The PGA Tour travels to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida this week for THE PLAYERS. This tournament is considered “The Fifth Major” on the PGA Tour schedule, but does is that name still true. The field this week will be nearly the same as the “signature events” and all of the best golfers in the world are NOT invited (yes, I am talking about some of the LIV Tour players). THE PLAYERS cannot really be considered “a major” anymore with the LIV Golfers in the field. What makes THE PLAYERS stand out from the other “signature events” is the purse. The winner this week gets $4.5M and the purse is the second-highest on tour (behind the Tour Championship) at $25. The importance of THE PLAYERS cannot be ignored when there is that much cash on the line this week. It should be a fun tournament to watch and a good tournament to win some cash in DFS contests.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The tournament will be played at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, just outside of Jacksonville, Florida. This is a Pete Dye designed course and that means it will be challenging for every type of golfer. The course plays 7,190 yards and is a par 72. There are water hazards and bunkers all over the course so accurate hitters will be rewarded. The four par 5s are really long so the bombers will be rewarded on these holes. You do not need to be a bomber to win though. Accuracy is the most important stat this week. The greens are typically fast and tend to roll out three to four feet further than the golfers are used to. The golfers will need to be accurate on their approach shots or they better have a red hot flat stick. Golfers need to be in great form and have all aspects of their game clicking if they want a chance to win THE PLAYERS.
Click here to see the course: TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course
KEY STATS FOR THE PLAYERS
– Strokes Gained Total (Pete Dye Courses)
– Boogey Avoidance
– Driving Accuracy %
– Greens in Regulation %
– Comp Course History (Harbour Tour, Stadium Course, TPC River Highlands, Copper Head)
* You want golfers who hit the fairway off the tee and hit the green with the irons. Golfers who are wild will be in big trouble at TPC Sawgrass.
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
TOP 30 GOLFER RANKINGS
CORE GOLFERS FOR THE PLAYERS
THE PLAYERS STRATEGY
My Cash Contest strategy in these stacked fields is typically to play a balanced lineup, filled with golfers from the $8K range. That is not the case for THE PLAYERS. This is the most volatile tournament on the schedule. It doesn’t matter what your course history is, your recent form or where a golfer ranks in the stats… There are blow-up holes all over this course. The safest golfer in the field is Scottie Scheffler. I will pay up for him in my Cash Contest and pair him with five golfers who are elite ball-strikers.
The field is back to 144 golfers and the top 65 and ties will make the cut. DraftKings is back to including the $5K in their price structure this week. They key to winning our Tournament Contests is to pair the high priced golfers who finish at the top of the leaderboard with the cheap golfers who make the cut and finish in the top-40. I will be building my Tournament Contests this week using a “stars and scrubs” approach. I will be heavily invested in Scottie Scheffler, just like last week. Hopefully we can find the winning combination to take down a large GPP Sunday.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
* I built my Cash Contest lineup around Scottie Scheffler and golfers who are elite ball-strikers, have some course history and are in good form.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ($12,800): It has been a while since we have seen a player who is way above his piers on the PGA Tour (Probably since Tiger Woods). Scheffler ranks No. 1 in every category from Tee-to-Green. His only weakness is his putter and that may have been solved too. Rory McIlroy gave Scheffler a new putter to try last week and Scheffler went out and ranks 5th in the field in SG Putting. Scheffler will win again Sunday if he ranks in the top-10 in SG Putting.
BYEONG-HUN AN ($8,100): Benny An checks all of the boxes this week. He ranks No. 10 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 14 in Ball-Striking and No. 13 overall in the key stats. Benny An finished 35th at THE PLAYERS last year and he has made the cut in three of his last four trips to TPC Sawgrass. Benny An should be a safe golfer for the Cash Contest lineup.
TOM HOGE ($7,800): Is Hoge the second-best golfer on the PGA Tour behind Scottie Scheffler? You can use the stats and his recent form to make a case for Hoge. He ranks No. 1 in SG Approach, No. 3 in Ball-Striking, No. 6 in SG Tee-to-Green and No. 3 overall in the key stats. Hoge finished 12th last week at the API, 8th at the Genesis (signature event) and 6th at Pebble (signature event). Hoge also finished 3rd at THE PLAYERS last year. Hoge has a great chance to win Sunday.
KEITH MITCHELL ($7,500): You would think Mitchell is Rory McIlory or some other big name golfer when you look at the stats. Mitchell ranks No. 2 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. in Ball-Striking, No. 4 in SG Approach and No. 2 overall in the key stats. Mitchell finished 9th (Cognizant), 19th (Mexico Open) and 17th (WMPO) in his last three starts. He also finished 13th last year at THE PLAYERS. Having Hoge with Scottie Scheffler and Tom Hoge in my Cash Contest lineups gives me the gofers that rank No.1, No. 2 and No. 3 in the key stats this week.
ERIK VAN ROOYEN ($7,300): You cannot quit playing Van Rooyen now. He has been one of the most consistent golfers this year and he should score well this week. Van Rooyen ranks No. 16 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 19 in SG Approach, No. 15 in SG Putting and No. 12 overall in the key stats. Van Rooyen finished 25th last week at the API, 2nd at the Cognizant Classic and 8th in the Mexico Open. He has only played TPC Sawgrass once, but he finished 13th in that tournament. Van Rooyen is a lock for all cash contest lineups.
