We are back this week for another look at Daily Fantasy PGA at DraftKings. I ended up keeping my head above water just barely, but with the NCAA tournament on the horizon, we just want to survive and advance.

We stay in Florida for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Let’s see if I can help you out this week.

One note – I’ve changed the organization to order the list below by dollar amount and not by name. If you’d rather see it the other way, let me know and I’ll go back, but I think this makes it a bit easier to make lineups. I’ve also moved to the standard notation of T10 to represent a tie for tenth and MC to denote a missed cut.

It’s a great week to check out DraftKings as they have some top notch contests. Come on over and take a look.

Tour Stop

We are still in Florida this week for the final tournament of the Florida Swing. This week we stop at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Bermuda grass covers the greens again this week on this 7,419 yard par 72 course.

If you are looking for past results, this tournament was called the Bay Hill Invitational until 2007 when Arnie took over. This course has hosted the championship for years, but was redesigned in 2009 and moved to par 72 from par 71 at that time. This course used to be one of the hardest courses, if not the hardest course, on the Florida swing. However, as other courses have been revamped, it has begun to move back a bit. It’s still a challenging track, but gives a little respite from the last two courses.

Between 2008 and 2013 when Tiger Woods won here four times, he was the King of Scrambling and also led the field multiple times in strokes gained: putting. Last year’s winner, Matt Every rode a hot putter to victory.

The weather looks like it should be good this week with temps in the mid-80s until Sunday when rain looks to be in the forecast with near certainty so we may see a more aggressive “Moving Day” then normal on Saturday.

Scorecard breakdown: Four (4) par threes, ten (10) par fours and four (4) par fives. The par fives aren’t terribly long (for Tour players) so birdies should be expected from many of the players. Again, par four scoring will be key.

Field

Rory McIlroy tees it up for the first time at Arnold’s tourney so we have the #1 golfer in the world. Beyond that, the field is smaller than usual with only 120 entrants. However, the same cut rules still apply (thanks to Gibb Pollard for the factoid) so a larger percentage of the field will make the cut. To put it another way, this is a bit closer to the earlier no cut events so you can take a couple of more risks than you might normally. We get to see 15 of the top 30 in OWGR this week.

The full field can be found here.

Nick Watney withdrew but after DraftKings posted prices so make sure you don’t have him in your lineup.

Also, thanks to GolfOdds.com for the odds this week. If you’d like to see a second set of odds, check out the Betting Zone’s odds here – just click on this week’s tournament on the left hand pane.

Past Tournament Results

2014 Winner: Matt Every navigated his way through a a star-studded leaderboard to pick up his first Tour victory. He posted a final round 2-under 70 and returns this week to defend his title.

Here is the top 20 from last year’s tournament

DraftKings Expert Picks

Rory McIlroy | $15,100 – McIlroy makes his first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He took last week off, but was a T9 at the Cadillac. He righted the ship after his first missed cut since the Nixon administration (well, not quite that long ago). He’s are premium player with no course history so you’re spending based on talent. You should be able to find better options.

Henrik Stenson | $12,500 – Stenson has back to back fourth place finishes and a finish within the top 15 in four straight tourneys on Tour. He’s got three straight top 15 finishes at Bay Hill including back to back top 10s. He had three rounds under 70 last year with only his Saturday 73 tarnishing what could have been a win for Stenson. He also happens to live in Orlando.

Bubba Watson | $12,300 – Watson withdrew last year (due to allergies), but prior to that had three straight top 25 finishes (T24, T4 and T14) at Bay Hill. His worst finish in 2015 is a T14 at the NTO. In fact, the last time he finished outside the top 30 was at the PGA back in August of last year. He’s in top form, has a game for this course and has succeeded here in the past. Play him with confidence.

Jason Day | $11,100 – Day’s record here isn’t great with a T25 in 2010 being his best finish. He’s off his worst finish of 2015 (T31 at the Cadillac) which isn’t so terrible. He currently sits number one in par 4 scoring and eighth in driving distance so he should be able to bounce back on this course.

Adam Scott | $10,900 – Scott blistered Bay Hill with an opening round 62 last year. He faltered badly on Sunday to a 76 to give the tournament away. Prior to his appearance last year, he last teed it up here in 2009 when he missed the cut. He’s coming in off a missed cut so he should be focused.

Rickie Fowler | $9,900 – Fowler missed the cut here last year and was T3 in 2013 which kind of sums Fowler up. He comes in off his best finish of 2015 (T12) at the WGC. He’s treated as a premium player around the industry, but I’ll pass this week as I don’t think his game sets up well for this course.

Keegan Bradley | $9,700 – Back to back top three (!) finishes here means you have to talk about Keegan Bradley. However, we haven’t seen a lot of leaderboard finishes from a player who is considered a premium player. He made the cut his last time out at the Cadillac, but ended up T38 and had more bogeys than birdies. He’s a bomber so you are counting on him out driving his competitors and hoping his recent course history takes over.

