DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: PGA 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 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

Justin Thomas (DraftKings Price: $11,300 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +1100) - Thomas took over as the top player in the world after a tremendous weekend saw him eventually take the title by three strokes. It was anything but a blowout, but Thomas deserves all the credit he gets for his incredible ballstriking display in Memphis. Not surprisingly he checks in first in total strokes gained over the longer sample, and he is also first in strokes gained: tee-to-green, third in approach and birdies or better gained, and sixth in strokes gained: around the green. He's won four times in the past year, and his 2017 PGA Championship in similarly grueling conditions at Quail Hollow gives him even more credibility this week.

Jon Rahm ($10,500 | +1400) - Who else is old enough to remember the time Jon Rahm was the World No. 1? Old news! We'll pump the breaks on the postmortem for Rahm's career after an unremarkable T52 in Memphis. He made three(!) double bogeys in round 2 that basically torpedoed his whole week. They included a three-putt from inside five feet, a cart path ball, and a water ball. He closed strong with a Sunday 66, reminiscent of his strong finish at the Workday Charity Open before grabbing the crown at the Memorial. He is 4th in total strokes gained -- not even counting his sterling record overseas in the past year -- 17th in birdies or better gained, and 30th in strokes gained: around the green and 33rd in fairways gained.

Xander Schauffele ($10,000 | +1800) - Schauffele finished T6 with just one bogey all week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, eventually finishing four strokes behind Thomas. Oh by the way he made a snowman thanks to two balls in the water on the par 4 12th on Friday. Anything better than a quad and he's runner up or in a playoff this week, and the oddsmakers seem to believe in him as well. Schauffele is solid all around, ranking 9th in total strokes gained, 21st in approach, 30th in birdies or better gained, and 36th around the green.

Mid-Priced Options

Patrick Cantlay ($9,400 | +2500) - Cantlay closed strong after stumbling early at the WGC event last week, firing a 65 and 67 over the weekend to climb from just about dead last to T35. He lines up well from a statistical perspective this week. He is 4th in birdies or better gained, 10th in strokes gained: tee-to-green, 11th in strokes gained: approach, 16th in total strokes gained, and 27th around the green. He is a great value at any tough course with a strong field because of his ability to make cuts, having played the weekend at all but two tournaments over the past two years.

Daniel Berger ($8,800 | +3500) - In case you haven't noticed, Berger had been one of the best players in the world this year even before his T2 finish last week. This week was his fifth top-5 in six events, a stretch that included his win at Colonial. He is 6th in total strokes gained and birdies or better gained, 25th in strokes gained: around the green, 26th in strokes gained: approach, and 32nd in fairways gained. He doesn't register the same way the top players do because of historical inconsistency, but returned from injury and healthy for the first time in a while, Berger has been the model of consistent excellence in 2020.

Collin Morikawa ($8,600 | +3000) - Already one of the very best iron players in the world, Morikawa does everything we want except chip well. He is 2nd in strokes gained: approach and 9th in fairways gained, a great combination for a golfer who can knock it close with more than just a wedge in his hands. He also ranks 15th in birdies or better gained and 17th in total strokes gained. He may not be quite ready for a major championship, but with his current trajectory, it's only a matter of time. He is a cut-making machine and doesn't necessarily need to win to return value at this price.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,200 | +4000) - Like Cantlay, Matsuyama is an elite ball-striker who also thrives around the greens. That combination is the nuts this week, as long as he can keep it in the short stuff off the tee. Hideki would do well to club down and leave himself a long iron and play for par in these difficult conditions. He can scramble for par if he misses with his approach, but if he's in the thick stuff off the tee and can't get good club on his approaches his greatest strength is eliminated. He ranks 2nd in strokes gained: tee-to-green, 4th in approach, 8th in strokes gained: around the green, 10th in birdies better gained, and 11th in total strokes gained.

Tyrrell Hatton ($8,000 | +5000) - Hatton is apparently poorly received by the oddsmakers off a T69 in Memphis, but he has been absolutely spectacular all season on both the PGA and European Tours. His win at Bay Hill in windy, difficult conditions bodes well for this challenge, and he showed last year he can handle major championship golf without losing his cool. He has low key been one of the best players in the world since his T6 at The Open last year, and his stat profile stands up against just about anyone in this range. He ranks 8th in total strokes gained, 19th in approach, and 20th in birdies or better gained.

Low-Priced Options

Gary Woodland ($7,900 | +4500) - Woodland profiles well here from a fit standpoint, having won the last West Coast major. He could fly under the radar with some of the names in this range, as he was abysmal last week and lost 4.7 strokes tee to green. He's had his share of duds with top 10s mixed in all season, and strange as it may seem this is just the second major championship since his win at Pebble Beach. He is 9th in birdies or better and 12th in total strokes gained, two strong indicators this week.

Tony Finau ($7,900 | +5000) - Playing great and now arriving at a course that he can attack in a variety of ways, Finau is rock solid across the board statistically. He is 16th in birdies or better gained and strokes gained: around the green, 22nd in total strokes gained, and 31st in strokes gained: approach. One of the ways TPC Harding Park will be lengthened is by converting two par 5s into long par 4s. Finau is first in the field in strokes gained on par 4s between 450-500 yards.

Tommy Fleetwood ($7,700 | +3800) - The erstwhile cut-making king has ceded his crown to the young Morikawa, but Fleetwood has now had two weeks to get his bearings stateside and should be ready for a real test. He will likely be among the most popular golfers this week on DraftKings, and rightfully so. You can afford to eat some chalk if you diversify your lineups and leave some salary on the table, but it's hard to fade Fleetwood at this price and those mass entering would probably do well just to try to match the field given how high his floor is.

Harris English ($7,200 | +15000) - English is seventh in total strokes gained over the last 50 rounds, a tremendous number for one so far down in our market. All told he has six top 20s in his last seven events, a sort of Berger-lite since the swing season. He is 14th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 24th in approach, and he ranks 5th on those long par 4s mentioned above.

Bargain Basement

Brendan Steele ($6,900 | +15000) - We've seen Steele on leaderboards a few times this year and he's always managed to give back as much as he's earned on Sunday. But you'd happily take those finishes to start the week given his price. He practically gave away the Sony Open but was stellar in windy conditions down in Hawaii, and with gusts expected to push 20 mph this week, the talent gap should be neutralized. As is the case for many, the key club here is driver. When at his best, Steele is able to combine both power and accuracy and make up ground in an area most golfers cede to the top players.

Ryan Palmer ($6,900 | +17000) - Palmer hasn't played badly this year so much as he's had bad holes. He's been in the mix a few times, notably the above mentioned Sony Open, before crumbling down the stretch. He's still a respectable 24th in birdies or better gained and 34th in total strokes gained.

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.