DFS Alerts
Fairways and Greens
Reavie is always on my radar on courses that don’t require distance off the tee. He’s one of the best in the field when it comes to driving accuracy, which will give him a big advantage over the field. There is a lot of trouble (water, jungle, etc.) if you miss these fairways and Reavie should be able to avoid most of it. He’s good with his irons, he makes a lot of birdies, and he made big strides with his putting last season. He’s made the cut at this event in all three of his appearances, highlighted by a T4 here in 2016.
Class of the Field at a Discounted Price
Moore is my wildcard play of the week. His form has been a big issue during the swing season. In the two Asian events that he played, he finished in the bottom 20. He followed it up with an uninspiring T36 at the Shriners last week. Despite the form, I’m willing to play Moore this week, especially if he comes in at low ownership. He’s always better on short courses because his strong suit is peppering fairways and gaining strokes with his irons. In fact, he’s third in this field in strokes gained on approaches and tenth in birdie or better percentage. He has played here two times in the last five years, posting finishes of T23 and T6.
Getting Close to a Breakthrough
Niemann’s form fell off the map a little bit over the last few months, but it was largely due to his around the green game and his putting. He’s been one of the best ball strikers since joining the PGA Tour and that continued last week at the Shriners, where he gained nearly nine strokes tee to green. He’s ranked third in this field in strokes gained approach and third in birdie or better percentage. It’s not a matter of if Niemann is going to win on tour, it’s more of a matter of when. He should be able to take advantage of an easier course with a weaker field. Given his birdie-making ability, he offers a high floor and a high ceiling, making him a strong play in all formats.
Bronson Burgoon is no longer in the field
Bronson Burgoon has withdrawn from The Mayakoba Golf Classic this morning. At this time there is no injury news associated with his departure from the event. Wyndham Clark has replaced Burgoon in the field but will be unavailable for DFS pricing.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter
Norman Xiong looks to make the most of a sponsors exemption
Norman Xiong’s start to his professional career did not exactly go as planned. This highly touted amateur golfer missed his first seven cuts on tour leaving many who jumped on his hype train very disappointed. Xiong is in this weeks field on a sponsors invite and will look to build on the momentum gained from his first made cut at The Sanderson Farms Invitational a few weeks ago. Xiong played his way into the lead after 36 holes, but rounds of 76 and 70 were not quite good enough leaving him with a T26 for the week. With all of the hype now gone Xiong could make for a very interesting GPP play at his bare minimum price. Trending at a very predicted low ownership number this appears to be a great spot to add a few shares of the talented Xiong. Still regarded as a very talented young player Xiong at a discount in both ownership and price has the ability to crush his salary with a made cut and a top 25.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership DraftKings projections are live and Kevin Streelman ranks as a top play
As the PGA Tour heads into the final few weeks of the wraparound season, players both young and old will look to take advantage of a weaker field with hopes of gaining valuable FedEx Cup points. Currently ranked outside the top 150 in the world Kevin Streelman is a crafty PGA Tour veteran in need of a good week. With only one top ten or better finish in his last 10 starts on tour, Streelman does not exactly have the current form we are looking for in terms of a value roster option. The combination of his very good course history and a very reasonable price tag does, however, Streelman ranked very high in terms of Pt/$/K in our DraftKings projections for the week. Streelman is five for five in cuts made at El Camaleon G.C. including two top five or better finishes. Streelman has gone on record saying that he loves this golf course and feels like his ability to score with short clubs in his hands. Streelman is a great driver of the ball and feels like that strength gives him a great opportunity to play well at this venue. With a ton of other popular golfers in the sub $7,500 price range Streelman makes for potentially a great low owned pivot for the week.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool Firing On All Cylinders
While Fowler may be the class of the field, don’t sleep on guys like Finau and Woodland, either. In fact, hardly anyone in the field can touch the current form for those two. I’ll give a nod to Woodland, whose tee-to-green game is among the best on Tour. He has also started the new season with finishes of 5th, 2nd, and 10th. You can’t argue with three straight top tens, and he’s also finished 2nd and 34th in his two previous trips to Mayakoba. Fire him up with confidence in all formats.
Becoming a Top Weekly Option
Wise is only a step below the other top options in this field. Despite a slow start in Las Vegas last week, Wise closed with rounds of 67/66/66 on his way to a 15th place finish. He would have been in contention for a win if not for his first round. He currently leads the Tour in birdie or better percentage and ranks 7th in ball striking based on the early results of the fall swing, and he still checks in quite a bit cheaper than the other top options on the board. I’ll happily fire him up based on his current form despite two iffy outings at El Cameleon over the past two years. He’s simply a better golfer right now.
