Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

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's daily fantasy golf offering.

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. It's a great balance between time to research and time spent tracking your team.

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

The PGA Tour's schedule shuffle continues this week, as TPC Southwind is now hosting a WGC event. That means a 64-player field and no cut. That also means that this actual event moves from Firestone to TPC Southwind. There's plenty of data at this particular course from when it was a full-field event.

What it shows is an importance on strokes gained: approach, which is the most obvious statement there is if you're an experienced PGA DFS player. Ball-striking and distance can help separate the field this week, so that's the primary attack angle for me.

The par 70 naturally ties well to par 4 scoring, and eight of the holes are par 4s from 445 to 490 yards. Every one of the 14 par 4s is 395 to 490 yards.

TPC Southwind plays as a tough track. Birdie chances aren't in abundance, and last year, there were 1,510 combined birdies and eagles compared to 1,512 bogeys or worse. Scoring when possible is just vital this week.

For a more detailed breakdown on the course, check out our course primer from Mike Rodden.

Stats cited below come from FantasyNational and include the past 100 rounds on the PGA Tour unless noted. Ranks are among the field.

Best of the Best

Dustin Johnson (FanDuel Price: $12,000 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: 8/1) - This is a WGC event, so a lot of standout players are in the field. At the top, though, there's DJ, Brooks Koepka ($11,900), and Rory McIlroy ($11,700). After McIlroy's missed cut at The Open Championship in his home country and Koepka's close call at another major, the arrow points more to Johnson than the rest. Johnson has two wins at TPC Southwind before it hosted a non-WGC event. Johnson ranks second in adjusted strokes gained average in 2019 and sits first in strokes gained: off the tee and fifth in strokes gained: approach over the past 100 rounds. He's also second in distance and in strokes gained: on par 4s. He should be the most popular pick of the week, but from a process standpoint, he's worthy.

Patrick Cantlay ($10,900 | 18/1) - Cantlay's stats are just steadily impressive, and he's top-five in strokes gained: ball-striking over the past 100, past 50, and past 24 rounds. Cantlay offers no form at TPC Southwind, but that's to be said for a lot of golfers in the field.Despite sitting seventh in salary, he's actually third in adjusted stroke average in 2019.

Xander Schauffele ($10,800 | 20/1) - According to FantasyNational, three of Xander's six best performances by strokes gained since 2016 were small-field events: the 2018 WGC-HSBC (19.0 strokes gained), the 2019 Tournament of Champions (14.7), and the 2017 CIMB Classic (11.7). In addition to the WGC-HSBC and the Tournament of Champions, Xander won the 2017 TOUR Championship, to give him three wins in such events. Now, his two worst were also small-field events: -12.4 strokes gained at the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone and the 2017 CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. But! In a no-cut event, we should embrace volatility in our DFS lineups, and on the high end of Schauffele's variance is a win at TPC Southwind.

Bryson DeChambeau ($10,400 | 27/1) - DeChambeau had gained 31.3 strokes in four events leading up to a missed cut at The Open. The putter had been hot, yes, but the ball-striking was trending up, as well. In two tries at TPC Southwind, DeChambeau picked up strokes both off the tee and with approach play. He now has some extra prep after an early flight from Ireland.

Mid-Range Options

Paul Casey ($9,600 | 41/1) - Similar to DeChambeau here. Casey's disappointing Open (57th) shouldn't sway us too much. He had gained 31.6 strokes tee to green in four events leading in. Casey played here way back in 2014, picking up 7.7 strokes tee to green to finish 24th. Casey ranks 13th in strokes gained: off the tee and 6th in strokes gained: approach in our sample.

Webb Simpson ($9,500 | 41/1) - Simpson's great Bermuda putting should come in handy this week. He did lose 2.3 strokes putting at this event back in a missed cut in 2015, but he was 3rd in 2014, after gaining 9.6 strokes tee to green. Simpson has gained at least 2.0 strokes via approach play in five of six events. He's picked up 16.0 strokes with the putter in his past two measured events, but his safety -- even in a no-cut event -- is welcomed in cash-games.

Gary Woodland ($9,100 | 37/1) - Woodland left the foot off the peddle after his U.S. Open win, which is understandable, but at just $9,100, we're dealing with a great price for a ball-striker as elite as Woodland. He ranks fourth in strokes gained: ball-striking over the past 100 rounds. Woodland also has promising finishes in no-cut events of late, including a 2nd at the Tournament of Champions, a 2nd at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, and a 5th at the CIMB Classic.

Billy Horschel ($9,000 | 55/1) - Horschel had been trending up before a missed cut at The Open, and after opening at +8000 on FanDuel Sportsbook, he's down to +5500 in a matter of a few hours. Horschel ranks 16th in ball-striking over the past 24 rounds. Horschel also is one of a few golfers in the field with significant course form, including four top-10s from 2013 through 2017. That's a while ago, yes, but that helps us with the bounce-back narrative here.

Low-Priced Picks

Sergio Garcia ($8,800 | 50/1) - Garcia's concerns aren't really ever related to ball-striking. It's mostly the short game. Either way, he's an erratic option who can get hot tee-to-green, and that's enticing in this field. Serge finished sixth at the WGC-Mexico for the no-cut angle.

Chez Reavie ($8,700 | 60/1) - Reavie's fallen off since his win at the Travelers -- he's missed both cuts since. But the tee-to-green game is good enough to pay off his $8,700 price tag. Reavie also has four tries at TPC Southwind, all top-30s. In 2017 and 2018, Reavie finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

Jim Furyk ($8,000 | 120/1) - Furyk has added strokes via approach play in five straight events, all made cuts. That includes the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. He did miss the cut at this course in 2017, for what it's worth.

Nate Lashley ($7,700 | 210/1) - Since May, Lashley has played in nine events. He has gained approach strokes in eight of them. In all, he made just six of those nine cuts and his only top-25 was his win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The missed cut at The Open gives him some extra prep time here, and for just $7,700, we're getting a golfer who should gain strokes tee to green.