Matthew Fitzpatrick Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Fitzpatrick doesn’t grade out quite as well statistically as some of the other options, but this sets up as a course that is made for this game. He prioritizes keeping the ball in play off the tee, and that is going to be massively important with the thick rough that has grown around this place. Fitzpatrick is also in fantastic form right now with 13 made cuts in 14 starts this year and back-to-back top six finishes on his resume leading into this event. Yes, a lot of his success last week was thanks to his short game, but that is always a strength of his. He can made seven foot par saves with the best of them, and that will help to build a lot of momentum this week. He is too cheap on every site given his ever improving Vegas odds.

Fitzpatrick was close to being a core play for me this week and will likely find his way into my main lineup that I use in double-ups and single-entry tournaments. I was hesitant to load up on him last week because he tempered expectations for himself. I was hoping he’d have a decent week, so I could load up on him at Harbour Town and that’s exactly what happened. He finished T32 at the Charles Schwab Challenge while gaining strokes on approach, around the greens, and on the greens. He’s on record saying Harbour Town is his favorite course on the PGA Tour and he clearly fits the plodder type of golfer that I’m looking to target this week.

Fitzpatrick never garners a ton of ownership when he plays in the United States, but he’s clearly motivated for this event. He voluntarily flew over from Europe and served a 14-day quarantine in order to tee it up this week. His lack of distance off the tee is not a hindrance on a course which has only two par fives — one of which is basically reachable in two for everyone in the field. When he is on his game, Fitzpatrick can dial it in with his approach game, and that gives him upside at his reasonable mid-range salary tag. He ranked 33rd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approach last year, and that is despite the fact that he generally only plays in the stronger field events. He has yet to miss a cut stateside this season and makes for an elite option in any format.

I don't like to lean strictly on narratives in PGA DFS, but they don't hurt when they support someone that was already a strong play to begin with. Fitzpatrick has a lot of experience playing at altitude, as he has one of the best track records at the Nordea Masters. It's the closest tournament in elevation to this week's WGC-Mexico. He's also played here three times, posting three straight top 30s. While he does most of his damage on the European Tour, he is playing more on this side of the pond this season. He's a player to keep an eye on over the next few months, as his irons and short game are extremely underrated. It's early in the week, but it looks like he'll be low owned, which is important. The two or three events he's been the chalk, he's been a huge disappointment. At a track that didn't really suit his skill set, Fitz posted a T30 at Riviera thanks to gaining nearly five strokes on approach. I love the floor, I love the ownership, and wouldn't be surprised to see him in contention on Sunday.

My hope this week is that Fitzpatrick will get overlooked. Golfers that spend most of their time on the European Tour aren't as low owned as they used to be in DFS, but I expect many to be scared off by this hefty price tag. Anyone that uses a stat model (that's based on PGA Tour data) will certainly look the other way, as he doesn't rank in the top 15 in any of the key statistics for the week. However, he has been in impeccable form recently. He has already racked up three runner-up finishes in Europe, including one his last time out at the Italian Open. While he doesn't have any experience playing in Japan, he does have five top 10 finishes in Asia. He's not the longest off the tee, but he's good with his irons and is one of the best putters on tour (sixth in strokes gained putting in Europe). I like him as an outright bet at 33-to-1 and love him in DFS this week (especially if he's going to be low owned).

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.