DFS Alerts
Justin Rose set to make his season debut
This week will mark a few firsts for world’s number one ranked golfer, Justin Rose. Not only will Rose make his first start of the 2019 season, but his return to The Desert Classic will also be the first time he plays in a tournament with new equipment. Rose made headlines this offseason as the speculation began to grown around the possibility of joining the up can coming Honma club company. Rose will tee up this week with his new equipment in tow and will play in The Desert Classic for the first time since the 2010 season. Anytime Rose is in the field he would have to be considered a great option for almost any format, and as we have noted with other players switching clubs there should be almost no impact with this change. With over two months of testing and tweaking on the new equipment, Rose will be ready to go this week. With a guaranteed three rounds of play this week there is an easier path to trying to build a stars and scrubs rosters, and Rose is an elite ball striker that has proven worthy of a star spot in your builds.
As reported by: PGA TOUR
Bill Haas looking to build on great course history
The 2018 season is one that Bill Haas would like to leave in the rearview mirror. Playing in this week’s field on conditional membership status, this former FedEx Cup champion will need a fast start to the year in order to improve his reshuffle number. Coming off a season in which he finished outside the top 125 in the year-end FedEx Cup standings for the first time in his career, Haas will look to build on past success in this event. In addition to his two wins at this event, Haas has 8 top 25 or better finishes in his nine career cuts made. This week looks to have plenty of options in the 8k to 7k range on DraftKings, and Haas has both the motivation and course history needed to make a great GPP play. Factor in that he could be one of the lower owned players in this price range, and Haas zooms up the board in terms of a great pivot for the week.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership House Money
Look to the value golfers in order to differentiate your lineups this week. Conners is one of my favorites of the bunch in terms of a contrarian option. He’s playing with house money after parlaying a Monday qualifier into the Sony Open into a tie for third place and an invite to this week’s event. Guys like this are dangerous with three courses in the rotation this week. In an event that’s notoriously wide open and unpredictable, don’t be surprised if Conners makes a run. This guy is a good golfer with “go low” potential, and that has me taking notice on this layout of courses. He gained SEVEN strokes on approach last weekend and should be able to give himself plenty of birdie looks, especially on his rounds at LaQuinta and the Nicklaus Course. Ball striking is golden on these layouts, and Conners appears to be locked in right now.
An Elite Point Per Dollar Play
Given his current buzz and price point, expect Swafford to be a very popular option on all sites this week. He might push for 40%+ ownership on FanDuel with the ridiculously low price over there. In any case, I’m going to buy in on Swafford while he is playing well. The Georgia product is a notoriously streaky golfer who zipped his way into a third place finish a week ago. He hasn’t missed a cut during the fall and winter season. Fire away before the price tag continues to climb. He was the 2017 winner here and added a solid top 30 finish a year ago. He’s clearly comfortable on these desert layouts, and I expect his statistical measures to improve as we go along during the spring. There’s top five potential here at a mid-range (DK/FDRAFT) and value (FD) price tag.
A Great Statistical Fit
He’s a young golfer on the rise, and since the start of the fall swing, he ranks 31st in ball striking and first in birdie or better percentage. He absolutely has the “go low” ability to potentially win this golf tournament, and his first two trips here resulted in a 34th place finish in 2017 and a 17th place finish last year. The trends, the stats, and the potential are off the charts, and Wise will be a player that I am very much overweight on this weekend. The fact that he’s cheaper than a lot of the other top end options is a nice bonus, and he will likely be in contention come Sunday on the Stadium Course.
Winning Upside At Reasonable Ownership
Outside of Rahm and Rose, you can certainly make a case for Cantlay as potentially the top option on the board. While he doesn’t have the course history here that some other options do, there’s no denying his talent and his form. He went on a run of 17-7-2-5 during the fall swing, and he ranks above average statistically in ball striking and birdie making. He should be ready to go after a solid late fall / early winter rest, and I feel like he might go under-owned to some degree given the presence of Rahm, Rose, and the always popular Charles Howell at the top. While I can’t argue against any of those guys, I think there’s absolutely winning upside with Cantlay even though it’s his first time playing here. For a fun bold prediction, I have claimed in my Expert Survey that Cantlay will shoot a 59 in his round at LaQuinta this weekend. Let’s go low!
Fifteen minutes to roster lock and no major news to report
With a little over fifteen minutes until the roster lock of the year, it’s quiet on the news front. Good luck this week grinders, as always if any late news breaks we will provide the updates needed. Golf ownership numbers will be up and running within five minutes of roster lock. Make sure to check out Results DB to see how your percentages stack up vs the field.
