DFS Alerts
No Missed Cuts Since the Restart
Hubbard is a player that I could honestly see winning this week, which is a bit wild coming off a week where Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Xander Schauffele were all battling it out at the Tour Championship. Hubbard has played in nine events since the restart and hasn’t missed a single cut. That’s a truly impressive feat that only a few have accomplished. He’s not the strongest off the tee, but his approach game is solid and he hasn’t lost strokes putting since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February. He’s played here a total of five times in his career and has made four cuts during that stretch. His best finish here was T13, which happened in 2019. This is the most consistent golf he’s ever played, so we could see a new personal best at Silverado.
The Safeway Open...or the Brendan Steele Open?
If this tournament had a second name it would be the Brendan Steele Open. He won here back-to-back years and has the best course history of any golfer in the field. I was a little surprised to see Si Woo Kim as the most expensive golfer this week, as you could make a great case for it to be Steele. He’s long been a DFS favorite and if you’ve been around long enough, you likely remember his amazing comeback to make the cut in one of the Florida events. He had a rough stretch of golf for a while, but has really picked it up since the restart. He’s made six straight cuts with three top 25 finishes during that stretch. Let’s not forget that he was playing in some incredibly stacked fields. In those six tournaments, he gained a total of 20.2 strokes on approach. Poa annua is his favorite putting surface and he clearly has the greens at Silverado figured out.
Number One in the Model, Number 14 in the Pricing
Varner grades out as the top overall play in my model this week and is the 14th most expensive golfer on both DraftKings and FanDuel. He’ll likely be popular, but I’m 99% sure I’ve never had a golfer this cheap rate out as the top play of the slate. I’m much more likely to eat chalk at the top than I am with the values because they are more consistent and have more win equity. Varner hasn’t been amazing since the restart, but he does have four top 35 finishes in his last seven events. In this field, he’s ranked inside the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach, which should bode well for his chances this week. He’s played this event each of the last five years and has never missed a cut while posting three top 20 finishes.
John Hu and Bryson Nimmer are no longer in the field
Two more player moves to report on what has already been a busy week of field adjustments. Two lesser-known players in Bryson Nimmer and John Hu are both out of this week’s field. Alex Cejka and Sang-Moon Bae are now both in the field.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Other tagged players: Bryson Nimmer, Alex Cejka, Sang-Moon Bae
Vaughn Taylor and Ben Martin are both no longer in the field
Two more golfers have decided to take a pass on this week’s Safeway Open. Vaughn Taylor (ribs) and Ben Martin have both been removed from this week’s field. Chad Campbell and Jonathan Byrd are now in this week’s field. Both players will receive projections once they are added to DFS pricing pools.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Other tagged players: Ben Martin, Chad Campbell, Jonathan Byrd 
Multiple Monday WD's for the first event of the 2021 PGA Tour season
The PGA Tour season will start a new this week as the 2021 season will get underway on Thursday at The Safeway Open. Matt Kuchar added his name to the list of players who committed to the event to pull out on Monday. Joining Danny Lee, Jimmy Walker, and Bronson Burgoon, Kuchar will take a pass on this week’s event. With only one week separating the first event of the 2021 season and The U.S. Open, there could be more player movement as the week progresses. Roberto Castro, George McNiel, Bill Haas, and Ryan Blaum have been added as replacements and should be in the pricing pool within the next 24 hours.
As reported by: Rob Bolton Twitter Other tagged players: Jimmy Walker, Danny Lee, Bronson Burgoon, George McNeill, Ryan Blaum, Bill Haas, Roberto Castro 
Webb Simpson returns to golf after a one week absence
In a comfortable position in this year’s FedEx Cup race, Webb Simpson opted to skip last week’s BMW Championship at what turned out to be a very challenging Olympia Fields. Rested and ready to play at a course that fit’s his game Simpson will look to finish the season off in style. Despite missing last week, Simpson enters this week as the biggest mover in terms of POW for the week. Having gained almost 6 percentage points for the week, gamers are counting on a healthy Simpson to play well at course that demands accuracy and timely putting. In his last three starts at East Lake Simpson has gained just over 4 shots tee to green with 3 top 16 or better finishes.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership 
Marc Leishman slumps his way into East Lake
Without a doubt, there is not a golfer in this field struggling more than Marc Leishman. With 800 of his almost 1100 FedEx points coming from just two events this year ( 1st at Farmers, and 2nd at API), Leishman has done very little since the start of the season to earn a spot this week. Even at the bottom of the barrel discount price, Leishman is still trending at under 6% ownership this week. Most in the world of DFS golf will just simply hit the exclude button on Leishman when building rosters. Despite his poor form, there is some merit to playing a low priced golfer at low ownership despite bad form. At 5K on a site like DK Leishman would more than pay off his salary with a top 20 type of finish for the week. When you take a look under the hood and try to figure out why Leishman is playing below his normal level it appears that the putter could be a big source of his problems. Normally an above-average putter in terms of SG putting, Leishman is in the midst of having his worst putting season ever on the Tour. Putting is typically a part of the game that we can see come back quickly for a golfer, so if Leishman can start to build a little confidence this week there is more than enough talent in his game to still play well at this level.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership 
Rory McIlroy welcomes new addition to his family
Former world number one Rory McIlroy took to Instagram on Thursday morning to announce that his wife Erica gave birth to their first child on Monday. McIlroy made it public a few weeks ago that being there for the birth of his first child was a priority and that he would leave any event he was playing in no matter where he stood in the tournament. For now, McIlroy is on track to play this week and will start 3 shots behind FedEx leader Dustin Johnson. Baby swag narrative players will look to give Rory a bump this week if indeed he plays this week for the first time as a new dad.
