DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Palmetto Championship at Congaree

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 our a course primer and daily fantasy golf projections, and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for the Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club.

Key Stats

Let's get to the picks.

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: $11,400 | FOX Bet Win Odds: +750) - We have quite the field this week, with the current world No. 1 and the man just below him clearly in the top tier of options. Even with some iffy form of late, Johnson is one of two clear favorites and likely to be one of the highest rostered players on DraftKings. Some names in the mid-range will likely draw sticker-shock reactions from DFS players, which will drive lineup construction toward starting with Johnson and building out with one other high-priced option and living in the low $7K range with the rest of the lineup. There's merit to finding good pivots in that range, which we'll try to do, as the prospect of fading Johnson in this field has to be tied solely to thinking he won't be locked in. It's possible, but of all the top guys, DJ is probably the most reliable in a weak field (see the 2018 RBC Canadian Open).

Brooks Koepka ($11,100 | +750) - From a pure value standpoint, everyone above $10K is oversalaried relative to Johnson. DraftKings has to price the other top golfers this close to the favorite to avoid a third of the lineups starting with DJ and Koepka. That construction is still possible depending on how you feel about the $6K range. Considering the volatility of most golfers in this field, the bottom of the market is probably more viable than it is most weeks. Koepka trails DJ in all our key stats this week but is still second in birdies or better gained, third in strokes gained: approach, fifth in strokes gained: par 5s, and seventh in strokes gained: off the tee. This is his first time out since finishing as runner-up at the PGA Championship.

Tyrrell Hatton ($10,200 | +1300) - No reason to get too tricky at the top of the board, and any play outside these top three is just differentiating based solely on projected roster percentage. Behind Johnson and Koepka, Hatton is the clear choice as the third-best play. Being mindful of how popular each golfer may be is an important part of roster construction, but it has to be about finding a reason to play someone instead of just looking for anybody other than the popular plays. Hatton is first in proximity gained: 200-plus yards, fourth in approach, eighth in birdies or better gained, and ninth off the tee. If you want to fade the top tier altogether that could make sense, but if you're spending big, stick with these three.

Mid-Salaried Options

Patton Kizzire ($9,100 | +3300) - What was that about sticker shock? Here we are. Kizzire actually cuts a striking profile this week, ranking 6th in birdies or better gained, 11th in strokes gained: approach, 11th in proximity gained: 200-plus yards, and 19th on par 5s. Before missing the cut at the Memorial, he posted consecutive third-place finishes at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the AT&T Byron Nelson. Rain affected both of those Texas events, and the forecast calls for another washout this week, so the soft conditions may bode well for Kizzire. He hit pay dirt twice in the 2017-18 season for his only career wins, but he had flashed form leading up to those wins. If we're paying this much for Kizzire, we have to think he can win outright, and he can this week.

Brandt Snedeker ($8,400 | +5000) - Sneds leads the field in strokes gained on par 5s, though his only notable statistical ranking this week is 20th in birdies or better gained. He was a mess pretty much from before the pandemic layoff through the first three months of 2021, but since April, he has put together a solid stretch of golf. He's made five straight cuts with finishes of 6th at the Valero Texas Open, 11th at the Valspar Championship, and 17th at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Jhonattan Vegas ($8,300 | +5000) - Vegas does his best work in weak fields, as evidenced by a runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open, 18th at the Corales Puntacana Club and Resort Championship, and a 9th at the AT&T Byron Nelson. We'll look a lot to the latter, given the forecast and the field similarities. He ranks first in strokes gained: off the tee, 16th in birdies or better gained, and 16th in strokes gained: par 5s. In particular, he's been dominant off the tee last few events -- he's gained 2.4, 3.1, 7.5, and 2.3 strokes off the tee -- but has putted so poorly that that his Byron Nelson finish is his only mark inside the top 40. If the putts fall this week, he'll be in contention.

Low-Salaried Options

Luke List ($7,900 | +7000) - A drop in class should also help List, who boasts a stat profile we can't resist at this price. The most recent form is poor to be sure, but missed cuts at Muirfield Village GC and Colonial CC cannot disqualify him against this field, and truly for List, the putting marks cannot get any worse. In the last two months, he has gained off the tee every week and same for approach until the Memorial. Meanwhile, his putting figures are ghastly -- lost 3.1, lost 4.3, lost 3.5, gained 2.7, lost 3.9, lost 5.4. That gainer led to a sixth-place finish at Quail Hollow, another course where his driver could be a weapon. He ranks 3rd in strokes gained: off the tee, 7th on par 5s, 18th in birdies or better gained, 27th in strokes gained: approach, and 30th in proximity gained: 200-plus yards.

Matthew NeSmith ($7,800 | +7000) - Nesmith makes for an interesting case this week. He's first in the field in strokes gained: approach but without at op 20 since the Genesis Invitational in February. Like List, he's missed consecutive cuts at the Memorial and Charles Schwab Challenge, but his ball-striking amidst this crew still stands out. He's 11th on par 5s and 36th in proximity gained: 200-plus yards, but just 46th in both birdies or better gained and strokes gained: off the tee. While the profile isn't perfect, few in this range are and leading the field in one of our key stats puts Nesmith in our pool.

Ben Martin ($7,600 | +9000) - Something has clicked recently for Martin, with recent finishes of T26, T11, MC, T34, and T9, vaulting him from just inside the top 500 in the world to his current rank of 283rd. Not exactly elite in any case, but he's gained in both strokes gained: off the tee and strokes gained: approach in the four measured events over that stretch. The stats are nothing flashy -- 24th in proximity, 39th off the tee, 39th on par 5s, 42nd in approach, and 72nd in birdies or better gained -- but he's just starting to put things together and stands a good chance in this field.

Bo Hoag ($7,500 | +9000) - Hoag was 13th at the Memorial, his first top 20 since the Farmers Insurance Open. The interim included an ugly six-event streak of missed cuts, and we'll hop on Hoag on the upswing after one of the best approach weeks of his career. This is a crowded range in which we can differentiate our lineups, and Hoag has upside as a likely low-rostered play.

Roger Sloan ($7,000 | +15000) - Sloan has a solid statistical profile that hasn't yet translated into real world success. He ranks 22nd in approach, 23rd in birdies or better gained, and 26th off the tee. Perhaps most notable -- he ranks 10th in the field in DraftKings scoring, a testament to his birdie-making ability. He finished T34 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and putted well in rainy conditions. He's also done well in weaker fields this year, with a pair of 22nd-place finishes at the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana Club and Resort Championship.

Bargain Basement

Hank Lebioda ($6,900 | +12500) - Lebioda ranks ninth in strokes gained: approach and has struck it really well the last two times out, gaining 4.1 strokes at the AT&T Byron Nelson and 6.2 strokes at the Wells Fargo Championship. He wasted the latter by losing 5.2 strokes putting, but a T17 in the rain in Texas bodes well.

John Pak ($6,900 | +12500) - At last week's Memorial, Pak was awarded the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top collegiate golfer in Division I. He made his amateur debut in the fall with a T51 at the U.S. Open, gaining 1.1 strokes off the tee and 1.2 strokes on approach at the major championship. Currently the fourth-ranked amateur in the world, Pak has a bright future and has already earned a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour when he turns pro.

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.