It is the final major of the season this week with the USPGA Championship the tournament getting all the fantasy golf attention. Our official fantasy partners DraftKings have games ranging from entry fees of $3 up to a biggest of $33. The $33 entry is into the huge game with a $2.5m prize pool with the winner pocketing a cool $1m – well worth entering!
Profile
We have a bit of a US Open outlook this week with penal rough and tight fairways with well protected greens given the week very much a tough looking feel to it so pars might score very well this week and so making the cut is going to be essential for any players that we pick.
With that in mind we’ve very much looking for those who put a premium on accuracy and take a little off the big stick to ensure they are in the short grass. As ever with a major a good short game is needed and form is a must. You don’t want to be on a player looking for his game on this track. With that in mind here are our three key statistics for the week:
- Fairways hit
- Greens in Regulation
- Par 4 scoring
Star Men
This is the section for those players who cost $8,000 or more. With this being a major championship there are a number of them this week.
MAIN PICK – Dustin Johnson $11,600
The US Open champion costs more than a fifth of our budget but we’re paying for class and that costs money. You are going to have to drive the ball well this week and nobody is driving it better than Dustin right now. He has sustained his form since winning at Oakmont and everything is set for another big week for the American. Yes he’s expensive but he’s expensive for a reason – because he is racking up the points. He has 85pts or more in six of his last seven starts and another week in those echelons should put us in a nice position.
PICK – Phil Mickelson $10,200
If Dustin Johnson is too expensive for you then the 2005 winner here is another good option. We know ‘Lefty’ is playing well having put in one of the best major performances ever at Troon only to walk into a beast in the form of Henrik Stenson. Mickelson spent last week practicing here and forming a strategy which is exactly what was successful for him 11 years ago. Expect him to find more fairways and with it to score well.
PICK – Matt Kuchar $8,600
His form has been there for all to see and ranked fifth in par 4 scoring on the PGA Tour is significant this week. Kuchar will be playing this course from the fairways which is a major positive and he is putting well at the minute and that short stick can run up a decent total this week.
PICK – Zach Johnson $8,400
Zach has quietly been improving as he sorts his putting out and that is something worth paying for. He is another one who will play from the fairways and with length not a massive issue this week he is unlikely to be out of place. He is usually very reliable to make the cut and four rounds of scoring with a good chance of a high finish he is worth adding to any line up.
AVOID – Jordan Spieth $11,100
You have to be a brave man to avoid the youngster but he isn’t playing like he can. His driver isn’t doing him many favours and he isn’t putting as well as he can. This course is far too long for him too for comfort so there are enough reasons to leave him well alone at this price.
AVOID – Rickie Fowler $9,200
We opposed Fowler at The Open and we’re doing it again here. For almost a fifth of our budget we want a lot more than we’ve got from him in recent times. He hasn’t put up 60pts in any of his last six tournaments and I’m not convinced that this track will suit him so at this price he isn’t one to include this week.
Mid-Range Players
This is for the group of players between $6,600 and $8,000 and there are some decent names in this section this week. Some we like and some we don’t.
PICK – Martin Kaymer $7,900
The German is a former winner of this title and he is starting to put up some nice numbers on some nice tracks. He plans his schedule to peak in the majors so he will be expecting to make the cut and with his putter starting to cooperate we should get a nice outcome from him. Kaymer keeps the bogeys off the card and plots his way around a course and that’s the sort of man we like here.
PICK – Lee Westwood $7,900
Another man who takes pride in keeping the bogeys off the scorecard. He has been in good form all year without quite getting over the line but I expected him to be a little more expensive than he is here. Drives the ball excellently and with a short game improving all the time we’re expecting some solid scoring from him this week.
PICK – Shane Lowry $7,800
Merits a pick based on his big event form so far this season but he’s another brilliant driver of the golf ball. With a short game to get him out of trouble if he drives it well he is going to bank the points nicely for us here. A very solid third pick option.
