Welcome to the Fantasy Six Pack, where we highlight six golfers to use in two popular fantasy golf platforms, DraftKings and FanDuel. On each, you must select six golfers for your lineup under a specific salary cap. (DraftKings $50,000, FanDuel $60,000). As a reminder, I’m a golf nut with a 1.3 handicap and a nose for analytics — according to Rotogrinders, I’m one of the top daily fantasy golf players, and just two weeks ago I made over $25,000 in profit! Want to check out the tools I used to help me earn that? Head to tourlevelfantasy.com!
After a grueling, stressful week in Long Island, where lessons were learned by all, the Tour travels north to Cromwell, Conn., and the Traveler’s Championship. DraftKings has some big contests, including three with $100K as a first-place prize. Let’s get to it.
The Tournament: Traveler’s Championship
Course: TPC River Highlands
Average Winning Score: -14
Average Cut: +1
Yardage: 6,900 yards
Par: 70
Skills emphasized: A positional golf course located on the outskirts of Hartford, Conn., measures 6,900 yards, but trust me, it’ll play all of that. Being in position off the tee is paramount, more than other attributes, but strokes gained tee-to-green was the most prevalent among top finishers last year.
Top five finishers last year:
Jordan Spieth
Daniel Berger
Charley Hoffman
Danny Lee
Paul Casey
Recap of last week’s picks:
Sadly, we didn’t go with Koepka, but we did tap five golfers who made the cut, and all finished top 40. Let’s see if we can get back to the winner’s circle this week.
The Favorite
Justin Thomas (Odds: 12/1, DraftKings $11,500, FanDuel $12,300) JT comes to Hartford in great form, but without a top five since his win down in Palm Beach. He leads this field in strokes gained tee-to-green over his past six starts, gaining just under two strokes on average per round. But his putter? Stone cold. It prevented him from making any kind of sustained run last week, as he flirted with contention but couldn’t get anything to go down. If that changes this week, and his other parts of the game stay strong, watch out.
Going Streaking: Players entering this week in the great form
1. Xander Schauffele (Odds: 60/1, DraftKings $8,600, FanDuel $9,600) Riding a mini-run of two top 10s in his last four starts, but with two MCs splashed in there as well. He’s been a little hit or miss all season, but let’s hope he finds some consistency soon. He had a good chance at a top 10 last year in this event, but a chunked wedge on Sunday on 18 that led to double, dropping him to 14th. I expect to see Xander make up for that double and return to the top 10 this week.
2. Russell Knox (Odds: 66/1, DraftKings, $8,000, FanDuel $9,800) A past champion of this event, Knox is finding his form. He’s made three straight cuts with two top 20s, and he was a couple of putts on Sunday away from his first-ever top 10 at a major. That’ll have to wait. But statistically speaking, he’s gained just about a half a stroke from tee to green, so when you add that to good form and his past-champion status, you could do worse in a sleeper pick.
3. Russell Henley (Odds 75/1, DraftKings $7,600, FanDuel $9,300) For a good part of the tournament last week, Henley was right in the thick of it before fading on the weekend and finishing 25th. That marks his third straight start where he made the weekend, with each finish better than the last. Statically speaking, Henley is a very accurate driver of the golf ball, ranking 12th on the year, but does give a little back in the distance category, ranking 129th. You typically see a higher dispersion between the two, but the accuracy matched with his average length off the tee should bode well. His last start here came in 2016, where he finished 11th.
4. Wesley Bryan (Odds: 200/1, DraftKings $7,000, FanDuel $8,500) Bryan returns to our rankings, as he was two weeks ago, where he wound up finishing 12th. Still in search of his first top 10 of the season, Bryan’s struggles off the tee will be somewhat mitigated by the shortness of the course. He’s one of the best iron players on Tour, and ranks in the top 5 with his wedges. As long as Bryan keeps the ball in the fairway this week, there should be no reason why he won’t be around for the weekend, which would mark his fourth straight made cut.
Mulligans: Players who need a reset and expect to play well this week
Jordan Spieth (Odds: 16/1, DraftKings $10,800, FanDuel $11,500)
Rory Mcilroy (Odds: 14/1, DraftKings 10,900, FanDuel-$11,800)
Jason Day (Odds: 16/1, DraftKings $9,800, FanDuel $11,900)
Other than Koepka’s win and Phil’s “moment,” the most surprising thing about last week was the star power that missed the cut. Jordan, Rory and Jason, all inside the top 10 in the world, all failing to make the weekend. After a weekend of partying in NYC, or perhaps some good ole’ R&R, I can’t foresee all three missing the cut again.
Where to play this fantasy golf this week
DraftKings:
1. $5 Buy-in contest called, “Drive the Green” with a top prize of $100,000 and a prize pool of $500,000.
2. $444 Buy-in contest called the “Pressure Putt,” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $400,0000
3. $44 Buy-in contest called the “Club Twirl,” with a top prize of 100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000.
FanDuel:
1. $7.77 Buy-in contest called the “Eagle,” with a top prize of $20,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
2. $.60 Buy-in contest called the “Lob Wedge” with a top prize of $600 and a guaranteed prize pool of $8,000.
These are just some of the many contests between the two sites. For a full breakdown of all contests and offerings check out the links in my bio. Good luck!
Jason Rouslin is the founder of tourlevelfantasy.com. He has been playing golf for the last 20 years, betting on golf for the last five and writing about golf for the last two. Connect with him on twitter @dfsgolfer23 or check him out on the @rotogrinders live golf show on Tuesday’s @ 8 PM!
