Welcome to the Fantasy Six Pack! If this is your first time joining us, 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. Come check out all of my analysis at Awesemo.com.
Recap of last week:
We’re on a good (and profitable!) run here. All four of our highest-recommended golfers made it to Sunday. Let’s see if we can keep it up.
The Tournament: Farmers Insurance Open
Course: Torrey Pines
Average Winning Score: -10
Average Cut: Even
Yardage: 7,700 yards
Par: 72
Last year’s top finishers
Jason Day
Tony Finau
Keegan Bradley
Charles Howell III
Alex Noren
Skills emphasized: The first three weeks of the season saw low scores and prime scoring conditions. That won’t be the case this week, as even par will be a good score on the South Course, and single digits under par could win. This course will test every facet of a player’s game, so strokes gained: total is the stat we will emphasize.
The Favorites:
Justin Rose (Odds: 12/1, DraftKings $10,800, FanDuel $11,900) According to the oddsmakers, Rose is second only to Jon Rahm (Odds: 10/1, DraftKings $11,400, FanDuel $11,900), who we wrote about last week. Rose struggled with his approach shots last week, which could be a sign that he’s still breaking in his new Honma irons. Still, he managed a decent finish, and the more reps he gets, the more I’ll buy in. Course fit is there for him, and I’ll make him my top choice.
Going Streaking: Players entering this week in the great form
Patrick Cantlay (Odds: 40/1, DraftKings $9,200, FanDuel $11,100) So, why pay $2,200 more for Rahm this week (on DraftKings), when Cantlay is in top form and might even be striking the ball better than Rahm? Both were dreadful last week with the flatstick, but Cantlay tends to be comfortable on poa annua greens, which are featured this week. A $1,400 price discount from last week makes my choice easy. And just a reminder: Cantlay has missed only three cuts in the last two years.
Abraham Ancer (Odds: 66/1, DraftKings $8,200, FanDuel $9,400) I’ve mentioned Ancer a few times, and my affinity continues to grow. He’s on a run of four straight top 30s and 10 straight made cuts. He struggled with putting last week, but may have found his stroke on Sunday. I like that even with an average putting week, he’s cracking the top 25. What if they start dropping this week?
J.J. Spaun (Odds: 80/1, Draftkings $7,300, FanDuel $9,200) Riding a wave of 12 straight made cuts, (albeit a couple of no-cut events), Spaun has found consistency in his third year on tour. Still no wins to his credit, but he’s had two strong Torrey starts at what is basically a home game. Maybe this will be his breakthrough week.
Mulligans: A player who has struggled but expects to play better
Jordan Spieth (Odds: 16/1, DraftKings $10,300, FanDuel $11,400) As a #Spiether at heart, I’m trying to find something positive in his current form. So I charted of all of his years on tour and found that if he makes just 1.6% more of his putts from inside of 10 feet he’ll be right back to his career average, and top 10 in SG: Total. In other words, he’s close! (I think.)
Where to play this fantasy golf this week: Tiger’s return means several big contests are back!
DraftKings:
1. $5 buy-in called “King of the Pins” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000.
2. $333 buy-in called “All time Leader” with a top prize of $50,000, and a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000.
3. $33 buy-in called “Return to Greatness” with a top prize of $50,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000.
FanDuel:
1. $7 buy-in called “Eagle,” with a top prize of $20,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
2. $333 buy-in called “Monster,” with a top prize of $8,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000.
That’s it for this week, folks. As always, check my bio below if you’d like to get in touch.
Jason Rouslin is the lead golf analyst for Awesemo.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 and on the live @Awesemo_Com betting show at 11:30 AM!