As reported by: Rory McIlroy Instagram 
Steady Value
I was not high on Niemann all that much heading into last week, but he proved me wrong with a huge week that allowed him to sneak inside the top 30. He’s effectively playing with house money here, and I expect Niemann to be very aggressive all week. That should lean to more birdie chances than the average member of the field, and Niemann is priced near the bottom of the barrel on every site. He is solid if unspectacular across the board statistically, but he has proven that he can score in bunches when he gets it rolling. He should be full of confidence after last week’s third place finish, and Niemann is a rock solid value here.
Upside At This Salary
I am hoping for a low owned play here, though it is very tough to gauge ownership this week. With only 30 golfers in the field, it is very difficult to find a truly contrarian option. It feels like Tyrrell Hatton might be under-owned given his relative struggles of late and his lack of course history, and many DFS players will gravitate toward players that are in better form for their mid-tier values. That is my hope. However, Hatton has a great short game when things are working, and he ranks 22nd on Tour in ball striking and 10th in par four scoring this season. East Lake sets up nicely for his game, and I like him as a contrarian option in a short field. He is also my favorite long shot bet of the week at 100 to 1 odds.
Statistical Dominance
Schauffele is about as steady as they come on the PGA Tour. He cranks out top finish after top finish and doesn’t get a ton of national recognition for doing so. In fact, he is currently riding a streak of SEVEN consecutive top 25 finishes. He has 12 top 25 finishes in his last 13 starts. The wins are coming at some point, and Schauffele is likely in store for a monster 2021 season. Every element of his game is super consistent. He ranks 8th on Tour in ball striking. He ranks 5th on Tour in par four scoring. He has finished 1st, 7th, and 2nd in his three trips to East Lake. The form is great. The stats are great. The course history is great. The price is great. What else can we ask for?
Still On The Rise
Many people may feel that Morikawa is in over his head as a 21 year old playing in his first Tour Championship. Again, I’ll reiterate the fact that he has three (3) career wins, one (1) major championship, and two (2) career missed cuts. He struggled to start the week at Olympia Fields, but he closed with 68-68 to climb from around 50th place to 20th place by the time the week was over. His weekend scores were among the best marks in the field, and he gained almost four strokes from tee to green in those two rounds. It is safe to say that he has shaken off his post-PGA Championship hangover, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he shows the moxie to come into East Lake and contend. If the ownership ends up trending lower, that makes it even better. Morikawa is already an elite player with his tee to green game, and all he needs is a steady short game week in order to contend.
Elite Top End Option
Last week’s finish was truly some epic golf. After Dustin Johnson drained a 43 foot birdie on the 72nd hole to send the BMW Championship into a playoff, Jon Rahm responded with a 66 footer of his own on the first playoff hole. Talk about a finish! Dustin Johnson would be the easy choice as the best golfer on the board this week, but Rahm is my pick at the top. Sure, he starts two strokes behind DJ, but Rahm also comes in at a reasonable price discount for that two shot difference. Two strokes is not a massive difference over four rounds of golf. Rahm is a streaky golfer who should be full of confidence after the epic playoff win at Olympia Fields, and Rahm has finished inside the top 12 in each of his three trips to East Lake. He ranks third on Tour in ball striking and should definitely be in the mix for hsi first ever FedEx Cup trophy. I believe he will be the most motivated golfer in the field this week.
Straight Driver that is Deadly with his Irons and Make Putts
Hatton was priced over $10,000 nearly a month ago and is now the forgotten man on the PGA Tour. Let’s not forget that he posted six straight top 15 finishes before struggling at the St. Jude Invitational and the PGA Championship. It’s worth noting that his lone missed cut (at the PGA) was solely due to his short game, as he gained five strokes with his ball striking in only two rounds. He has bounced back nicely over the last two events, posting back-to-back top 25s while gaining at least 4.5 strokes tee to green each week. He’s straight off the tee, he’s great with his irons, and he has historically been a good putter on bermuda greens. I love the price point and like his chances of moving up the leaderboard over the course of four rounds.