DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: The Memorial

Daily fantasy golf requires a new approach for each and every event.

The course and field change week after week, making no two contests alike. That means you need to refine your approach for each PGA Tour event to try to find golfers who are primed to excel for your daily fantasy golf lineups.

Each week, we have a course primer, and our daily fantasy golf projections and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for The Memorial Tournament.

This Week’s Course

The PGA Tour heads north this week to Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio for the Memorial Tournament. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, Muirfield is a 7,392-yard par 72 that annually draws a field to rival those of major championships.

This year is no different, with 13 of the World Golf Rankings' top 20 golfers set to tee off Thursday. Oh, and there is a certain five-time winner whose name rhymes with Schmiger Schmoods. Experience matters here, and with some of the fastest greens on Tour daily fantasy players will have to weight performance with the flat stick when building their rosters. But any one of these world class golfers can get hot on the greens for four rounds, so keying in on who is putting themselves in position to create and convert birdie opportunities is essential.

Now, let’s get to the picks.

All stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds, unless otherwise noted.

High-Priced Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Price: $11,300 | bet365 Win Odds: 12/1) - Johnson has not played a ton this season, but in 9 events he has finished no worse than his 17th-place finish at the PLAYERS. He ranks second in strokes gained: tee to green and par 5s, fourth in birdies or better gained, and fifth in strokes gained at Nicklaus courses. The form is as good as ever and he is a co-favorite, according to his Vegas odds.

Justin Rose ($10,600 | 14) - Rose arrives at Muirfield Village with loads of confidence off his win at the Fort Worth Invitational. He ranks fifth or better in strokes gained: tee to green, birdies or better gained, and strokes gained: par 5s. He is 29th in approach, but the iron play has been spot on and carried him at Colonial, where he gained 10.2 strokes on approach to lead the field.

Justin Thomas ($10,300 | 12) - The World number one and defending PGA Player of the Year has not had tremendous success at Nicklaus courses, ranking just 53rd in strokes gained at those venues. Nonetheless, he finished fourth at this event last year, and since then has been indisputably the best golfer in the world. He has four wins in that span, including his first major at the PGA Championship. JT ranks second in birdies or better gained, third in strokes gained: tee to green, sixth in strokes gained: par 5s, and eighth in strokes gained: approach.

Jordan Spieth ($9,800 | 18) - After three straight finishes outside the top 20 for Spieth, daily fantasy players will be tempted to look elsewhere if paying up for a stud to build around. Spieth should not be overlooked, though, as he is first in strokes gained: tee to green and fourth in approach. His lone statistical blemish is on the greens, and Spieth is too good a putter to stay in this rut for long. When he figures it out he will be tough to beat.

Mid-Priced Options

Marc Leishman ($9,000 | 33) - Leishman has been boom or bust lately, with his last five finishes as follows: 2-63-MC-9-7. But his approach game has been solid across the board this year. He lost 5.3 strokes putting at the PLAYERS and 6.6 strokes off the tee at the RBC Heritage, which led to finishes that failed to reflect the strength of his iron play. Over a larger sample size of his last 50 rounds, Leishman is in the top 26 in all of our key stats except par 5s, where he is 50th. The Aussie also has three straight top-15 finishes at Muirfield.

Patrick Reed ($8,900 | 35) - Captain America followed up his Masters win with an 8th place finish at the Wells Fargo and a 41st at the PLAYERS. Augusta National does not track strokes gained data, but we don’t need it to know Reed was white hot on those bentgrass surfaces. His tee to green game is a respectable 21st, and he is taking advantage of his scoring opportunities with strong rankings in birdies or better gained (13th), strokes gained: par 5’s (6th), and strokes gained: putting (21st).

Matt Kuchar ($8,500 | 45) - Kuchar finds his name in this space again this week, on the strength of his reputation as a master of Nicklaus courses. He is first in the field in strokes gained on Nicklaus-designed courses, and his last five trips to Muirfield have resulted in finishes of T4-T4-T26-T15-WIN. Save for putting (18th) Kuchar’s other stats don’t quite stand out, but why fight it when the course form is this strong?

Phil Mickelson ($8,300 | 40) - After a disastrous showing at the PLAYERS, Mickelson returns to friendlier confines at the Memorial. Phil is first in strokes gained: putting and birdies or better gained, and fifth in strokes gained: par 5s. He has missed the cut just once in 15 cracks at this course.

Tony Finau ($8,100 | 55) - Although this course does not allow Finau to really let it rip off the tee, he has to be on the radar at a course with four attackable par 5s. Finau is 1st in strokes gained: par 5s, 9th in strokes gained at Nicklaus courses, and 14th in birdies or better gained.

Low-Priced Options

Byeong Hun An ($7,800 | 75) - The high $7k to low $8k range is loaded with quality options this week, and one player who could go overlooked is An. The putting is a major red flag (104th), but the dip is weighted heavily by a few really poor performances. In fact, he has actually gained on the field in five of his last eight events. Everything else about An’s game is solid, as he is 10th in strokes gained: par 5s, 17th tee to green, and 25th at Nicklaus courses (with back-to-back top-25s at the Memorial).

Bryson DeChambeau ($7,700 | 45) - DeChambeau pops statisically week in and week out, and he has not disappointed daily fantasy players. The Mad Scientist has made nine straight cuts, including four top-5s in that span. He is 3rd in strokes gained: par 5s, 7th in birdies or better gained, and 12th each in strokes gained: tee to green and approach. At this price he projects as one of the highest-owned golfers this week and should be a staple in cash game lineups.

Ryan Moore ($7,500 | 60) - Another terrific ball-striker who struggles with the short stick, Moore is eighth in both strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach. He is 11th in strokes gained: par 5s and 23rd at Nicklaus courses. In his last six events, he has finished inside the top-30 five times, finding success despite a cold putter.

Jamie Lovemark ($7,200 | 110) - Lovemark has long odds but has shown some major upside lately, finishing 17th at the PLAYERS and top-30 in 5 of 7 events prior to that one. He is 23rd in strokes gained: par 5s, 30th in strokes gained: approach, and 35th at Nicklaus courses. A 10th place finish here last year and solid current form make him a prime target in a crowded price range.

Bargain Basement

Russell Henley ($7,000 | 140) - Always someone we want to target on bentgrass greens (70th in strokes gained: putting, 10th on bentgrass only), Henley is also 26th in strokes gained: approach and 30th in birdies or better gained.

Brandon Harkins ($6,600 | 300) - Like Henley, Harkins does his best work on bentgrass. He is fourth on the entire tour in total birdies, and if he just makes the cut he is paying off his salary with major upside. He played the weekend at the PLAYERS and the 2016 U.S. Open, so he has the chops to survive the cut line in strong fields.

Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.