GOLF

Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: TOUR Championship

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's daily fantasy golf offering.

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. It's a great balance between time to research and time spent tracking your team.

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 CC
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
Greens in Regulation
Driving Accuracy
Birdie or Better Rate


East Lake is yet another second-shot course on the schedule, so that means that strokes gained: approach and strokes gained: off the tee should be our two key, general stats. You can lump them together in to strokes gained: ball-striking, but we should be sure to focus more on approach than off-the-tee play. That all rolls up into greens in regulation.

Off the tee, accuracy actually should get a little more love than distance here, based on past results at East Lake.

Given the unique format here, we should be seeking birdie-makers. To catch Justin Thomas at -10, we'll need to focus on guys who can score well. East Lake, historically, has not been imminently scorable, playing close to par. Making up scoring won't be easy.

The greens are Bermuda if you want to bake in Bermuda putting, too.

For a more detailed breakdown on the course, check out our course primer from Mike Rodden.

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

Best of the Best

Brooks Koepka (FanDuel Price: $12,100 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +500) - Justin Thomas ($14,200; +250) is a near lock for cash games with his -10 start. Patrick Cantlay ($12,300; +480) always has the stats to find his name in consideration and is -8 to start. Koepka at -7, though, has serious appeal in an important event. At -7, he's just three strokes back of the lead -- and at least three strokes up on 25 golfers. Koepka grades out eighth in birdie or better rate gained and is sixth in strokes gained: off the tee and ninth in strokes gained: approach. With $15 million on the line, Koepka should be locked in with the keys to the Brinks truck.

Rory McIlroy ($11,400 | +900) - McIlroy leads the world in adjusted stroke average in 2019 and has been at least 30 strokes better tee-to-green than all but two golfers in the field over the past 50 rounds, according to FantasyNational. Let that sink in. McIlroy leads the field in both opportunities and birdies gained in that span and grades out first in strokes gained: off the tee (plus 10th in approach). McIlroy's a value here at -5 to start.

Jon Rahm ($10,700 | +1400) - Rahm grades out third in adjusted stroke average in 2019 and ranks fifth in birdie or better rate gained over the past 50 rounds. At -4, he'll need to make up ground to flirt with the leaderboard, but sitting top-10 in both distance and accuracy and second in strokes gained: tee to green, he could do it.

Mid-Range Options

Dustin Johnson ($10,100 | +2700) - Johnson is a weird name to see in the mid range. Technically, he's still top-10 in salary, but you can fit him in quite easily. DJ is starting at -3 and will need to play aggressively to make up ground. That should lead to birdies. Bogeys, sure, but birdies as well. Johnson grades out second in opportunities gained and fourth in birdie or better rate gained. He's setting up as a strong fantasy play even without realistic win odds.

Hideki Matsuyama ($9,700 | +3300) - Hideki also has to make up ground starting at -3, but he can do it with his elite ball-striking. Matsuyama ranks fourth in opportunities gained and seventh in strokes gained: approach in our sample. An aggressive week from Hideki should pay off in our daily fantasy lineups.

Adam Scott ($9,300 | +3300) - Scott is fifth in approach and top-10 in both opportunities and birdies gained in our sample, thanks to ranking third in greens in regulation. His ball-striking has been world class for months now. Based on his starting position (-3), his adjusted stroke average, and his win odds, Scott should be priced closer to $9,700 than $9,300, one of the biggest positive discrepancies in the field.

Low-Priced Picks

Paul Casey ($8,300 | +10000) - Casey is one of two golfers in the field to rank top-five in both strokes gained: off the tee and strokes gained: approach. With a -2 start, he has a tough road ahead, but Casey does rank fifth in opportunities gained and is fifth in fairways gained. He should be able to climb the leaderboard even if he's drawing near dead to win.

Corey Conners ($7,400 | +26000) - For the cheap options, we should be seeking fantasy upside, which won't come from finishing bonuses but rather birdies. Conners fits that bill. The field leader in greens in regulation over the past 50 rounds, Conners sits fourth in strokes gained: off the tee and third in strokes gained: approach. He's also 8th in opportunities gained (but 25th in birdies gained). The issue is the putter -- and he's had two straight positive weeks. That does scream regression because of how bad he has been in his career, yet the ball-striking and aggressive play should guarantee birdies.

Jason Kokrak ($7,000 | +32000) - Kokrak is 7th off the tee and 8th in approach, ultimately ranking 11th in opportunities gained in our sample. The thinking is the same as with Conners: Kokrak is starting at even par and will have to do something to climb the board. The elite ball-striking should generate birdie chances. Even if he doesn't finish with a better bonus than the two points he gets for being in the top 30, he should generate fantasy points relative to the other cheap options.