DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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, our daily fantasy golf projections and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

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-Salaried Studs

Rory McIlroy (DraftKings Salary: $11,500 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +850) - McIlroy won this event in 2018 thanks to by far the best putting performance of his career, gaining 10 strokes just on the greens. While the putter was an outlier in that event, Rory gets it done at Bay Hill one way or another every year, with finishes of T5 and T6 in the years since his win and T4, T27, and T11 in the three prior to the victory. He's on a long winless streak (for him) dating back to the WGC-HSBC Champions in November 2019, and after an inconsistent record coming out of the pandemic layoff, he's righted the ship since the new season began, with just one finish worse than 21st, including a T6 last week at The Concession. He is first in the field in total strokes gained on courses with bermuda greens in his last 50 rounds.

Tyrrell Hatton ($10,000 | +1700) - The defending champion at Bay Hill, Hatton has won twice more since then and is actually the highest-ranked player in the field by Official World Golf Ranking as he's all the way up to sixth. He has been terrific for the last 18 months, with his only missed cuts coming at the three major championships in that span. He ranks 2nd in proximity gained from 200-plus yards, 5th in strokes gained: approach, 11th in birdies or better gained, 23rd in GIR gained, and 36th in strokes gained: putting on bermuda. He also has a fourth-place finish from 2017 to go along with his win last year.

Sungjae Im ($9,700 | +2100) - With back-to-back third-place finishes at Bay Hill in his first two tries, Im has solidified his reputation as a must play on bermuda. He tailed off after a strong start to the 2020 season, which included a win at the Honda Classic and a T3 here in the last pre-COVID stoppage start. He picked up right where he left off with a T10 at Colonial, only to lose his form for basically the rest of the season aside from a few flashes (on bermuda) at Sedgefield and East Lake. He's been much sharper since the new season, headlined by a runner-up at the Masters and now four straight finishes of T32 or better. He's second to only McIlroy in total strokes gained on bermuda and is 18th in putting on those courses.

Mid-Salaried Options

Louis Oosthuizen ($8,800 | +3900) - Louis makes for a great leverage play over the Francesco Molinari ($8,700 | +3100), who has a win here two years ago and looks to be back on track after a lost 2020. While Molinari's comeback is a key storyline this week, Oosthuizen is under the radar despite a 6th-place finish last week and an 11th in Phoenix. He won't pop off in long-term stat models, but he has a well-rounded game and is sixth in total strokes gained over the past 50 rounds (compared to 86th for Molinari) and should be in far fewer rosters.

Will Zalatoris ($8,600 | +3800) - Another week, another solid effort from Will Zalatoris. Had he cleaned up a two-footer for bogey on the 72nd hole, he would have 8 top-20 finishes in 11 PGA starts this season, remarkable for a golfer who does not yet have full membership status. He was 4th in the field last week in strokes gained: tee to green, and in the long term sample, he's 11th to go long with 4th in proximity gained from 200-plus yards, 6th in strokes gained: approach, and 7th in GIRs gained.

Sam Burns ($8,400 | +4300) - Burns has a well-earned reputation for excelling on bermuda greens, and he ranks second in putting on bermuda among this week's field. He's also 2nd in strokes gained on par 5s, 5th in birdies or better gained, 9th in GIRs gained, and 15th in strokes gained: approach. He got a taste of contention with a T3 at Riviera a couple weeks back, and he shouldn't be deterred by a challenging course or a strong field.

Low-Salaried Options

Cameron Tringale ($7,700 | +7000) - Tringale has been terrific of late, with recent finishes of 26th, 7th, 17th, and 18th. He's been doing it with his irons and his putter, gaining in strokes gained: approach in seven straight starts and in strokes gained: putting in five of those. He has a great stat profile this week, ranking 7th in birdies or better gained, 11th in strokes gained: approach, and 15th in GIRs gained. He ranks 12th in total strokes gained on bermuda courses and is a solid 31st in putting on bermuda greens.

Lanto Griffin ($7,700 | +10000) - Griffin is 13th in strokes gained: approach and 15th in putting on bermuda, a great combo for Bay Hill. He was 36th in the bloodbath here last year, shooting 71, 73, 76, and 75. That he hung on speaks well to his chances this year as more wind is expected over the weekend. With recent finishes of T22, T26, and T7 and just 3 missed cuts in 15 events so far this season, Griffin is in fine form.

Si Woo Kim ($7,500 | +10000) - Kim is 2nd in strokes gained: tee to green, 25th in birdies or better gained, and 29th in strokes gained: approach. He's just 96th in putting on bermuda, but we have seen him put up spike weeks in the past or get hot enough with his long irons that he's putting from in tight anyway. He is not a natural fit here with three straight missed cuts and no finishes better than 49th, which likely means very few DFS players will click on Si Woo this week. That allows us to grab one of the best tee-to-green players in the field while differentiating our lineups.

Lee Westwood ($7,200 | +10000) - It's been five years since an American won at Bay Hill, and with strong winds expected again this week, we can use a grinder like Westwood. We can trust Westy to keep his head in the tough conditions, and though he missed the cut on the number last year, he has a ton of experience at the course. In what is a thin $7K range, he should be another low-rostered option this week.

Luke List ($7,200 | +13000) - List, on the other hand, could end up being popular this week with finishes of T10, T7, and T17 at Bay Hill in his last three tries (he was not in the field last year). He is 5th in strokes gained: tee to green, 11th in proximity gained from 200-plus yards, 19th in GIRs gained, 32nd in strokes gained: approach, and 36th in birdies or better gained.

Bargain Basement

Zach Johnson ($6,900 | +17000) - The two-time major champion has been remarkably consistent of late, making the cut in every event he's played since the PGA Championship in August. He has three top 10s in that span, two at events with bermuda greens and the other at the difficult conditions of the U.S. Open. He also has a great record at Bay Hill, having played here every year since 2011 and making every cut with two top 10s.

Matthew NeSmith ($6,900 | +16000) - Nesmith is one of the hottest iron players in the field, gaining strokes with his approaches in all but 2 of his last 26 events in the past 15 months. He is 3rd in both strokes gained: approach and GIRs gained and 22nd in proximity gained from 200-plus yards. He's put up three straight top-20 finishes heading into this week.

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.