DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Farmers Insurance Open

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 Farmers Insurance Open.

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

Rory McIlroy (DraftKings Price: $11,600 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +600) - McIlroy is a headliner in every event he plays, and even in this loaded field, he pops off the charts. He leads the field in strokes gained: off the tee, birdies or better gained, and strokes gained: par 5s, and he is fifth in strokes gained: approach and seventh in proximity gained from over 175+. In that last split, he is 1st in proximity gained from 175-200 yards and 27th from 200+. Rory has eight top-10s in his last 10 worldwide events, including two wins. He is just about at the peak of his powers, and a statement win at Torrey Pines could be a harbinger of another historic season for McIlroy. He was T5 here last year in what was somehow his first time seeing this course in a professional round.

Tiger Woods ($10,300 | +1000) - With apologies to Jon Rahm ($11,300 | +800), it would be too easy to write up just the top three favorites, and there is no way we can pass on Woods in this spot for $1,000 cheaper. He is being extremely careful with his schedule, but he can't pass up Torrey. He has seven wins at this event and another win at the South Course in the 2008 U.S. Open. So while Rahm is red hot and has a win here in the past couple years, Woods is still light years ahead in terms of course form. Tiger's stats go back a long way for 50 rounds, but he is still 3rd in strokes gained: approach and birdies or better gained. He is 2nd in the combined proximity numbers, ranking 15th from 175-200 yards and 9th from 200+.

Xander Schauffele ($10,100 | +1800) - It is a crowded top of the market, and Schauffele shows up right below the above golfers and defending champion Justin Rose ($10,300 | +1800) and above a stacked $9k range. A missed opportunity at the Sentry Tournament of Champions shouldn't dampen a T2 finish, his third second-place result in his last four official PGA starts. A few more strokes go his way dating back to East Lake and we might be talking about Schauffele as the hottest player in the world. Instead, he arrives at Torrey Pines on a 12-month (barely) winless stretch and fresh memories of him blowing it in Hawaii. Xander will be fine, and a T25 after three missed cuts at the Farmers should keep ownership suppressed amidst all the other strong options up here.

Mid-Priced Options

Tony Finau ($9,300 | +2900) - A disastrous double bogey on the back nine marred an otherwise stellar final round for Finau, who managed a 3-under 69 on Sunday to finish T14 at the American Express. After a disappointing fall, he played well at the Presidents Cup, rallying from behind to tie Hideki Matsuyama ($9,900 | +1800). Since then, he finished T10 in small field at the Hero World Challenge and 5th in a weak one at the Hong Kong Open. He is surrounded by known commodities and hot names, but Finau has the ability to outrace them all when he's on his game. He ranks ninth in strokes gained: tee to green, and a build starting with Schauffele and Finau will immediately differentiate from everyone paying up and then grabbing one of the next few names to pair with McIlroy, Rahm, or Woods.

Sungjae Im ($9,100 | +3100) - Im will have to be in consideration almost every week at this rate. He did not disappoint as one of the favorites last week, tying for 10th place with a grievous error on the back nine on Sunday for the second consecutive week. Im is 2nd in birdies or better gained, 21st in strokes gained: par 5s, and 30th in strokes gained: off the tee. Both the North and South Courses rank at or near the bottom of the accuracy rankings every year, so finding a straight hitter who doesn't get blown off the course is the way to go this week.

Collin Morikawa ($8,900 | +3100) - Morikawa is a California native who gets his first crack at the West Coast swing as a pro, and what better place to start than Torrey Pines. He'll be paired with Woods and Rahm the first two rounds, and while it is not fair to expect him to meet their lofty standards, I think he'll welcome the challenge head on this week. He's been playing fantastic golf since turning pro, and even with some of the best in the world in this field, Morikawa leads the way in strokes gained: approach. He's also 8th in birdies or better gained and 19th in fairways gained. It will be key for him to find the fairway and reach his desired distance for his approach -- he ranks 3rd in proximity gained from 175-200 yards but 125th from 200+ yards.

