DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: THE PLAYERS 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 PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Key Stats

For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the primer.

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 $11,400 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: 12/1) - Fresh off a dominant win at the WGC-Mexico Championship, DJ is back to the top of the pricing on DraftKings, having ever so briefly ceded that ground to Justin Thomas for one tournament. Johnson is 1st in strokes gained: tee to green, 4th in approach, 5th on par 4s between 450-500 yards, and 17th on par 5s. While he has never seriously contended at THE PLAYERS, he has still made five straight cuts and has back to back top 25s at Sawgrass. If he putts like he did in Mexico (8.5 strokes gained putting), he will win just about anywhere.

Tiger Woods ($10,500 | 21) - Assuming he does not withdraw again, Tiger lines up spectacularly this week. He is a two-time champion, most recently in 2013, and after missing three of the next four editions he looked sharp with a T11 last year. He is second in the field in strokes gained: approach, scrambling gained, and strokes gained: par 4s (450-500), and fifth in strokes gained: tee to green. Ownership is always a concern with Woods, but coming off a withdraw and priced all the way up, it may be hard for DFS players to click him when safer options abound. He is a great play independent of ownership, but if people aren't on him he becomes one of the best on the board.

Brooks Koepka ($10,000 | 21) - With apologies to Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose, Koepka gets the nod this week for being the cheapest of the $10k range and also likeliest to be the lowest owned DraftKings. He ups his game in strong fields, and after quietly taking down three major championships he has finally started to speak out about his lack of respect in the mainstream. Koepka is 2nd in strokes gained: par 5s, and 15th in strokes gained: tee to green. He has improved in each of his visits to Sawgrass: after missing the cut in 2015, he has finished 35th, 16th, and 11th over the last three years.

Mid-Priced Option

Sergio Garcia ($9,100 | 34) - As noted on Monday, Garcia is a former winner and has just two missed cuts in his career at the PLAYERS despite making this stop every single year. His last 50 rounds include a horrible stretch kicked off at last year's Masters, where he imploded on the 15th hole and was in a funk for the rest of the season. He has finished T9 or better in 9 of his last 11 worldwide starts, with an ugly disqualification in Saudi Arabia and a T37 at the Genesis Open the only exceptions. He is still 5th in approach and 17th tee to green over his last 50, but he is 1st and 6th, respectively, in his last 12 rounds.

Xander Schauffele ($9,000 | 29) - Schauffele finished second in his debut last year and, like Koepka, thrives against the world's best competition. He is 4th in strokes gained: par 5s, 18th on approach, and 23rd in scrambling gained. He's finished top 25 in 10 of his last 11 events on Tour, and he ranks 6th in total strokes gained over his last 50 rounds without an elite ranking in any of the individual metrics (the 18th in approach is his highest). That formula means he can grind or go low; he avoids blowups and maximizes his opportunities. It's no surprise he contended her last year and won't be if he does again this time around.

Francesco Molinari ($8,600 | 24) - The come-from-behind win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational will surely carry over some popularity in the betting markets and across the DFS industry. Molinari is still worth a look, though, as he has terrific course history (three top 10s before a missed cut last year) and current form, coming off a win and ranking 9th in strokes gained: tee to green, 12th in strokes gained: approach, and 13th in both scrambling gained and par 4s (450-500 yards). Curious about his win at Bay Hill was how he gained his strokes; normally he is carried by iron play and struggles to putt with any consistency. Last week he gained just 1.2 strokes on approach and 6.8 putting. If he hits his irons with confidence this week he'll be in contention once again. He has the ability to string together strong finishes, as he showed with three wins and two runner-ups over a six event stretch between the European and PGA Tours last summer.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,300 | 36) - Matsuyama is one of the best bargains in the field, as he ranks 1st in stroke gained: approach, 4th in strokes gained: tee to green, 15th in scrambling gained, 17th on par 4s between 450-500 yards, and 24th on par 5s. He is also first in opportunities gained (birdie opportunities from 15 feet or closer) and proximity gained from 200 yards or farther, a key range for any course featuring this many doglegs. Hideki finished 33rd last week despite losing an unbelievable 8.3 strokes putting. Prior to missing the cut here last year, he had booked five straight top-25s.

Low-Priced Options

Paul Casey ($7,900 | 41) - Casey is back to his steady, consistent tee to green game after faltering toward the end of last season. He has 9 finishes inside the top 25 in his last 10 full events (he withdrew at the BMW Championship and missed the cut at the Sony Open earlier this year). He is 10th in strokes gained: par 5s, 13th on approach, and 24th tee to green. His scrambling and putting are not where you'd like them to be, but he has shown a propensity to capitalize on the weeks when he has it rolling on the greens. Including last time out at the WGC-Mexico and dating back to August 2017, Casey has finished in the top 5 each of the last seven times he's gained more than 1.9 strokes putting.

Henrik Stenson ($7,800 | 46) - After playing terribly overseas, Stenson has found his groove and heads to Sawgrass on the upswing coming off a T17 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is 6th in strokes gained: approach, 18th tee to green, 28th in the key par 4 range, and 36th on par 5s. He is 79th in scrambling but is 3rd in bogeys avoided. He won THE PLAYERS in 2009 and has made the cut and finished T34 or better in six of the last seven years.

Ian Poulter ($7,600 | 55) - Poulter has been on quite a run since the Ryder Cup and has carded 8 top-25s in his last 10 worldwide events, including five top-10s. He is 26th in strokes gained: tee to green, 37th in approach, and 39th on par 5s. While he is just 78th in scrambling gained, he finished 11th on the PGA Tour in scrambling from the rough in 2018. Poulter has solid history at THE PLAYERS, having competed every year since 2004 and missed just three cuts with eight finishes inside the top 30.

Gary Woodland ($7,500 | 55) - Welcome to Gary Woodland chalk week! On an incredible cut-making run and striking the ball as well as anyone in the world, Woodland has to be in consideration at such a price discount. He is 6th in strokes gained: par 5s, 7th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 10th in strokes gained: approach. The armor has been dented in each of the last two events, as he lost 4.0 strokes on approach at the WGC-Mexico and then lost 3.6 putting at the Honda. But seeing the irons come back to the tune of 7.6 strokes gained on approach at Riviera is encouraging.

Lucas Glover ($7,100 | 55) - Another cash game candidate given his recent form, Glover jumps out immediately at $7,100. He is perfectly fine in each of the key stats: 14th on par 5s, 25th in scrambling gained, 35th tee to green, 47th on par 4s (450-500), and 48th in approach. With just one missed cut and eight top-25s in his last nine events, including a T10 last week at Bay Hill, Glover is locked in. He is first on the PGA Tour in scrambling this season. The cause for concern is inconsistent course form; while he finished T6 here in 2017, his other finishes in the past six years include a 72nd and four missed cuts.

Bargain Basement

Byeong-Hun An ($6,800 | 90) - An finished T30 here last year, just his second appearance at TPC Sawgrass besides a missed cut in 2016. He is incredibly balanced at this low of a price, as he ranks 10th in strokes gained: tee to green, 20th on par 4s (450-500), 23rd in strokes gained: approach, and 32nd in scrambling gained. He has missed just two cuts worldwide in the last 12 months.

Chris Kirk ($6,400 | 240) - Kirk is a good scrambler with solid course history who found some life last week. He is 37th in scrambling gained but finished 10th on the entire Tour in scrambling in 2018. Kirk has not missed a cut at THE PLAYERS since his debut in 2011 and finished T13 or better three times.

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.