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Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the FedEx St. Jude Classic? Chris is selling his DraftKings and Victiv lineups plus a cheatsheet for $5. Just click the link below. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
TPC River Highlands - Cromwell, CT
Par 70 - 6841 Yards
The US Open almost carried over until Monday where we could have seen an 18 hole playoff between Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. I might of had to take the entire day off for that one. For a brief moment Dustin Johnson had a 13 foot Eagle putt for the win after an incredible approach shot on the Par 5, 18th hole. He missed the putt leaving himself a 6 footer to send the tournament into a playoff. He missed that putt as well. The first time DJ has 3 putted inside 15 feet all year. What a time to make such a mistake. On the positive side of things, Jordan Speith took home his second consecutive Major Title and became only the 6th player in history to win both the Masters and US Open in the same year. This kid just never gives up and pushes himself on every shot. It was really fun to watch the closing 9 holes even though the course and USGA took heavy criticism during the week. I can understand the players complaints on the greens. They were awful. Most of the time it looked like plinko to try and find the hole. I have never seen so many guys 3 putt on tour before. As for the course overall I thought it was fun to watch players navigate through 4 days of such a challenging course. Every shot required great thought and planning to avoid danger and setup the next shot. It required amazing mental focus to stay upbeat when things start to take a turn for the worst. All in all another successful Major Championship which saw the best players in the world rise to the top.
The Millionaire Maker saw another single entry take down the top prize. That is now 2 for 2 and should definitely help get some more new people playing DFS PGA when they know it doesn't require hundreds of lineups to compete in these tournaments. It was definitely a weird week when it came to scoring though. I had multiple lineups with 6 golfers through the cut that min cashed or didn't cash at all. Out of my 12 picks this past week I had 7 make it through the cut with 2 Top 10's and 4 Top 20's.
This week I have added Victiv and Fantasy Aces salaries to my cheatsheet and will be changing up the structure of my picks article. I will be giving you my top 5 golfers for the week regardless of price or site followed by 2 value plays from each site. Additionally, if you purchase the cheatsheet it will list all players and their salaries for each site, value plays for each site, recommended GPP & Cash Game plays and Sample CASH GAME lineups for each site.
This week the players head to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship. The defending champion is Kevin Streelman who shot a 15 under and closed with 7 straight birdies to edge out Sergio Garcia & KJ Choi last year. It was an amazing finish. The course itself is situated on a bluff which overlooks the Connecticut River. Unlike last week, where there was only a single tree at Chambers Bay, TPC River Highlands is built around them. The course is a Par 70 this week with only 2 Par 5's and 4 Par 3's. This leaves the players with 12 Par 4's so we will be looking closely at Par 4 Scoring Average this week. We will also be looking at Birdie or Better % as the average usually is around -14 for the week. The distance guys will have an advantage on the Par 4 and Par 5 holes as they will be shooting their second shot from a closer distance. We will also be targeting guys who hit a lot of greens and give themselves plenty of Birdie chances. Overall, we are targeting Ball Strikers who can score on the Par 4's and go low for the tournament. Here is a list of all the stats used in this weeks cheatsheet:
The following 5 golfers are my favorite plays at the top of the salaries. These players can be used as the core at the top of your lineup. To fit more than 1 of these guys in the same lineup be sure to check out my top 2 values plays for each site below.
1. Bubba Watson
Draftkings - $11,300
Victiv - $11,000
Fantasy Aces - $7,350
Vegas Odds - 13/1
Bubba was one of the many who was not fond of the US Open last week. He got quite aggravated on Thursday after waiting on the fairway for nearly a half hour. He ended up missing the cut Friday afternoon. Luckily for him, the US Open is over and it's on to TPC River Highlands where he has had a lot of success. In his last 5 starts here he has 1st, 2nd, 4th, 31, and 38th. I would say he is comfortable here. He is elite in Driving Distance, Strokes Gained Tee to Green and Birdie or Better % making him the clear #1 this week.
2. Sergio Garcia
Draftkings - $10,400
Victiv - $10,300
Fantasy Aces - $6,800
Vegas Odds - 19/1
Garcia was another one of the many who voiced his displeasure of the greens at Chambers Bay. He didn't let it completely get in his head though shooting with a 68 on Sunday to finish the US Open T18. Sergio has only played TPC River Highlands once in the past 5 years, but it was a runner up last year. He has played here 3 times in his career and never missed a cut. He is Top 50 in all 6 stats I am looking for this week and averages 28.2 overall. Look for him to contend again this time around.
3. Louis Oosthuizen
Draftkings - $9,900
Victiv - $9,300
Fantasy Aces - $6,500
Vegas Odds - 23/1
I have Oosthuizen ahead of Reed and Snedeker because of the way he finished off the US Open on Sunday. He started off his round bogeying 3 of his first 4 holes on route to a 38 front nine. Things picked up on the back. He birdied 6 of the final 7 holes for a back nine score of 29 and overall round of -3. He missed the cut here last year but I feel his form coming into this one is more important. He is elite Tee to Green and in Par 4 Scoring Average.
