The PGA Tour will travel to Trump National, Doral this week for the Cadillac Championship. This is another Signature Event and another $20M is up for grabs. That means the field is stacked and most or the players do not have much experience taking on “The Blue Monster.” The last time the PGA Tour played at Doral was in 2016. That tournament was won by Adam Scott. It should be fun to see who can conquer this tough course this week.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The course this week is Trump National at Doral. This is a long course. Doral plays 7,740 yards and is scored as a par 72. This will not be a birdie fest this week. Boogey Avoidance will be more important than Birdie or Better %.
Water is in play on 10 of the holes and the wind can make it tough to keep the golfer’s drivers in the fairway and not in the lake. Accuracy off-the-tee and accuracy on approach will be very important at Doral. Just hitting it straight is not going to be enough to win this tournament. Doral is a long course, so bombing it off-the-tee is also important. My most important stat this week is Total Driving. That is a combination of Driver Accuracy and Driving Distance.
This is not a wedge fest. Most of the golfers will be using long-irons for their approach shots. I will also be looking at Shots Gain Approach 175+ yards.
Click here to see the course: Trump National Doral
KEY STATS FOR THE CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP
– Total Driving
– Strokes Gained Approach (175+ yards)
– Bogey Avoidance
– Strokes Gained Par 5s
– Course History (Florida Courses)
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History & Form
TOP 30 GOLFERS FOR CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP
CORE GOLFERS FOR CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP
STRATEGIES FOR THE CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Cadillac Championship is another Signature Event. That means the field only has 72 golfers and there is no cut this week. Since the 72 golfers who are teeing it up this week all rank inside the top-100 golfers in the World Golf Rankings, even the cheapest priced golfers have some talent. The problem is that Doral tests every aspect of a golfer’s game. The golfers in the $6K range do not have the total package to compete this week. I plan to fade Scottie Scheffler in DFS (I will use him in One & Done and Bet of Scheffler to win). I will stack my Tournament Lineups with golfers from the $9K and $8K price ranges. This is where most of the top-10 will come from Sunday.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
CAMERON YOUNG ($10,200): You really cannot go wrong with Collin Morikawa or Young at the top of your Cash Contest lineup this week. I decided to pay up for Young because he is a safer pick that Morikawa (Morikawa is not as long off-the-tee and he did have a back issue a few weeks ago). Doral pits Young’s game perfectly. He is a bomber off-the-tee, one of the best with his long irons and his short game is hot right now. He should be a lock for a top-five finish Sunday.
MAVERICK MCNEALY ($8,800): I originally had Patrick Cantlay in this spot, but he withdrew. I will pivot to Maverick McNealy. He is a bomber off-the-tee, McNeally is in good form and he has played well on similar courses to Doral. McNeally should be a safe pick for the Cash Contest lineup this week.
MIN WOO LEE ($8,600): After I changed Patrick Cantlay to Maverick McNealy, I had some salary left over. I decided to upgrade Akshay Bhatia to Min Woo Lee. Lee is another bomber off-the-tee who has the game that sets up well for Doral.
KURT KITAYAMA ($7,900): There is a lot to like about Kitayama this week. He also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, so Kitayama checks the boxes on comp courses. He also ranks 7th in the field in Total Driving, 10th in SG Approach 175+ Yards and 5th in Par 5 Scoring. Kitayama has the length off-the-tee and the precision with his irons to score well for your DFS lineups this week.
GARY WOODLAND ($7,400): Woodland is by far my favorite play from the $7K price range. He ranks No. 2 in Driving Distance, No. 15 in SG Approach 175+ Yards and No. 5 in Bogey Avoidance. Woodland is playing some of the best golf in his career right now. He won the Texas Children’s Houston Open, finished 14th at the Valspar and 8th at the RBC Heritage. Woodland has the length and the form to win at Doral.
SUDARSHAN YELLAMARAJU ($7,000): I needed a cheap golfer who I can trust at the bottom of my Cash Contest lineup. That golfer is Yellamaraju. He ranks 4th in the field in Total Driving, No. 13 in SG Approach 175+ Yards, No. 6 SG Putting and No. 4 overall in the Key Stats. Yellamaraju 5th at THE PLAYERS and TPC Sawgrass is one of the comp courses I used this week. Yellamaraju is a good golfer to take a chance with in a no-cut event.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMNET CONTEST
COLLIN MORIKAWA ($9,800): Can Morikawa win on a bombers course? I think he can. Morikawa is the most accurate golfer on the PGA Tour. His ability to keep it out of the water and his elite approach game should give Morikawa a good chance to win. He has finished in the top-10 in his last five tournaments. Those were some big boy courses, so I trust Morikawa at Doral.
