GOLF

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: AT&T Byron Nelson

Despite a poor showing at THE PLAYERS, should you try to fit Jordan Spieth into your DraftKings lineups this week?

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 PLAYERS Championship.

This Week’s Course

The AT&T Byron Nelson will be held at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas this year, making it the first PGA Tour event hosted at the course.

It is a far cry from what several of the top golfers played last week at TPC Sawgrass, where wayward shots had a decent shot at finding water on what had to feel like almost every hole. There is no water at Trinity Forest, nor are there any trees or rough. Golfers must navigate a litany of bunkers and native areas, and they must contend with the unpredictable weather and winds we’ve come to expect from other Texas courses.

Key Stats for the AT&T Byron Nelson at Trinity Forest GC
Strokes Gained: Approach (emphasis on windy conditions)
Strokes Gained: Around the Green
Birdies or Better Gained
Recent Texas Performance (Valero Texas Open and Houston Open)


Now, let’s get to the picks.

All stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club (FNGC) and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds, unless otherwise noted.

High Priced Studs

Jordan Spieth (DraftKings Price: $11,900 | bet365 Win Odds: 9/2) - Spieth is by far the class of the field this week. He is a member at Trinity Forest and enters the week in terrific form. After a scare near the cut line last week at THE PLAYERS, Spieth turned in a 65 on Saturday and vaulted himself up the leaderboard. He could not put it all together to make a real push on Sunday, but looks to rebound this week. He is first in strokes gained: tee to green and third in both strokes gained: around the green and birdies or better gained. He finished in third place at the Houston Open this year and it is only a matter of time before he hoists a trophy. And it could certainly happen in his home state of Texas.

Matt Kuchar ($10,700 | 14) - Kuchar continues to operate as a safe cash game play with relatively little win upside. He placed 17th at the PLAYERS last week and ranks 24th in strokes gained: tee to green. Recently he finished a disappointing 51st at the Valero after an 8th at the Houston Open. The only other two high priced golfers in the field are Sergio Garcia ($10,100 | 14) and Hideki Matsuyama ($9,900 | 20). Both have strong pedigree but have been disasters in their past couple tournaments. They are too good to stay in a funk for long, but it's hard to get a feel with where their games are at, so it would be smart to stick with Spieth and Kuchar in this price range.

Mid-Priced Options

Jimmy Walker ($9,500 | 18) - The 2016 PGA Championship winner has booked back-to-back top-fives, placing second at the PLAYERS and fourth at the Valero. He is 6th in birdies or better gained but 40th or worse in strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: around the green. If we narrow our range to just the last 24 rounds, however, he moves into 15th and 5th, respectively.

Branden Grace ($9,400 | 20) - Grace enters the week having made 10 straight cuts and sporting top-20 ranks in strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: approach (windy conditions), strokes gained: around the green, and birdies or better gained. He did not play the Texas events this year, but he did finish 10th at the Valero in 2017 as well as 6th at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, another course Spieth has evoked when discussing Trinity Forest.

Adam Scott ($9,200 | 22) - Scott enters the week first in strokes gained: approach (windy) and greens in regulation gained, and second in strokes gained: tee to green. He has managed to gain strokes with the short stick in each of his last two events, which is either due to come crashing back to reality or indicative that he is putting with confidence. The tee-to-green game isn’t in question, so we should ride him while he’s putting well.

Marc Leishman ($9,100 | 22) - Another Aussie in a good spot this week, Leishman has top-eight ranks in strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: around the green, and birdies or better gained. He is 17th in strokes gained: approach (windy) and only improves the tighter we narrow our window, moving all the way up to 3rd in the last 24 rounds. Leishman may go under-owned in this spot because people will want to roster another member at this course, Beau Hossler ($9,500 | 28/1). Hossler is a rising star and well worthy of your attention, but for tournaments I prefer the proven commodity at lower ownership.

Scott Piercy ($8,400 | 60) - Piercy is fourth in strokes gained: tee to green and ninth in both strokes gained: approach (windy) and greens in regulation gained. His around-the-green and scrambling numbers are poor, but if his approach game is on he should be putting for birdies and not worrying about saving par. He comes with some risk, fresh off two consecutive missed cuts (including at the Valero), but he did finish in the top-25 each of his last two trips to the Houston/Shell Open.

Low Priced Options

Martin Laird ($7,900 | 45) - Laird offers tremendous value at his price relative to his win odds, but the bookmakers are spot on with this number. He has top-15 marks in each of our key stats and finished 11th at the Valero. Laird’s price allows us to fit any lineup construction we want around him, and he should be a popular play on DraftKings this week.

Aaron Baddeley ($7,500 | 100) - Baddeley is first in the field in strokes gained: around the green and, consequently, sixth in scrambling gained. He finished 17th and 5th the last 2 years at the Valero, 27th at Royal Birkdale, and 15th at the 2017 Shell. Baddeley is only 50th in strokes gained: approach (windy), but if he can save par when he misses the green he should be able to keep himself on the right side of the cut line and tally DraftKings points through the weekend.

Kevin Na ($7,200 | 60) - Another great value relative to Vegas win odds, Na profiles as exactly the kind of player we want to target this week. He is 1st in strokes gained: around the green, 15th in strokes gained: approach (windy), and 23rd in birdies or better gained. Na missed the cut at the Valero this year, but his two previous trips in 2015 and 2014 yielded results of 20th and 11th, respectively.

Bargain Basement

Brian Gay ($6,900 | 125) - Gay started the year strong but has tailed off over his past few tournaments. He is 7th in strokes gained: around the green and 21st in birdies or better gained. He finished sixth at the Valero in 2017, although that was sandwiched between missed cuts in 2016 and 2018. Gay does his best work on bermuda greens, and if the putts are falling he can easily find himself pushing for a top-25 finish.

Ricky Barnes ($6,800 | 250) - If DFS players find themselves in this range, more than likely they will talk themselves into Andrew Putnam ($6,900 | 80). Putnam isn't a bad play, but if one player is going to soak up a huge chunk of ownership at this low salary take advantage and look elsewhere, particularly in tournaments. Barnes, who is 26th in strokes gained: approach (windy) and 11th in both strokes gained: around the green and birdies or better gained could make for a great pivot.



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.