DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

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 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Key Stats

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

Stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds.

High-Priced Studs

Rory McIlroy (DraftKings Price: $11,200 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +1200) - Rory comes in having just ceded the World No. 1 to Jon Rahm ($11,400 | +1000), but we like Rory a bit better this week if we are choosing between these two at the very top of the pricing. After an emotional missed cut at The Open Championship, McIlroy battled right back at the inaugural WGC event at TPC Southwind, holding the 54-hole lead before ultimately finishing fourth. Rahm has been terrific his entire short career, but McIlroy will be itching to reclaim that top ranking this week.

Justin Thomas ($10,700 | +1200) - Thomas is an immediate value at a price discount with the same odds as McIlroy, and it's Thomas who actually rates out first in our statistical model this week. He is first in strokes gained: tee to green, second in total strokes gained and par 5s, third in strokes gained: approach and birdies or better gained, and fifth in strokes gained: around the green. He finished T12 here last year in his first trip to TPC Southwind.

Xander Schauffele ($9,800 | +2200) - No cut? Check. Strong field? Check. We'll just keep doing this even though we wouldn't mind seeing a dud from our (spoiler alert) early darling to win the PGA Championship next week. A podium finish this week likely puts Xander at an absurd price next week, but he fits this course and format as well as anyone and has the stats to back it up. He is 4th in good drives gained, 7th in total strokes gained, 10th in approach, and 12th in birdies or better gained.

Mid-Priced Options

Tony Finau ($9,100 | +3500) - After two near misses, poor Finau still hears the chirps that he can't close and isn't a "winner" as if it is better to be nowhere near the leaderboard than in contention on a Sunday afternoon. He leaked 3.1 strokes putting in the second round here last year but otherwise played quite well, and while you could forgive a stumble after two top 10s and a major the following week, Finau is worth riding in DFS especially in a no-cut format because he continues to pile up birdies even if he's out of contention.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,900 | +3000) - He broke our hearts at the Memorial, and he is next to last in putting on bermuda, but we just can't quit Matsuyama's ball-striking and chipping game. He is first in strokes gained: around the green, sixth in approach, and eighth in total strokes gained. He has always been abysmal with the putter, but his last five events have been something else altogether. Between his last full pre-COVID start at Bay Hill and four events since the restart, he has lost at least 2.3 strokes putting in every event and more than 5.0 in three of them. Of course, lost amidst that was that he was in the lead after the first round of THE PLAYERS and undoubtedly rolled in a few putts on the Champion bermuda at TPC Sawgrass along the way. He is consistently bad putting, but when he spikes, he can shoot up the leaderboard.

Patrick Reed ($8,800 | +3500) - This time last year, Reed was in the midst of a scorching run that saw him inside the top 25 in every event in the second half of 2019. Ultimately he picked up two wins in that span, and he still ranks sixth in total strokes gained in our long-term sample. The irons were firing much better a year ago, but the short game and putting will serve him well here, and we know he is capable of catching fire when paired with the best golfers in the world. At this price, he could end up being the sneaky low-owned option in the mid-range.

Low-Priced Options

Henrik Stenson ($7,600 | +9000) - You think we care about a layoff? Stenson never plays! But when the old guy gets out there, he can still throw darts, as he showed with a win at the Hero World Challenge to end 2019. He's played just one full PGA event this year (plus one poor round at TPC Sawgrass), Stenson is hardly on the radar this week, but he is still 2nd in stroke gained: approach and 10th in good drives gained. We should get an ownership discount with Stenson priced so closely to the always popular Paul Casey ($7,800 | +7500).

Sungjae Im ($7,500 | +7500) - When the price and odds line up so smoothly, you know it's a good sign. Im took a rare week off last week, and all told he's played less than his typical allotment of PGA Tour golf the last few weeks. After a T10 at Colonial coming out of the layoff, Im has underwhelmed in five straight starts and looked completely lost compared to his stellar form before the pandemic. He's lost strokes with his approaches in five straight, and the hope is that a week off will do him good. He piles up birdies, and with four guaranteed rounds, he can easily outscore his finishing position in fantasy points.

Ian Poulter ($7,400 | +9500) - Poulter was eighth here last year, and his overall form is better than this price. He's 21st in total strokes gained but is priced as the 33rd-highest golfer, and while much of that has come via the putter, there is no reason to think Poulter isn't one of the most consistent rollers in this field of young ball-strikers.

Bubba Watson ($7,100 | +10000) - Yes, Bubba. He has played a lot of events but not a lot of golf since the restart, having started every event since golf returned. The rub is that he's missed the cut in four of them. Notoriously hard to predict, we can at least take solace in a T9 here last year and the fact that Watson has limited success on Tour but tends to do well at the same courses over and over again. At a low price and likely low ownership, Watson can help us differentiate our lineups while offering us week-winning upside.

Bargain Basement

Erik Van Rooyen ($6,800 | +15000) - Erik Van Ruin Your Lineup (h/t all of Twitter) missed the cut as a popular pick last week at the 3M Open, but he should bounce back here in a field and track more to his liking. He is 17th in strokes gained: approach,11th on par 5s, 14th in birdies or better gained, 26th in good drives gained, and 31st in total strokes gained.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($6,800 | +12000) - A good bermuda putter who strikes it better than you think at 24th in this elite field in strokes gained: approach. He could get left behind in a shootout, but his mix of iron play and putting sets up well 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.