DFS Alerts
Peter Uihlein earns a birth in to the U.S. Open
Peter Uihlein earned a spot in this year’s U.S. Open the hard way. His 36 hole total of 136 finished in four way tie for 12th place. Due to the lack of available daylight on Monday evening, Uihlein had to return to the course early Tuesday morning to participate in a playoff for the remaining three U.S. Open spots. Uihlein played well enough on Tuesday to earn his spot at Erin Hills. This former United States Amateur Champion will look to make the most of this opportunity. Uihlein has played well this year, and looks to be a very popular play for this week’s FedEx St. Jude’s Classic. Wednesday’s ownership projections have Uihlein as one of the higher owned value plays on the week. Still in search of a full time PGA card, Uihlein looks to be locked in and focused on his game.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership
DraftKings releases prices for The Millionaire Maker
The 3.5 Fantasy Millionaire Maker is now live. Gamers can now begin building lineups for the year’s second major. As expect defending champion Dustin Johnson tops the list of highest priced players for the U.S. Open. The final field for the U.S. Open has not been set yet. The USGA currently has six spots available for next week’s event. Players located inside the top 60 in the official world golf rankings as of June 12th will gain an exemption into the U.S. Open. The only player inside of the top 60 in the world not currently exempt for the U.S. Open is Chris Wood. Solid play at this week’s Lyoness Open should earn Wood one of the final spots in the years second major. The final five spots for next week’s U.S. Open will be given to players that finished as first alternates is this week’s sectional qualifiers. DraftKings may choose to add those players to the prize pool early next week. Ryan Palmer finished as 1st alternate in Texas, and is one of the bigger names hopeful to get an invite into to play at Erin Hills.
As reported by: Will Gray via Twitter J.B. Holmes emerges as top value play on DraftKings
It’s not uncommon for the DraftKings pricing algorithm to produce a few miss priced players each week. J.B. Holmes is the 46th ranked player in the world. This 4 time PGA tour winner has struggled to find his form early this season, but he is still a very talented player. A quick comparison of DraftKings and FanDuel pricing revels the magnitude of this week’s pricing error. Holmes price of $6,800 on DraftKings represents 13.6 % of the salary cap, and on FanDuel his price of $9100 represents 15.1 precent of the cap. In terms of pricing rank, Holmes is near the bottom on DraftKings and he is the 5th highest ranked player on FanDuel. The DraftKings ownership level of Holmes should rise as the week progresses, but this is still a great spot to buy low on a talented player.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership Padraig Harrington has withdrawn from the FedEx St. Jude's Classic
Chances are that this multiple major champion was not on the radar of many gamers this week. Injuries and father time have taken their toll on Harrington’s game, and now a freak injury will keep him from golf for the next two weeks. Harrington was forced to withdraw from this week’s FedEx St. Jude’s Classic after he was hit in the elbow by an amateur partner during a clinic. Harrington reported the incident on his twitter account and claims that he should be ready for golf again in about 12 days.
As reported by: Padraig Harrington's twitter Field Update for the FedEx St. Jude Classic
An already depleted field just got a little weaker on Tuesday morning. As expected a few participants from yesterday’s U.S. Open sectional qualifier have withdrawn from this week’s tournament. Steve Striker, Keegan Bradley, Jamie Lovemark, Kelly Kraft and C.T. Pan have all been removed from this week’s field.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Other tagged players: Jamie Lovemark, Cheng-Tsung Pan, Kelly Kraft, Steve Stricker U.S. Open Sectional qualifying carries over into Tuesday
The final U.S. Open sectional qualifying spots will be determined on Tuesday morning. The lack of daylight forced two of the bigger sectional qualifying venues to extend play early into Tuesday morning. The last five sectional qualifying spots will be decided via playoff on Tuesday. The Memphis sectional will have a 3 way playoff for two spots, and the Columbus sectional will have a 4 way playoff for the final 3 spots. The last day of qualifying provided plenty of great headlines. Local Wisconsin resident Steve Stricker qualified for the Open by winning the Memphis sectional.
