DFS Alerts
Matt Wallace is gaining steam as a popular value play
Matt Wallace skipped the CIMB Classic a few weeks ago in order to compete in the British Masters. Currently ranked inside the top 20 in the Race To Dubai on the European Tour, Wallace will make his WGC debut this week. Fueled by three wins on the European Tour this year, Wallace has moved into the top 60 in the official world golf rankings and is starting to gain steam as a popular value play for the week. With the desire to fit in one or two top-end players into rosters it makes sense to try and grab as much value as possible when making a lineup. Reasonably priced across the industry Wallace has proven that he can compete with the best players in the world and is a great choice for salary relief on the slate.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership
Thomas Pieters provides upside at a discount
Thomas Pieters enters this week with hopes of finally turning the corner on a prolonged slump. With six top tens in majors or WGC over the last few seasons, Pieters quickly asserted himself as a player ready to take the next big step in his career. Unfortunately, over the last 18 months, Pieters has played poor and inconsistent golf. From DFS darling to a player only worth a spot as a GPP flyer, Pieters makes for a great choice of value with the option of upside for this week. Still an extremely talented golfer, Pieters has the game to both play well at this course and the ability to crush DFS scoring. Priced down due to his poor recent form Pieters is the type of player that can outperform his salary in light of a high finish. The nice thing about a golfer like Pieters is that we are not just rostering him for the hopes of bridies and eagles. With two top 25 or better finishes in two of his three attempts at this tournament, there is a realistic chance that Pieters can contend for a top 15 or better which would guarantee that he outperforms his salary.
As reported by: Pga Value Breakdown Favorite Point-Per-Dollar Play of the Week
Grillo is my favorite play of the week when you factor in salaries. I will be loading up on him in DFS and if you like to bet on golf, I love his odds to top five and top ten. He sent out a Tweet after the CJ Cup saying that he hit the ball well, but couldn’t buy a putt. When you look at the stats, they back up his story. He should bounce back nicely this week on these Bentgrass greens. If you look at strokes gained putting on Bentgrass over the last 50 rounds, Grillo is first in this field.
Good Ball Striker with a Nice Finish at this Course
Stanley was a huge disappointment last week, but that should help lower his ownership for this tournament. If you look at his stats, he was ranked in the top half of the field in driving accuracy and greens in regulation, he just couldn’t make a putt. We know that he’s a great ball striker and with the greens being easy to hit, we don’t have to worry about his around the green game. If he can bounce back with the putter, he will easily pay off this cheap price tag.
Needs a Better Win on his Resume than the Puerto Rico Open
Finau needs to win a big event. Despite posting so many top tens and top fives at some of the biggest tournaments in golf, his only win to date is the Puerto Rico Open. It’s time for him to breakthrough and win an actual event and what better spot to do it than this? He is extremely long off the tee, he’s good with his irons, and he’s ranked first in the field in greens in regulation. The four par fives should suit him well and he clearly likes the course, as evidenced by his T11 here a year ago.
Loves WGC Events and this One in Particular
McIlroy doesn’t often make my list of suggested cash game targets, but he has a lot going for him this week. We’ll start with his course history. He has played here five times and has finished inside the top 11 every single time. He’s one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world, which will come in handy on a course that features four par fives and a drivable par four. While we haven’t seem him play in over a month, he has three straight top 12 finishes on tour.
Rory McIlroy looks to build on a strong course history
With the ever-changing landscape of the upper echelon in the world of golf, Rory McIlroy could enter this week with more motivation than normal to prove he still belongs in the conversation. This former number one ranked player in the world has been somewhat quiet by his standards since winning the FedEx Cup two years ago. McIlroy enters this week with perhaps the best course history of anyone in the field. In his six previous HSBC Championships, McIlroy has not finished worse than a T11 and has 4 top 5 or better finishes. In 24 rounds at Sheshan International Golf Club McIlroy has only one round over par leaving him with a very impressive scoring average of 68.6. While other big named players in this week’s field will garnish their fair share of ownership, McIlroy has both the course history and talent that we are looking for in terms of a top end roster spend.
As reported by: PGA GPP Breakdown Straight Shooting at Sheshan
There are a few routes to success here at Sheshan International. You can either be short but incredibly accurate or you can bomb-and-gouge and hope to have a good week avoiding trouble. Stanley fits the bill for route number one. Stanley is one of the most accurate golfers across the entire PGA TOUR so he should have no troubles keeping himself out of trouble this week. From there, he just needs an average week with the flat stick in order to pay off this price tag. That is always a question mark with him but it tends to go in his direction when heading to bentgrass. He ranks 11th in this field when it comes to bentgrass performance versus baseline performance.
