’s Tour Championship. In a year that already has seen him win five times including the PGA Championship, Thomas is pushing hard to dethrone his friend Spieth as the best young player on tour. A win for either player would claim both the FedEx Cup and The Player Of The Year Award. There will be many great storylines this week, but perhaps the biggest will be the epic showdown between two of the brightest stars in the game. Both players make for excellent roster choices this week, but conventional wisdom would say that only one will play well enough to make it into a winning lineup. I prefer rosters with one of the two stars, and at this point, Spieth gets a slight bump over Thomas in the years final tournament.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Other tagged players: Justin Thomas