We have reached the second major on the PGA Tour Schedule. The best golfers in the world will travel to Newton Square, Pennsylvania (right outside of Philadelphia, this week for the PGA Championship. Aronimink Golf Club will be the course this week. The PGA Tour last played this course in 2018 when it was used for the BMW Championship. The course also hosted the 2010 and 2011 AT&T National. Some of the older golfers in the field have some experience at Aronimink Golf Club, but it will be a new test for most of the younger golfers. It should be a fun week to try and take down a DFS Contest.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
Aronimink Golf Club plays 7,400 and is a par-70. This is a Don Ross designed course. He also designed Oak Mount Country Club, Pinehurst, Sedgefield Country Club (Wyndham Championship) and East Lake Golf Club (Tour Championship). This course was designed to be tough, just like all of the other courses Mr. Ross designed.
We typically get “bombers courses” for the PGA Championship. That is not the case this week. Golfers can be rewarded for their length off-the-tee, but they can be heavily penalized too. The fairways get tighter, the farther the golfer hits the ball. Hit it far and straight, and this course can be easily taken apart. Total Driving (Distance + Accuracy) will be the cheat code this week.
This course has a lot of slope and 174 deep bunkers. Most golfers will take whatever club gives them the best chance to hit the fairway. SG Approach and Proximity to-the-hole are important, because the greens are huge, but they have many tiers. Golfers who hit the wrong tier of the green are going to have some very long putts.
Click here to see the course: Aronimink Golf Club
KEY STATS FOR THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
– Total Driving
– SG Tee-to-Green
– Strokes Gained Approach
– SG Putting BentGrass
– Bogey Avoidance
– Major Championship History
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History & Form
TOP 30 GOLFERS FOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
CORE GOLFERS FOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
* If you are playing Single-Entry or 3 Entry Tournaments, you need exposure to Scottie Scheffler. This core is for Multi-Entry Tournaments with 20+ entries.
STRATEGIES FOR THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
DraftKings has added golfers in the $5K price range this week. This changes everything. Typically Scottie Scheffler is too expensive to play at $13,900, but you can easily pair him with golfers like Alex Fitzpatrick ($5,900) or Matthew McCarty ($5,700) and still create a solid lineup. The same can be said about Rory McIlroy.
This is not a Signature Event. This is a major and we have a cut this week. The field for the PGA Championship consists of 156 golfers. The top-70 and ties will make the cut Friday. There are going to be a lot of lineups with Scottie Scheffeler and Rory McIlroy and one or two golfers to miss the cut because they spent a lot of their salary on these two golfers.
The Contrarian way to play this week will be to build balanced lineups. We do not necessarily need the winner like we do in Signature Events where there is no cut. We need all six golfers to make the cut and two or three of them to finish in the top-10. For that reason, I am fading the Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and using golfers with a high floor to make the cut. Having a core of golfers who play all four rounds will give us a good chance to win Sunday.
* Rory McIlroy quite his practice round Tuesday because he has a blister on his foot that made it tough to walk the course. This could be nothing, but golfer is a mental game and McIlroy needs to 100% this week to win.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
CAMERON YOUNG ($10,200): The take going into the 2026 PGA Championship is “Scottie Scheffler vs. Rory McIlroy.” You can make a case that Young is playing better than both of them right now. The PGA Championship means a lot to him because his father is a Club Professional and this tournament wards the Club Professionals (see Michael Block). Young is from nearby New York, so he knows how to play on courses in the part of the country. There is no way Young should be $3,800 cheaper than Sheffler and $2,200 cheaper that McIlory. I will take the discount and start my Cash Contest lineup with Young this week.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE ($10,100): Schauffele is almost a “Free Square” when it comes to picking golfers for your Cash Contest picks in the majors. He may not win a lot, but he is one of the most consistent golfers in the field at finishing in the top-five in the majors. The reason why Schauffele is so good is because he does not make mistakes. We need a safe golfer with top-five upside at the top of our Cash Contest lineups. Schauffele checks that box.
RUSSELL HENLEY ($8,700): I expect most people will pay up for Scottie Shceffler or Rorry McIlory or they will try to jam three golfers from the $9K range into their Cash Contest lineups. That is going to make Henley overlooked and that could be a mistake. This course fits his game perfectly. Henley is accurate off-the-tee and he is one of the best with his approach shots with his shorter irons. Henley has finished in the top-10 in his last three majors and five of his last seven majors. I will take Henley over most of the golfers in the $9K range this week.
