Jason Dufner Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

No major news to report this morning on what was a surprisingly slow week in terms of player movement. With the U.S. Open only one week away it's not uncommon to see some players change their mind about playing in this week's event prior to today. That being said Jason Dufner, Bronson Burgoon and K.H. Lee were the only players to withdraw this week. Good luck this week, ResultsDB will be up within a few minutes or roster lock.

Having the spot on the schedule prior to a major championship has more than it's fair share of difficulties. With a 36 hole U.S. Open qualifier on Monday, it's pretty normal to see players take a pass on this week's event. Jason Dufner and K.H. Lee both qualified for Pebble Beach next week and have decided to take a pass on The RBC. Bronson Burgoon is not in the field for The U.S. Open but will also skip this week's event. Billy Hurley III, George McNeill, and Brendon Todd will take the three spots in this week's field, and should be available for pricing soon.

Jason Dufner has always been known as a great ball striker. Throughout his 13 years on tour, success from week to week often depends on Dufner's ability to manage his often balky putter. This former major champion will play for the second time this year with a bit of a new look when it comes to his putting stroke. Dufner will go to both a new putter and a new stroke for The RSM Championship. Like last week's winner Matt Kuchar, Dufner will go with a longer putter aligned along his left arm. The hope for Dufner is that this new stroke will remove his tendency to deloft the putter throughout the stroke. While it's still a bit risky to consider this a permanent fit for Dufner we should keep an eye on him moving forward. Dufner has really struggled to find the form that allowed him to win during the 2017 season, but that could all change if this new putting stroke begins to take place.

Jason Dufner's style of golf often is a direct reflection of his personality. With a game driven an ability to hit accurate golf shots, Dufner plays the type of golf that never seems to get too far out of control. Very rarely will we ever see this former major winner show emotion of any kind, as he just plots along and plays his game. Dufner heads into this week with one of the best course histories at Copperhead. In addition to making nine of ten cuts at this event, Dufner has 7 top 25 or better finishes. With three top 20 or better finishes already this season, Dufner comes into this event in great form and he should be able to once again play well on a course that he is 26 under par over his last 32 rounds. Reasonably priced this week, Dufner should make his way into consideration for both cash and GPP roster builds.

As roster construction scenarios play themselves out this week many in the industry are finding the need to attack value plays between the seven and eight thousand dollar price range on DraftKings. This week is not like any other in the sense that we see projected ownership congregate on a few popular players thus leaving an opportunity to buy low on players in that could also be in a good spot. Jason Dufner is having a great season and should garnish more attention than he is receiving this week. Currently projected to have a fourth of the ownership of Gary Woodland, the choice to roster Dufner creates a great spot to differentiate your lineups this week. With all of the talk about Club de Golf Chapultepec being a second shot course, excellent ball strikers like Dufner should be in play this week. The major improvement in Dufner's game this season is his putting. Plagued by inconsistency in his flat stick, Dufner currently sits inside the top 20 in strokes gained-putting this year. While Dufner has yet to win this season, he does have three top 20's in his four starts this calendar year and is a good spot to play well this week. For just one hundred dollars less in salary, Dufner provides an easy solution for those looking to fade the chalk on Woodland this week. While both players are worth a roster spot consideration, the game theory angle of choosing Dufner at such a low ownership number is very appealing when you think about trying to win a large field GPP.

Course history enthusiasts struggled last week with sparse details of the Club de Golf Chapultepec course for the WGC-Mexico Championship. This week’s venue at Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course) offers over 15 years of PGA Tour data. Even though the Copperhead Course is long at 7,340 yards, it’s the ball-strikers and not the bombers that traditionally excel. The tight, tree-lined fairways forces emphasis on hitting fairways and second-shot approaches to the green. Copperhead is famous for one of the toughest 3-hole stretches in golf: the 16, 17 and 18 “Snake Pit”. Charles Howell III has placed in the top 15 in each of the last three years at Copperhead including a T5 finish in 2016. CHIII has been in great form all season with four Top-15 finishes already but he is no longer a strong value play as his DraftKings salary has risen to $9,400. Possible pivots to lower-priced players with strong Copperhead course history includes Kevin Na ($8.7K), Jason Dufner ($7.9K) and Luke Donald ($7.8K).