GOLF

Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: TOUR Championship

With the final event on the PGA Tour calendar on tap, who should we roster on our FanDuel lineups?

By now, you've probably dabbled in daily fantasy sports, but if not, don't worry. Now is a great time to start, especially with FanDuel now offering a revamped version of PGA golf.

Golf can be one of the most exciting DFS sports to follow, as tournaments span four days and allow ample time to prepare each week, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the basics of building a lineup on FanDuel, the scoring setup, and advanced stats to know about the PGA.

But whether you're brand new to the PGA or daily fantasy sports in general, we have you covered -- and we have daily fantasy golf projections and lineup building tools, too.

Let's take a look at some golfers to target this week.

Key Stats

Key Stats for the TOUR Championship at East Lake GC
Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda
Birdie or Better Rate
Scrambling
Driving Accuracy


For more information on why we're focused on these stats, check out our course primer.

Stats cited below come from FantasyGolfMetrics and include the past 50 rounds on the PGA Tour unless noted. Ranks are among the field.

Best of the Best

Dustin Johnson (FanDuel Salary: $11,500 | Paddy Power Win Odds: 8/1) - DJ has had success at East Lake in the past despite finishing 17th last year. Prior to that, he was 6th, 5th, 5th, and 10th. He ranks second in the field in strokes gained: tee to green over the past 50 rounds, plus first in birdie or better rate and eighth in scrambling.

Brooks Koepka ($11,300 | 12/1) - Koepka leads the field in tee-to-green play over the past 50 rounds and sits fifth in birdie or better rate. He's also second in the field in strokes gained: putting on Bermuda grass greens over his career. In Koepka's two events here, he was 18th in 2015 but 6th in 2017.

Justin Thomas ($11,000 | 11/1) - Thomas sits 5th in strokes gained: tee to green, 4th in birdie rate, and 7th in scrambling in our split, but he is just 20th in putting on Bermuda in his career. Still, he's finished 6th in 2016 and 2nd in 2017, losing by just a stroke.

Tiger Woods ($10,800 | 11/1) - Tiger is the best Bermuda grass putter in the field over his career and finds himself bordering the top 10 in recent stats: 14th tee to green, 12th in birdie rate, 9th in scrambling, and 10th in driving accuracy. Tiger notched a win at East Lake in 2007 and has a runner-up in 2009.

Mid-Range Options

Francesco Molinari ($10,300 | 22/1) - Molinari has never played East Lake but enters with strong form: 3rd in tee-to-green play, 6th in birdie rate, 2nd in scrambling, and 6th in driving accuracy. Despite limited Bermuda exposure, he has been a plus-putter on the surface over 44 career events and ranks 13th in the field in strokes gained: putting on Bermuda greens.

Rickie Fowler ($9,700 | 18/1) - Fowler's win odds are probably too high based on the recent stats and finishes at East Lake (26th, 12th, 8th, 23rd in his career). However, he finished second at the BMW while ranking fourth in strokes gained: tee to green. Problematically, he lost strokes (albeit just 0.07 per round) with his approach shots. Still, he's got top-three upside at a cheap price.

Jon Rahm ($9,500 | 25/1) - Rahm has focused plenty on his Bermuda play of late. He's just 19th in putting on Bermuda, but he's gained strokes on the surface over 18 career events. Rahm is 11th in strokes gained: tee to green and 13th in scrambling, as well. He's shaping up to be a popular pick in this price range, but it's for good reason. He was seventh here last year.

Low-Priced Picks

Patrick Cantlay ($8,900 | 35/1) - Cantlay finished 20th here last year and enters ranked 9th in strokes gained: tee to green and 11th in accuracy. He's a worrisome 24th in birdie or better rate, but no sub-$9,000 golfer is flawless.

Xander Schauffele ($8,900 | 25/1) - Speaking of not flawless, last year's TOUR Championship winner, X ranks 27th in both strokes gained: tee to green and scrambling. He's 14th in strokes gained: putting on Bermuda, though, and he ranked 4th in approach at the BMW, when he turned in a T3.

Billy Horschel ($7,900 | 25/1) - Horschel's recent stats are phenomenal: 4th in strokes gained: tee to green, 10th in birdie or better rate, 1st in scrambling, and 2nd in driving accuracy. He's also eighth in his career in Bermuda putting.

Aaron Wise ($7,400 | 60/1) - Wise is just a punt play. He ranks 14th in birdie or better rate and 1st in par 5 scoring over the past 50 rounds, as well as 3rd in driving accuracy and 5th in greens in regulation. Combine that with an 11th-place ranking in putting on Bermuda, and we have a punt play who could net us enough birdies to contend. He finished T16 at the BMW to help quell some of the concerns.