AARON RAI ($6,400): My favorite golfer from the $6K price range is Doug Ghim, but I could not fit Ghim into the lineup. I had to decide between Andrew Novak and Aaron Rai. Novak has the red hot form, but Rai has the stats and course history. I will trust the stats and history this week and play Rai.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
* I will have enough lineups in the Multi-Entry attachment below with Scottie Scheffler, so I wanted to post a lineup without him for my Tournament Contest this week. This lineup may actually work for Cash Contests too, if you like a more balanced approach.
MAX HOMA ($9,600): Homa is the golfer (not named Scottie Scheffler) who I like the most this week. Homa ranks only ranks No. 18 in the key stats, but his recent form and course history are really good. Homa finished 8th last week at the API and 6th at the Genesis (signature event). The greens this week are Poa and Homa ranks No. 1 in the field in SG Putting (Poa). Homa finished 6th last year and 13th in 2022 at THE PLAYERS. He has a great chance to finish in the top-five Sunday.
COLLIN MORIKAWA ($9,400): There is an unwritten rule in Fantasy Golf… Play Collin Morikawa after he misses a cut. He almost always bounces back with a finish near the top of the leaderboard. Morikawa is one of the most accurate golfers in the field and he ranks No. 3 in Bogey Avoidance. Morikawa finished 13th at THE PLAYERS last year. I doubt he will be highly owned, so I will play the upside with Morikawa this week.
SHANE LOWRY ($9,100): I am not a fan of “Chalk Lowry Week”, but I am a huge fan of his recent form and course history. Lowry finished 3rd last week at the API and 4th the previous week at the Cognizant Classic. Those are both tough tournaments in Florida. Lowry has also made three cuts in a row at THE PLAYERS. That includes a 13th-place finish in 2022 and an 8th-place finish in 2021. Lowry ranks No.12 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 11 in SG Approach and No. 14 overall in the key stats. I will eat the chalk and play Lowry this week.
RUSSELL HENLEY ($8,600): Henley checks all of the boxes this week. He ranks 26th in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 21 in SG Approach, No. 8 in SG Putting, No. 8 in Scrambling and No. 13 overall in the key stats. Henley finished 4th last week at the API and has made every cut on the PGA Tour this season. He finished 19th last year at THE PLAYERS and 13th in 2022. His game fits perfectly for TPC Sawgrass.
CAMERON DAVIS ($7,000): Davis wasn’t on my radar until I ran the key stats for this tournament. Davis ranks No. 18 SG Approach, No. 24 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 24 in Ball-Striking and No. 29 overall in the key stats (not too bad for $7K). Davis finished 18th last week at the API, 49th at the Genesis (signature event) and 20th at Pebble Beach (signature event). Davis also finished 6th last year at THE PLAYERS. I doubt Davis will have mush ownership, so I will take a chance with the Australian this week.
DAVIS THOMPSON ($6,100): Thompson is a good contrarian cheap play at THE PLAYERS. Thompson ranks No. 21 SG Tee-to-Green, No. 15 in SG Approach, No. 30 in SG Putting and No. 25 overall in the key stats. Thompson has made 10 of his 11 cuts on the PGA Tour this year so his form is good. He also made the cut at THE PLAYERS last year, so he has some course history. I will throw a dart with Thompson this week and hope it hits the bulls-eye.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (Multi Entry Lineups)
* I went all in with Scottie Scheffler in my lineups. I have him in 60% of the lineups in the attachment above. If you do not want to invest that much into Sheffler this week, use the attachment below.
Multi-Entry Tournament Contest with Scottie Scheffler at 40% (Multi Entry 2)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the first tournament in Segment 2. There are 11 tournaments in this segment (one more than usual). That includes THE PLAYERS, the Masters and the PGA Championship. There are also two “signature events” in this segment (RBC Heritage and the Wells Fargo Championship). This is going to be a tough segment to navigate, so use your allocations wisely.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: JUSTIN THOMAS (THE PLAYERS
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Scottie Scheffler (Won), Russell Henley (41st), Tony Finau (13TH), Sahith Theegala (37th), Sam Burns (3rd), Max Homa (66th), Jason Day (MC), Taylor Montgomery (61st), Corey Conners (57th)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: SHANE LOWRY (THE PLAYERS)
One & Done picks used so far this season: Matthew Fitzpatrick (MC), Eric Cole (MC), Nicolai Hojgaard (52nd), Adam Scott (19th), J.T. Poston (MC), Jordan Spieth (39th), Keegan Bradley (43rd), Andrew Putnam (47th), Russell Henley (4th), Sungae Im (5th), Alex Noran (Won), Beau Hossler (15TH), Min Woo Lee (6th), Adam Schenk (MC), Eric Cole (35TH), Sahith Theegala (Won)
BEST BETS THE PLAYERS
JUSTIN THOMAS (22-1)
MAX HOMA (25-1)
SHANE LOWRY (35-1)
RUSSELL HENLY (45-1)
KEITH MITCHELL (90-1)
ERIK VAN ROOYEN (110-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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