2014 Fantasy GolfChris Garosi

2014 Fantasy Golf Daily Fix: PGA Championship

Welcome back to another edition of The Fantasy Fix’s Daily Fantasy golf column. And this one is a MAJOR edition. This week we are off to the PGA Championship at Valhalla – the fourth and final major on the tour. And DraftKings has rolled out the red carpet again with some fantastic games including a chance at $100,000 for an entry fee of only $20 in the PGA $100K Medium King of the Course. Come on over and take a look.

Tour Stop

The PGA Championship is the final major of the PGA season. This year it is held at Valhalla Golf Club just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. The course is 7,461 yards long and ends up at a par 71 on the scorecard. You can check out a video tour of every single hole here. Valhalla has hosted the Ryder Cup (2008), the PGA (1996 and 2000) and the Senior PGA Championship (2011 and 2004).

The course literally has a river running through it so water pops up on many holes. There are only three par 5s on the course, so the players will need to score on other holes to make a charge to the championship. The course has also undergone pretty serious renovations over the last few years so course history basically goes out the window.

We’re going to look at favorites – big names – as this is a major. You want players with success in majors. As for the course, we’re going to look at ball striking, total driving and par four performance (with some many par 4s on the card).

Field

This is a major. We have 49 of the top 50 – Dustin Johnson is off to solve some personal problems – and 99 out of the top 100 in the Overall World Golf Rankings. This includes Tiger Woods – I’d be surprised if he stays in the field based on what we saw last week, but he could try to give it a go and see how his back responds.

Also, thanks to GolfOdds.com for the odds this week.

2013 Tournament Results

2013 PGA Championship Results
2013 PGA Championship Results

Let’s look at a few options this week. The winner here is generally a major-winner as well.

DraftKingsExpert Picks

Graham DeLaet | $6,500 – DeLaet hasn’t made a cut at a major this year, but he’s first in ball striking, fourth in total driving, and tied for 35th in par 4 performance. He’s a gamble based on his work at the majors this year and his recent form, but he has the skills to score well here.

Harris English | $6,700 – English is another stats-darling sitting 15th in ball striking, 35th in total driving and tied for 25th in par 4 performance.

Rickie Fowler | $9,900 – Fowler has been top 5 in all three majors this year. Is this a major yes? Is Rickie Fowler on my roster? Yes.

Sergio Garcia | $10,200 – Second in par 4 performance, second in ball striking and a respectable 12th in total driving. Garcia has all of the stats in his favor.  

Billy Horschel | $5,900 – Horschel’s got two stats going his way – he’s fifth in ball striking and tied for 19th in total driving. He’s el cheapo and did pick up a top 25 at the U.S Open this year.

Hideki Matsuyama | $7,700 – Matsuyama has performed well on U.S. soil with a win at the Memorial (Jack’s tournament – and Valhalla is a Jack Nicklaus course).  The stats don’t love Matsuyama, but he is 33 rd in total driving and tied for 31st in par 4 performance.

rory-mcilroy_600_320Rory McIlroy | $11,600 – He has to be on the list. He’s won two straight. He’s won the most recent major. He’s the most expensive player on the card this week and he’s probably worth it.

Ryan Moore | $7,400 – Moore has been one of the hottest players in DFS with four straight appearances of greater than 80 points. Moreover, the stats love him with a tie for 8th in par 4 performance, 34th in total driving and tied for 15th in ball striking.

Brandt Snedeker | $8,000 – Snedeker thinks this is a home game. He’s got back to back top 25 finishes and just switched in early July to new coach Butch Harmon who has a reputation for quickly improving new students’ games.

Henrik Stenson | $9,500 – Stenson is tied for third in ball striking, tied for second in total driving, and 59th in par 4 performance. That par 4 scoring may come into play, but he’s been money this year and has been quite solid in the majors this year including a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open.

Tom Watson | $3,800 – Watson doesn’t play often, but he’s made his last two cuts. And his last tournament was the Open Championship where he finished a respectable tie for 51 st and picked up 58.5 DraftKings points. Watson is on this list more so because he lost in a playoff in the Senior PGA Championship in 2011. To be able to find a guy who has a 50/50 shot to make the cut at such a cut rate price allows you tons of roster flexibility elsewhere.

If you want another elder statesman, Colin Montgomerie ($4,000) also has a good shot to make the cut here.

Gary Woodland | $6,800 – Woodland is a bomber who can hit his way out of some of the traps along the way. He’s also 31st in ball striking, 24th in total driving and tied for 25th in par 4 performance. I like him to bounce back here.

Check out my lineup as it sits right now.

2104 PGA Championship Expert Picks
2104 PGA Championship Expert Picks

Good luck this week! Head over to DraftKings to choose your squad for this week.

DraftKings Scoring

Roster size: 6 Golfers

POINT SCORING

Golfers on each team will accumulate points as follows:

  • Per Hole Scoring
    • Double Eagle (DBL EAG): +20 PTs
    • Eagle (EAG): +8 PTs
    • Birdie (BIR): +3 PTs
    • Par (PAR): +0.5 PTs
    • Bogey (BOG): -0.5 PTs
    • Double Bogey (DBL BOG): -1 PT
    • Worse than Double Bogey (WORSE DBL BOG): -1 PT
  • Tournament Finish Scoring
    • 1st: 30 PTs
    • 2nd: 20 PTs
    • 3rd: 18 PTs
    • 4th: 16 PTs
    • 5th: 14 PTs
    • 6th: 12 PTs
    • 7th: 10 PTs
    • 8th: 9 PTs
    • 9th: 8 PTs
    • 10th: 7 PTs
    • 11th–15th: 6 PTs
    • 16th–20th: 5 PTs
    • 21st–25th: 4 PTs
    • 26th–30th: 3 PTs
    • 31st–40th: 2 PTs
    • 41st-50th: 1 PTs
  • Streaks and Bonuses
    • Streak of 3 Birdies of Better (MAX 1 Per Round) (3+ BIR STRK): +3 PTs
    • Bogey Free Round (BOG FREE RD): +3 PTs
    • All 4 Rounds Under 70 Strokes (ALL 4 RDS UND 70): +5 PTs
    • Hole in One (HOLE IN ONE): +10 PTs

Scoring Notes: Ties for a finishing position will not reduce or average down points. For example, if 2 golfers tie for 3rd place, each will receive the 18 fantasy points for the 3rd place finish result. Playoff Holes will not count towards final scoring, with the exception of the “finishing position” scoring. For example, the golfer who wins the tournament will receive the sole award of 1st place points, but will not accrue points for their scoring result in the individual playoff holes.

Player Lock Notes: All golfers lock at the time the first golfer tees off on day 1 of an event.

Full rules are located here for DraftKings golf.

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2 Comments

  1. August 6, 2014 at 11:10 am

    I like that you post your actual ticket. I do the same over all sites. I’m bookmarking you. You put your money where your mouth its! Kudos!!

    • August 8, 2014 at 7:22 pm

      Thanks for reading Brandon and thanks for the bookmark. Yea, I try to let everyone know where I am at when the column goes up. I usually stick with the lineup, but if I do make a change I usually like to post that on Twitter.

      Hope you had a good week.

      -Chris