DFS Alerts
Tommy Fleetwood looks to bounce back from a missed cut
In many ways missing the cut at last week’s API was a blessing for Tommy Fleetwood. Looking to put the disappointment of a failed finish at the Honda Classic behind him, Fleetwood got last weekend off and should be rested to play this week. Great ball strikers have always faired well at TPC Sawgrass and despite a poor showing at a very hard Bay Hil, Fleetwood is still one of the best ball strikers in the game. In addition to being a great driver of the golf ball, Fleetwood is the type of player who controls the distance of his irons as well as anyone in the game. Playing in his fourth Players Championship Fleetwood enters this week looking to improve on a very impressive top-five finish at last year’s event.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown
Daniel Berger stands out as a great source of value
After struggling with injuries most of the 2019 season Daniel Berger enters this week playing some outstanding golf. Back and healthy again there is a strong argument to be made that price expectations have not caught up to the current form of Berger’s game. With three straight top ten or better finishes, this former PGA Tour rookie heads into this week with a ton of momentum. Priced-down in this very strong field, Berger stands out as one of the stronger value plays for the week. Playing in his sixth Players Championship Berger is 4 for 5 in cuts made with one career top 10.
As reported by: Pga Value Breakdown Justin Rose officially still with Honma Golf
With a ton of uncertainty about his game moving forward, Justin Rose continues to decline in terms of player confidence for the DFS Community. Adding to his poor play this season is the bit of confusion surrounding the status of his deal with Honma golf. After signing a multi-year deal to feature Honma clubs in his bag, Rose has really struggled to find a fit that he likes and therefore is starting to search for answers with other brand named equipment. As of Wednesday Rose and Honma have not made an official announcement about the status of their partnership. Heading into this week’s Players Championship a discounted Rose appears to be a player that many will avoid for the week. If you are a person that buys into long term talent, then this is a great spot to grab a few shares of Rose in some of the larger field tournaments.
As reported by: Jonathan Wall Twitter Patrick Cantlay set to return after minor surgery
Patrick Cantlay returns to the PGA Tour after a multiple-week absence. Having trouble sleeping due to complications from surgery during the 2018 season Cantlay had a cleanup operation to fix his deviated septum. Gamers should not worry about the operation as the procedure did not have an impact on any part of Cantlay’s swing. Playing in his fourth Players Championship, Cantlay will look to bounce back from a disappointing cut at last year’s event. Currently ranked 6th in the world, Cantlay enters this week having made all four cuts in the 2020 calendar season including 3 top 25 or better finishes.
As reported by: Golf Channel Has gained at least seven strokes tee to green in each of his last four events
I really hope Benny An flies under the radar this week. The field is so stacked that everyone can’t be highly owned. After an amazing comeback at the Honda Classic where he was six-over after Thursday and managed to post a top five finish, he underwhelmed last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. What many won’t notice is that he managed to gain nearly eight strokes tee to green. The issue was the putter, as he lost over nine strokes on the greens. He’s not a good putter to begin with, so I am more than willing to overlook one really bad week. The fact that he’s gained at least seven strokes tee to green in each of his last four events is very impressive. In fact, it’s very Bryson-like. Due to his great around the green play, he’s one of the best in the field when it comes to bogey avoidance. That will be critical this week with so much water in play. He’s played at THE PLAYERS Championship three times and has posted progressively better finishes — MC, T30, and T27.
Francesco Molinari on track to play this week
Just a few short minutes after lock last week, news broke that defending API champion Francesco Molinari had withdrawn with a back injury. Molinari woke up Thursday morning and was unable to tie his shoes. Dealing with a lingering back injury for a few months now, last week was the first time that Molinari was unable to manage the pain. After a week off and some therapy, Molinari appears ready to play this week. Mired in an extended slump Molinari will almost certainly go very under-owned again this week.
As reported by: The Golf Channel Elite ball striking continues, we just need one good week on the greens
Ladies and gentlemen, Matsuyama is back in the core plays. He’s a regular feature in this article because his tee to green game has been elite. It’s only a matter of time before he puts all four rounds together and manages to gain strokes on the green. When that happens, he’ll find himself back in the winner’s circle. He was the first golfer that I put in my main lineup this week, as he feels too cheap across the industry. I have him ranked as the fourth best play of the week, but he’s the 13th most expensive on DraftKings and the 12th most expensive on FanDuel. He’s ranked sixth in this field in strokes gained approach, fourth in birdie or better percentage, and seventh in ball striking over the last eight rounds. He’s posted top 20 finishes in seven of his last nine events on the PGA Tour and has top 25 finishes in five of his six appearances at THE PLAYERS Championship. While I do think he’s live to win this week, we don’t need that to happen for him to pay off this salary.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2020 PLAYERS Champion
Bryson is one of the streakiest golfers in the world and he’s coming into this week in pretty amazing form. He finished fifth at the Genesis Invitational where he gained over 10 strokes tee to green, he nearly won the WGC-Mexico where he gained nearly nine strokes tee to green, and he back-doored a top five at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he gained over nine strokes tee to green. Over those last three tournaments, he has gained more strokes off the tee than any golfer in the world (including Rory McIlroy). A lot of jokes were made about him bulking up to look like a gymnast, but the mad scientist is clearly on to something. Now that his irons are dialed in, it’s only a matter of time before he wins a big event. We shouldn’t forget last year when he reeled off seven straight top 20 finishes while racking up three wins in that short stretch. He’s going to be popular this week, but that’s not always a negative. I’m more concerned about the aggregate ownership of each lineup rather than the individual ownership of each golfer. In other words, you can play anyone you want in PGA DFS, you just have to be careful with who you pair them with if you are playing in GPPs.
