Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Mayakoba Golf Classic
By now, you've probably dabbled in daily fantasy sports, but if not, don't worry. Now is a great time to start, especially with FanDuel now offering a revamped version of PGA golf.
Golf can be one of the most exciting DFS sports to follow, as tournaments span four days and allow ample time to prepare each week, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the basics of building a lineup on FanDuel, the scoring setup, and advanced stats to know about the PGA.
But whether you're brand new to the PGA or daily fantasy sports in general, we have you covered -- and we have daily fantasy golf projections and lineup building tools, too.
Let's take a look at some golfers to target this week.
Key Stats
| Key Stats for the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon GC |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Approach |
| Strokes Gained: Off the Tee |
| Driving Accuracy |
| Greens in Regulation |
| Birdie or Better Rate |
El Camaleon has ranked top-14 in birdie-to-bogey ratio in four of the past five years (ranked 18th last year). The greens are small and paspalum, if you want to dig into putting splits. Just be mindful that it's an uncommon green type, so sample sizes aren't great.
For a deeper look at the course this week, check out our course primer from Mike Rodden.
Stats cited below come from FantasyNational and include the past 36 rounds on the PGA Tour unless noted. Ranks are among the field.
Best of the Best
Rickie Fowler (FanDuel Price: $12,500 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: 8.5/1) - Fowler finished runner-up last year at this event, his only try at El Camaleon. He finished fourth last week at the Shriners and has been top-10 in the three events he's played in the past 10 weeks. Fowler ranks in strokes gained: approach and third in birdies gained over the past 36 rounds.
Tony Finau ($11,900 | 12/1) - Finau's approach game has slipped to 33rd over the past 36 rounds, but he's still 5th off the tee and 2nd in birdies gained. Finau is also a problematic 104th in fairways gained in this split, so he's not the safest bet in this range, but his upside is nearly unmatched, given his scoring potential.
Gary Woodland ($11,800 | 19/1) - Woodland ranks top-six in both ball-striking stats (strokes gained: approach and off-the-tee) and is also top-six in birdies and fairways gained. Woodland has played here twice in the past two years (34th and 2nd) and enters with five straight top-12s.
Joaquin Niemann ($11,200 | 30/1) - Niemann is top-five in ball-striking entering this week's event, and he's been netting greens in regulation at a top-10 rate, too. Niemann placed 31st here two years ago and was 10th last week. Though 147th in the Official World Golf Rankings, he's 62nd by DataGolf's system, potentially leaving him undervalued by the DFS public.
Mid-Range Options
J.B. Holmes ($9,900 | 65/1) - Holmes hasn't played here yet but has been top-25 in his past three events. Similar to Finau, he's got accuracy concerns but has been top-25 in approach, off-the-tee, birdies, and greens in regulation in our sample.
Sam Ryder ($9,600 | 48/1) - Ryder turned his strong recent stats into a third-place showing last week at the Shriners. Ryder ranks 6th in approach, 4th in birdies gained, and 19th in greens in regulation gained in our sample. Ryder did miss the cut here last year but is golfing very well and now has knowledge of the course.
Cheng-Tsung Pan ($9,300 | 48/1) - Pan's approach game ranks top-eight in our split, and he's 12th in birdies, greens in regulation, and driving accuracy in our sample. Pan has three straight top-30 finishes and made two cuts in his career at El Camaleon (55th and 46th).
Joel Dahmen ($9,200 | 140/1) - Dahmen's got very long win odds, but he's second in approach and 11th in fairways gained, giving him some safety despite those odds. Dahmen has made four straight cuts and was 23rd here a year ago.
Low-Priced Picks
Sungjae Im ($8,700 | 45/1) - Im brings some solid all-around play into this event and has been 4th, 41st, cut, and 15th in his past four events. The course debutant is just 53rd in approach but is top-22 off the tee and in greens in regulation and fairways gained.
Bronson Burgoon ($8,700 | 85/1) - Burgoon missed the cut a week ago, so that's a concern, but that was because he lost 2.06 strokes putting on average (he was +0.30 tee-to-green). This is a bounce-back spot for a value pick, who ranks top-17 in both ball-striking stats. Burgoon missed the cut at El Camaleon last year but was 25th three years ago.
Anders Albertson ($8,000 | 85/1) - Albertson has been 28th and 5th in his past two events, thanks to accurate driving (35th) and hot iron play (12th). Albertson hasn't played this course before and is just 45th in strokes gained: off the tee, yet he's a cheap option with shortish win odds and solid overall play.
Shawn Stefani ($7,500 | 140/1) - Stefani missed last week's cut after a 7th at the Sanderson Farms the week prior. However, he's finished 2nd, 25th, cut, and 20th at El Camaleon, a course he likens to the courses he played growing up, and ranks 14th in approach, the most important stat pretty much every week.
