Welcome to the final Fantasy Six Pack for the 2017-18 PGA Tour Season. If this is your first time joining us, here 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). A little about me: 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 ranked inside the top 25 of all players! Learn more about the strategies that have helped me win over $50K this year at tourlevelfantasy.com.
First, a recap of last week’s picks:
Sadly, Keegan Bradley was not part of our player pool last week, but Tiger Woods and Hideki Mastuyama were recommended, and both played very well. Now, let’s turn the page.
The Tournament: The Tour Championship
Course: East Lake GC
Average Winning Score: -12
Average Cut: N/A
Yardage: 7,300 yards
Par: 70
Skills emphasized: Performance off the tee has been a key to success in the FedEx finale, as there are water hazards all over East Lake. We’ll emphasize both off-the-tee and tee-to-green in our analysis this week.
Last year’s top-5 finishers
Xander Schauffele
Justin Rose
Justin Thomas
Brooks Koepka
Jon Rahm
The Favorite:
Rory McIlroy (Odds: 8/1, DraftKings $10,700, FanDuel 10,900) If you are playing on FanDuel this week, Rory is a fantastic value. He led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green two weeks ago at the BMW Championship, and his ballstriking was dominant, as he gained almost three strokes per round. Obviously, his putter was a bit cold, or else those type of numbers would yield a victory. Rory has won at East Lake before (2016), and if his putter heats up just a little — and I mean, a little — he’ll win this week. McIlroy also has also finished runner-up at this event in 2014, 16th in 2015 and 10th in 2012.
Going Streaking: Players entering this week in great form
Patrick Cantlay (Odds: 40/1, DraftKings $7,100, FanDuel $8,900) and Tiger Woods (Odds: 14/1, DraftKings $9,500, FanDuel $10,800) I’m a huge Cantlay fan and can’t resist picking him one last time. Meanwhile, Woods is reasonably priced, and he needs to win to top off an improbable comeback year. With only 30 golfers in the field, this is an excellent chance. Since switching to a new driver shaft less than a month ago, Woods has been peppering fairways and gaining just shy of a stroke per round off the tee. That’ll work, considering he’s one of the best iron players ever. If his trusty Scotty Cameron putter gets rolling, he’ll be right there come Sunday.
Gary Woodland (Odds: 40/1, DraftKings $6,700, FanDuel $8,700) When Woodland putts well, as he did at the PGA Championship, he’s can get right into contention. He’s a good value this week.
Aaron Wise (Odds: 100/1, DraftKings $6,100, FanDuel $7,400) An under-the-radar name in a star-studded field, but he’s a solid pick considering the DraftKings scoring format, which values birdies over total finish in the tournament. For the past six weeks, Wise ranks third in ROI based on his salary. He’s a sneaky-good value pick once again.
Mulligans: A player who has struggled but should snap out of it
Patton Kizzire (Odds: 200/1, DraftKings $6,000, FanDuel $7,000) Kizzire has disappeared this summer along with his game, but when he’s on, he can make a lot of birdies. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him fire a 65 at some point this week. I think he’ll be the only guy in the field less than 5% owned this week, making him an against-the-grain play.
Where to play this fantasy golf this week
DraftKings: They have a special promotion, where if you win one of 12 contests over the next month, you’ll be entered in an exclusive contest that could win you a trip to the 2019 Masters in 2019!
1. $6 buy-in called the “Tee To Green,” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000.
2. $555 buy-in called the “Signature Hole,” with a top prize of $100,000, and a guaranteed prize pool of $400,000.
3. $44 buy-in called the “Club Twirl,” with a top prize of $50,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000.
FanDuel:
1. $9 Buy-in called the “Eagle,” with a top prize of 20,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
3. $333 Buy-in contest called the “Monster,” with a top prize of $10,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000.
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 this week!
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!
