Well, this sucks! The best golfers in the world are competing at the World Golf Championships: Dell Match Play and there are no games on either Draft Kings or Fantasy Aces for us to play. Instead, we are forced to research the Puerto Rico Open where the "rest" of the PGA Tour golfers play this weekend. While it has to be nice to take a trip down to Puerto Rico, they'd all rather be playing in WGC "March Madness" Bracket style tournament in Austin, Texas. The whole thing seems wrong and we need to do something about this before next year. We will go back to normal next week at the Shell Houston Open before we head to Augusta in just two short weeks. I cannot wait.
Graham DeLaet is our highest priced player, yes you heard me correctly, Graham DeLaet. The man has never won a tournament in his life and he's the best we've got this weekend. During a typical PGA tour event with a full field, he would be a 7K player and this week he's 11K. There is something seriously wrong with that and another we all should write Draft Kings and Fantasy Aces to complain. The only thing keeping me calm this week is our spiritual guide, Paige, who is doing her best to keep us all sane as we try to tackle this lame ass field.
Lets take a look at the Coco Beach Golf & Country Club which measures out to 7,506 yards and is a par 72. The winning scores have ranged from 21 under par to 7 under par and a lot of that has to do with the winds. You should definitely take a look at the weather before picking your players this weekend. This is another course where fairways hit percentage is usually more important than driving distance.
The players who have had success in this event historically are not exactly household names. Jerry Kelly, Boo Weekley, Scott Brown, Michael Bradley, George McNeil, John Merrick, Graham Delaet, Chesson Hadley, and Jonathan Byrd are not players that even the average golf fan knows. If you take a closer look at this group of golfers, you'll notice something that stands out about them. They are all not very long off the tee but they are accurate. Most of these players are also good on the greens and can put themselves on the leaderboard with the putter. You'll notice a lot of the guys in my playbook are not big bombers but short accurate players who have excellent putting skills.
This is truly a terrible week to play PGA DFS with a tournament field like this one. We can look through all the stats and numbers we want but literally anyone could step up, have a great four days and win this event. There is no dominant player that we can predict with certainty will have success this weekend in Puerto Rico.
DFS PLAYBOOK:
PLAYER | ACES | DRAFTKINGS | BREAKDOWN |
Scott Brown | $5,700 | $10,900 | Finished 1st, 5th, & 10th in 4 Starts Here. He's also playing pretty well coming in. |
William McGirt | $5,550 | $10,500 | 6 Top 25s & 3 Top 10s in his last 10 Starts. He finished T14 in 2014 at this Event. |
Freddie Jacobson | $5,150 | $10,400 | 3 Top 5s this Season. T14 in 2011 but hasn't been back since. He is all about the putter |
George McNeill | $5,000 | $10,100 | In 4 Starts Here, he has a WIN and 5th Place Finish. Turned his game around from a terrible start to the season |
Retief Goosen | $4,900 | $9,700 | In a week of uncurtainly, he might be the safest play. He has a putter that can keep him on the leaderboard |
Alex Cejka | $4,500 | $9,500 | The Defending Champ. He's made 7/11 Cuts This Season. He will have to putt to have any chance at repeating. |
Jerry Kelly | $4,650 | $9,300 | He's made 5/7 Cuts Here with 3 Top 10s and a pair of Top 25s. He loves this course, play the comfort level |
Jonathan Byrd | $4,700 | $9,000 | 3 Starts Here: T13, T12, & T16. 2 Top 5s on Web.com in 2016. 9th in Earnings. |
Seung-yul Noh | $4,850 | $8,900 | 2/2 Cuts Made Here with a T25 in 2012. Cashed in 4 Straight Starts. 6/7 Cuts Made this season with 2 Top 20s. |
Luke List | $4,700 | $8,600 | BOOM OR BUST PLAY! 2 Top 10s this year but only 4/11 Cuts Made. Play him at your own risk, not a great putter |
Jon Curran | $4,650 | $8,400 | Finished 2nd Last Year but is not playing his best golf right now. The Florida Swing was not kind to him. |
Kyle Stanley | $4,800 | $8,000 | 8/11 Cuts Made this year. Finished 28th here in his only attempt. He will need to get his putter right. |
Derek Fathauer | $4,550 | $7,800 | Contrarian Play. He does not have a great record here but a strong putter. I'll throw him in GPPs Only |
Aaron Baddeley | $4,550 | $7,600 | One of the more talented players in the field. Not accurate but a terrific putter and can surge at ANYTIME! GPP Only |
Jhonattan Vegas | $4,500 | $7,400 | T24 in 2010. 11th in GIR & 18th in Ball-Striking. 2 Top 10s & 2 other Top 25s this season. His game fits this course. |
John Merrick | $4,450 | $7,000 | 5/5 Cuts Made Here. Best Finishes 6th, 11th, & 13th. Short Driver but does everything else well like putting! |
Ricky Barnes | $4,250 | $6,700 | Finished T9 here in 2014. Great putter and it has been on fire this season. He could sneak into the mix on Sunday |
Mark Hubbard | $4,600 | $6,200 | Terrific value for a guy who's made 12/14 cuts this season but limps in on the weekend. More of a CASH play. |
Steve Wheatcroft | $4,500 | $6,000 | Finished 3rd here in 2010. Another short hitter but very good putter that could make noise here |
Michael Bradley | $4,400 | $5,400 | He has won this event TWO times and made the cut 6/7 times. Definitely worth a flier |
DRAFT KINGS OPTIMALS:
DRAFT KINGS CASH | PRICE |
Scott Brown | $10,900 |
Jerry Kelly | $9,300 |
Jonathan Byrd | $9,000 |
Jon Curran | $8,400 |
John Merrick | $7,000 |
Michael Bradley | $5,400 |
DRAFT KINGS GPP | PRICE |
Freddie Jacobson | $10,400 |
George McNeill | $10,100 |
Luke List | $8,600 |
Derek Fathauer | $7,800 |
Aaron Baddeley | $7,600 |
Michael Bradley | $5,400 |
FANTASY ACES OPTIMALS:
ACES CASH | PRICE |
Scott Brown | $5,700 |
William McGirt | $5,550 |
Jonathan Byrd | $4,700 |
Jerry Kelly | $4,650 |
John Merrick | $4,450 |
Michael Bradley | $4,400 |
ACES GPP | PRICE |
Scott Brown | $6,200 |
William McGirt | $5,900 |
Freddie Jacobson | $5,450 |
Seung-yul Noh | $4,850 |
Michael Bradley | $4,400 |
Ricky Barnes | $4,250 |
ONE & DONE OPTIMALS:
ONE AND DONE PLAY | FINISH |
Hyaundai: Patrick Reed | 2nd - $688,000 |
Sony: Harris English | T56 - $12,818 |
CareerBuilder: Bill Haas | T9 - $162,400 |
Farmers: Nick Watney | Missed Cut |
Phoenix: Ryan Moore | T11 - $149,500 |
Pebble: J.B. Holmes | T11 - $143,500 |
Northern Trust: K.J. Choi | T5 - $258,400 |
Honda: Luke Donald | T61 - $13,115 |
WGC-Cadillac: Dustin Johnson | T14 - $120,000 |
Valspar: Kevin Na | T22 - $52,959.09 |
Arnold Palmer: Francisco Molinari | T9 - $170,100 |
Puerto Rico: Scott Brown | ??? |