Five Minutes to roster lock, no major news to report ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
With just about five minutes until roster lock, it’s all quiet on the news front this morning. The chance for high winds late Thursday afternoon could mount to a favorable weather draw for the early Thursday late Friday wave. ResutlsDB will be up and running a few minutes after lock. Good Luck this week Grinders!!!!
Justin Rose plays Wednesday Pro-Am without his Honma clubs
Struggling to find his form this season Justin Rose could have a different set of irons in his bag on Thursday. Rose showed up to the course on Wednesday without a Honma club in his bag. Last week at The Honda Classic Rose was spotted playing the new Taylor Made SIM driver, and this week he has added what appears to be Taylor Made blades in place of his normal Honma irons. Rose has a multi-year deal with Honma, so it will be interesting to see what actually happens on Thursday.
As reported by: Golf.Com Weather update for The Arnold Palmer Invitational
Kevin Roth’s weather report for The Arnold Palmer Invitational is up in the main forum. According to Roth, there is a strong chance that wind speeds will increase as a front moves through the area. Storms are also possible with this front, but it’s the wind speeds that we want to pay attention to as in terms of having an impact on playing conditions. The forecast calls for wind speeds in the 5 to 10mph range Thursday morning, and as the front moves through golfers in the afternoon will face wind speeds in the 15 to 20 mph range. With a chance that gusts could reach the 30mph range on late Thursday, there is potentially a strong weather draw in play for round one. Friday, for the most part, looks to have the same weather each wave, so our edge is to pick golfers early on Thursday. If you are mass multi entering this week it looks like building lineups within each draw ( favoring the predicted weather draw ) gives you the best chance to catch a benefit from getting the weather correct. Remember there is always a chance that the forecast does not hold, so you could gain an edge by playing some afternoon waves in case the forecast misses. For now, though it appears the early Thursday/ late Friday draw has the best chance to play in the least amount of wind.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Brooks Koepka enters the week searching for answers
It was not that long ago that Brooks Koepka looked like the most dominating player in the game. Heading into this season not quite 100% healthy, Koepka has struggled to play the type of golf we expect for a player of his caliber. Injuries and poor course history are factored into the price for Koepka this week creating a great spot to buy low on a world-class player in large field GPP’s, By no means is Kokepa safe for cash games or even single entry GPP’s, but if you are mass entering this week then Koepka is worth a strong look. As a late addition to this week’s field, Koepka should have a much need sense of urgency to figure a few things out as he prepares for an important stretch of golf. As one of the few players in the game that can dial his game in at anytime this is a great spot to play a little game theory.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Defending Arnold Palmer Invitational champion continues to struggle with his game
Prior to winning last year’s API Francisco Molinari was on track to establishing himself as one of the top players in the world of golf. One month after winning this tournament last season, Molinari was in a prime spot to win his second major as he played with a lead on Sunday at The Masters. There is a very strong sentiment in the world of golf that his inability to close the deal at Augusta is the very reason why Molinari has struggled over the last 11 months. Still searching for his first top ten since this tournament last year, Molinari has fallen some nineteen spots in world ranking points in the last year. Despite the decrease in price Molinari is a player that most in the DFS world has simply chosen to ignore. While the case for not picking Molinari is all pretty obvious, there are a few reasons to consider him as a roster option for this week. First and foremost the line between playing well and playing poorly is often smaller than most of us realize. In post-game interviews or articles written about his downfall, Molinari has expressed the exact same sentiment. There is not some glaring swing flaw keeping him from playing well, but instead, Molinari is just struggling to put 18 holes together. His inability to play longer stretches of top quilty golf is the reason for his poor play. Currently projected at sub 4% ownership Molinari also provides a pivot off other golfers in his price range. With a perfect cut record at Bay Hill, including 4 top tens or better finishes, Molinari has the game to play this course. Again the strong vibe coming out of his camp is that Molinari is close to playing well and feels good about his game. Looking to finally put together a stretch of good holes, Molinari is hopeful that this title defense week will finally get his season turned around.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Maverick McNealy continues to shine in his rookie season
Top-ranked college golfers making an almost seamless transition to The PGA Tour has become somewhat commonplace over the last few years. For former top-ranked amateur golfer Maverick McNealy the road to the PGA Tour has been anything but quick. After turning pro during the 2017 season, McNealy is now finally a full-time member on The PGA Tour. Unable to play his way onto the tour through limited starts early in his career, McNealy had to forge his way via the Korn Ferry Tour. After missing a few cuts at the start of this year’s wrap-around season, McNealy has quietly played some very good golf heading into this week’s API. McNealy heads into this week having made 11 straight cuts including three top 15 or better finishes in his last four starts. McNealy made the cut at The API as an amateur in 2016, so he has some expectations of what it takes to perform well at Bay Hill. Currently ranked inside the top 60 in this year’s FedEx Cup race, McNealy heads into this week looking to keep up his good play. Despite being a tour rookie, McNealy has played well enough of late to be on your radar as a strong value play the week.
As reported by: PGA DFS Core Plays Billy Horschel officially parts ways with PXG
In somewhat of a surprise move Billy Horschel has parted ways with the club company PXG. News of this split first surfaced at last week’s Honda Classic as Horschel was spotted wearing a Polo hat instead of his usual PXG hat. As a two time winner with PXG clubs in his bag, Horschel was easily one of the biggest names on staff for the company. Horschel confirmed via social that he is still playing PXG clubs for now as he remains a free agent. PXG also confirmed that newly signed player Chez Reavie has also parted ways with the company. Reavie had struggled to play well early this season. There is no news as of yet to what changes if any were made to Reavie’s bag.
Other tagged players: Chez Reavie