GOLF

Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: THE NORTHERN TRUST

FanDuel is ripe with value in a loaded field at TPC Boston, but who is the best of the best?

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 NORTHERN TRUST
at TPC Boston
Strokes Gained: Approach
Driving Distance
Par 5 Scoring
Strokes Gained: Putting (on Bentgrass)
Birdie or Better Rate


The past winners at TPC Boston are some heavy-hitters: Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk, Henrik Stenson, McIlroy, and Webb Simpson. Flip that into a FedEx Cup Playoff field, and logic dictates that we'll need some strong all-around golfers on our FanDuel lineups this week.

The par 5s on this par 71 should go a long way toward separating the tightly-knit pack of elite golfers, so distance and par 5 scoring deserves attention for TPC Boston. Strokes gained: approach still sits at the top of the list for me, but overall ball-striking is a must.

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

Justin Thomas (FanDuel Salary: $11,900 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +1400) - I can't quit Thomas right now. He's just the best tee-to-green golfer in the world, according to datagolf.com's adjusted strokes gained metrics, in 2020. Sure, he has three wins already this year, and that's hard to top, but from a process standpoint, Thomas is just too hard to ignore. He won here two years ago and just stands out more than any other star in this field.

Patrick Cantlay ($10,900 | +3000) - Cantlay's all-around game is one of the best in golf, and we may get him at unpopular draft percentage numbers because of his string of recent finishes: 32nd, 35th, 43rd. In those, he gained in ball-striking (off the tee and approach) each time but just didn't click with the short game. I'm treating this as a buy-low opportunity on a statistical star.

Others to Target:
Rory McIlroy ($11,800 | +1400) - Similar finishes to Cantlay. Driver is fine, and the irons are there sometimes -- just ice cold short game right now. Two wins at TPC Boston.
Xander Schauffele ($11,500 | +2000) - One of three golfers top-20 in ball-striking and short-game since return (with DeChambeau and Daniel Berger).
Hideki Matsuyama ($10,600 | +4000) - Great cut odds for a reasonable salary and four top-25s in past five starts.

Mid-Priced Picks

Viktor Hovland ($9,600 | +6000) - Hovland owns the best top-10 value in my simulations (top-10 odds versus FanDuel salary) among golfers priced between $9,000 and $10,000), and he's easily the best statistical golfer in that range, as well. Only one other golfer also ranks top-10 in both strokes gained: off the tee and strokes gained: approach over the past 50 rounds, and that'd be Paul Casey ($10,200).

Harris English ($9,300 | +8000) - I'll keep going back to English, who is just really strong statistically right now. English ranks 20th in approach in the restart and 26th over the past 50 rounds. English is also a top-17 putter over that 50-round sample and is 4th on bentgrass over a 100-round sample. He's finished top-25 in five straight starts now and has made four of five cuts at TPC Boston since 2012.

Others to Target:
Matthew Wolff ($9,600 | +5500) - Obvious upside from distance and ball-striking and has had some spike weeks with the putter lately.
Gary Woodland ($9,500 | +6500) - Course history standout with five straight top-30 finishes; putter is there and always a ball-striking threat.
Tyrrell Hatton ($9,800 | +6000) - Missed cut at the PGA and 69th at St. Jude came from terrible putting; still reasons to love the tee-to-green game.

Low-Priced Picks

Joaquin Niemann ($8,800 | +15000) - Niemann isn't quite as sexy as he has been in recent weeks, but we know this: dude is going to bring his irons. He lost 0.4 strokes from approach play at the Wyndham last week. Prior to that, he hadn't lost strokes from approach play since the 2019 Open Championship. Back on bentgrass greens, Niemann could get on the right side of zero with the flat stick. He's 14th in approach over the past 50 rounds and 29th off the tee.

Doc Redman ($8,900 | +13000) - Redman was in the thick of it last week down the stretch, but if you isolate him into the sub-$9,000 range, he's one of four golfers to rank top-40 in both strokes gained: tee to green and birdie chances (opportunities gained, via Fantasy National). Redman's putter let him down last week, but he's not nearly as bad a putter as a lot of these inexpensive ball-strikers are.

Others to Consider:
Corey Conners ($8,500 | +15000) - Conners is 12th in both off-the-tee and approach strokes gained over the past 50 rounds.
Emiliano Grillo ($8,6000 | +20000) - Always a scary roster, Grillo is 30th tee to green and is somewhat viable putting on bentgrass only.
Talor Gooch ($7,800 | +25000) - 35th in total strokes gained average since the restart and 4.6 or more strokes from approach in three of five starts.
Sebastian Munoz ($7,200 | +35000) - Approach play eluded him last week, but he's fifth in opportunities gained and is better than a coin flip to make the cut.