DFS PGA PLAYBOOK - BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL
Published: Jun 29, 2016
If you read my playbook and had the smarts to listen and play Billy Hurley III last week, congratulations! I am obviously a big dummy because I did not heed my own advice and had him nowhere on DraftKings. Let’s hope lightning can strike again and I’ll do right by myself this time.
We’ve got a special World Golf Championship (WGC) event going on this week at the Firestone Golf and Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It’s the Bridgestone Invitational which means it is a small field event with no cut. That also means that there will be a ton of duplicate teams and trying to differentiate yourself will be extremely hard. You will have to take risks and hope they pay off.
The course is a Par 70 and measures out to 7400 yards. We’ve got another track that rewards the players that can keep the ball on the fairways and get it in nice and tight with the pins. This is a course which you would think that longer hitters would have the advantage but that’s just not true. When you look over the players who have had success, it is mix bag of long and short/straight hitters. Total driving is vital because if a bomber can keep the ball on the fairway, he’ll have an advantage over the field.
These greens are not big which means we should be taking a look at players who can hit greens on a regular basis (GIR). Along those same lines, we want these guys to not only get the ball on the green but get it in nice and tight with the pin. When players can’t land the green, having the ability to scramble is a huge advantage.
The first thing you’ll notice in this week’s playbook is that Jason Day and Dustin Johnson are not listed. This is not because I think they are bad players or terrible plays this weekend. They are two of the best players in the world and I will not fault you for playing them this weekend. I chose to leave them out of the playbook because I feel that playing a Jordan Spieth or an Adam Scott would be more beneficial to a Tournament lineup as those two guys will be very highly owned.
Also, being that this is a small field WGC event, I am only releasing GPP Optimal Lineups this weekend. I always recommend that in tournaments like these, you should avoid cash games and keep it to GPPs.
Finally, it would not be a DFS PGA Fantasy Alarm playbook without a visit from our spiritual guide Paige! She’s pretty pumped after Billy Hurley’s inspiring hometown victory last week at Congressional. Paige is ready to keep theses good vibes going into the Bridgestone.
REMINDER, the PGA Tour and Greenbrier Resort officials announced a few days ago that the Greenbrier Classic, scheduled for July 7-10, has been cancelled due to the devastating flooding caused by record rainfalls throughout West Virginia. So, there will be DFS PGA Playbook next week. I’m gonna enjoy a week off and give myself an extra week to prepare for The Open Championship.
If you would like to chat about this week's tournament ... PLEASE jump into the Brand New Fantasy Alarm Forums (Fantasyalarm.com/forums) and join the conversation!
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK!
DFS PGA PLAYBOOK:
PLAYER | ACES | DRAFTKINGS | BREAKDOWN |
Jordan Spieth | $5,750 | $11,300 | Should be lower owned than any of the Top Tier. No worse than T17 in last 6 WGC Starts. T10 Last Year at Firestone |
Adam Scott | $5,550 | $10,500 | 2011 Champ at Firestone & has 4 Top 15s since 2010. 1st on TOUR in SGTG. Lower Owned without a Top 10 in 4 Months |
Brooks Koepka | $5,600 | $9,900 | T6 Debut Last Year at Firestone (Led field in Total Distance & Putts). Playoff Loss, T2 & T13 in his last 3 Starts on Tour. |
