I hate to be Mr. Negative, but this is my least favorite week for DFS sports. NASCAR will compete at Talladega and we all know you need more luck than skill to win your DFS contest at that track. The same can be said about this week’s PGA Tournament.
The Zurich Classic is not like any tournament on the PGA schedule. The golfers will be paired together and compete in four-ball, best ball and alternate shot competitions. There will be 80 teams (2 golfers of each team) and the top 35 teams will make the cut after Friday’s round (44%). You can see the list of teams here: Pairing for Zurich Classic
DRAFTKINGS SCORING FOR ZURRICH CLASSIC
– All 160 golfers will be listed in the player pool on DraftKings but you will not be allowed to select two golfers from the same team. So Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are paired together so you can only use Cantlay or Schaffeler in your lineup.
– Each golfer will receive the same points as his teammate. So if Cantlay scores 70 DK points, Schauffeler will also receive 70 DK points.
– If a golfer does not compete in an event, he will not receive any points.
So does this sound confusing. Well, it is and that is why I am not a big fan of throwing too much money at this tournament this week.
* FanDuel will not have live scoring for this event. They will update the scores after each round. (That is no fun)
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The course this week is TPC Louisiana. It is part of the TPC Network of courses so it is similar to TPC Sawgrass where THE PLAYERS is player, TPC River Highlands that hosts the Travelers Championship and TPC Boston which hosts the Northern Trust at the end of the season. I used the golfer’s course history at those courses for my picks this week.
This Pete Dye style course tests each aspect of a golfer’s game. The course plays 7,400 yards in length. There are over 100 bunkers strategically placed to ensure the golfers will have to use the right strategy to get their shots on the greens.
This is the week to stick with golfers who are accurate off the tee and accurate with their approach shots. It will also be very important to be strategic with your shots because ball placement is everything at TPC Louisiana. The scores will likely be really low, but some golfers who are too aggressive could post high scores.
Click here to see the course: TPC Louisiana
KEY STATS FOR ZURRICH CLASSIC
– Accuracy Off-the-Tee
– Ball Striking
– Strokes Gained Putting
– Strokes Gained Par 5s
– Birdie or Better %
TOP 20 TEAMS
ZURRICH CLASSIC STRATEGY
The pricing on DraftKings is extremely tight this week. It will be difficult to build a competitive lineup without using a “stars and scrubs” construction format. It is also tough to get 6/6 golfers through to the weekend when you are digging through the trash for golfers for your teams. I will be building mostly “stars and scrubs” lineups and hope the value picks I use pay off.
The pricing is not as tight on FanDuel. I plan to move most of my play to FanDuel this week because I feel a lot more confident about my lineups on that sight.
The winning lineups for this event have looked the same the last two years. There is usually one higher-priced team who plays well and then the rest of the lineup is filled with the mid-tier golfers. Here is the winning lineup in the $5 Driver the Green Contest last year….
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
SCHEFFLER / PALMER ($9,700): The Scottie Scheffler /Ryan Palmer group is under priced this week. Palmer won this event in 2019 with Jon Rahm. His group (Rahm/Palmer) was $11,200 last year. Now he gets an upgrade with Scheffler and his price drops $1,500? I don’t get it. I will take the discount and enjoy having the best golfer in the world paired with the golfer with the best course history.
GOOCH /HOMA ($9,100): Talor Gooch and Max Homa are not the two best golfers in the field, but they both rank in the top-25. These two golfers are good off the tee, good on approach, good at scrambling and good at putting. They are not great, but they really do not have a weakness. They finished 17th last year, but that was their first time together. I expect a better finish from this group Sunday.
POWER / MCDOWELL ($8,600): Seamus Power and Graeme McDowell is a sneaky good group this week. Power finished 5th and 10th the last two times he played this event (Power was paired with David Hearn those years). McDowell has finished 23rd, 18th and 22nd in the last three times he played the Zurich Classic. They are good at team golf, so I will take a chance with them.
MITCHELL / SNEDEKER ($7,900): This team sucks when you look at the key stats. But when you look deeper, this combo forms a great team. Everything Keith Mitchell struggles at, Brandt Snedeker does well. It is the same for Snedeker. Mitchell is a bomber off the tee but can’t scramble or putt. Snedeker is short off the tee but is one of the best scramblers and putters in the field. They make for one great golfer. This team finished 4th last year and should be top-10 again this week.