Home Cooking in China
Playing in China, Li immediately jumps onto the radar. His first three career PGA TOUR starts came at this event with the highlight being a T7 back in 2015. He was T3 after 54 holes that week but had no idea what he was getting himself into on Sunday. This time around, he is now well-seasoned and arrives on the heels of back-to-back top 10s on the European Tour. You know he circles this event every year on the calendar as one he wants to peak at. In addition to his T7 at the 2016 HSBC, he also finished solo 3rd at the 2017 Open Championship. Has all the tools to contend against the best in the world. High upside GPP option.
John Catlin looks to make the most of this opportunity
For players like Catlin, this week is about making the most of a great chance to advance his career. Fresh off a three-win season on the Asian Tour, Catlin has taken the path less traveled to climb his way into a top 125 world golf ranking. Catlin posted a T22 at the CIMB classic a few weeks ago and looks to be a solid source of salary relief across the industry this week. While the verdict is still firmly out this 27-year-old former collegiate player from New Mexico, the combination of his recent form with a rock bottom price has Catlin sitting in the number one overall spot in our projections tool in terms of Pt/$/K on DraftKings for the week.
As reported by: Rotogrinders Projections Tool Patrick Reed playing for the first time since disappointing Ryder Cup
Controversy seems to follow Patrick Reed at every step of his career. From his collegiate days, all the way through his triumphant win at Augusta and now through a poor performance at the Ryder Cup, Reed is without a doubt a player that most in this community either love or hate. The polarizing Reed will tee it up this week for the first time since The Ryder Cup debacle last month. Poor overall play during the event would have been bad enough, but Reed went on to make a splash in the media about the team and his fellow teammates making the situation way worse than needed. To the surprise of no one, Reed is receiving very little tout buzz this week making him one of the lower owned big named players in the field. While it will be hard to pull the trigger on Captian America due to his current form, there is no doubt that Reed is motivated to prove everyone around him wrong. From an ownership perspective, Reed makes for an intriguing GPP option in this no-cut event.
As reported by: DraftKings Projected Ownership On The Rise
RCB rebounded from a poor showing at the CIMB Classic to post a cracking third place result in Korea last week — and that was despite an opening round 73. He posted back-to-back 65’s on the weekend and very well could have won the tournament if not for the poor start. It seems like something clicked for him during the second round a week ago, and he can really go low when he starts pouring in some putts. He carries a little more risk than the likes of Casey, but there’s winning upside here. He ranked 17th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and 9th in ball striking a year ago, so the course fit is certainly there. Throw in a 5th place finish a year ago at Sheshan, and all the stars are aligning.
Paulina Who?
There might be some “DJ malaise” going on right now. Everyone is trying to figure out what is going on in his personal life, and people are naturally attributing his recent dip in performance as related to the fact that he may be going through some personal turmoil. While golf is certainly a mental game, I’m not necessarily sure there’s a ton of causation here. Johnson is still a class golfer in any field, especially this one, which dips considerably as you get toward the bottom. DJ leads this field in strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained on approach, strokes gained tee-to-green, and in fantasy points over the last 50 rounds. He’ll score plenty on the par fives here and has a win, a runner-up, and a fifth place finish here in three of his last four trips.
Great Course Fit
Matthew Fitzpatrick is not the most exciting golfer on the planet, and there are certainly many people aren’t that familiar with him since he tees it up more often on European soil. However, this course is a great layout for Fitzpatrick. He epitomizes the fairways and greens approach that I talked about in the introductory segment, and it has resulted in solid finishes in his previous trips to this venue. In fact, he has three straight finishes of 16th or better at this tournament. That’s nothing to scoff at. He will keep the ball in play, and that has plenty of value on a course with water lurking at every turn. He’s a great mid-range GPP option in this tournament.
A Fine Roster Filler As Your Cheap Option
Harman is one of the cheapest options on the board on DraftKings and FantasyDraft this week, and he’s a no brainer as an obvious value in this spot. I don’t even mind him on FanDuel, either. Harman isn’t a sexy DFS name, but he’s another one of those players that has some added value given the course fit for the week. Harman finished 27th on Tour in driving accuracy a year ago, and he made his mark during his debut at this event with an 8th place finish a year ago. He two very good rounds last week in Korea, including in the final round on Sunday. Give him a look as a great way to round out your rosters — he’s a fine sixth man!