I could not be happier to see a guy like Marc Leishman get the victory at the Arnold Palmer over the weekend. If you have not heard the story of his wife battling back from near death, please go check it out. Now, I wish we had another great event to talk about this weekend but frankly, we don’t.
How much do you like watching second tier golfers? Well, that’s what you get with the Puerto Rico Open! 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 Fanduel 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. When Wesley Bryan is the highest priced player on the board, you know this is a weak field. I mean he is a good young player but not worth top dollar yet. During a typical PGA tour event with a full field, he would be an 8K player and this week he's 10K. While it must 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. Things 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.
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 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.
Good Luck!
DFS PGA PLAYBOOK:
PLAYER | DRAFT KINGS | FANDUEL | BREAKDOWN |
Graham DeLaet | $10,600 | $9,400 | He had punished this course for 4 Top 25s in 4 Trips to Puerto Rico. 24th on TOUR in Ball-Striking. Scoring Average of 69.44 |
Graeme McDowell | $10,300 | $9,700 | Probably the best overall player in the field. 7/7 Cuts Made this season with 3 Top 15s. He fits this course well. |
Luke List | $9,900 | $8,600 | After missing 3 straight cuts, he's made 3 straight cuts coming in. He had 6 Top 25s during the 2016-17 season. T15 last year |
Scott Brown | $9,800 | $8,100 | 5/5 Cuts Made Here with a WIN in 2013, 2 T5s and a T10. He tied for 2nd at Riviera just a month ago. 2nd in All Time Earnings Here. |
Ian Poulter | $9,600 | $8,600 | The last Top 10 Poulter had ANYWHERE was here in 2016 with a T3. He should be out for blood after missing the Match Play again |
Matt Jones | $9,300 | $5,700 | T5 in 2012 and T14 in 2013 at Coco Beach. He's cashed in 3 of his 5 Starts with 2 Top 25s this season. 13/16 rounds under par this season |
Alex Cejka | $8,700 | $6,200 | Won here in 2015 & T8 in his Title Defense in 2016. T14 at Copperhead. 16 of his 33 Cuts Made have been Top 25 finishes |
Danny Lee | $8,700 | $9,000 | Finished 2nd in 2014 here but hasn't been back since. Started slow but T22 at Copperhead & T17 at Bay Hill. |
David Hearn | $8,400 | $6,300 | 3 Trips to Coco Beach, finishes of T14, T8 & T24 between 2011-14. 3/3 Cuts Made on the Florida Swing (T18 at Copperhead). |
Seung-Yul Noh | $8,100 | $7,600 | Very BOOM or BUST season for Noh. 2/3 Cuts Made in Puerto Rico with a T25 in 2012. CONTRARIAN PLAY |
Harold Varner | $7,300 | $5,900 | T34 at Bay Hill may be just what he needed to get back on track. 41st in Ball Striking and LOVES to Air it Out. GPP Play |
Nick Taylor | $7,200 | $6,200 | T10 at Pebble Beach & another 2 Top 25s in the Fall. T5 in his debut last year at Coco Beach. 15th on TOUR in Par-5 Scoring |
Andres Romero | $6,900 | $5,500 | 2 Top 10s (Last Year T5) in 5 Trips to Coco Beach. It is only his 2nd start of 2017 but finished 2016 with 3 Top 30s. |
John Merrick | $6,600 | $4,500 | Missed the cut for the first time here last year (5/6). He has finishes fo 6th, 11th, & 13th. Short driver but a good putter |
George McNeill | $6,400 | $6,700 | In 5 Starts at Coco Beach, he has a WIN and a 5th Place Finish. Dusted the rust off last week at the Valspar |
Jonathan Byrd | $6,200 | $5,500 | 4/4 Cuts Made Here with Top 20s in 2009, 2014 & 2015. Final pairing on Sunday in 2016 but shot at 79. |
Steve Wheatcroft | $6,100 | $4,700 | Finished 3rd here in 2010 and made the cut last year. Short hitter but makes up for it on the greens. GPP Flier |
Michael Bradley | $5,900 | $5,400 | He had won this event TWICE! He has made the cut in 7 of his 8 appearances with a T26 last season. Worth a GPP Flier |
DRAFT KINGS OPTIMALS:
DRAFT KINGS CASH | PRICE |
Graham DeLaet | $10,600 |
Scott Brown | $9,800 |
Alex Cejka | $8,900 |
David Hearn | $8,400 |
Jonathan Byrd | $6,200 |
Michael Bradley | $5,900 |
DRAFT KINGS GPP | PRICE |
Graham DeLaet | $10,600 |
Graeme McDowell | $10,300 |
Luke List | $9,900 |
Nick Taylor | $7,200 |
Steve Wheatcroft | $6,100 |
Michael Bradley | $5,900 |
FANDUEL OPTIMALS:
FANDUEL CASH | ROUNDS | PRICE |
Nick Taylor | 1 & 2 | $6,200 |
David Hearn | 1 & 2 | $6,300 |
Ian Poulter | 1 & 2 | $8,600 |
Graeme McDowell | 1 & 2 | $9,700 |
Jonathan Byrd | 3 & 4 | $5,500 |
Alex Cejka | 3 & 4 | $6,200 |
Scott Brown | 3 & 4 | $8,100 |
Graham DeLaet | 3 & 4 | $9,400 |
FANDUEL GPP | ROUNDS | PRICE |
Jonathan Byrd | 1 & 2 | $5,500 |
Matt Jones | 1 & 2 | $5,700 |
Harold Varner | 1 & 2 | $5,900 |
Luke List | 1 & 2 | $8,600 |
David Hearn | 3 & 4 | $6,300 |
Scott Brown | 3 & 4 | $8,100 |
Graham DeLaet | 3 & 4 | $9,400 |
Graeme McDowell | 3 & 4 | $9,700 |
ONE & DONE PLAY:
ONE AND DONE PLAY | FINISH |
SBS - Jimmy Walker | T9 |
Sony - Charles Howell III | T8 |
Career - Bill Haas | T17 |
Farmers - Brandt Snedeker | T9 |
Waste - Brendan Steele | T16 |
Pebble - Phil Mickelson | 65th |
Genesis - J.B Holmes | T34 |
Honda - Graeme McDowell | T14 |
Mexico - Alexander Noren | T55 |
Valspar - Ryan Moore | T18 |
Arnold Palmer - Zach Johnson | T66 |
Match - Sergio Garcia | ? |
Puerto - David Hearn | ? |