PGA Preview, The Memorial Tournament – DraftKings

by EPattersonFS | May 30, 2017 | Daily Preview, DraftKings, Fanduel, PGA | 0 comments

What’s goin’ on fantasy golf fans?! Did anyone get a piece of Kevin Kisner last week at the Dean and Deluca? I know I didn’t and I am kicking myself for getting off of him a week too soon. Good thing the season never ends!

On to the Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village. Muirfield has been the host of this event since 1976, a course Tiger Woods use to dominate in his prime….poor Tiger. Muirfield is a 7,400 yard Par 72, with four reachable Par 5s that will present plenty of eagle opportunities for those who have the length to get there. As usual, the main stat for me this week will be birdie or better percentage, combining it with Par 5 scoring average, bogey avoidance, strokes gained ball striking (SG: OTT + SG: APP) and scrambling.

Alright, let’s get to the picks!

Staples

My favorite golfers for the week – for Cash and GPP contests.

Jon Rahm – $11,100

Nothing I will say will change your mind on Rahm, because it is already set and you are rostering him. Now the question becomes how much Rahm will you have? For me, I want all of it. I think Rahm is primed for a huge run and is sick of playing this runner up game to DJ. There is no course, no weather condition, no AM/PM wave bias that will sway me off of Rahm. He is in contention every week and I will continue to roster as much Rahm as I can because I know he will be winning multiple events this season.

Hideki Matsuyama – $10,000

The last time we saw Hideki, he finished T22 at The PLAYERS and it seems as though the buzz around Hideki has gone away. Obviously he isn’t the hottest golfer on the planet anymore like he was late in 2016, but he certainly shouldn’t be priced $1,000 less that Spieth. Matsuyama won this event in 2014 and game T5 in 2015 and we are all well aware of his capabilities tee to green. If he can putt just above field average this week, I do not see how he won’t be in contention on Sunday.

Emiliano Grillo – $8,500

Emiliano Grillo has been lingering around leaderboards the last few weeks, but he seems to have one round where he falls apart and ends up out of contention. That being said, his game suits this course perfectly. He is solid in all facets that will make for a successful week at Muirfield. He is effective off the tee, has a strong approach and long iron game and will have the ability to scramble and record a few sand saves if he gets into trouble. He came T11 here last year in his first trip to Muirfield – a result I think he can improve upon with four steady rounds of golf.

Tony Finau – $7,900

Tony Finau is my favorite play on the board for both price and upside. FanShareSports.com is saying that I have a very popular opinion this week since Finau has the most tags out of any golfer this week, with 35. Finau has the course history, back to back top 11s, and the recent form you want to see. He is under priced and that needs to be taken advantage off in all formats. If you are not rostering Finau in cash, you are already a step behind your opponent.

Byeong Hun An – $6,900

Byeong Hun An is basically Hideki Matsuyama, except $3,100 cheaper. Their strokes gained stats are eerily similar across the board, both owning elite tee to green games and lacking the ability to putt. An has shown tremendous recent form with two top eight finishes prior to his solid T24 last week at the BMW Championship on the Euro Tour. An is a huge value and will be very popular this week for good reason. I am not afraid to roster around 25% of him this week to stay even with the rest of the field.

Perfect Pivots

Identifying the chalk, and going elsewhere.

Jordan Spieth – $11,000

Even after Spieth’s second place finish last week at the Dean and Deluca, he only has 14 tags on FanShareSports.com, compared to Rahm who has 34. Rahm will soak up so much of Spieth’s ownership, along with the other top names in the field, it is possible we could see a sub 10% number on Spieth. Jordan has had success at this event before and clearly found something last week. This looks like a time to build some Spieth lineups in tournaments to capitalize on a potentially huge leverage play.

Jason Day – $10,300

Similar to Spieth, Jason Day has shown a recent glimpse of great form with runner up finish at the Byron Nelson, yet the talk of DJ and Rahm is drawing people away from Day. He doesn’t have the best results at Muirfield, but it seems as though Day has found his old form. He is very reasonably priced and has only garnered 12 tags on FanShareSports. If you have the stones to fade the top two this week, then constructing a bunch of Spieth and Day lineups could easily set you apart.

Brooks Koepka – $9,700

Brooks is making this list purely because of the fact that his ownership should be extremely low. I find it hard to imagine people will be building around Koepka at $9,700 with all of the other talent surrounding him. Most people will try and jam two of the top guys into their lineup with all of the value this week. Koepka’s price is steep, but he only has 10 tags on FanShareSports and has strung together a few solid tournaments in a row. I’d rather gamble with Koepka’s upside than roster the boring and overpriced Matt Kuchar this week.

