GOLF

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Charles Schwab Challenge

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 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.

Key Stats

Key Stats for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club
Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
Strokes Gained: Approach
Birdies or Better Gained
Strokes Gained: Par 4s (emphasis on shorter holes)
Proximity Gained

Let's get to the picks. For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the primer.

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

Justin Rose (DraftKings Price: $11,400 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: 10/1) - Rose leads the way this week as the highest-priced golfer on DraftKings, and the shoe fits quite well. Rose is first in strokes gained: tee to green and birdies or better gained, second in approach, and third in strokes gained: par 4s. More specifically, he is ninth on par 4s measuring between 400 and 450 yards. Rose is the defending champion at Colonial and one of the top players in the world. He is not quite as consistent as he was last year, but with a win at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T3 at the Wells Fargo Championship, the form is still as solid as anyone's in the field.

Xander Schauffele ($10,000 | 16) - Like almost everyone not named Brooks Koepka or Dustin Johnson, Schauffele faded down the stretch at the PGA Championship, firing a Sunday 76 but still finishing T16. The X-man is one of the steadiest golfers on Tour, with just three finishes outside the top 25 this season. He is 5th in strokes gained: par 4s (also 5th in the 400-450 yard split), 7th in birdies or better gained, 10th in strokes gained: approach, and 13th in strokes gained: tee to green. His history at Colonial is shaky (MC and T48 in two tries), but his game is too good not to pop off here eventually.

Francesco Molinari ($9,700 | 16) - Molinari makes his Colonial debut this week, and the course should suit his eye beautifully. His lack of elite distance off the tee is mitigated here, and he is an approach god who has shown a propensity to find the winner's circle when he's cooking. He is fifth in both strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach, and he is eighth in proximity gained. Molinari is basically the president of the Great Ball-striker/Horrible Putter Union, and charter members Corey Conners and Joaquin Niemann both booked top 10s here last year.

Mid-Priced Options

Jason Kokrak ($8,900 | 40) - Kokrak is the current holder of the streak for longest consecutive cuts made on Tour at 22 straight. That type of consistency across different geographies, grass types, course layouts, and conditions is just plain impressive. Most encouraging, Kokrak has been doing it with the most sustainable parts of his game. Yes, he has walked into the occasional hot putting round, but for the most part, he is gaining with his irons each and every week. He is 1st in strokes gained: approach, 4th in strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: par 4s, 8th in birdies or better gained, and 10th in proximity gained. His best holes are the short par 4s as he is 4th on par 4s between 400 and 450 yards and 12th on par 4s measuring 350 to 400 yards.

Rory Sabbatini ($8,800 | 50) - With Kokrak likely to draw a ton of ownership this week, Sabbatini presents a great pivot play who has actually been better in the shorter term. The South African has gained strokes in all four facets of the game in each of his last three tournaments -- all of which ended in finishes of T18 or better. He is 80th in strokes gained: approach over the last 50 rounds, but if we narrow the range to just the last 12 rounds, he jumps all the way up to 12th. Tee to green takes a similar leap as he is a respectable 27th in the 50-round sample but an elite 3rd in his last 12 rounds.

Scott Piercy ($8,600 | 40) - Piercy is another player in the Molinari mold, and over a large enough sample, he really shows out as a tremendous approach player who is inconsistent (or just plain bad) on the greens. He hit a dry spell in the middle of the 50-round sample, but he still ranks 33rd in approach. He is 6th in this field in strokes gained: approach over the last 100 rounds, and he is coming around recently as shown by his rank of 7th in the last 12 rounds. The other stats look fine in his 50-round sample: 10th on par 4s (7th 400-450 yards), 15th in strokes gained: tee to green, 19th in birdies or better gained, and 20th in proximity gained.

Chez Reavie ($8,300 | 66) - Reavie started the year hot, with two top-five showings in his first four events before a stretch that included three missed cuts and a 65th in the no-cut WGC-Mexico Championship. He followed that with a T28, T18, and T14 leading into this event. In the PGA Championship last week, Reavie avoided the blow-up round in the strongest field of the year while most of the top players in the world imploded over the weekend, and that type of performance can do wonders for his confidence. He is 2nd in proximity gained, 8th on par 4s (2nd in the 400-450 split), 11th in strokes gained: approach, 24th in birdies or better gained, and 25th in strokes gained: tee to green.

Joel Dahmen ($8,200 | 66) - Could this guy actually be for real? Another member of Team No Putt, Dahmen is 1st on par 4s and 17th in birdies or better gained. He is another riser in the ball-striking stats as his 50-round ranks for proximity gained (32nd) tee to green (36th), and approach (41st) all look much better in the 12-round lead-in form (5th, 8th, and 9th, respectively). The price looks scary at first, but Dahmen has made seven consecutive cuts and held the lead after the first round in two of those events.

Low Priced Options

Tyrrell Hatton ($7,800 | 66) - With so many options in this range, identifying the likely lower-owned golfers with upside can be value unto itself. Despite ranking higher in the Official World Golf Rankings than anyone within $700 of him, Hatton could go overlooked this week. His sample of data includes a longer period of time given that it covers only his PGA events, but Hatton ranks 13th in birdies or better gained, 14th in strokes gained: par 4s, and 21st in strokes gained: tee to green.

Sungjae Im ($7,700 | 90) - The shine has dulled off this new shiny toy, but the future is still bright for the rookie Im. It was not long ago he was priced up at $8,600 for the Wells Fargo Championship. He is 10th in strokes gained: tee to green, 21st in birdies or better gained, and 25th in strokes gained: approach. He has four top 10s this season.

Byeong-Hun An ($7,500 | 90) - An makes another appearance in this space as he ranks 1st in strokes gained: tee to green, 7th in approach, 14th in proximity gained, 18th in birdies or better gained, and 30th in strokes gained: par 4s. An is coming off two straight missed cuts for the first time since November 2017. He is one of the worst putters on Tour, but even for him, he's been brutal over the last few events. The rest of his game is rock solid, however, and he's a decent positive regression bet to have luck swing the other way with the putter.

Jim Furyk ($7,300 | 80) - Like An, Furyk has missed back-to-back cuts but was in sterling form before that. Accuracy and placement off the tee are hallmarks of Furyk's game, and he really found something with his irons earlier this season. He is 5th on par 4s, 9th on approach, 20th tee to green, and 28th in proximity gained.

Corey Conners ($7,200 | 100) - Conners got his first career win a few weeks back at the Valero Texas Open, and with a top 10 here last year, the Canadian may consider adopting Texas as his United States home base with another strong performance this week. He fits the ball-striking bill as he is second in strokes gained: approach and third in both strokes gained: tee to green and proximity gained. He is just 53rd on the par 4s, but he does his best work in the 400-450 yard range, where he ranks 14th.

Bargain Basement

Talor Gooch ($6,700 | 150) - Teeing it up for the first time since missing the cut at THE PLAYERS, it seems safe to say that the thumb injury he suffered leading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational was a bit more serious than initially thought. Gooch was on a tear to start the season, posting two top 5s out West and a T20 at the difficult Honda Classic. He wouldn't be in the field if he wasn't ready, but the injury and layoff should keep his ownership down. Plenty of guys in this range can miss the cut, but Gooch is one of just a few who could contend.

Doug Ghim ($6,700 | 200) - Ghim won't pop off from a stats perspective, but he is a University of Texas product who posted a T12 at the Byron Nelson. He will be comfortable on this course and has flashed enough top-20 upside (he has 3 such finishes in his 10 PGA Tour events) that he is worth a flyer down here.


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.