Hideki Matsuyama | $9,600 – Matsuyama makes his first trek to Arnold’s tournament. He missed the cut at the Farmers, but bounced back to back to back top 25 finishes. He’s currently eighth in ball striking, ninth in par 4 scoring and 29th in driving distance so he profiles as a good fit for the course. I’ll probably shy away from anyone making their debuts this week, but Hideki is a good option if you don’t mind.

Brook Koepka | $9,400 – Koepka finished T26 in his first trip to Bay Hill last year. Koepka absolutely murders the ball (sixth in 2014 and currently third this year in driving distance and fourth on the European Tour in 2014 in the same stat). I’m not sure what else to say – the young man fails to surprise me anymore and I have confidence in him this week to improve on his finish last year.

Harris English | $9,100 – English is two for three in cuts made here with his best finish coming last year (T14). He’s an excellent player in all phases of the game as evidenced by his current standing (T13) in ball striking. He responded from missing the cut at the Honda to post a T10 at the Valspar last week including the low round on Sunday of 65. He ticks nearly every statistical box you’d want this week.

J.B. Holmes | $8,900 – A course that doesn’t penalize bombers too heavily? Well, let’s check in with Mr. Holmes then, shall we? Holmes has been on fire over his last four appearances with two second place finishes, a T10 and a T22. He finished T10 here last year after stumbling on the weekend to a 72-73 finish. He’s in better form and should be a lock the leaderboard on Sunday.

Kevin Na | $8,800 – Na closed out the Valspar with a blistering 5-under 66 on Sunday. He finished T14 last year with a steady four rounds of 70-71-71-71. He’s made five of seven cuts here and his last five appearances (over six years) were T11, T2, T30, T4, and his T14 last year. He’s a must own in all formats.

Graeme McDowell | $8,800 – McDowell has two top 10 finishes in his last three trips to Arnie’s tournament. However, he seems to have lost his form as his last three tournaments have resulted in T36, MC and T56. I think I’ll probably stay away this week as there are better values in this tier.

Ian Poulter | $8,700 – Poulter has finished no lower than T21 in the last four years here including a solo third in 2012. He held the lead at the Honda three weeks ago and closed out last week’s Valspar with a 69 (tied for low round of the day). He seems to find one or two holes per round that ruin his entire card. He needs to avoid that to be able to live up to his billing – this could be the week on course he’s played well as of late.

Brandt Snedeker | $8,600 – Sneds has made six of eight cuts at Bay Hill over his career. He’s coming off his best finish at this tournament last year (T8). He’s been up and down since his win at Pebble Beach with a 74 th place finish at the NTO, then T17 at the Cadillac and a T53 last week.

Billy Horschel | $8,000 – Horschel is king of the ball strikers as he currently sits in second after finishing tied for third last year. One would think that his record would be better here, but he’s only played twice with his best finish last year (T43).

Francesco Molinari |$7,900 – Molinari the metronome. Well, usually. He entered the Valspar off of back to back missed cuts. He got off the schneid finishing with a T40 last week. He’s played Bay Hill twice and has made the cut both times include a T5 last year. So, he may not have the upside of other players, but should be there for the weekend.

Graham DeLaet | $7,900 – I don’t know. You tell me. DeLaet withdrew before the deadline last week at the Valspar. He’s 2015 looks like an EKG read out – MC, T30, T7, T57, T8, MC. I haven’t a clue which DeLaet will show up (or if he’ll show up at all). I’d like to see some consistency before I put DeLaet in my lineup.

Jason Kokrak | $7,800 – Kokrak finished fourth here last year and missed the cut in his only other trip here (2012). He’s 25th in par four scoring this year (T22 last year), 38th in scrambling (59th last year) and 62nd in strokes gained: putting (54th last year) so he has a profile that should succeed here.

Martin Laird | $7,800 – Laird looks like he may be back. He’s ascended to 17th in ball striking and this is a course that rewards the all-around player. He closed out the Valspar with a final round 68 and has three top 15 finishes in his four 2015 tourneys. He won here in 2011, but hasn’t had much other success here (best finish other than the win is a T34 in 2013). He’s long off the tee (33rd this year) and if he gets in trouble the rough won’t cause him too many issues. I’m going to own Laird everywhere as I think a lot of gamers will be off of him.

Russell Knox | $7,700 – Knox’s only trip here was last year and it ended with a T43. He has three top 15 finishes in 2015, but has missed two cuts as well. He’s a solid ball striker (38th currently) and an accurate driver of the ball (49th currently) so he checks some statistical boxes we’d like to see this week.

Gary Woodland | $7,600 – If it’s a course that a long hitter can take advantage of without too much concern for firing the ball all over the course, Woodland needs to get mentioned. He’s made the weekend three straight years at Bay Hill with his best finish (a T20) last year. He’s alternated missed and made cuts in 2015 so if you believe in patterns he’s due to make the cut this week after missing at Valspar last week.