Marc Leishman ($8,300 | +4500) - Leishman always makes the trek to Torrey Pines, having played this event every year since 2009. He's made nine cuts in his 11 tries, including four top-10 finishes. He should thrive in the ramped-up conditions, and the harder the South Course plays, the better for Leishman. He is not the longest hitter, but he has been quite good with his irons (18th in strokes gained: approach) and is always a gainer with his short game. For all his lack of distance off the tee, he fares better than most on long distance approaches -- he ranks 6th in the combined proximity stat, 26th from 175-200 yards and 4th from 200+ yards.

Low-Priced Options

Lanto Griffin ($7,900 | +7000) - Griffin was one of the stories of the fall as a Korn Ferry graduate who notched his first win at the Houston Open. He's carried that form into 2020, and after a T7 finish at the Sony Open, he now has eight top-20s in 10 events since earning his Tour card. He ranks 7th in strokes gained: par 5s, 18th in birdies or better gained, and 22nd in the proximity combo, including a stellar 7th from 200+ yards. He also has flashed a good short game, ranking 10th in scrambling gained and 13th in bogeys avoided.

Byeong-Hun An ($7,700 | +6000) - After a scorching 31 on his first nine holes of the American Express, An gave most of it back with a quadruple bogey on Nicklaus Tournament Course's 6th hole. An took the quad with a sense of humor after the round, but he never made his way back into the tournament and missed his third cut of the young season. He's finished inside the top 15 in each of his other four starts, and that type of finish is all you need at this price. He is 10th in strokes gained: tee to green, and he is actually outpacing that considering his three good performances over past three months came at events without Shotlink data.

Russell Knox ($7,600 | +10000) - Knox may not have the juice to actually win this thing, but his elite approach play should help him survive through the cut line as long as he isn't a total disaster on the greens. Knox ranks fourth in the proximity combo and eighth in strokes gained: approach. He hasn't missed a cut since the opening event of the swing season at the Greenbrier, and he can navigate his way through difficult conditions without blowing up. He ranks 3rd in bogeys avoided and 19th in scrambling gained. Like Leishman, Knox is best served if the wind picks up or the conditions suppress the birdie count across the entire field.

Jhonattan Vegas ($7,000 | +19000) - A long flyer on a bomber who has shown decent history here despite consecutive missed cuts the last two years. His finishes at the Farmers from 2015-2017 are T11, T18 and T28 -- a totally respectable track record for a $7k golfer. He is enticing but risky from a stats perspective, as he has high highs -- 3rd in strokes gained: off the tee, 5th on par 5s, and 20th birdies or better gained -- but has been a nightmare around and on the greens. He is 148th in this field in scrambling gained, and he's lost at least two strokes with the putter in four of his last five measured events.

Bargain Basement

Kyle Stanley ($6,800 | +21000) - Stanley made four straight cuts at the Farmers before a miss last year, and he was the runner-up way back in 2012. His accuracy should pay dividends this week both off the tee and on approach, and we really just want a made cut from our guys down here as they fill out a roster with one or even two of the $10k+ studs. Stanley is 4th in strokes gained: approach, 5th in fairways gained, 18th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 20th in proximity gained from beyond 200 yards.

D.J. Trahan ($6,500 | +26000) - A quick glance at the 2008 U.S. Open leaderboard is sure to make many give a double take, but there's Trahan sitting T4 in some of the toughest conditions on Tour. Recently, he is 23rd on par 5s, 26th in strokes gained: off the tee, and 42nd in birdies or better gained. He is solid from long distance on approach, ranking 46th in proximity gained from 175-200 yards and 17th from 200+ yards. He's clawed his way back on Tour via the Korn Ferry graduation, and he's made the most of his opportunity so far this season with six of seven made cuts and a tie for eighth at the RSM Classic along the way.

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.