GOLF

Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: RBC Heritage

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

Key Stats for the RBC Heritage
at Harbour Town Golf Links
Strokes Gained: Approach
Driving Accuracy
Strokes Gained: Around the Green
Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda


Last week at Augusta, we saw a heavy emphasis on driving distance, which is not the case for Harbour Town. Harbour Town includes a sizable de-emphasis on distance in favor of accuracy. Winners here since 2004 have ranked outside the top 100 in driving distance in their winning seasons but inside the top 70 in accuracy.

Winners since 2004 have also ranked 60th on average in strokes gained: approach on the full season in years won, the lowest across the four strokes gained categories.

Ultimately, what this setup means is that we can keep all types of golfers in the mix because nobody is disqualified due to being too short off the tee.

For a more detailed breakdown on the course, check out our course primer from Mike Rodden.

Daily Fantasy Golfer Picks for the RBC Heritage

All stats cited below come from FantasyNational. Strokes gained data includes stats from the past calendar year and is adjusted based on my field strength and recency adjustments. Putting surface splits also come from FantasyNational and include the past 100 rounds when possible, unless noted. All ranks and percentile ranks are among the field.

Best of the Best

Webb Simpson (FanDuel Salary: $11,800 | Golf odds Win Odds: +1300) - With Dustin Johnson ($12,400) in his own salary tier and with not being a particularly good fit for Harbour Town (despite good results here), we could save salary with Simpson, last summer's winner. Simpson is an elite putter on bermuda (96th percentile) and is in the 86th percentile or better across all strokes gained stats -- all while sitting in the 82nd percentile in driving accuracy. Simpson has finished top-16 here four straight years.

Matthew Fitzpatrick ($10,900 | +2300) - Fitzpatrick opened at +3200 on FanDuel Sportsbook, and I expected that to trend downward quickly. It did. Fitzpatrick fits Harbour Town well and is an S-tier bermuda putter (99th-percentile) while also ranking in the 89th percentile in fairways gained. He has finished top-15 in two of the past three years here, as well.

Others to Consider
Dustin Johnson ($12,400 | +1200) - I wouldn't tell anyone not to roster DJ, but the data doesn't suggest he's a must-play this week.
Daniel Berger ($11,400 | +2100) - T3 and T33 the past two years here and fully entrenched in the Big 3 with DJ and Webb.
Corey Conners ($10,600 | +3400) - Striping the ball lately and hits every fairway (96th percentile).
Brian Harman ($10,200 | +3400) - Accurate (77th percentile) and good on bermuda (78th); top-30 finishes three of the past four years.

Mid-Range Picks

Kevin Kisner ($9,500 | +6000) - Kisner's irons have been on more often than not lately, which has him in the 84th percentile in adjusted strokes gained: approach over the past year. He's also in the 98th percentile in adjusted putting. On bermuda greens over the past 100 rounds, he is in the 88th percentile. He's a golfer who benefits from a de-emphasis on distance (23rd percentile) in favor of fairways gained (84th percentile).

Russell Henley ($9,400 | +6000) - Henley always gets a boost when distance isn't a must, as he is in the 16th percentile in this field in distance gained over the past 100 rounds but is in the 85th percentile in fairways gained. Henley's irons are still great, pitting him in the 98th percentile after adjusting for field strength and recency over the past year. He has four missed cuts and three top-26 finishes here since 2013.

Others to Consider
Harris English ($9,800 | +5000) - Still above average across the board long term and is boosted on bermuda greens (90th percentile).
Kevin Na ($9,800 | +3800) - Outlier based on betting odds at the salary, two top-10s at Harbour Town in past four starts, benefits from distance mitigation.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($9,600 | +6500) - Debuted with a T28 at Harbour Town last year; great short game.

Low-Salaried Picks

Kevin Streelman ($9,000 | +8000) - Streelman has three top-10s at this event in his career and two in the past three years overall. He is quite accurate (88th percentile) while still having some length (42nd percentile), which gets him in the 84th percentile off the tee. He one of the best iron players down in the value range, too, and has largely avoided disastrous putting weeks of late.

Brendon Todd ($8,800 | +9000) - Todd is another specialist when it comes to a short bermuda track. He ranks just 25th percentile in strokes gained: off the tee and 32nd in approach but is 87th around the green and 98th in putting overall over the past year. He is at the extremes in driving distance (1st percentile) and fairways gained (100th) and also sits in the 97th percentile in bermuda putting. He has just one start here over the past four years, a missed cut a year ago by losing merely 1.0 stroke to the field.

Others to Consider
Sebastian Munoz ($9,000 | +8500) - Quite good for the salary even if he's not a perfect course fit.
Zach Johnson ($8,800 | +13000) - 73rd percentile approach and another golfer who benefits from a lack of distance.
Mackenzie Hughes ($8,500 | +13000) - Actually not that accurate (15th percentile) but an elite short game for a reasonable salary.
Mark Hubbard ($7,300 | +31000) - Short (4th) but accurate (79th) and is above field average in approach (55th).