The Obvious Value Spot
Spaun is probably the most obvious value on the board this week, and that does have me somewhat nervous about him being chalky in this spot. However, all the trends are aligning for him. He is finally looking to be 100% healthy again, and there are three things going his way right now. A) The current form is great with back-to-back top 15 finishes. B) He is dialed in with his ball striking and led the field in approach play a week ago. C) He has finished 28th and 14th in his two starts at this event. A+B+C = obvious value.
Risk/Reward GPP Value
Hickok doesn’t come in with the same glamour profile or headlines of new PGA Tour members like Im, Albertson, and Cameron Champ, but he appears very capable of competing at this level. Our RotoGrinders projection model REALLY likes him this week, and he finally broke through with a 23rd place finish in Las Vegas last weekend. His ball striking numbers look very solid, and this profiles as the type of course where he should be able to compete. I won’t touch him in cash games, but he’s an intriguing flier that will be about 3-4% owned in GPP formats.
Twenty-five minutes to roster lock and no major news to report
Twenty-five minutes until roster lock and no major news to report. We have some potential wind to deal with in terms of the first day of play, so there might be a small edge by stacking the early/late tee time wave. If the weather pattern holds winds will increase throughout the day today making the early morning conditions the easiest of the day. Good luck this week grinders, and results DB will have results up and running shortly after lock.
Sungjae Im looks to bounce back from a missed cut
Whether you are a rookie or an experienced veteran, playing on the PGA Tour will always present the challenge of balancing out the highs and lows of competing at the highest level in the game. PGA Tour rookie Sungjae Im heads into this week looking to rebound after his first missed cut of the season. This very talented PGA Tour rookie finished inside won the overall money title on The Web.com last year. In addition to his consistent play, Im flashed his upside by posting two wins and three seconds in addition to 11 top 25 or better finishes last season. Im wasted no time in terms of showing his ability to play at the highest level as he missed making the playoff at the Safeway Open by one shot. Reasonably priced across the industry Im is the type of player worthy of big shares in GPP’s this week. Those who rostered him at a high price last week might be quick to jump off the hype train, but Im has the game and talent to make this a great buy low spot in GPP’s.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Joaquin Niemann gaining steam in projected ownership
Playing in what will be his first official full season as a PGA member Joaquin Niemann appears to be on the fast track of becoming a bonified star. In order to compete in last year’s Masters, Niemann remained an amateur golfer for the first quarter of the tour season. Facing what is the daunting task of gaining a tour card via sponsors exemptions, Niemann played well enough in his 11 starts to earn status for this coming season. Playing near the lead late on the weekend on a handful of occasions quickly gained Niemann the status of a young player worth paying attention to moving forward. Priced down for this event due to a slow start to the 2019 season, Niemann is once again gaining interest as an option for the week. Moving back to bent grass greens should boost the poor putting stats posted by Niemann earlier this season on poa greens, and many in the industry are showing interest in this budding star playing well sooner than later. Gaining almost 10 % in projected ownership for the week, Niemann is quickly becoming one of the more popular plays for the week.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership Fire Up The Value
Albertson checks in as my favorite value play of the week, and he’s dirt cheap everywhere. Boom! Don’t sleep on this new PGA Tour member. He was one of the better golfers to graduate from the Web.Com Tour last year, and he rebounded nicely last week at the Sanderson Farms after a missed cut in his professional debut. He fired a brilliant 67/66 weekend in order to finish in a tie for fifth. That should help him gain confidence moving forward, and he’s a great value this week. I am very encouraged by the way he closed out last week’s rounds, and he is a fine fit to round out your rosters.
Just Too Cheap
Are you kidding me with these prices on Sungjae Im? I would have pegged him as a top 15 option in this field, yet he’s just the 21st option on DraftKings when you sort by salary, and he’s priced like a scrub on FanDuel. Sign me up. Sign me up. Where can I sign up? Every young golfer is going to have ups and downs, but if one missed cut at the Sanderson Farms is going to keep everyone off Im at these prices, I’ll just buy even more. Remember the stock market adage: Buy low, sell high. We can chalk up some of last week’s struggles to jet lag after playing in Asia, and let’s not forget that everyone on the PGA Tour has been amazed by this kid. He’s the real deal, and this price tag is simply too cheap. Load up.