DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Sentry Tournament of Champions

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 Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.

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.

High-Salaried Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Price: $11,000 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +650) - We can't ask for much more from DJ, winning The Masters his last time out for his third straight up win since play resumed in June (fourth if you include the TOUR Championship that he won courtesy of his starting strokes, along with the FedEx Cup). While that level of winning is almost unprecedented since Tiger Woods' heyday, it actually could have been even better -- Johnson had three runner-up finishes in that span as well. He is first in birdies or better gained, second in strokes gained: approach, and fifth in both strokes gained: off the tee and on par 5s. DJ enters 2021 as the clear alpha on Tour and starts things off at a course where he's already won twice.

Patrick Reed ($9,600 | +1600) - Another former winner who does his best work against the best competition, Reed was runner up here last year after failing in a playoff to Justin Thomas ($10,700 | +750). He has eight career wins and the last six have come at a WGC event, a Playoff event, The Masters, a Playoff event, the Tournament of Champions, and a WGC event. Worldwide he has six straight top-15 finishes, all at premier events on either the PGA or European Tour. He is fourth on par 5s and sixth in birdies or better gained.

Mid-Salaried Options

Tony Finau ($8,900 | +2500) - Finau gets a rare glimpse of Kapalua by virtue of the expanded field, which typically includes only golfers with a win in the prior calendar year but this season also invited all the golfers who advanced to the TOUR Championship. Finau was T9 back in 2017 in his only appearance at the Tournament of Champions, and he should fit the track well given his distance off the tee and ability to score. He is 2nd in strokes gained on par 5s, 8th in strokes gained: approach, 11th in birdies or better gained, and 12th in strokes gained: off the tee.

Collin Morikawa ($8,800 | +3000) - Very likely Morikawa ends up as the chalk this week at this price, cheaper than Finau with a major championship in his back pocket and more wins in the last six months than Tony has accrued in five full years on Tour. Morikawa's biggest strength is his long iron play, specifically his ability to drop long irons within almost gimme range for eagle. He's third in strokes gained approach, and he should feast on the par 5s here. Even though he's only 22nd on those holes he has field-leading upside. He was first in strokes gained on par 5s when he won the PGA Championship, and was third at Muirfield Village a few weeks earlier when he downed Thomas to win the Workday Charity Open.

Daniel Berger ($8,600 | +3000) - Berger was flat out one of the best players on Tour last year, and coming in as the 14th highest priced golfer is some major value. While he hasn't been able to sustain his early-mid season form of finishing inside the top five every week, he's still fourth in strokes gained: approach and fifth in birdies or better gained over a large sample.

Joaquin Niemann ($8,300 | +3500) - A T5 finish in his Kapalua debut included a first round lead when he fired a 66, a round only Reed would match (twice) on the week. We typically steer clear of Niemann on bermuda greens, but these are some of the slowest surfaces we'll see all season, and he handled them well last year. His 3.5 strokes gained was the sixth best putting performance of his career to that point, though he did surpass it this fall at the U.S. Open. We know he can handle the ballstriking, ranking sixth in strokes gained: approach and ninth in strokes gained: off the tee.

Low-Priced Options

Kevin Kisner ($7,800 | +7500) - The bombers will get more credit here and rightfully so, but there is something to be said for putting talent translating to an even bigger advantage on slow greens like these. Kisner ranks second in strokes gained putting on the slowest greens, surface so slow that Fantasy National classifies them as "Velcro". He flopped here last year and lost 1.4 strokes, but in his two other tries in 2018 and 2016 he gained 6.3 and 4.4 strokes putting, respectively. The form is good, as he ranks 12th in strokes gained: approach and 16th in birdies or better gained.

Marc Leishman ($7,400 | +6500) - A nightmarish stretch to end the season was salvaged only by a T13 at The Masters, but Leishman was close to spoiling a season that saw him get back in the winner's circle with his victory at Torrey Pines. He'll try to start 2021 fresh at Kapalua, where he had finishes of T4 in 2019 and T7 in 2018. His close to the 2019-20 season made him look like something close to the worst golfer on Tour, and there is simply no way he will be that bad this season. Leishman won't be bothered by the wind if it gets kicking, and the recent form will create a ton of leverage in daily fantasy contests and players avoid him at all costs.

Jason Kokrak ($7,300 | +7500) - Much of that ownership will go to Kokrak, who makes his Kapalua debut in close to the best form of his life. Missed cuts at The Masters and the RSM Classic followed a stretch of six top 20s in seven, including his first career win at THE CJ CUP. A strange course and strong field couldn't stop him that week, and he looks the part at $7,300. He is 6th off the tee, 13th in birdies or better gained, 19th in approach, and 20th on par 5s.

Bargain Basement

Martin Laird ($6,400 | +15000) - Laird was the longshot winner at TPC Summerlin this fall and will make his first appearnce at the Tournament of Champions since 2014. He was 20th that year but had been runner up in his only other appearance in 2012. He is otherwise outclassed in this field even at 15th in strokes gained: approach and 19th off the tee, but if you are going to roster Johnson you'll probably need to dip into the $6k range in at least one spot. Laird would be our choice down here if you have to.

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.