Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK

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

Shadow Creek Golf Course hosted The Match between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods two years ago, but we don't have any actual PGA Tour data to go off of when breaking down the course.

What we know is that it's a long course (7,527 yards). There are 5 par 4s that are at least 460 yards (the median for a par 4 is around 437 on Tour). Of the 4 par 3s, 3 are 200-plus yards, and one is 257. There’s a 622-yard par 5, so distance should lead to an advantage.

Strokes gained: approach will never not be on the list, so I’m looking for ball-strikers who can convert on the greens. That's usually the case.

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 50 rounds on the PGA Tour, and putting surface splits include the past 100 rounds when possible, unless noted. Ranks are among the field.

High-Salaried Plays

[Editor's Note: Dustin Johnson has withdrawn after testing positive for COVID-19.]

Jon Rahm (FanDuel Salary: $11,900 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +850) - The top four golfers (Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Xander Schauffele) are all very much in play this week, so it's easy to find pivots from one another, specifically whomever winds up being most popular by Thursday. But with their salaries being where they are, they're really not unplayable relative to golfers in the upper $10,000 range, so it's hard to overlook a two-stud lineup. Rahm does everything you need here with the distance and birdie ability, and he's a good bentgrass putter (13th over the past 100 rounds).

Collin Morikawa ($10,800 | +2200) - Morikawa's main blemish is outright driving distance compared to the field, but he ranks 3rd in approach and 11th in birdie or better rate over the past 50 rounds. Morikawa is also best on bentgrass when it comes to putting. There's some viable bounce-back appeal for him after two missed cuts with neutral peripherals.

Others to Consider:
Rory McIlroy ($11,600 | +1300) - 2nd in strokes gained: off the tee since the restart and has had underwhelming results from a cold putter.
Daniel Berger ($10,400 | +2900) - A better Bermuda putter, Berger is still 3rd in birdie or better rate gained and 7th tee to green over the past 50.

Mid-Salaried Plays

Viktor Hovland ($10,100 | +3100) - Hovland should set up well for Shadow Creek. He is 9th in the field in strokes gained: tee to green (15th off the tee and 5th in approach) and is also a viable 33rd in distance gained. He has just one positive putting surface to his name: bentgrass, where he ranks 22nd over a 45-round sample.

Harris English ($9,600 | +4100) - English is just 51st in this field in distance, which is a bit scary, but there are really no golfers outside the top few who are long and who putt well, so it's sort of an either-or situation. English is the second-best bentgrass putter in the field and sits 16th in strokes gained: tee to green. I'm really underwhelmed by the $9,000 to $10,000 range as a whole.

Others to Consider:
Scottie Scheffler ($9,800 | +4100) - Was 37th and cut the past two weeks with lost strokes from approach, but long-term form suggests that'll correct soon, so a bounce-back spot.
Paul Casey ($9,200 | +5000) - Gained strokes from ball striking in 76% of the past 50 rounds and is best putting on bentgrass.

Low-Salaried Plays

Joaquin Niemann ($8,800 | +6500) - Niemann is a top-tier ball-striker (19th in strokes gained: off the tee and 15th in approach) and is also long off the tee (5th in distance gained). Niemann also returns to his best (read: only good) putting surface: bentgrass. Niemann ranks 26th over the past 100 rounds putting on bentgrass.

Si Woo Kim ($8,300 | +10000) - Kim's been trending up for some time now, and for his putting woes, he's just barely negative on bentgrass in his career. Over the past 100 rounds, he ranks 19th in this field on the surface. Kim is coming off a top-eight finish and ranks 19th in the field in strokes gained: tee to green over the past 50 rounds.

Others to Consider:
Jason Kokrak ($8,500 | +10000) - Is 6th in strokes gained: off the tee by way of ranking 11th in distance.
Talor Gooch ($7,200 | +27000) - 23rd in putting, 23rd in distance, and 22nd in birdie rate; not the worst profile for a punt play.