DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: THE NORTHERN TRUST

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 NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National Golf Club.

Key Stats

Let's get to the picks. For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the course primer.

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

Brooks Koepka (DraftKings Price $12,000 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds 17/2) - With a comfortable lead in the FedEx Cup Standings coming off a win at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the world's number-one ranked golfer would do fine to tread water this week and maintain his cushion. Oh wait, just about anyone inside the top 30 has a chance to leapfrog Koepka if he no-shows THE NORTHERN TRUST. Assuming the $15 million is enough to rouse the interest of the mighty Brooks, he should be ready and willing to go all out to contend again this week. He is the rightful favorite and high man on DK, and he ranks 5th in birdies or better gained, 18th in strokes gained: off the tee, and 28th in approach. He is dominant from long distance on approaches, ranking 1st in proximity gained from 175-200 and 23rd from 200 and beyond.

Rory McIlroy ($11,400 | 10/1) - Koepka has stolen McIlroy's lunch money the past two times out, finishing runner-up at the Open Championship in Rory's backyard and demolishing him in the final group en route to his WGC win. Those results aside, McIlroy has had a terrific season (he was still fourth at TPC Southwind, after all). The missed cut at The Open and another at The Memorial are the only blemishes on an otherwise stellar season. McIlroy has just one other finish outside the top 10, a T21 at The Masters. He is first in strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: off the tee, and birdies or better gained, and and he is ninth in strokes gained: approach. He is 5th in proximity gained from 175-200 and 16th from 200+. He is inside the top five in strokes gained on par 3s, par 4s, and par 5s. The $600 gap between him and Koepka makes him a bargain right out of the gate.

Justin Thomas ($10,000 | 19) - A few slots down we find JT, one of the premier ball-strikers on Tour who has either forgotten how to putt or had some horrific luck over the past few months. Thomas is second in birdies or better gained and third in both strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach. About that short stick -- Thomas is all the way down at 107th in strokes gained: putting, an almost laughable rank for a player of his caliber. Strokes gained data is not available for The Open or The Masters, but besides those events, he has played 24 rounds since the end of February and lost on the greens in 16 of them. Conversely, he has gained tee to green in 18 of those rounds. The regression is coming. If he rolls in a few putts, Thomas is not just contending, he's running away with it.

Mid-Priced Options

Patrick Cantlay ($9,200 | 22) - Cantlay is behind just McIlroy and Koepka in total strokes gained over his last 50 rounds, taking his rightful place among the game's elite with a win this season at Muirfield Village. More are sure to follow, and with a fancy new tool in his utility belt (he can putt?!), the 27-year-old should contend on a weekly basis for a long, long time. The ball-striking is elite, as Cantlay ranks 11th off the tee and 13th in approach. He's sixth in scrambling gained, as well, on both par 4s and par 5s, and he is eighth in proximity gained from 175-200 yards.

Xander Schauffele ($8,900 | 27) - Schauffele already has Playoff bona fides after winning the Tour Championship in 2017 and two top 10s in final two legs of 2018. He is also a good tail to Koepka -- both have reputations as big-game hunters who play their best in strong fields, each had a win in the swing season this year, and they had mirror finishes at THE PLAYERS (both MC), The Masters (both T2), and the U.S. Open (2nd for Koepka, T3 for Schauffele). The X-Man is 13th in birdies or better gained, 20th in scrambling gained, 20th off the tee, and 36th in approach.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,400 | 45) - Coming off three poor finishes and most recently a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship, Matsuyama's ownership will be worth monitoring this week. With one or two poor events he would still be the worthy chalk and a lock in cash games at this price. But three straight events losing strokes tee to green is very unlike Hideki. Over his last 50, he is 5th in strokes gained: tee to green and strokes gained: approach, 7th in birdies or better gained, and 13th off the tee. He checks both proximity boxes, as well, ranking 12th from 200+ and 24th from 175-200. He is worth returning to in a loaded field at a discount in both price and, potentially, ownership. Matsuyama got an extra look at the course when on the International squad at the 2017 President's Cup at Liberty National.

Low Priced Options

Gary Woodland ($7,800 | 50) - Woodland brings the baby swag to Liberty National, as he and his wife welcomed twins last week. With a major championship in tow and a fifth-place rank in the FedEx Cup standings, Woodland is a minor withdrawal risk to tend to his familial responsibilities, but if he plays, he should be inspired and continue the best season of his career. He is 7th in strokes gained: tee to green, 8th off the tee, 14th in approach, and 18th in birdies or better gained. He is just okay from 175-200 (52nd) but really shines from 200+, ranking 4th in proximity gained from that distance.

Byeong-Hun An ($7,800 | 65) - An let another shot at a victory slip away last week at the Wyndham Championship, but he's quietly had a solid season. He is 4th in strokes gained: tee to green, 26th in approach, 31st off the tee, and 38th in scrambling gained. His third-place finish last week marked his eighth top 20 of the 2018-2019 PGA Tour season. Half of those have come in the last six events, with a MC at the Travelers and a perfectly reasonable T32 at The Open the other finishes.

Jason Kokrak ($7,400 | 80) - Kokrak's sixth-place finish last week was his eighth top 20 and his fifth top 10. He has missed just one cut all season, and he has been a stats darling for much of the year. He arrives ranked second in this loaded field in strokes gained: approach, 9th off the tee, 14th tee to green, and 34th in birdies or better gained. If he finds the right ranges for his second shot, he could be in for a huge week -- Kokrak is 2nd in proximity gained from 175-200 yards but just 67th from 200+.

Sergio Garcia ($7,400 | 90) - Do we dare? Sergio has been so up and down for the past two years that it is very difficult to trust him. However, the pedigree compared to many of the other golfers in this $7,000 range is on another level entirely, and despite the mostly poor finishes, he still ranks 21st in strokes gained: approach and 25th in strokes gained: tee to green. Worldwide over the past two years, Sergio has 18 finishes inside the top 20 and 17 of them were inside the top 10. At a cheap price for the talent and low expected ownership, Garcia makes for a fine tournament play.

Bargain Basement

Cameron Tringale ($6,900 | 150) - Tringale is the test case for whether the elite ball-striking in weaker fields can carry over into a strong one. He is 20th in birdies or better gained and 23rd in approach over his last 50, but over just the last 12 rounds is where he really stands out. In that sample Tringale is 3rd in birdies or better gained, 9th tee to green, and 15th in approach. He has gained strokes in at least three of the four facets (off the tee, approach, around the green, and putting) in six straight events and seven of his last eight.

Corey Conners ($6,500 | 210) - Here we go again. Elite ball-striker, terrible putter. At this price, the numbers look almost too good to pass up -- 7th off the tee and 11th on approach -- but the scoring stats leave much to be desired as he ranks 110th in birdies or better gained and 121st in scrambling gained. He is the ultimate risk-reward play, and he has shown over the last two years that when he actually does get some putts to fall, he has top-five upside.

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.