DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Wells Fargo Championship

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 Wells Fargo Championship.

This Week’s Course

The Wells Fargo Championship returns to Quail Hollow Club after skipping last year as the course hosted the PGA Championship. It was renovated to make the conditions more difficult for the last major of the year, and the field felt the pain.

Over the last 10 years at Quail Hollow, the Wells Fargo cut line has landed between -1 and +1 all but once. At the PGA, however, the cut was all the way up to +5, thanks in part to shaving a par 5 off the scorecard and changing par to 71.

The course flexed for the major, but this is a private, member-owned club when not hosting PGA Tour events. It's unlikely that its members enjoyed playing on the ramped up conditions, so expect the course to play closer to its historical Wells Fargo conditions than the 2017 PGA. That being said, the absence of another par 5 is something we must factor in when choosing our golfers on DraftKings.

Key Stats

Now, onto the picks.

All stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club (FNGC) and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds.

High-Priced Studs

Rory McIlroy (DraftKings Price: $11,800 | bet365 Win Odds: 15/2) - McIlroy returns to PGA Tour action this week for the first time since fizzling out on Sunday at The Masters. Although he was no doubt disappointed in the 5th place finish at Augusta, his supernova Saturday showed that McIlroy is still capable of blitzing the field, even against the toughest competition. Rory enters the week 5th in strokes gained: tee to green and 19th in strokes gained on par 4’s. In that span, he is first in driving distance and 9th in proximity on approach. McIlroy is a two-time winner at this event, has three other top-10s, and finished 22nd at the PGA Championship here a year ago.

Justin Thomas ($11,300 | 10) - JT broke through at the PGA to win his first career major here, and he has been on fire since. He ranks 1st in strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: par 4’s, as well as 8th in proximity, and 2nd in both birdies or better gained and bogeys avoided. He missed the cut here in 2016 but finished T7 in 2015. There is no question Thomas is a great play this week, and you really can’t go wrong starting your lineup with him, McIlroy, or Rickie Fowler ($11,000).

Patrick Reed ($9,700 | 22) - The Masters champion may go overlooked this week with the three guys in great spots at the top, but Reed arguably enters the event as the hottest golfer in the field. Prior to his win at Augusta, Reed finished 7th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and 2nd at the Valspar Championship. He is 25th in strokes gained: tee to green (which undersells his recent performance given that Augusta does not track strokes gained data), 11th in birdies or better gained, and 15th in both bogeys avoided and strokes gained: putting (Bermuda). He’s never missed the cut at this event, offering a unique combination of safety and upside.

Mid-Range Options

Hideki Matsuyama ($9,400 | 22) - Matsuyama seems to be recovered from the wrist injury that plagued him earlier this season and led to a withdraw at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He closed strong at The Masters to finish T19. He led through 36 at the PGA Championship before finishing in 5th, and his other three trips to Quail Hollow resulted in T11 (2016), T20 (2015), and T38 (2014). Hideki has top-25 ranks in birdies or better gained and bogeys avoided, and he is 8th in strokes gained: tee to green and 16th in strokes gained: par 4’s.

Phil Mickelson ($9,200 | 25) - Phil has similar course credentials to the studs at the top of the player pool, but he comes at a significant discount. He has eight top-10s at this event (most recently 2015) and has made 14 straight cuts here. Mickelson is 1st in strokes gained: putting (Bermuda) and is 1st on the entire Tour in putts per round this season. He is also 21st in strokes gained: tee to green and 6th in strokes gained: par 4’s.

Paul Casey ($8,900 | 28) - Casey finally cracked and missed a cut his last time out, just his first time skipping the weekend since the Sony Open in January 2017. Over that span, he was one of the most consistently excellent golfers on Tour and most recently had finished in the top-25 in all but one event this season, including a win at the Valspar. He boasts top-5 ranks in strokes gained: tee to green and birdies or better gained, and he is 9th in strokes gained: par 4’s.

Tony Finau ($8,700 | 35) - Finau gutted out a nasty ankle injury to finish 10th at The Masters, and showed he was fully healed by participating in the Zurich Classic team event last week. We need length at this course, and Finau ranks 6th in the field in driving distance and 13th in strokes gained: tee to green in his last 50 rounds. Although we tend to associate him more with par 5 performance, Finau ranks 11th in the field in strokes gained: par 4’s and does his best work on the longest par 4’s (13th in 450-500 yards, 2nd in 500+).

Low-Priced Options

Webb Simpson ($8,400 | 40) - Simpson is a member at Quail Hollow and has a T2 to his name here in 2015 (he also missed the cut in 2016, for what it’s worth). A T33 at the PGA Championship last year validates his course credentials, and he has three top-10s (including two top-5s) in his last five events. He is 9th in bogeys avoided and 11th in proximity. Although he doesn’t have the length off the tee we would normally like, his magical putter can more than make up for it.

Francesco Molinari ($7,400 | 70) - Molinari finished 2nd at the PGA Championship and 17th in his only other appearance at Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo in 2016). He is ranked 4th in strokes gained: tee to green and could go underowned. Luke List will be popular at this price despite his putting woes.

Kevin Streelman ($7,200 | 80) - Streelman enters this week off consecutive top-10 finishes at the RBC Heritage and Valero Texas Open. He is 1st in bogeys avoided, 3rd in strokes gained: par 4’s, and 19th in proximity in his last 50 rounds. He did not play in the PGA last year and missed the cut here in 2016, but impressively rattled off T9, T14 and T6 in the three years prior.

Bargain Basement

Stewart Cink ($7,100 | 250) - Sure, he is a long shot, but Cink has six top-25s at this event, including three top-10s. He is a respectable 23rd in strokes gained: par 4’s and 36th in strokes gained: putting on Bermuda.

Lucas Glover ($6,800 | 110) - Glover held his own with a T33 at the PGA Championship and boasts four top-10s and a win at the Wells Fargo Championship. The 2009 U.S. Open champion is 30th in strokes gained: tee to green, 31st in strokes gained: par 4's, and 20th in bogeys avoided. He doesn’t have much win equity, but he has missed the cut just once in his last 20 events.

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.