4. Patrick Reed
Draftkings - $11,300
Victiv - $9,700
Fantasy Aces - $7,150
Vegas Odds - 15/1
Reed was looking great going into the weekend at the US Open but faltered on the weekend shooting 76/71 to finish T14 for the tournament. He seemed more angered by his own play than the course itself which can definitely be a motivator moving forward. He missed the cut here last year but finished 18th in 2013 and 47th in 2012. He has made 6 straight cuts counting the Match Play Championship and is due for another Top 5 finish. He is elite in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, Par 4 Scoring Average, and Birdie or Better %. Look for Reed to be there on Sunday.
5. Brandt Snedeker
Draftkings - $10,900
Victiv - $9,100
Fantasy Aces - $6,950
Vegas Odds - 17/1
Snedeker ranks 5th this week but not by much. He finished 8th at the US Open at Chambers Bay and had a 6th and a 2nd the two tournaments before that. He has played TPC River Highlands 3 times in the last 5 years with an 11th place finish in his most recent trip last year. His Ball Striking, Driving Distance, and GIR rank pretty low so far this year but he is finally coming into form more recently so don't look too much into those stats. He does, however, rank in the elite category for Par 4 Scoring Average and Birdie or Better %.
Draftkings Value Plays
1. Russell Knox - $8,400 (Vegas Odds - 34/1)
When looking for a cash game play you are looking for someone who fits the course, has some good form, stats to back it up, and doesn't break the bank. Check off every category for Knox. He is ranked elite in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, Ball Striking, GIR, and Par 4 Scoring Average. He hasn't missed a cut on Tour since March with 3 Top 20's and a Top 10 in his last 5 tournaments. He comes in at a reasonable price of $8400 on Drafktkings and will be my center piece in Cash Games.
2. Justin Thomas - $7,900 (Vegas Odds - 41/1)
His price is due after his most recent missed cut at the Memorial where he shot a 69 on Thursday but faltered on Friday with a 76 to miss the weekend. Before that he had 6 straight cuts made with 3 Top 25's and a Top 10 finish. He played here for the first time last year and finished 30th. He is another great play for your Cash Games and has the upside to also play him in GPP's.
Victiv Value Plays
1. Tony Finau - $6,800 (Vegas Odds - 34/1)
Finau is my Victiv play of the week. He is 34/1 in Vegas to win this week and is coming off a T14 in his first Major Championship appearance. Pretty impressive for the rookie who was a star in Big Break Disney Golf. He hits the ball a mile and is Top 50 in all 6 stats on my cheatsheet with an average rank of 32.2 combined. He confidence has to be sky high right now so take advantage before his salary spikes.
2. Graham Delaet - $6,700 (Vegas Odds - 67/1)
My Victiv Value plays are more 1 and 1A this week. I really like Delaet at this price. The other guys that Vegas has at 67/1 are $7,200 and $8,100 giving Delaet the edge. He is coming off of 4 straight cuts made and has made 4 of 5 cuts here at TPC River Highlands with a 3rd in 2013. He is elite in Ball Striking due to his Driving Distance and ability to hit Greens frequently. Get him in your lineups this week and hope he drops some putts. I am awaiting my fellow Canadians first PGA Tour win and want him in my lineups when he does break through.
Fantasy Aces Value Plays
1. Paul Casey - $5,650 (Vegas Odds - 41/1)
The pricing on Aces is a little tighter from top to bottom so finding the values is a bit challenging. When you look at Casey he is $200-$300 cheaper than other guys in his range of Vegas Odds so he is #1 Fantasy Aces Value Play. He has never played this course in tournament competition but is coming in with pretty good form. He has only missed 1 cut in his last 5 tournaments and has 2 Top 10's in that time. He is Top 50 ranked in 5 of the 6 stats I am targeting this week. Look for Casey to make the cut and possibly card a Top 20 finish.
2. Spencer Levin - $3,400 (Vegas Odds - 126/1)
This is strictly a GPP play on Fantasy Aces this week. In his last 5 tournaments he has 3 missed cuts followed by back to back T22 finishes coming in to this one. He has only made 1 of his last 3 cuts here but when looking at his stats he fits what we are looking for. He is a Ball Striker who hits a ton of greens and score son the Par 4's. A nice play for the salary to help you fill out a Stars and Scrubs GPP lineup.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the FedEx St. Jude Classic? Chris is selling his DraftKings and Victiv lineups plus a cheatsheet for $5. Just click the link below. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north. Playing other DFS? Be sure to try out a free 3-day trial to the projection system that helps produce picks for the NBA, MLB and NFL!
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