Daily Fantasy Golf: Tournament Targets and Avoids for the Sanderson Farms Championship

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, but the volatility -- top-tier golfers can miss the cut, and longshots can win outright -- makes it a unique daily fantasy sport.

Ownership won't always matter, and favorites will win and thrive some weeks, but when the chalk struggles and the pivots hit big, you can put yourself in a great position to succeed when playing large tournaments on FanDuel.

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 in GPP tournaments on FanDuel.

This track sees a fairly large dip in driving accuracy compared to the tour average while driving distance at the Country Club of Jackson also comes in below the tour average, making strokes gained: off the tee and fairways gained important key stats. There are six par 4s ranging from 400 to 450 yards, and golfers will need to gain strokes on the long par 5s in order to compete on Sunday.

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 24 rounds on the PGA Tour unless noted. Ranks are among the field.

High-Priced Tier ($11,800 - $10,000)

Target: Vaughn Taylor (FanDuel Salary $10,300) - Course history darling, Taylor will likely come in as one of the top-owned golfers on the slate. Taylor has finished inside the top-30 in five straight appearances at Sanderson Farms since 2013, including a 10th place finish in 2017. With just over a month gap between his last PGA event, Taylor finished the previous season in good form, making the cut in 10 straight PGA tournaments, finishing inside the top-10 twice over that span. Over the last 24 rounds, Taylor comes inside the top-25 in four of the five key stats, sitting sixth in strokes gained: approach but does rank 91st in strokes gained: off the tee.

Avoid: Byeong-Hun An ($10,900) - An, who ended last season's PGA Tour with five straight made cuts, opened the new PGA season with a 47th-place finish at last week’s Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. Despite making the cut in six straight PGA tournaments, An has only cracked the top-25 twice over that span, and he has failed to reach that mark in three straight appearances. An ranks inside the top-30 in just two of the five key stats -- par 4s gained: 400 to 450 yards (14th) and strokes gained: off the tee (17th) -- but comes in at 41st in strokes gained: approach and 131st in fairways gained. With an ownership that will likely crack 10 to 15%, there is reason to fade, or at least be underweight, when it comes to An.

Mid-Priced Tier ($9,900 - $9,000)

Target: Martin Laird ($9,800) - With an ownership percentage that could come in at sub-five-percent, “Party Marty” finished 47th at last week’s Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, but he has not cracked the top-25 in a PGA event since the Travelers in June. After two straight missed cuts in 2014 and 2015 at Sanderson Farms, Laird finished seventh in 2018, shooting 13 under par. Over the last 24 rounds, Laird ranks inside the top 45 in all five key stats while coming inside the top-10 in strokes gained: off the tee (7th) and par 5s gained (3rd). Laird’s last top-10 came at last year’s Sanderson Farms, and if he can repeat that performance, DFS players can gain an advantage over the field.

Avoid: Aaron Wise ($9,800) - Wise could come in as one of the top-owned golfers in this tier, and he has not cracked the top-30 since the Wells Fargo in May. In his two appearances at Sanderson Farms, Wise missed the cut in 2016 while coming in 25th in 2017, shooting five under par. Over the last 24 rounds, Wise ranks first in par 5s gained and 11th in strokes gained: off the tee, but he falls outside the top-65 in the three other key stats. Not entering this event in great form, DFS players should avoid Wise in favor of other golfers in this tier, which could provide great leverage on the field.

Low-Priced Tier ($8,900 and below)

Target: Doc Redman ($8,500) - With a 24th place at last week’s Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, Redman has made the cut in five of his last seven PGA tournaments. Over that span, Redman has three top-20 finishes, including a second-place finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June. Over the last 24 rounds, Redman sits inside the top-40 in four of the five key stats, while coming inside the top-10 in fairways gained, strokes gained: off the tee, and par 4s gained: 400 to 450 yards. In his last two tournaments, Redman has lost stokes putting, but if can have a decent weeks on the green, he has shown that he can compete for a top-20 finish.

Avoid: Andrew Landry ($8,800) - After three straight top-30 performances to end the PGA season, Landry began the current season with a missed cut in last week's season opener. Landry, who could end up being one of the top-owned gofers in this tier, has struggled in his last two appearances at Sanderson Farms, finishing 59th in 2017 and missing the cut in 2015. Landry enters with good stats, coming inside the top-15 in three of the five key stats over the last 24 rounds, while falling outside the top-50 in par 5s gained (53rd) and strokes gained: off the tee (71st). Other than his run to finish last season (John Deere, Wyndham Championship, and Northern Trust), Landry had not cracked the top-20 since the Quicken Loans in 2018 while finishing inside the to-30 just twice over that span.

Ben Fisher is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ben Fisher also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Gvsubrickwall. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.