Phil Mickelson – $7,700

This price for Mickelson is wild. $7,700 He is priced the same as Kevin Streelman and less Webb Simpson, Brian Harman and Ollie Schniederjans. Add the fact that Phil is being overlooked this week makes him even more intriguing in tournaments. The US Open is right around the corner, an event we all know Phil wants more than anything. He will be looking to gain form before the US Open, and what better time than to start now.

Bill Haas – $6,900

Bill Haas was $6,900 last week at the Dean and Deluca, and it was one of the major topics in the DFS golf world. He finished T12 last week, a solid result for Haas who had shown a string of poor form. Once again Haas is priced at $6,900, showing good form and is entering an event he has had two top 10s and a top 15 at in the last four years. Haas only has seven tags on FanShareSports.com, compared to an equally priced Byeong Hun An, who has 20.

Memorial Tournament Research Spreadsheet

Note that this spreadsheet is FREE each week for Pro Members. If you are not a Pro Member, use code “ERIC” for 15% off:

[ess_grid alias=”PGA Packages”]

Click Here To View Online

Automatic Fades

Bad course fit? Highly owned for the wrong reason? Players I will have no shares of.

Matt Kuchar – $9,400

Kuchar unquestionably has one of the best course history’s in this field. I just cannot and will not swallow his $9,400 price tag in this field. I love to roster Kuchar when he is in the high $7K range, knowing he will make the cut and maybe sneak inside the top 15. At $9,400, receiving value on Kuchar becomes much more difficult especially since he is projected to be one of the highest owned golfers this week. The upside is not there for me to roster him in GPPs.

Ollie Schniederjans – $8,300

Ollie has had a nice run as of late and is turning into a consistent cut maker. However, this price tag is way too high in a field of this strength. Ollie lacks the big time results in strong field events, and until he shows me that he has that type of game in him, I cannot roster him at this price with the names that are likely to be at the top of the leaderboard.

Jim Furyk – $7,500

Jim Furyk has lost it and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of regaining his old form. Furyk has missed four straight cuts and is now priced based purely on his course history. He does play well at Muirfield, but he will be staying well away from my rosters this week.

Zach Johnson – $6,900

It’s rare to see a name like Zach Johnson priced so low, but for right now, he deserves to be down here. Zach hasn’t shown any form lately, even on courses he has dominated at in the past. He hasn’t played in this event since 2013, where he came 71st. There are way too many other options at this price range to consider ZJ this week.

So, you got burned?

Recently got screwed by a missed cut or a poor performance? Looks like a good time to jump back on.

Jason Dufner – $8,700

Duf-man was a very popular pick last week at the Dean and Deluca. He was highly owned across all formats and even in one and done pools. His missed cut will still be hurting those he burned, and his price tag this week won’t be drawing them back in. $8,700 is a lot to pay for Dufner at this event, but he will not have any ownership on him this week so rostering 5% of him will likely put you overweight on him. He has made three straight cuts at Memorial and I expect him to start another cut making streak this week.

Adam Hadwin – $7,600

Adam Hadwin was heavily owned last week, and even though he didn’t miss the cut, he certainly didn’t win anyone money. Hadwin only has six tags on FanShareSports, clearly showing people have already moved on. Let’s not forget Hadwin is still playing the best golf of his life and easily turn things around in preparation for his first US Open.

Kyle Stanley – $7,400

Everyone loves Kyle Stanley every week, because of his eye popping stats that should fit any course. His missed cut last week will have people looking in another direction this week at the Memorial. There are plenty of intriguing options below Stanley that will soak up the ownership. Stanley still has the stats that will work at Muirfield, so don’t let one missed cut push you off the bandwagon just yet.

Pat Perez – $6,800

Now this is a perfect price for Pat Perez. The last couple of events he saw Perez’s price tag creep a little high for my liking, even though he was still playing well and the course fit his game. Now we can roster Perez without the expectation of a T15 and be pleasantly surprised when it happens. Perez is flying under the radar this week after multiple weeks being hyped up. The time to buy back into Perez is now.

Thanks for reading the Memorial preview article! You can follow me on Twitter for more golf and betting talk! Also, make sure you check out @FanShareSports. They track and curate content produced across the DFS Golf industry, and highlight which players are being tagged or talked about the most, translating to an excellent ownership guide.

Good luck this week everybody and enjoy the best week in golf!