KISNER / BROWN ($7,600): Whenever the PGA Tour plays in a match-play or team event, I want some shares of Kevin Kisner. He excels in these formats. Kisner and Scott Brown have played together more than any team in the field and it isn’t even close. Their experience together should help them finish near the top of the leaderboard. They finished 5th in 2019, 15th in 2018 and 2nd in 2017. Not too bad for $7,600.
DUNCAN /SCHENK ($7,100): I am not going to try and put lipstick on a pig, but we have to save some salary somewhere. Duncan looked good last week with his 12th-place finish in the RBC Heritage. He has also made all of his cuts but one since February. Schenk has missed a lot of cuts, but a lot of his missed cuts have been right under the cut-line. Schenk finished 11th in this tournament last year and 7th in 2018. I am hoping that Duncan’s form and Schenk’s course history can allow the team to make the cut this week.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
HORSCHEL /BURNS ($10,000): Billy Horschel and Sam Burns are my second favorite group behind the Scheffler /Palmer group. This team should be lower owned, so I will play them in the Tournament Contest lineup. These two golfers both played against each other in the SEC (Burns LSU) (Horschel Florida) and created a friendship. They finished 4th in this tournament last year and Horschel won it in 2018. Both golfers are in great form. I would not be surprised if they won Sunday.
VARNER III /WATSON ($9,000): HV3 is playing awesome golf right now. He finished 3rd last week at the RBC Heritage, 23rd at The Masters and 6th at THE PLAYERS. Bubba Watson is always great in matchplay or team events. His ability to work as a team, with HV3’s recent form should make for a good group. I doubt they will be highly owned, but they do have a lot of upside this week.
ZALLATORIS /RILEY ($8,900): This pick is all about Will Zallatoris. If he was paired with a better golfer, he would be priced above $9,500. Zallatoris is in great form right now and Davis Riley is not that bad. Riley missed the cut last week but he finished 2nd last month at the Valspar Championship. Zallatoris is going to need to carry this team, but if the Riley we had at the Valspar shows up, it could be lights out for the competition.
MACINTYRE / LAIRD ($8,000): I have been playing Robert Macintyre a lot over the last month and I am not fading him now. Macintyre is in great form. He has not missed a cut since January. Now he will be paired with a golfer with good course history. Part Marty Laird finished 9th in 2019 and 7th in 2018 in the Zurich Classic. I am hoping that Macintyres’ great form and Laird’s good course history gives this team some upside this week.
STALLINGS /GARNETT ($7,200): I will take a chance with Scott Stallings and Brice Garnett. No one is going to own them and they do have some upside this week. This group finished 11th last year. Stallings also finished 13th in 2019 (with Trey Mullinax as a partner) and Garnett finished 4th in 2018. They probably will not win this week, but they have the upside to finish in the top-15.
UIHLEIN /WERENSKI ($6,900): Peter Uihlein and Richy Werenski were in the winning lineup last year so why not see if they can do it again. This team finished 3rd last year so they should have some confidence when they tee it up. The form is not there with this team but we have seen golfers show up in shitty form and play well at courses they know well. I am hoping that happens this week.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (FantasyRacingTips)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
*NO TOURNAMENT THIS WEEK
ONE & DONE PICK: Keith Mitchell /Brandt Snedeker (Zurrich Classic)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Matthew Fitzpatrick (MC), Justin Thomas (8th), Chirs Kirk (35th), Xander Schauffele (33rd), Louis Oosthiuzen (62nd), Collin Morikawa (MC), Will Zallatoris (38th), Sungjae Im (MC), Patrick Cantlay (33rd), Scottie Scheffler (1st), Jason Day (24th), John Rahm (3rd), Abraham Ancer (40th), Corey Conners (5th), Marc Leishman (9th)
BEST BETS FOR ZURRICH CLASSIC
Burns /Horschel (12-1)
Gooch/Homa (22-1)
Power/McDowell (45-1)
Macintyre /Laird (50-1)
Mitchell /Snedeker (65-1)
Kisner /Brown (100-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
Follow my on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR