GOLF

Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Dean & DeLuca Invitational

The tournament name is still new, but Colonial CC is no stranger to the PGA Tour. What should you know about it for this week?

The PGA Tour keeps marching on, and we're right back at it with the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, better known as the Colonial.

The tournament was renamed last year, but the Colonial has been a PGA Tour stop for quite a while, giving us plenty of history to dig into. What should you know about the course when building your daily fantasy lineups?

Course and Tournament Overview

Colonial CC is a 7,209-yard par 70 and has been, generally just tougher than average relative to par on the tour.

Year Difficulty Rank Avg O/U Par
2016 18 0.197
2015 21 -0.218
2014 19 0.273
2013 24 -0.105
2012 13 1.129
2011 22 0.082
2010 41 -1.459
2009 34 -0.814


It's not exactly a birdie fest by any means -- not since 2010 at least. That's especially true from holes 3 through 5, known as the "Horrible Horseshoe." Those three holes and the ninth graded out as the four toughest holes last year. Don't fret too much if your players struggle here.

And this is a 120-player tournament, so that cuts down our field by a good 25 or so options from usual.

Recent Tournament History

Jordan Spieth (-17) won by three strokes last year. Harris English (-14) was second, and Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson (-13) tied for third. Kyle Reifers (-12) finished fifth. Four players tied for sixth at -9: Jason Dufner, Matt Kuchar, Anirban Lahiri, and Martin Piller, a Fort Worth resident.

In 2015, Chris Kirk (-12) won by a stroke, with Jason Bohn, Brandt Snedeker, and Spieth tying for second (-11). Adam Hadwin, Kevin Kisner, George McNeill, Pat Perez, and Ian Poulter tied for fifth at -10.

Adam Scott (-9) defeated Dufner in a playoff in 2014, and Freddie Jacobson tied with Nicholas Thompson for third at -8. Ryan Palmer (-7) got another top-five, tying with David Lingmerth, John Senden, Brendon Todd, and David Toms.

Key Stats

Certain stats, such as strokes gained: tee to green, birdie or better percentage, and putting efficiency will always be worth monitoring, but these are some of the most important stats to look for when rostering golfers at Colonial CC.

Key Stats for the Dean & DeLuca Invitational at Colonial CC
Strokes Gained: Approach the Green
Greens in Regulation
Scrambling
Birdie or Better Percentage
Strokes Gained: Putting


Strokes gained: approach the green has correlated strongly with finishing position in the past five seasons at Colonial CC, so you might want to prioritize that when digging into the various strokes gained stats.

Strokes gained: putting has also been key, but putting is always tough to predict. Still, you might want to bump down guys who struggle on the green. Last year, Spieth ranked second in strokes gained: putting, and Kirk was second in strokes gained: putting in his victorious 2015 season, as well.

Spieth was also first in scrambling in 2016, and scrambling and greens in regulation have a strong relationship with final position in recent seasons.

Course History Studs

Course history suggests Spieth could right the ship this week. He won last year, after posting rounds of 67, 66, 65, and 65. In 2015, he was T2 (64, 73, 67, 65). In his two prior attempts here, he finished T14 (2014) and T7 (2013). That's four for four on cuts with four top 15s. Whew.

Zach Johnson, somehow, could be even better. He's 11 for 11 here since 2004 and has 8 top 25s. Five of those were top 10s, and he won in 2010 and 2012. From 2009 to 2016, he was T9, 1, 4, 1, 3, 73, T19, T17.

Kirk is also perfect here with cuts, going seven of seven. Kirk has finished top 16 in five of his past six events here.

Ryan Palmer, a member of Colonial CC, has some strong history, too. Since a missed cut in 2010, Palmer has finished T31, T5, T14, T5, cut, T3 at Colonial. In all, he's played here 13 times and made the cut in 10 of those, resulting in 5 top 25s and 3 top 10s.

Dufner is almost always a cut-maker, but the results have been there at Colonial. Since 2012, he's finished 2, T46, 2, T43, and T6. The current form in on point as usual, too.

English doesn't have quite the history here as these other guys, but he has made three of four cuts at Colonial. He was 2nd last season and T30 in 2014 (he didn't play here in 2015). He also had a T5 in 2012.

Similarly, Kisner's history here is short but strong. He did miss the cut in 2014 but was T5 in 2015 and T10 in 2016. Seven of his past eight rounds here have been under par.

Charley Hoffman has made eight of eight cuts at Colonial, but those have resulted in just three top 25s and a lone top 10 (T10 in 2015).

Chris Stroud missed the cut in 2010 and didn't play Colonial in 2011. Since then, he has finished T13, T7, T14, cut, and T13. That's four top 15s in five years.