GOLF

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: The RSM Classic

Rising star Cameron Champ and Webb Simpson are the most expensive golfers on DraftKings this week. Are they worth the price?

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 Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Key Stats

Key Stats for the RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
Strokes Gained: Approach
Birdies or Better Gained
Strokes Gained: Par 4s (400 - 450 yards)
Strokes Gained: Par 5s

Check out the primer for more details on why these stats stand out this week. There is a lot to choose from here with a 150-golfer field, so 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

Webb Simpson (DraftKings Price $11,800 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: 11/1) - Simpson is the headliner this week as well as the highest-priced option on DraftKings. He closed the season with top 25's in six of his last eight events and started 2018-19 off right with a T15 at the Shiners. Webb is 6th in strokes gained: par 4s (400-450) and 10th in both strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach. His off-the-tee marks (104th) are dinged for his lack of distance, but he is a respectable 19th in good drives gained, so he has accuracy on his side. He is also first in scrambling, showing he is able to make up for any mistakes along the way.

Cameron Champ ($10,900 | 18) - That was fast. In just 33 rounds on Tour, Champ has emerged as a ball-striking force. His distance is well documented, and so far he easily leads the Tour in driving distance with an average of 335.2 yards, per statistics on the PGA's official site. For perspective, Rory McIlroy (not in this field), led the Tour in distance last year and averaged only 319.8 yards. Even in 33 rounds, he is still fourth in strokes gained: off the tee when compared to golfers in the field over their 50 rounds. He is also third in birdies or better gained and seventh on strokes gained: par 5s.

Lucas Glover ($9,900 | 32) - Glover's stats over his last 50 rounds are solid: 3rd in the key par 4 range, 6th on par 5s, 8th off the tee, and 18th tee to green. His splits skew toward the more recent trends, as he ranks no worse than 16th in any key stat besides strokes gained: off the tee over his last 12 rounds. His three finishes this swing season are T7, T14 and T17.

Cheng-Tsung Pan ($9,700 | 28) - Pan sees a huge price bump this week, up from just $8,100 at the Mayakoba to now the sixth-highest priced golfer. Pan thrives on short courses (he was just 125th in driving distance last season), and he has made hay each of the last few weeks on shorter tracks. He is fourth in birdies or better gained and seventh in both strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach.

Mid Priced Options

Zach Johnson ($9,000 | 35) - ZJ's lack of distance won't hurt him here given how short these courses are, and his pedigree relative to the field is second only to Simpson. Johnson has slipped on a green jacket and hoisted the Claret Jug, but coming off a missed cut at the Mayakoba, he is significantly cheaper than less skilled and less consistent golfers. He is 5th in scrambling and strokes gained: par 4s (400-450), 11th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 13th in birdies or better gained. He is a member at Sea Island and knows these courses inside and out

Joaquin Niemann ($8,900 | 28) - Niemann has been a swing-season staple thanks to his ball-striking and birdie-making abilities. But with just one finish inside the top 25 to show for it, he is primed for a strong finish. He is extremely talented and was able to post four top 10s last season. Niemann is too good not to pop off with a super low score on courses this easy. He is first in strokes gained: approach and second in off the tee, overall tee to green, and birdies or better gained.

Sam Ryder ($8,600 | 48) - Ryder once again stands out this week after a disappointing 54th-place finish at Mayakoba. He is first in strokes gained: par 5s, third in strokes gained: approach, fourth in strokes gained: tee to green, and seventh in birdies or better gained. He is also 28th in scrambling and has made nine straight cuts.

Low Priced Option

Bud Cauley ($7,900 | 55) - Cauley's stats include a long layoff while he recovered from injuries sustained in a car accident, so take them with a grain of salt. He is middle of the pack in the ball-striking stats (67th in strokes gained: approach and 77th off the tee), but he is 12th in strokes gained: par 5s, 22nd in strokes gained: par 4s (400-450), 30th tee to green, and 32nd in birdies or better gained.

Stewart Cink ($7,700 | 70) - Cink had a terrific 2017-18 season, and after a T70 finish at the CJ Cup (out of a field of 77), he is set up for a return to form this week. Cink was one of the best iron players on Tour last year, finishing eighth in strokes gained: approach for the entire season.

Bronson Burgoon ($7,700 | 85) - Burgoon withdrew last week for an undisclosed reason, but being that he is back in the field this week for the RSM Classic, it is safe to assume he is healthy and that he will give fair notice if he plans to back out. Burgoon is 5th in strokes gained: approach, 11th off the tee and tee to green, 13th on par 5s and 17th in birdies or better gained.

Henrik Norlander ($7,000 | 250) - Here is the premier dart throw in this range. Norlander's last 50 rounds would rank 40th or better in each of the crucial stats except the key par 4 range, in which he'd be (gulp) 145th, but he has precious little data having not played on Tour since last year's RSM Classic, where he finished T54. He finished tied for second in here in 2016.

Bargain Basement

Joel Dahmen ($6,900 | 110) - Dahmen will continue to be an elite value until DraftKings bumps up his price. He is 3rd in strokes gained: tee to green, 4th in approach, 8th on par 4s (400-450), 15th on par 5s, 17th off the tee, and 21st in birdies or better gained.

Troy Merritt ($6,900 | 110) - Merritt ranks 19th in strokes gained: tee to green, 22nd in birdies or better gained and strokes gained: par 5s, and 29th in strokes gained: approach. He is obviously risky -- as is any golfer at this price -- but Merritt has major upside with a T4 at the Safeway and a win at the Barbasol over the last four months.

Robert Garrigus ($6,900 | 140) - Not for the faint of heart, Garrigus has above-average stats in all but the par 5s, including 7th in strokes gained in the key par 4 range and 11th in strokes gained: approach. His putter routinely lets him down, but when he rolls them in, he can shoot up the leaderboard. He has just three events in the last seven months in which he gained strokes putting and finished in the top 25 in each of them, including two of his last three 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.