Welcome to the Fantasy Six Pack! If this is your first time joining us, this is 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.) 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. Last week at the CIMB Classic, one member at my website, Tour Level Fantasy, was able to put our information to great use and win $6,000! Learn more about it here.
Recap of last week’s picks
We had two great picks with Justin Thomas and John Caitlin, but Cabrera Bello was a letdown, and our two Safeway Open guys (Ryder and Tway) were both just OK. Not our best week. On to the week ahead.
The Tournament: The CJ Cup
Course: 9 Bridges
Average Winning Score: -9
Average Cut: None
Yardage: 7,300 yards
Par: 72
Skills emphasized: Sadly, the strokes gained tool doesn’t travel with the PGA Tour to the Asian swing. So for the second week in a row, we’re flying blind with the stats portion of our recommendations.
Last Year’s Top-5 Finishers:
Justin Thomas
Marc Leishman
Cameron Smith
Whee Kim
Brian Harman
Plenty of talented golfers made the trip this week, headlined by the defending champion of the event and the newly anointed PGA Tour player of the year.
The Favorite(s):
Justin Thomas (Odds: 7/1, DraftKings $11,700, FanDuel $13,000) and Brooks Koepka (Odds: 10/1 DraftKings $11,200, FanDuel $12,300) Both golfers have excelled over the past year and both have a shot at No. 1 in the world ranking with a win this week. No doubt both would like to achieve that feat. They are the headliners and best bets in this field.
Going Streaking: Players entering this week in the great form
Tyrrell Hatton (Odds: 33/1, DraftKings $9,500, FanDuel $9,600) Hatton wasn’t able to fend off the “Great Dane,” Lucas Bjerregaard, at the Alfred Dunhill Links tournament a few weeks ago, but Hatton still notched a runner-up. Prior to that, he had three straight finishes inside the top 30. So, he’s playing steady golf, even while he’s known for his rather volatile emotions. He looks like a good pick to potentially earn his first-ever PGA Tour victory this week.
Byeong-hun An (Odds: 50/1, DraftKings $8,700, FanDuel $9,700) The elite ballstriker returns to his homeland. Last year at this tournament An finished 11th and he’s currently on a run of four straight starts where he’s improved his finish, with nothing worse than 31st. An is playing for his first Tour win, and it would be sweet for him to do it here.
J.B. Holmes (Odds: 75/1, DraftKings $7,500, FanDuel $8,900) Holmes really fell off the map last season but was still able to keep his card. He’s started this season with a ninth-place finish at the Safeway and a 13th-place finish last week in Malaysia. He may have found his game again. Watch out for him this week.
Mulligans: A player who has struggled but expects to play better
Michael Kim (Odds: 150/1, DraftKings $6,600, FanDuel $7,000) Since his win last summer at the John Deere Classic, Kim has three missed cuts, a 73rd, a 62nd and a 35th. Not great. Last week in Malaysia he finished 62nd out of 78 players. Maybe this will be the week he finds his game. It’s a shot in the dark.
Where to play this fantasy Golf this week: (Note there will be overnight viewing, with tee times starting around 8:00 p.m. ET Wednesday night.)
DraftKings:
1. $6 buy-in called “Tee to Green,” with a top prize of $50,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.
2. $555 buy-in called “Signature Hole,” with a top prize of $20,000, and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
3. $44 buy-in called “Club Twirl,” with a top prize of $10,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $75,000.
FanDuel:
1. $7 buy-in called “Eagle,” with a top prize of $4,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $25,000.
2. $333 buy-in called “Monster,” with a top prize of $1,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $4,000.
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!