Matt Kuchar | $5,650 | $9,800 | Top 10s in 5 of last 6 events (U.S. Open finished T46). 2 Top 10s in 6 Trips to Firestone but nothing worse than T27. |
Branden Grace | $5,350 | $9,700 | T17 Last Year at Firestone. Winner at Harbour Town, T9 at Valero & T5 at the U.S. Open. Should show nicely here. |
Jim Furyk | $5,350 | $9,500 | 2nd in All Time Earning at Firestone without a win (9 Top 10s). T2 at the U.S. Open & T21 at Congo Last Week. |
Rickie Fowler | $5,600 | $9,000 | T8 & T10 since 2014 at Firestone. Not playing well but TOO GOOD of a Price on DK to Pass playing in a GPP this week. |
Shane Lowry | $5,200 | $8,700 | 2nd Place at the U.S. Open in his last outing. Defending Champ of WGC-Firestone. He will be out for blood this week. |
Jason Dufner | $4,900 | $8,500 | T8 at the U.S. Open. T6 at the Colonial. 2 Top 10s in 3 Trips to Firestone. 7th in GIR & 13th in Adjusted Scoring. |
Zach Johnson | $4,850 | $8,300 | 5 Top 15s in 13 Trips to Firestone. Playing better late with T17 at Colonial & T8 at the U.S. Open. Putter has been fire! |
Justin Thomas | $4,600 | $8,000 | Starting to light it up! T3 at the Players and a T12 at Congo last week. He has the game to tame Firestone (1st Trip). |
Bill Haas | $4,650 | $7,900 | Rounding back into form after a T3 at Congo last week (4 Sub-60 rounds). 3 Top 25s in last 4 trips to Firestone. |
David Lingmerth | $4,600 | $7,600 | Ride the kid while he's hot! T22 at BMW, T27 at Memorial & 12th at the U.S. Open. T6 Last Year at Firestone. |
Danny Lee | $4,550 | $7,400 | T6 Last Year at Firestone. 2 Top 10s & Another 4 Top 25s this season. He'll be a really nice piece added to any lineup |
Kevin Na | $4,600 | $7,300 | Missed just 1 Cut since WGC Event in March. 7th at the U.S. Open. T15 Last Year at Firestone. 23rd in Adjusted Scoring. |
Chris Kirk | $4,450 | $7,000 | Since March 7/7 Cuts Made; All Top 25 finishes (6 Top 15s) including a T12 Last Week. T3 in Proximity & 17th in SG:P. |
Smylie Kaufman | $4,300 | $6,900 | Playing Better (T10 Last Week at Congo) with 4 Top 10s & 5 more Top 25s this season. He will be POPULAR this week. |
Soren Kjeldsen | $4,200 | $6,700 | 4 Top 20s in last 7 Starts (2 Top 10s). Finished T12 here last year (66 Final Round). Not a bad cheap option. |
Fabian Gomez | $3,850 | $6,100 | Balanced player, 2 wins on Tour since last year's event. T9 at Quail Hollow in May. Good off the Tee & on the Green |
Steven Bowditch | $3,450 | $5,700 | Ultimate Contrarian GPP Play. 4 Rounds over 80 as last WGC Event but playing better lately & putter can win it for him. |
DRAFT KINGS OPTIMAL:
DRAFT KINGS GPP | PRICE |
Jordan Spieth | $11,300 |
Adam Scott | $10,500 |
Rickie Fowler | $9,000 |
Danny Lee | $7,400 |
Fabian Gomez | $6,100 |
Steven Bowditch | $5,700 |
FANTASY ACES OPTIMAL:
ACES GPP | PRICE |
Jordan Spieth | $6,050 |
Adam Scott | $5,850 |
Jim Furyk | $5,400 |
Justin Thomas | $4,600 |
Danny Lee | $4,550 |
Steven Bowditch | $3,450 |
ONE-AND-DONE OPTIMAL:
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 | T5 - $109,500 |
Shell Open: Charley Hoffman | T33 - $36,720.00 |
The Masters: Phil Mickelson | Missed Cut |
RBC Heritage: Matt Kuchar | T9 - $147,500 |
Valero: Billy Horschel | T4 - $233,740 |
Zurich: Justin Rose | Missed Cut |
Wells Fargo: Gary Woodland | T24 - $62,232.50 |
Players: Sergio Garcia | T54 - $24,150 |
Byron Nelson: Ryan Palmer | Missed Cut |
Colonial: Chris Kirk | T15 - $117,250 |
Memorial: Hideki Matsuyama | Missed Cut |
St. Jude: Retief Goosen | T12 - $125,550 |
U.S. Open: Adam Scott | T18 - $120,978 |
Quicken Loans: Jim Furyk | T21 - $64,773.75 |
Bridgestone: Zach Johnson | ??? |