DFS Alerts
I'm Making an Exception for a Golfer that will be Overpriced and Over-Owned
It feels gross paying $8,500 for Redman, who will likely be one of the highest owned golfers of the week. If you are playing large-field tournaments and/or building a bunch of lineups, it’s not the worst idea to take an underweight stance here. However, I will eat the chalk and look to differentiate my lineups elsewhere. Over the last three weeks (in stacked fields no less), Redman has gained 5.1, 7.8, and 4.7 strokes on his approach shots. He is one of three golfers ranked in the top 10 in both strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach in this field (other two are Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland). Redman played this event last season and nearly won, posting his best career finish on the PGA Tour.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Buff Bryson Week
There are a million reasons to like Buff Bryson this week. We’ll start with the fact that he’s posted six straight top eight finishes on the PGA Tour. Since the restart, he’s gained more strokes than any golfer and it’s not particularly close. The crazy part is that the courses the last three weeks haven’t exactly fit his new style of play. It’s also crazy that it doesn’t feel like everything is firing on all cylinders, yet he’s still posting great finish after great finish. With a lack of superstars teeing it up this week, Bryson is the clear betting favorite at 7-to-1 and he’s only $11,700 on DraftKings. He should be able to hit more drivers this week and take advantage of the four par fives. I can’t wait to see him hit bombs on this course.
Ten minutes to roster lock at the The Travelers Championship and no major news to report
In what has been a very busy week in terms of player movement, there is no news of any last-minute player withdrawals this morning. The PGA Tour has decided to march on despite a handful of COVID related cases. Please make sure to double-check your lineups for any of the players tagged in this alert. Good luck this week grinders. ResultsDB will be up and running a few minutes after lock.
Other tagged players: Webb Simpson, Chase Koepka, Graeme McDowell, Cameron Champ
Webb Simpson and Chase Koepka both are no longer in the field
In a press conference, just a short time ago PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced that PGA Tour players Webb Simpson and Chase Koepka have withdrawn this week as a measure of caution. Neither player has tested positive at this time. At this time replacements in the field have not been named.
As reported by: Will Gray Twitter Other tagged players: Chase Koepka Brooks Koepka is no longer in the field
Brooks Koepka is the second PGA Tour player to pull out if this week’s Travelers Championship due to his caddie testing positive for COVID. Rickey Elliott tested positive for COVID today and Koepka removed himself from the field. Koepka is the first superstar on tour to miss an event due to COVID and marks the fourth person to withdraw over the last two weeks due to the pandemic. Koepka played practice rounds last week with Graeme McDowell, who’s caddie tested positive last night. Just like McDowell, Koepka has also tested negative but has opted to not play this week.
As reported by: Golfweek Solid Value on DK/FD
If you are looking for a safer value play, give Taylor a long look. His price tag is a little higher on Yahoo, but he is still a reasonable play there. The FanDuel and DraftKings price tags are nice bargains. Taylor is a consistent cut maker with solid course history, as he has made the cut in each of the last four editions of this event. That includes a career-best fourth place finish at TPC River Highlands a year ago. He doesn’t grade out quite as well statistically as some of the other plays, as his approach numbers are lagging a bit this year. That said, 2020 is still a small sample size, and Taylor is a veteran with a lot of experience. That has value on this course, and you’re not paying any sort of premium to roster him. He’s a fine sixth golfer to round out your squad.
Bombs Away
It’s crazy how narratives can swing DFS ownership. Even though a bulked-up DeChambeau made waves at Colonial with his bombs off the tee, he wasn’t highly owned at Harbour Town because of the narrative that bombers can’t succeed there. Well, there’s more to Bryson’s game than just hitting bombs off the tee. He showed some finesse at Harbour Town when he needed it, ranking seventh in the field on strokes gained on approach and exiting with an eighth place finish. His game is really, really close to being elite, and a win isn’t too far away. Don’t be surprised if it comes at TPC River Highliands, where he has already posted back-to-back top ten finishes.