As reported by: USGA Andres Romero had quite a day
This former PGA tour rookie of the year has really struggled to find his game. Romero has spent the last few seasons trying to earn his full time status on tour. In fact at the start of the day Romero was the first alternate to this week’s FedEx St. Jude’s Classic. Romero gained entry into the tournament after Nicholas Thompson withdrew earlier this afternoon. Like many other PGA tour professional’s, Romero spent his Monday trying to qualify for the U.S Open. Rounds of 67&66 earned Romero an entry into this year’s U.S. Open. This will his first major in almost 2 years. Romero is not currently listed in the FedEx St. Jude pricing for either DraftKings or FanDuel.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Field set for FedEx St. Jude Classic
In a perfect world a PGA tour venue would rather not have the daunting task of playing the week in front of a major. It’s often hard to get stars to play the week prior to a big event. This year’s FedEx St. Jude Classic is no exception to this pattern. Stuck in its normal spot of playing the week before a major, the FedEx St. Jude’s tournament committee has the hard task of selling a golf tournament with a very lack luster field. This week’s field includes 27 of the top 100, and 12 of the top 50 in the latest official world golf rankings. Rickie Fowler is the only player currently inside the top 10 in the world in attendance this week. The lack of big names in the field could force a higher than normal ownership level on players like Koepka and Fowler. The U.S. Open sectional qualifier could also affect the strength of the field. There are quite a few players in the field this week that might choose to withdraw from the FedEx St. Jude if they make it to the U.S. Open on Monday. We will continue to monitor the field as the week progresses.
As reported by: RotoGrinders U.S. Open Golf is now available on FanDuel
FanDuel has released its salaries for next week’s U.S. Open. The final field for the U.S. Open has not been set yet, so if you are going to set an early roster please make sure to check back later this week for the current field listing. A player who is not already exempt for the U.S. Open must earn a spot through local and sectional qualifying. Monday’s 10 sectional qualifying tournaments provide for one of the last chances to play in this year’s U.S. Open. The two biggest qualifying sties of Columbus and Memphis provide a larger number of spots for qualifying, but both fields are saturated with PGA tour players. Many big name players still need to play well in order to compete in the year’s second major. One such player is Wisconsin resident Steve Stricker. This year’s U.S. Open will be played in Wisconsin, and Stricker wants badly to compete in front of his hometown fans. Stricker is competing in the 36 hole Memphis qualifier, and a morning round of 67 currently puts him in contention for a qualification spot. If Stricker fails to win one of the nine qualifying spots, then his only hope for making the U.S. Open is to finish inside the top 60 in the official world golf rankings prior to June 12th. Stricker is currently ranked 84th in the standings and would almost certainly need a win at this week’s FedEx St. Jude’s Classic in order to play in the U.S. Open.
As reported by: USGA Tony Finau continues to gain steam
A win at last years Puerto Rico Open created a lot of new opportunities for Tony Finau. Unfortunately for Finau the win was not big enough to get him into the years first two majors. Currently ranked in the 66th position in the official world golf rankings, Finau will need a solid showing at The Memorial in order to gain an invitation into the U.S. Open. Tony Finau’s solid play continues to gain the trust of DFS community. In seventeen starts this season, Finau has 8 top 20 or better finishes . Of his 17 starts this season Finau has only seen an ownership level lower less than 10% three times. A very solid recent form combined with a declined price will make Finau one of the higher owned players in the field this week. The expected high ownership level on Finau makes for an interesting fade, but with the abundant amount of value in play this week it might be better to look for other spots to differentiate your lineups.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership Steve Sricker is on the outside looking in
Steve Sricker wants very badly to play in the 2017 U.S. Open. This former number-two ranked player in the world is currently not in the field at Erin Hills. Stricker’s final round of 63 at last week’s Dean & Deluca Invitational moved him up 13 spots in the official world golf rankings. Currently ranked 85th in the standings, Stricker will need to make it into the top 60 prior to June 12th in order to gain an exemption to this year’s U.S. Open. During his post Dean & Deluca tournament interview, Stricker noted that his normally solid putting game finally started to show signs of life. Stricker has been working hard on his game and he remains very motivated to play in the year’s second major. This year’s U.S. Open venue will take place in his home state of Wisconsin. Winless since the 2012 season, this former Memorial champion knows what it takes to play well at Muirfield Village.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Kevin Roth's official weather report for The Memorial