Daniel Berger | $7,300 – I’m getting back on the horse with Mr. Berger. It’s his first trip here, but he’s too good a value to pass up based on his form coming in. Yes, he missed the cut last week, but that’s all the better for DFS players. Lest you forget, he had four straight top 25 finishes including three top 10s. He’s also 14th in driving distance in 2015 which could come in handy on course that doesn’t penalize you too much for wayward drives.

Zach Johnson | $7,200 – Johnson is 10 for 11 in cuts made with three top 10 finishes (though none since 2009). He’s had two top 10s this year and comes in off a T49 at the Cadillac two weeks ago. He probably won’t end up in the top 10 here, but he’s a great shot to see the weekend at a fair price.

Freddie Jacobson | $6,500 – Jac is back! Does that rhyme? Who knows? Jacobson finished T10 last year and has two top 10s in his last three appearances over four years. He’s been a bit uneven in his last three appearances with his best finish a T32 at the Farmers in early February.

Camilo Villegas | $6,400 – Villegas is six for eight in cuts made at the Arnold Palmer and has back to back top 20 finishes. He comes in playing very well with three top 30 finishes in a row with a solo 16th place finish at the Honda in his last time out. He closed out the weekend at the Honda with the low score both Saturday and Sunday.

George McNeill | $6,200 – Floridian McNeill finds his way back on the list again this week. He tied for 14th last year (his best finish at Bay Hill) and has made the cut in all five trips since 2008. He missed his first cut of 2015 last week at the Valspar after making five in a row.

Vijay Singh | $6,200 – Singh has made a mind-blowing 20 cuts in 21 appearances at this tournament through the years. He seems to have found the fountain of youth (or at least a puddle or two) as he’s been in contention a couple of times this year after being an afterthought the last couple of years. He finished T20 last year and is coming in off T10 finish at the Valspar.

Brian Davis | $6,000 – Davis has an interesting history here with four top 25 finishes in the last five years (he missed the cut in the other appearance). And he finally perked up last week with a T10 (taking the first round lead with an opening round 65). Oh, hey, he happens to live in Orlando.

Lucas Glover | $5,900 – Glover finished T14 last year and hopes to build off his T24 last week at the Valspar where he opened with 69-69. He is currently third in ball striking, but sits dead last in strokes gained: putting at 212th! He finished last in that stat in 2014 so at least he’s consistent. He drives the ball fairly well so the hope is he can get to the green in a reasonable number of strokes so that he can putt the ball all over the green.

Danny Lee | $5,800 – Lee has played here twice and his only made cut was last year’s T31. However, he showed quite well last week climbing up the leader board on Sunday (with a 67) to finish at T7. He’s putted quite well this year currently sitting 40th in strokes gained: Putting so he’ll have a shot if he can keep things in the fairway.

Chad Campbell | $5,300 – Campbell is 12 for 12 in cuts made at Bay Hill. He’s made five cuts in a row on Tour including a T24 last week at the Valspar. He’s finished outside the top 40 his last four trips to Bay Hill, but has significant success here in the past. He’s got a low ceiling, but if the past is any indication of future performance he’ll make the cut which is important in DFS.

Matt Every | $5,200 – The defending champ returns in poor form missing the cut at Valspar and not seeing the top 40 of a tournament since early 2015 at the Hyundai. He’s got a solid history here with three straight made cuts, but he’s not playing well and can be avoided.

Zac Blair | $5,000 – This is Blair’s first trek here so he’s risky, but he’s priced appropriately so let’s dive a little deeper. Blair sits 11th in strokes gained: putting and 19th in hit fairway percentage so he has some skills that should get him around the course without too many issues. He missed the cut last week after making the two previous weekends.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | $4,900 – Fernandez-Castano is the bane of all PGA golf statisticians everywhere as his long surname wreaks havoc on spreadsheets all around the world. He’s made two appearances at Bay Hill the last two years and has finished T3 and T35. His T35 last year included a second round 77 so he’s got some room to improve. He’s only made four of eight cuts in 2015 so he may not be a top choice for gamers.

Brandon Hagy | $4,400 – Shhh!!!! Hagy just turned pro and has turned heads since he’s been on tour. He crushes the ball (which could come in handy this week). He played in Brazil last week on the Web.com tour and finished T19 after a T16 in Puerto Rico the week before. He played at Pebble this year (T34) and led the whole tournament in driving distance. He’s young, so his results will be volatile, but in a week where you have a short field, he makes a viable sleeper. Feel free to read more if you can stand it.

Davis Love III | $4,100 – He’s played here 23 times and made the cut 19 of those trips including seven top 10s. All of that means is he’s old. But, he’s made a couple of cuts in 2015 (two out of five) and did finish T26 at Bay Hill last year. He’s a GPP option only though if you want a sliver of hope he still sits T5 in ball striking in 2015.

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.