DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Farmers Insurance Open

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 Farmers Insurance Open.

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-Salaried Studs

Jon Rahm (DraftKings Price: $11,300 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +700) - After withdrawing from last week's American Express, we can be sure that Rahm is geared up and ready for one of his favorite courses and an event where he has fond memories. He won here in 2017 and since has two other top 5s and a T29 in which he was one back after 36 holes. He is 2nd in strokes gained: off the tee, 2nd in strokes gained: par 5s, 5th in birdies or better gained, and 33rd in strokes gained: approach. Rahm is also eighth in proximity gained from beyond 175 yards, a combination of proximity from 175-200 yards (21st) and 200 and longer (8th). He has top 10s in his last three events, and in calendar 2020 he had 11 such finishes in 19 events.

Tony Finau ($10,700 | +2100) - Finau gets the edge even at an elevated price over Rory McIlroy ($11,000 | +750) given that McIlroy came up short with a Sunday dud to finish third in Abu Dhabi and now has to fly all the way to California to play the Farmers. Finau has finished inside the top 25 in all six of his trips to Torrey Pines, with three top 10s including a 6th last year. He is 4th on par 5s, 9th in strokes gained: approach, 10th in birdies or better gained, and 16th in strokes gained: off the tee. His proximity splits are a bit wonky, as he ranks 95th between 175-200 yards but 12th in the band that includes everything over 200 yards. Finau finished fourth last week despite a slightly negative week putting, his eighth top 10 since this event last year.

Sungjae Im ($9,600 | +2900) - True to form, Sungjae is solid across the board, ranking 10th in strokes gained: off the tee, 18th on par 5s, 19th in birdies or better gained, 23rd in proximity gained from 175-plus yards, and 27th in strokes gained: approach. Augusta National is one of our correlated courses this week, and Im finished as the runner up just a few months ago in his Masters' debut. He finished T36 here last year thanks largely to a 67 in his North Course round. His birdie-making ability should give him a leg up there again, and more experience on the South Course should make a difference this year.

Mid-Salaried Options

Viktor Hovland ($9,300 | +2300) - Hovland has top 15 finishes in five of his seven 2020-21 season events so far, highlighted by a win in Mexico and a T3 on the European Tour in Dubai. We last saw him flubbing his way to a T31 finish in Hawaii at the Tournament of Champions, where he lost 4.5 strokes putting. He also lost strokes on approach that week, just the sixth time in the past year. He ranks 37th in that stat this week, though notably his win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic was not measured and his form is actually a bit better than where he ranks. His other stats look solid, as he ranks 15th off the tee, 18th in birdies or better gained, and tied for 19th on par 5s. His proximity splits hit the mark as well, 28th from 175-200 yards and 25th from 200-plus.

Matthew Wolff ($9,100 | +3200) - Wolff's driving prowess is well documented and an important tool this week, but more impressive is his iron play of late, as he ranks first in the field in strokes gained: approach in his last 50 rounds. He's also 16th in birdies or better gained, 19th in both strokes gained: off the tee and strokes gained: par 5s, and 21st in the proximity blend, notably 12th in the 200-plus bracket. He was not on his game last week, finishing T40 thanks to a poor first round made even worse by a retroactive penalty assessed after carding a 67 on Friday. He hung in there over the weekend but will be pleased to get out of La Quinta, and he arrives this week at a course that should play more to his strengths.

Bubba Watson ($8,800 | +4500) - Even sandwiched between last week's winner Si Woo Kim ($8,900 | +3700) and the defending champion Marc Leishman ($8,700 | +3300), it may be too much to ask for Watson to go under-rosteredthis week. The Augusta corollary certainly applies, and he's a former winner from a decade ago. His runs at Torrey have been sparse but productive since then, with a T13 finish in 2012 and T23 in 2014 before a T6 last year. He picked up two more California top 10s at the displaced CJ CUP and ZOZO venues, and he ranks 3rd in strokes gained: off the tee, 14th on par 5s, and 26th in approach.

Will Zalatoris ($8,100 | +4800) - The rookie gets a ton of respect this week, having already shown major championship gumption with a top 10 at the U.S. Open in the fall. He's a big hitter who is accurate with his irons, ranking 14th in strokes gained: approach, 8th in proximity gained from 175-200 yards, and 6th from 200 yards and beyond. He's just 29th in strokes gained: off the tee, but for the young season, he ranks inside the top 10 on the entire Tour in driving distance, ahead of Wolff and right behind world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. The kid is a stud, and as we've seen from Im, Hovland, Wolff, and others, winning with this skillset is an eventuality rather than a possibility even at the tender age of 24 years old.

Low-Priced Options

Cameron Davis ($7,900 | +6500) - The third-place finish last week may scare some into thinking he can't possibly repeat the best finish of his career, but Davis is striking it so well that he's worth riding while we can. His previous career-best was set just a few months ago with a T6 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The driver is clicking, and the scoring is off the charts right now. He is 1st in birdies or better gained. 3rd in strokes gained: par 5s, and 12th in strokes gained: off the tee. His strength on approach comes from long distance, as he ranks 35th in strokes gained: approach but is 15th in the blended proximity stats.

Corey Conners ($7,700 | +7500) - One of the premiere ballstrikers who made a splash with at top 10 at the correlated Augusta in November, Conners now has six top 25s in his last seven events. He ranks 8th in strokes gained: off the tee, 11th in strokes gained: approach, 23rd on par 5s, and 25th in birdies or better gained. The putting on poa is cringeworthy, but he was T29 here in his only appearance in 2018. if he can just tread water with the flat stick, the rest of his game gives him a solid floor and can carry him to a podium finish.

Sam Burns ($7,700 | +8000) - A missed cut last week might throw some off the scent, but Burns has been hitting it as well as almost anyone over the past few months. He ranks 5th on par 5s, 6th off the tee, 15th in birdies or better gained, and 30th in the proximity blend. His approach rank (62nd) is weighed down by a couple of poor performances, but more recently he's been solid. If we narrow the sample from 50 rounds to just hi last 24, Burns ranks 1st off the tee and 17th on approach.

Emiliano Grillo ($7,600 | +13000) - Grillo rates out as one of the best ballstriking profiles this week, ranking 5th in approach and 16th off the tee, as well as 2nd in proximity gained 175-200 yard and 5th from 200-plus. A Sunday 76 led to a T37 at the American Express and disguises how well he played through three rounds, firing an opening 69 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course followed by a bogey-free 66 and Saturday 68 that included a 31 on the front nine. He's missed just one cut since July at the Memorial, and while this event is probably a tad above his class to earn that elusive second win, he is safer than most in this range.

Harold Varner ($7,000 | +16000) - Varner ranks second in strokes gained: approach, and that type of elite ballstriking can carry him to a top 20 finish here even if he does come with some risk. He's missed three straight cuts at Torrey Pines, though each of the last two years he missed right on the number and with one better swing would have had chances of many different results.

Bargain Basement

Luke List ($6,800 | +25000) - List rates out well this week, long enough off the tee with three straight made cuts at Torrey Pines, and coming off a T21 at the American Express. He is 10th in strokes gained: off the tee, 17th on par 5s, 24th in proximity gained from 200-plus yards, and 40th in approach.

Andy Ogletree ($6,600 | +31000) - The low amateur at the Masters turned pro after Augusta and proceeded to fire rounds of 69 and 67 at El Camaleon before fading over the weekend and finishing T46. Ogletree is a big hitter who won the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, another major championship-caliber course. He's here on a sponsor's exemption, and he'll be itching to earn his way onto Tour before those sponsor invites dry up. This is a good week to make a statement on Tour for this 22-year-old.

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.