DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: St. Jude Classic

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 St. Jude Classic.

This Week’s Course

The PGA Tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee this week for the St. Jude Classic. This par 70, 7,244-yard course traditionally plays as one of the tougher on Tour, due in part to the relative lack of strength of the field. There are some household names tuning up their game for the second major of the year, but DFS players choosing to pay up for one of their favorite golfers are going to have to do some hunting in the lower price range and make their lineups work with some thin plays. The course features hard-to-hit fairways and hard-to-hit greens, so the key stats focus on identifying which golfers are giving themselves clean looks off the tee and on approach.

Key Stats

Now, let’s get to the picks.

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

High Priced Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Price $11,700 | PaddyPower Win Odds: 6/1) - DJ is a top DFS candidate every week, but in this field he is clearly in a tier all his own. Johnson ranks first in strokes gained: tee to green, third in strokes gained: par 4s, and eighth in strokes gained: approach. He has finished no worse than 17th in any event this season, and he came in 5th his last time at TPC Southwind.

Phil Mickelson ($10,600 | 14) - Mickelson bounced back from a poor showing at the PLAYERS to finish T13 at the Memorial. Surely, he wishes he had a few of Sunday’s missed birdie putts back, but getting himself in position to attempt putts is usually the hard part for Phil. He ranks first in birdies or better gained and strokes gained: putting (bermuda grass) and is second in par 4s. He has finished 11th or better in each of the last 5 years at this event.

Henrik Stenson ($10,400 | 11) - With DJ the odds-on favorite, Mickelson’s popularity, and two-time defending champ Daniel Berger ($10,000 | 20) priced right below him, Stenson could go overlooked for those looking to pay up this week on DraftKings. But one look at the stats could definitely turn some heads: Stenson is first in strokes gained: par 4s, good drives gained, and greens in regulation gained. Oh, and his win odds have increased in the past 48 hours alone.

Mid-Priced Options

Tony Finau ($9,300 | 18) - Finau was one of several golfers who finished with a strong Sunday at the Memorial, posting a 67 to finish T13. On the year, he is 5th in GIR gained, 7th in strokes gained: tee to green, 11th in par 4s and approach, and 12th in good drives gained. His putting on bermuda has not been his strong suit, but he did gain 5.6 strokes with the putter on bermuda surfaces at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Byeong Hun An ($9,200 | 25) - An came up just short last week with a playoff loss at the Memorial, but he has been in terrific form of late and would have gotten the win if his chip on the first playoff hole had been an inch to the right. He is 5th in strokes gained: tee to green and 13th in approach this season. He also has a strong birdie-to-bogey ratio, ranking 16th in birdies or better gained and 15th in bogeys avoided.

Joaquin Niemann ($8,900 | 28) - Niemann has seen his price skyrocket over the past few weeks, but there is no reason not to continue riding the young Chilean. He is 13th or better in strokes gained: tee to green, approach, GIR gained, and good drives gained. His last six events have produced three missed cuts and three top-10s, so the risk is worth the reward even at the inflated price.

Charles Howell III ($8,600 | 35) - Howell has made the cut in 17 of his last 19 events on Tour and is solid in all of the key stats, making him an excellent player to build around when constructing cash lineups. Howell is 4th on par 4s and 12th in strokes gained: tee to green, so he has the all around game to excel on a difficult par 70 track. And, to boot, he is sixth in bogeys avoided and first in doubles avoided.

Luke List ($8,300 | 30) - List has been one of the best ball strikers on Tour this season, and he ranks no worse than 23rd in any of the key stats. He is seventh in birdies or better gained and has four top-10 finishes in his last seven events, though with missed cuts at the PLAYERS and the Valero Texas Open sprinkled in. He might not be an ideal cash option, but in tournaments he's a very appealing name.

Low-Priced Targets

Kevin Chappell ($7,800 | 55) - Chappell started the season on a tear, at one point booking eight straight made cuts with three top-10s along the way. He has fallen off a cliff of late, however, missing the cut in four of his last five, including last week at Memorial. His stock will never be lower, but he still ranks 9th in strokes gained: par 4s, 13th tee to green, and 15th in birdies or better gained. He finished 4th here last year and 22nd in 2015.

Chez Reavie ($7,600 | 45) - Reavie is fourth in strokes gained: par 4s, sixth in good drives gained, and ninth in bogeys avoided. He has good momentum in Vegas despite very poor recent form. This is the weakest field he has been a part of in the past couple months, and he is due for a return to form.

Corey Connors ($7,600 | 100) - At the same price and odds more than two times as long as Reavie, Connors is a great pivot play for large field tournaments. He has made four straight cuts, most recently a career-best eighth place finish at the Fort Worth Invitational. He is also 12th in birdies or better gained.

Ben Crane ($7,400 | 70) - Crane does not have the statistical makeup of a typical DFS target, as he ranks 22nd in strokes gained: par 4s, his only key stat inside the top 50 in the field. He does, however, have six straight made cuts and terrific course history. He finished T10th here last year and won the event in 2014.

Bargain Basement

John Huh ($6,900 | 150) - Huh is 17th in strokes gained: approach and good drives gained, and no worse than 21st in birdies or better gained, par 4s, and doubles avoided. He is a long shot for a reason, but he has played his last two events in strong fields and has shown well, finishing 44th at the Memorial and 42nd at the Fort Worth Invitational. Six of his eight rounds at those events were under par.

Sam Saunders ($6,800 | 175) - Saunders was in the mix at the Wells Fargo Championship and ended up with a T9 finish. He is 10th in birdies or better gained and 23rd in strokes gained: tee to green. He did manage a 34th place finish here in 2016, but missed the cut in both 2015 and 2017.

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.