Graeme McDowell withdrawals from The Travelers Championshp after caddie test positive
Graeme McDowell will not play this week due to a positive COVID test by his caddie. McDowell himself has tested negative, but he will play it safe and sit out this week. At this time there has not been a field replacement announced to take the place of McDowell.
As reported by: Golfweek Cameron Champ becomes the 2nd PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19
The PGA Tour just released an official statement regarding Cameron Champ. The two-time tour winner tested positive on Tuesday and will be replaced by Sebastian Cappelen. Champ is reportedly asymptomatic but will be in quarantine for the appropriate amount of time. Due to the timing of this move, Cappelen might not get added to the player pool.
As reported by: PGA TOUR Twitter Other tagged players: Sebastian Cappelen Despite a favorable course history Keegan Bradley is trending toward low ownerhsip
The term of DFS fan favorite and the player known as Keegan Bradley are not usually put into the same sentence. Bradley is a player that many in the industry typically avoid. Currently projected to have a sub 10% ownership for the week Bradley is a player you could consider as a leverage golfer for the week. TPC River Highlands is a course that has suited Bradley’s game well in the past. Bradley is nine for nine in cuts made at this event with five top 30 or better finishes. If you are not sold on the idea of adding Bradley to your full week rosters, then his solid course history could provide enough evidence for roster consideration on showdown slates. In 36 career rounds at TPC River Highlands Bradley has seven rounds of 66 or better while only shooting over par six times. In his last five opening rounds of The Travelers Championship, Bradley has a scoring average of 66.2 highlighted by a 64 in 2016 and a 65 to start last year’s tournament.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Bounce-Back Value Play
I don’t expect Horschel to be very popular this week, even though he might be the safest value play on the board. There aren’t any true punts that I feel great about. While Harry Higgs, Vaughn Taylor, Ryan Moore, and Matthew NeSmith all rate out well for me, they all come with red flags. Meanwhile, Horschel is a cut-maker with upside. Yes, he missed the cut last week, but it was on the number. Even with that, he’s made 14 of his last 17 cuts on tour with six top 10 finishes during that stretch. He can gain strokes in all facets of his game, so don’t let one missed cut cloud your judgment.
Improvement Around the Greens?
During the break, Hovland tried to improve on his biggest weakness — his short game. He hired Pete Cowen, who said he’d rate Hovland’s chipping a one out of 10. To prove how bad he’s been in the past, there are only three golfers in this field that have lost more strokes around the green over the last 50 rounds. It looks like the coaching hire is paying dividends though, as the last two weeks have his best two around the green performances in his last seven events. We know the ball striking is elite and the soft course should help him hit plenty of greens. In his debut here last season, he made the cut and finished T54.
The Webb of this Week?
Im missed the cut last week and it wasn’t particularly close. The best part is that he was out there on the driving range on Saturday with everyone that made the cut. He had nothing else to do, so why not sharpen the game after a missed cut. He’s becoming a DFS legend and I fully expect him to bounce back in a big way, especially since he lost 4.4 strokes putting. His level of consistency is nearly unmatched, as he’s made 24 of his last 27 cuts with 18 top 30 finishes during that stretch. In his debut at TPC River Highlands, he finished in a tie for 21st. Look for him to improve on that finish this week.
One of the Safest Plays in the Field
Casey is one of the few golfers in this field that decided to sit out the first two tournaments. I haven’t heard a reason why, but will be paying close attention to his interviews during the week. As long as I don’t hear anything alarming (being too worried about the virus or saying he didn’t practice much), I will be overweight on Casey in both cash games and tournaments. He hasn’t missed a cut since last year’s Masters and has some of the best course history you will find — T5, second, T5, T17, and second over the last five years. He also rates out well in my stat model as the 13th best fit for the course.
Time to Put Our Differences Aside
We all have those golfers/players in DFS that we never get right. One of those for me is Reed. I just never seem to be on him the right weeks. However, he was one of my favorite fades last week and he actually missed the cut. Perhaps myself and Patrick are finally on the same page. This is a good bounce-back spot for Reed, even though there hasn’t been anything great about his ball striking in the first two events back from the break. He still has six top 10 finishes in his last 10 events and he has finishes of T30, T5, and T11 at this event in the last four years.