The best golfers in the world will tee it up in Austin, Texas for the Dell Technologies Match Play event. This is the PGA’s version of March Madness. The top 64 golfers are seeded and play head-to-head until the final four from each bracket is set. It is a different form of golf and a different form of DFS contests. I scale back my entries about 50% for this tournament since it is so random who wins each season. The tournament starts Wednesday this week so make sure your lineups are posted before the lineup lock-time.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The Dell Match Play event will take place at Austin Country Club. The course is a 7,108 yards (not too long) par 71. It is another Pete Dye course this week so that means strategy is the key in this tournament. Golfers must position their tee shots in the correct part of the fairway to set up a good angle to the flag. The bombers have had success here, but the short knockers who are good iron players have also won too. It all comes down to which golfer can get on a hot streak and eliminate their competition.
Click here to see the course: Austin Country Club
KEY STATS FOR WGC MATCH PLAY
– Strokes Gained Approach
– Scrambling
– Shots Gained Tee to Green
– Par 4 Scoring (350-400 yards)
– Birdie or Better %
THE FIELD
MY BRACKET PICKS
PGATour.com has a Bracket Challenge where you can fill out your “March Madness Golf Tournament Bracket” for a chance to win money. You can go to this link to sign up: Dell Match Play Brackett Challenge
Here is my Bracket:
*Max Homa is my winner
DRAFTKINGS SCORING FOR DELL MATCH PLAY
DELL MATCH PLAY STRATEGY
I am not playing any Cash Contests this week, but I will still provide a lineup. This tournament has so much randomness that it is hard to put together a balanced lineup. I think it is a better idea to swing for the fences. That means we will select some golfers who can pull an upset and get on a roll this week. Each year there is a No. 6 of higher seeds to reaches the final four. These golfers are usually lower owned. If you have them in your lineup, you will win a lot of money.
The WGC Match Play is all about strategy!!! It doesn’t matter what golfers you pick. If you do not use the correct strategy, you cannot win. The winning lineup in ALL DFS Contest has had at least five golfers reach the Elite Eight. You need at least three of these golfers to reach the Final Four, or you cannot win first place. We must build lineups to give us a chance to have six golfers in the Elite Eight and three in the Final Four. We do that by following these rules…
- Do not pick golfers from the same group.
- Do not pick golfers from adjacent groups (They will eliminate each other in the Sweet 16 and then you have no chance of getting 6 golfers in the Elite Eight)
- Do not pick six golfers from three quadrants (Meaning the upper right, lower right, upper left and lower left. Similar to the West Regional, South Regional, Midwest Regional and East Regional in the NCAA Bracket). You will not have a path to getting four golfers to the Final Four. You need to use all four quadrants.
- There are 16 top seeds in the 16 groups. Do not pick more than eight of the top seeds winning their group. It has never happened. Most of the time only five top seeds advance.
* According to Jeff Gulp of NBC Edge, 60% of the lineups in DraftKings Contests last year where dead before the tournament started because they did not follow the rules listed above. If we simply follow the rules, we only need to beat 50% of the lineups to win some cash. That is pretty good odds in a Tournament Contest.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
MAX HOMA $10,100 (GROUP 5): I will be playing Scottie Scheffler in many of my lineups posted in the “Tournament File Download” posted below. I will start this lineup with Max Homa. I have him winning this tournament in my bracket, so why not play him in DFS too? Homa has been rock solid this year. He is like a machine and has nerves of steel. I like that mindset in match play events. The only player stopping Homa from reaching the final four is Patrick Cantlay. I love both golfers this week, but Homa is cheaper.
CAMERON YOUNG $9,200 (GROUP 15): I really like the draw that Cameron Young got. He should make short work of Sepp Straka and Davis Thompson. Corey Conners is a tough matchup, but Young’s advantage off the tee should allow him to go undefeated in his group. The rest of the path to the final four is not too tough either. Young is a great value pick for $9,200.
TYRRELL HATTON $9,000 (GROUP 14): Tyrrell Hatton is playing some of the best golf of his life. He finished second last week at THE PLAYERS and fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Hatton is also real good in match play events. He advanced out of his group last year and came real close to making it to the elite eight. Hatton is playing better golf this year so I like him to make a run to the finals Sunday.
MIN WOO LEE $7,600 (GROUP 11): I like the draw that Min Woo Lee got this week. Matthew Fitzpatrick is banged up and the extra golf this week is not going to help him heal up. His only competition in his group is Sehith Theegala. Lee is a most consistent golfer, so I like him to advance out of Group 11 and play Tyrrell Hatton in the elite eight.
SEAMUS POWER $7,200 (GROUP 13): The most underpriced golfer this week is Seamus Power. I guess DraftKings has never watched the WGC Match Play before. Power loves this event. He beat Patrick Cantlay and Sungjae Im in his group last year and then beat Tyrrell Hatton in the next round. He was eliminated by a red hot Scottie Scheffler in the next round. I will take a chance with Power and hope he can get hot like he did last year at the WGC Match Play.
DENNY MCCARTHY $6,900 (GROUP 3): Group 3 is interesting. Rory McIlroy should destroy this group, but he is not playing his best golf right now. Keegan Bradley has good recent form, but he WD last week, so there are questions about his health. If this tournament turns into a putting contest, Denny McCarthy could win. He is the best putter in the world and his irons are starting to come around. McCarthy is a good value play this week.
* I do not recommend Cash Contests for the Match Play event because the tournament requires you to play a Multi-Entry Tournament style lineup. There are no “safe” picks this week. If you must play a cash lineup, use the lineup listed above.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (FantasyRacingTips)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the second tournament of Segment 3. There are 11 tournaments in this segment, including the Masters and the PGA Championship. We will need our top golfers for the majors, so use your allocations wisely in Segment 3.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: TYRRELL HATTON (WGC MATCH PLAY)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zalatoris (53rd), Matt Kuchar (MC), Tony Finau (20), Xander Schauffele (10th), Seamus Power (15th), Max Homa (1st), Brian Harman (MC), and Corey Conners (12th)
SEASON LONG ONE & DONE PICK: WYNDHAM CLARK (PUNTACANA CHAMPIONSHIP)
Players Used This Season in One & Done: Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zallatoris (53rd), Sungjae Im (42nd), Max Homa (2), Xander Schauffele (10th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Jon Rahm (7th), Taylor Montgomery (5th), Russell Henley (32nd), Seamus Power (25th), Brian Harman (2nd), Maverick McNealy (27th), Emiliano Grillo (42nd), Nick Hardy (28th), Terrell Hatton (13TH) Christian Bezuidenhout (29th), Cameron Davis (37th), Denny McCarthy (39th), Brendon Steele (CUT)
WGC MATCH PLAY BEST BETS
PATRICK CANTLAY (18-1)
MAX HOMA (20-1)
TYRRELL HATTON (25-1)
CAMERON YOUNG (30-1)
LOG SHOT SPECIALS: MIN WOO LEE (70-1) and KURT KITAYAMA (90-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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