Jerry Kelly looking to make the most of a sponsor's invite
Full-time PGA Champions player Jerry Kelly is in this week’s field via a sponsor’s invite. Having played in this event each of the last 20 years, this former Sony Open champion could possibly be playing in an event he loves for the last time. Now that Kelly is no longer active on the tour, he will no doubt get overlooked in terms of being a viable roster choice for the week. Currently projected to have around 1% ownership, Kelly has the track record at Waialae that should garnish some interest in terms of building GPP lineups. Over the last 20 years, Kelly has 11 top 15 or better finishes including a T14 in last year’s Sony Open. This course more than any other gives shorter hitters like Kelly a chance, so while it may be scary to risk a roster spot on him it would not be a surprise to see this veteran post another good week at a course he loves playing.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Weather update for The Sony Open
Kevin Roth’s weather report for The Sony Open is up in the main forum. Historically we can look for players to have to deal with winds during this event. This week however the weather looks great for golf and there does not appear to be any advantage to stacking tee time waves. If you are new to DFS golf we can sometimes get a favorable tee time wave the first two days in terms of weather. Remember that this is a full field event and players will tee off either early or late on the first two days.
As reported by: Kevin Roth Weather Report Kevin Na officially out this week
The Kevin Na rollercoaster of news is officially done as he has pulled out of the field as of this afternoon. Na tried to practice his way through a broken finger but has decided he can’t go this week. Reports surfaced earlier in the week that he might be out for up to 4 weeks, and then to the surprise of many Na was spotted trying to practice and play some on Tuesday. Na has been replaced in the field by David Hearn but due to the timing of the move, Hearn will not be available for DFS.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Sungjae Im looks to start the 2019 season strong
With the first full-field event of the 2019 season upon us, we can begin to look at playing golfers who have earned their way to the tour via the Web.com Tour. Highlighted by a handful of strong finishes during last year’s Web.com Tour, Sungjae Im made an impact early and often during the 2018 season. In his very first PGA Tour event as a member, Im narrowly missed a playoff at The Safeway Open and heads into this week as a player worth targeting for GPP’s. The addition of Im to your roster is not without risk as he has already missed a few cuts to start his rookie season, but if you believe his strong play from last year’s Web.com season will carry over then it makes sense to target him before the price catches up. Like many other PGA Tour rookies, Im will have the disadvantage of playing most of these courses for the first time. Known for his ability to hit accurate golf shots Im has the type of game that should carry over to the tour and is the perfect player to target for both a discount and upside.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Zach Johnson is a horse for this course
Waialae C.C. is a very different track from what we saw at last week’s Sony Open. If the wind does not blow this week then scores should be low as this is a very attackable course for golfers of this skill level. The key defense in the past for Waialae has been its narrow firm fast fairways. The lack of rough over the last few seasons has made driving it in play less important, but the course still ranks near the top in terms of hardest driving courses on the Tour. This type of setup has produced winners that are both short and long hitters, so really we should feel safe targeting both types of golfers this week. One such player who always plays well at this event is Zach Johnson. Playing in his 14th Sony Open this week, Johnson is gaining steam as a top mid-tier play amongst our experts. In addition to his win at the 2009 Sony Open, Johnson four top 15 or better finishes in the last five years of this event. The combination of safety and upside makes it easy to plug Johnson into a wide variety of lineup builds for the week.
As reported by: DraftKings PGA Value Rankings Kevin Na practiced this week and is still in the field
Reports surfaced earlier in the week that Kevin Na could miss up to 4 weeks with a finger injury. Na was spotted playing a practice round with a splint on his right pinky yesterday and still remains in this week’s field. It’s hard to imagine that Na would be very effective if he plays, but we will keep an eye on the situation.
As reported by: Dave Shedloski Twitter Jimmy Walker trending as a low owned high upside play for the week
The start of a season gives us a chance to evaluate players we like in terms of looking at the upcoming season. Similar to getting ready for a football draft we can take some time over the offseason to look at players and try to guess how they will perform next season. Jimmy Walker is a player that could very well be in line for a bounce-back season in 2019. Even though he did not win last season, Walker flashed with a few strong finishes and went on record several times that his battle with Lyme disease was becoming less of an issue. Now able to practice and play more golf, Walker can hopefully show that he still has the game to compete at the highest level. Walker has two wins at this course and enters this week as a player that is trending towards very low ownership. With back to back missed cuts at this event, most appear ready to give up on this two-time champ, making Walker a great GPP option for the week. Garnishing less than 6% projected ownership, Walker is not without risk, but if we are taking shots to win a big GPP then he has proven to have more than enough upside to crush his value at this price point.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Projections are live and Rory Sabbatini is trend as a top play
The start of a new season is always a fun time on The PGA Tour. For the most part, players come into this time of the year well rested and one would assume with a fresh set of goals for the new year. The Sony Open is a unique event because it’s the first chance we get to see some of the newest members of the tour showcase their talents. As one of the longest standing events on tour, The Sony Open also has its fair share of veterans who play here year after year. Making his 20th straight appearance at this event Rory Sabbatini enters this week with hopes of starting off his year with a good showing. The often animated and very opinionated Sabbatini is priced down on DraftKings this week and is trending as a top option in our projection model in terms of Pt/$/K. While the addition of Sabbatini to your roster is not without a ton of risk, he does have 14 made cuts at this event including 7 top 30 or better finishes highlighted by two runner up showings. At his price, if Sabbatini can make the cut and finish better than the middle of the pack he will easily crush value on the week.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool