Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Mayakoba Golf Classic
El Camaleon Golf Course hosts the PGA Tour this week for the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. This Greg Norman-designed course, situated in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, features unique views throughout the course, including the Mayan jungle, wetlands, and a beach. El Camaleon offers many paths to success and many opportunities for disaster. As the name suggests, the course challenges golfers to adapt and bend to its will rather than be feasted upon by it.
Let's dig into the course and see what stats we can use to build our daily fantasy lineups this week.
Course and Tournament Info
Course: El Camaleon Golf Course
Par: 71
Distance: 6,987
Tees/Fairways/Rough: Paspalum
Greens: Paspalum
As is the case in most other courses in swing season, El Camaleon registers on the easier end of the spectrum of PGA courses.
| Season | Par | Yardage | Avg Score | Avg O/U Par | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 71 | 6987 | 70.323 | -0.677 | 33 |
| 2017 | 71 | 6987 | 69.609 | -1.391 | 41 |
| 2016 | 71 | 6987 | 70.021 | -0.979 | 35 |
| 2015 | 71 | 6987 | 69.954 | -1.046 | 38 |
| 2014 | 71 | 6987 | 70.019 | -0.981 | 39 |
| 2013 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2012 | 71 | 6987 | 71.651 | 0.651 | 17 |
Prior to the shuffling of the Tour schedule in 2012-2013, the Mayakoba Golf Classic was held in February each year. The difficulty has eased up since then, ranking no higher than 33rd on the PGA Tour in terms of average over/under par by the field last year.
Key Stats
These stats have proven vital to success at El Camaleon GC.
| Key Stats for the OHL Classic at Mayakoba at El Camaleon GC |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Tee to Green |
| Strokes Gained: Approach |
| Birdies or Better Gained |
| Good Drives Gained |
| Proximity Gained 175+ Yards |
Without individual strokes gained data at El Camaleon, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the contenders made their hay in years past. However, some more traditional statistics and the player quotes aggregated at Future of Fantasy help tell the story of this course. Put simply, keeping the ball in play off the tee is paramount. Because everyone knows this, most golfers are clubbing down off the tee and are content to leave their driver in the bag for most of the par 4s.
Strokes gained: tee to green encapsulates overall performance and is always a good starting point. Strokes gained: approach and proximity from 175 yards or longer go hand in hand here, because if they are going to hit two-iron off the tee it makes sense to focus on golfers who hit their long irons well generally. If accuracy off the tee is someone's strength, however, then that becomes all the more important on a course like this. Fantasy National defines good drives gained as drives where the player either hits the fairway off the tee OR the player misses the fairway but still hits the green or fringe in regulation.
Birdies are essential given DraftKings' scoring system, but also feel free to use scrambling and bogeys avoided as a tiebreaker this week. Out of the 51 courses played on the PGA Tour last season, El Camaleon was the 33rd-easiest course by average score relative to par but yielded the 16th-most double bogeys.
Course History Studs
Most of the heavy hitters have limited or no course history here, but Rickie Fowler did finish second at 18 under par last year.
Charles Howell has three top 10s in the last five years at Makayoba, including a T4 in 2017.
Brice Garnett skipped this event in the 2016-17 season but has finishes of T25-7-6 in his last three trips.
Emiliano Grillo has posted back-to-back top 10s in his first two trips to El Camaleon. That likely stems from the accuracy of his overall game.
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.