PICK – Brandt Snedeker $7,500
Should have won last week but surprisingly the putter let him down but we’ll give him a go here. We had to fork out over $10k for him last week so to get him at 75% of the price this week merits another go. Solid from tee to green and if the putting heats up he’ll be there or thereabouts again.
PICK – Bill Haas $7,100
Showed at The Open, an event which traditionally doesn’t suit his game, how well he is hitting the ball and this sort of course is much more up his street. Solid from tee to green and can hole the big putts so there is a lot to like about the former FedEx Cup champion particularly at this price.
PICK – Steve Stricker $7,000
Another who showed how well he is playing at The Open and who has an excellent profile for this course. He drives the ball with great accuracy and is one of, if not the best, putter in the game. He leads the tour in bogey avoidance and if he can take care of the shorter holes then he’s entitled to go very well.
PICK – Gary Woodland $6,700
The long hitting American is very cheap. He’s a solid driver of the ball and has an all-round game which is very underrated as we’ve seen a fair bit in the last 18 months or so. More than 60pts in eight of his last nine events is very solid scoring for this price and that makes him a bit of a no brainer pick here.
AVOID – Brooks Koepka $7,800
A fully fit and in form Brooks Koepka could go well in a tournament like this but he is returning from injury this week and that is enough to send us running for the hills at this price. We can’t afford a missed cut having splashed out this much.
AVOID – Matthew Fitzpatrick $7,600
The Englishman should so well with a solid tee to green game but he is in the middle of a run of missed cuts and that is never a good thing. Four missed cuts in a row means he isn’t for us this week.
AVOID – Victor Dubuisson $7,200
Never the most accurate and is so out of form it is untrue. Made a name for himself at the Accenture last season and won at Turkey since then but he isn’t likely to find enough fairways to score well here and indeed a missed cut is a big threat. Leave well alone.
AVOID – John Daly $6,600
Answers on a postcard as to what this price is all about. Just his nickname – Wild Thing – tells us he isn’t the man for us this week but the price does just as much. Go nowhere near.
AVOID – Daniel Berger $6,600
Many players will still be reeling from the shambles of a withdrawal in the WGC Bridgestone last month and this is his first tournament since. Can we be sure he completes? No. Even if he does you would have to think his scoring will be quite low. He’s not for us.
Bottom End Players
Usually we just take those under $6,500 in this section but with the size of the mid-range players we’ll put the $6,500’s in here so this is $6,500 and lower.
PICK – Andrew Johnston $6,500
Beef is making a big name for himself off the golf course but on it he isn’t doing too badly either. A winner in Spain earlier in the year and he ran hot at The Open for much of the week. Very tidy from tee to green and if his short game suits the fast conditions he will score nicely.
PICK – Andy Sullivan $6,100
We saw a lot of him in the lead up to The Open and he looked to be enjoying his golf again and the work he has done on his game was working as highlighted by a third top 12 finish in a row. He hasn’t cracked America yet but with the quality he has off the tee this could well be the week.
PICK – Francesco Molinari $6,100
Two top 10s followed by a solid effort at The Open where he was right there at halfway. Monotonously straight off the tee is a huge asset this week and he is likely to bank up solid points with a four round tournament.
PICK – Thongchai Jaidee $5,800
The Thai loves courses like this as he showed when he won the Open de France in what was a bit of a masterclass that had one of the more established names in the game delivered the waxing lyrical would have been loud and long. A maestro with the short irons which can both score and keep the big numbers off the board I would be surprised if we don’t get four rounds out of him which is all we can ask at this price.
AVOID – Rocco Mediate $6,500
Veteran for who the course is just too long. At this price you want the chance of four rounds to be significant and I don’t think it is here so we’ll leave the former US Open runner up alone.
AVOID – Scott Hend $5,900
There are times that the Australian at this price is a gift from above but this isn’t one of them. Accuracy is very much his weakness and those inaccurate around here are behind the eight ball straight away. Save him for other weeks.
AVOID – Rich Beem $5,500
Yes he’s a former winner of this tournament but those days are long gone. He’s extremely unlikely to make the cut and we will probably see him on full-time Sky Sports duty long before the weekend is out.
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