For the first time in quite some while, weather should not be an issue in terms of picking players for this week’s tournament. According to Roth, there should be no advantage to either tee time wave. Rain chances increase as the week progresses, but we should expect a very consistent 10mph wind speed through out the tournament. The course did receive quite a bit of pre tournament rain, so it would not be surprising to see any extra rain add to the already soft conditions.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Stewart Cink's improved play
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 8 years since Stewart Cink claimed the biggest victory of his career . The 2009 Open Championship signified a big win for Cink, little did he know that it would mark start of long winless drought. In the seasons that would follow, Cink still played a very respectable form of golf. Often framed by steady play Cink has been able to finish inside the top 125 in the year end FedEx Cup standings five out of the last eight years. Cink went from being a potential star on tour, to just an above average player. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing bad about an being an above average tour player. Cink has made more than enough money to provide for his family. The 2017 season has seen a resurgence in Cink’s game. We don’t often get a chance to really understand the private life of a PGA tour player. Life comes at you fast, and sometimes a tragedy can help bring a family together. The Cink family’s private life made headlines when Lisa Cink was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Lisa Cink is a fighter, and her battle with cancer has helped Stewart regain focus on his carer. Watching his wife fight her cancer with the upmost discipline and structure motivated Cink to change his approach to how he prepares for success on the course. Cink took a long look at the areas of his game that needed work, and he made a plan to fix his short comings. He hired coaches to help him execute his game plan. Cink is motivated to play well for his wife, and the hard work is starting to really pay off. Cink’s top ten finish at the Dean & Deluca was his second of the year. Cink looks to carry over his good play to this week’s Memorial tournament. Last year’s Memorial tournament marked the first time Cink had missed this event in almost 20 years. Cink had taken a leave of absence to be with his wife and family as they prepared to fight cancer. Lisa Cink is winning the war on cancer and her husband has returned to the game with a new outlook. Muirfield Country Club has always been a great course for him , and it would be quite fitting if this week provided Cink a chance to honor his wife with a victory.
As reported by: Houston Chronicle Justin Thomas emerging as a very popular DraftKings option
Justin Thomas has six top ten finishes and three wins in the 2017 PGA tour season. Currently ranked 13th in the world, and 3rd in the FedEx Cup standings, Thomas is easily playing the best golf of his career. This very impressive young tour player will often draw a ton of attention in every event that he enters. Solid play should earn him a spot in the top pricing tier, but for whatever reason we get an very low price on Thomas for The Memorial. His price of $7,600 stands out as perhaps the biggest value of the week. Thomas is listed below players with zero PGA tour victories, and is only a few hundred more than players who measure success by just a making cuts. The combination of price and talent will drive the ownership level of Thomas through the roof. If you are a single lineup player then I could see the merit for a fade, but I would have a hard time fading him if you are a multiple lineup player. With plenty of other value plays this week it’s fairly easy to create a unique Justin Thomas lineup.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership Bubba Watson's decline
Bubba Watson’s PGA tour career has seen better times. This former two-time major champion has really struggled to find his form in 2017. Watson was notably skipped over by Davis Love in last year’s Ryder Cup selections, and his game has really failed to perform since that time. This season Watson has failed to record a win, and his last four individual rounds have a combined score of 15 over par. Known for his amazing distance off the tee, most would not associate Watson as a great ball striker. Watson’s iron play usually ranks him near the top in both greens in regulation and strokes gained tee to green. Since 2011 Watson has not finished higher than 25th in the year end greens in regulation standings, and he has consistently been in the top ten in strokes gained tee to green. In a very limited data sample from this season Watson is currently ranked 188th in greens in regulation, and 114th in strokes gained tee to green. Stats are by no means the end all, but it’s very alarming that Watson is struggling this bad. The good news is that he has plenty of room to revert back towards the mean. Watson’s price for The Memorial is at an all time low. Normally a low price on a superstar player equals a low ownership, but as of now it looks like Watson could come in very at a very low ownership level. The memorial is another limited field event, and we will have the top 70 and ties make it through to weekend play. The combination of low ownership and potential upside make Watson a very interesting GPP play.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Projected Ownership