Francesco Molinari Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Making only his 5th start of the 2020 calendar year, Francesco Molinari returns to action at this week's Shriners Open. Molinari was able to follow up on his breakthrough 2018 season ( winning The Open Championship) with his 10th career victory at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Unfortunately for Molinari, the 2020 season was derailed by a combination of his poor play to start the season and then by the stoppage of play due to COVID-19. Returning to action this week there is almost no buzz about Molinari's return to golf. Even at his extremely cheap price, Molinari is projected at sub 2% ownership on DK for the week. While there is the element of uncertainty of how Molinari will play after a long layoff, it would not take much in terms of roster shares ( MME) to gain an edge on the field this week. If you are betting on long term talent, then this week would be a great spot to start looking at Molinari.

Just a few short minutes after lock last week, news broke that defending API champion Francesco Molinari had withdrawn with a back injury.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.

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.

Playing in his 8th start of this season, but his first in almost two months, Scottie Scheffler will look to build on what has already been a great start to his rookie season. With 5 top 25 or better finishes in 7 starts this season, it's very easy to see why the DFS community loves Scheffler this week. Early in his career, Scheffler has proven to be a good young player with no notable weaknesses in his game. Currently projected to be the highest owned player of the week there is an opportunity to fade Scheffler from a game theory standpoint. Priced up in comparison to other proven players in his price range ( Francesco Molinari ), there will be plenty of decent options to pivot off Scheffler without changing a roster build. Pro-Am formats often favor the experienced golfer on tour, and this week is no exception. New golfers will have very little time to learn the three courses in play, and when you factor in the variable of extra patience needed to play rounds with amateur golfers it's easy to see why experience can be a benefit for the week. That being said, Scheffler is a player that many are bullish on in the long run and it would not surprise anyone if he were to continue the strong start to his season this week. For those who like to go against the grain, a Scheffler fade is by no means a crazy play as there is an argument that projected ownership is inflated due to strong recency bias.

More times than not the firing of a caddie does very little in terms of scratching the surface in terms of golf news. The major exception to this type of change is when a big name in the world of golf makes this type of change. A few weeks ago Francesco Molinari and his caddie of four years announced that they would no longer work together. Molinari has decided to part ways with Pello Iguaran and will begin working with Justin Rose's old caddie Mark Fulcher to start the 2020 calendar year. The plan for the remainder of this season is to have Jason Hempleman on the bag to finish out this year. Player caddie changes happen often, and despite the change to his team, we should still expect great things from Molinari moving forward. Lost in the shuffle of this very strong field Molinari could fly under the radar this week.

The new condensed PGA Tour schedule will present a few challenges to players as they have to adjust to playing a major event for five straight months. For players like Francesco Molinari, who typically split time between The PGA and European Tours, this means spending more time on American soil at this point of the season. Without a doubt, the addition of Molinari to this year's Charles Schwab field is a result of the new schedule. Having emerged as one of the better players in the game over the last 18 months, Molinari should find Colonial to his liking. With a game built around accuracy, Molinari is a natural course fit this week. Currently ranked inside the top 15 in this field in strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach Molinari has a great chance to compete for a win this week.

Current Open Champion and internationally tested Francesco Molinari enters this week with not much buzz in terms of projected ownership. As a general rule, most players who split time between the European and PGA Tour typically have lower than expected ownership. Currently projected to have less than 5% ownership for the week the addition of Molinari to a roster builds represents an opportunity to add both upside and leverage. With so many talented golfers in this week's field, it's easy for players like Molinari to garnish almost no interest. Making his first start in the last few months there is an argument to be made for Molinari having a bit of rust. Even if you fear the rust, there is a strong case to be made for Molinari having a good week at Club de Golf Chapultepec. At a golf course the demands accuracy over distance, Molinari has proven time and time again that he can excel at this type of venue. Molinari will make his third appearance at Club de Golf Chapultepec and will look to improve on two top 25 or better finishes. Given his predicted low ownership, Molinari represents a chance to buy a very talented golfer that can easily crush his price for the week.

Over the next few weeks, there will plenty of buzz about players making equipment changes during the offseason. The biggest news yet to date is that Justin Rose has dropped TaylorMade and opted to join a little known Japanese company that excels in high quality forged clubs. In addition to adding Rose, Honma Golf appears to have Paul Casey on board as he was spotted with a new set of irons in his bag. Nothing official on Casey signing with the company but with Nike no longer in the golf club market it will only be a matter of time before he makes a switch. Calloway Golf is also making news this week as they have signed Kevin Na to an equipment deal. British Open champion and current equipment free agent Francesco Molinari has been spotted with Calloway irons and an Odessy putter in his bag this week, but nothing official has been announced by either party. With the state of both club fitting and club manufacturing, the impact of such switches has very little impact when you factor in that players have time to implement new equipment.