SI WOO KIM ($7,900): Finally we get Si Woo Kim at a decent price. He has been in the $10k and $9K price ranges all year. He deserved it though. Si Woo Kim has finished eight of his 13 tournaments this year in the top-11. Si Woo Kim ranks No. 6 in SG Tee-to-Green and No. 8 in SG Approach. It all comes down to his putter. Si Woo Kim loses .132 strokes per round on Bentgrass Greens. He loses .455 strokes per round on other grasses. Maybe Aronimink Golf Club will be the place where he puts it all together.
HARRIS ENGLISH ($7,200): English is a great golfer for DFS, if you know where to play him. English is accurate off-the-tee and he could be the favorite in the Club House if this turns into a putting contest. The weakness in his game is scrambling. English is not very good when he misses the greens in regulation. The greens this week are some of the largest on the PGA Tour. He should have no problem hitting them. English finished 2nd in the PGA Championship last year. He should perform well again this week.
NICK TAYLOR ($5,800): Alex Fitzpatrick is going to be the chalk at the bottom of Cash Contests this week. He is in excellent form, but he has no experience in PGA Championships. I will pivot to Taylor. He is also in good form (Taylor finished 9th at the Cadillac Championship and 14th last week at the Truist Championship). Taylor ranks No. 26 in SG Tee-to-Green and No. 22 in SG Approach. His tee-to-green game is good enough for a top-15 finish Sunday. That is incredible value for $5,800.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
COLLIN MORIKAWA ($9,900): Morikawa withdrew last week and I am hoping that will lower his ownership. Morikawa limp threw Augusta National to finish 7th at the Masters. The PGA Tour is going to be a much easier test for Morikawa. He is the most accurate golfer in the field. If we knew Morikawa was 100% healthy, he would be a top-four pick for this tournament. He has had two weeks to heal up and get ready. I expect Morikawa to be dialed in Sunday.
LUDVIG ABERG ($9,800): Aberg missed the cut in his last two PGA Championships. I am hoping that stat scares a few people away from him. Aberg is not a bomber and the PGA Championship has been a bombers paradise over the last five seasons. That will not be the case this year. This is an accuracy and approach shot tournament. That is the name of the game for Aberg. This course sets up well for Aberg to win his first major.
PATRICK CANTLAY ($8,900): I thought about playing Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Fitzpatrick in this lineup, but I do not see much difference between Fleetwood and Cantlay and Fitzpatrick will have too much ownership. Cantlay has four consecutive top-12 finishes and they are in four loaded fields. His form is good and that stats like him too. I will take a chance with Cantlay this week.
KURT KITAYAMA ($7,400): Kitayama finished 8th in the RBC Heritage, 9th in the Cadillac Championship and 19th last week at the Truist Championship. He enters the PGA Championship in good form. He also ranks No. 6 in Total Driving and No. 8 SG Approach. There are a lot of long par-4 holes on the bank nine and Kitayama ranks No. 1 in long par-4 scoring.
RICKY FOWLER ($7,400): I never thought I would be playing Fowler in the PGA Championship, but here we are. Fowler is playing some of the best golf in his career and some of the best golf on the PGA Tour right now. He finished 8th at the RBC Heritage, 9th at the Cadillac Championship and 19th last week at the Turist Championship. Fowler weakness is that he is not long off-the-tee. That will not be a problem this week. Fowler has a good chance to finish in the top-10 again at the PGA Championship.
NICOLAI HOJGAARD ($6,500): Hojgaard looked really good last week when he finished 2nd at the Truist Championship. I will go back to Hojgaard in the PGA Championship. He ranks No. 8 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 8 in Total Driving, No. 23 in SG Approach and No. 19 overall in the Key Stats. The easiest way to score this week is to take advantage of the easy par-5’s. Hojgaard ranks No. 1 in the field in par-5 scoring.
Here is my Multi-Entry Tournament Contests Lineups: (Multi Entry List)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the eighth tournament in Segment 2. We still another Signature Event (The Memorial) in this Segment, so use your allocations wisely.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (PGA CHAMP)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Cameron Young (10TH), Scottie Scheffler (2ND), 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: XANDER SHAUFFELE (PGA CHAMP)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Rory McIlory (19th), Scottie Scheffler (2nd), Sahith Theegala (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 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
* Shop around for the best prices this week. It is obvious that DraftKings does not want you to bet Scottie Scheffler. Their odds with Scheffler are a lot lower than other sites (FanDuel). You can also get some better odds with the non-Scottie bets on Draftkings, because they want you to bet against Scheffler.
CAMERON YOUNG 15-1
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK 17-1
LUDVIG ABERG 20-1
COLLIN MORIKAWA 40-1
RUSSELL HENLEY 48-1
RICKY FOWLER 67-1
J.J. SPAUN 77-1
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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