CHRIS GOTTERUP ($9,300): This is a tournament where we want bombers off-the-tee who can win a tournament. No golfer in the field checks that box as well as Gotterup. He ranks No. 4 in Driving Distance he has two wins this year (Sony Open, Waste Management Phoenix Open). Doral fits his game perfectly. His advantage off-the-tee should give Gotterup a good chance to win Sunday.
MIN WOO LEE ($8,600): Lee blew up at the Masters and he did not play much better at the RBC Heritage. I will give him a pass for those two tournaments. Augusta National is always tough on young golfers and Lee’s game does not set up well at the short course in Harbour Town. It fits perfectly for Doral though. Lee ranks No. 3 in Total Driving, No. 6 in Driving Distance, No. 16 in SG Approach 175+ Yards and No. 2 in Par 5 Scoring. I will trust the stats and take a chance with Lee this week.
KURT KITAYAMA ($7,900): I hate playing the same golfers in the Cash and Tournament Contest lineups, but Kitayama is the golfer I trust the most and his price fits well. I want golfers with the upside to win in my Tournament Contest lineup. Kitayama checks that box.
SAM STEVENS ($7,300): I have not heard many people talk about Stevens this week. He played well last week in the team event and now he brings some solid form to the Cadillac Championship. Stevens has the length off-the-tee and the accuracy with his long irons to play well at Doral. I expect most people will click on Gary Woodlands name in this price range, so I will pivot to Stevens in my Tournament Contest lineup.
ALEX SMALLEY ($7,100): Smalley is another golfer who has the upside to play well, but his ownership should not be too high. Smalley does not rank in the top-10 in any of the stat categories this week, but he does rank inside the top-25 in all of them. I doubt Smalley will finish in the top-five, but he has the upside to finish in the top-15. That is not bad for $7K this week.
Here is my Multi-Entry Tournament Contests Lineups: (Multi Entry Lineups)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the sixth tournament in Segment 2. We have the Players Championship in this segment. We also have three more Signature Events (Cadillac Championship, Truist Championship and the Memorial), so use your allocations wisely.
* I will go ahead and burn my last allocation with Scottie Scheffler. I rather use him when Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick are not competing against him.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (CADILLAC)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Matthew Fitzpatrick (WIN), Jon Rahm (38th), Keith Mitchell (M/C), Brooks Koepka (M/C), Jacob Bridgeman (14th), Collin Morikawa (W/D), Rory McIlroy (W/D), Shane Lowry (2nd), Tommy Fleetwood (7th), Russell Henley (12th), Si Woo Kim (3rd), Jason Day (38th), Ben Griffin (24TH), Hideki Matsuyama (13th)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (CADILLAC)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Sahith TAheegala (24TH), Patrick Cantlay (8TH), Bryson DeChambeau (M/C), Jordan Spieth (63RD), Min Woo Lee (3RD), Jacob Bridgeman (14th), Collin Morikawa(W/D), Rory McIlroy (W/D), Shane Lowry (2nd), Hideki Matsuyama (28th), Justin Rose (37th), Cameron Young (41st), Maverick McNealy (10th), Si Woo Kim (6TH), Russell Henley (19th), Michael Thorbjornsen (7th), Nico Echavarria (46TH), Garrett Higgo (15th), Alex Noren (23rd), Davis Thompson (21st)
BEST BETS FOR THE CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP
* I am using my bankroll on SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER this week. He is starting to find his original form and I like him in a tournament without Rory McIlory and the red-hot Matthew Fitzpatrick. If you want to fade Scheffler based on his 3-1 odds, I understand. Here are the golfers I would bet if you fade Scheffler…
CAMERON YOUNG 13-1
COLLIN MORIKAWA 20-1
CHRIS GOTTERUP 28-1
KURT KITAYAMA 43-1
GARY WOODLAND 72-1
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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