PGA The First Tee: Players Championship

Recap

Wells Fargo did not disappoint us this past weekend with a nice sweat with one of our guys, Nick Watney, being in the hunt right up until Jason Day hit that amazing tee shot on 17 to bring his lead to 2 with 1 to play. Overall, despite Jamie Lovemark missing the cut, the other 4 guys did very well.

Nick Watney: T2; 100 DK points

Patrick Reed: 8^th; 76.5 DK points

Daniel Berger: T55; 52 DK points

Sean O'Hair: T63; 49.5 DK points

Jamie Lovemark: MC; 23.5 DK points

Finally, it was a good process last week. For this week, we will hopefully get all 5 guys make the cut and maybe, just maybe, have all of them finish inside the top 10. That is the goal for all us when making our core. Congrats to Jason Day on his second win of the season!

This Week

We are back in Florida for The Players Championship, the so called, “5^th major". The course is the famous TPC Sawgrass. It's a Par 72 and it's 7,189 yards. The field this week will probably be the strongest all year, outside the 4 original majors. I believe, we have all players inside the top 50 in the world playing this week, and, oh yeah, the guy name TIGER is back after a disappointing putting week at Wells Fargo. Just like last week, with all the big names playing, we will have some value plays for both cash and tournaments. For stats, I'm looking at B.O.B.%; SG: Approach the Green; Proximity; SG: Around the Green; SG: Off the Tee; and SG: Par 5 scoring.

Cash Plays

Francesco Molinari ($8,100) – Molinari should be a very popular play this week, mainly with his history at TPC. In his last 3 starts here, he has 3 top 10s. Furthermore, in his last 5 starts this season, he has 4 top 30s. For stats, he's 5^th in the field for SG: Off the Tee; 27^th in the field for SG: Par 5 scoring; and 50^th in the field for SG: Approach the Green. He's going to be my dark horse this week.

Zach Johnson ($7,500) – Zach is quietly having a good season. He has zero miss cuts in 2018, that incudes a 5^th place finish at the Valero Texas Open. His history at TPC is solid as well, having made 5 cuts in his last 5 starts here, which includes 2 top 20s. For stats, he's 3^rd in the field for Proximity; 13^th in the field for SG: Around the Green; and 32^nd in the field for SG: Approach the Green.

Adam Hadwin ($7,300) – Hadwin, just like Zach, is having a consistent season. He has zero miss cuts and that includes with 5 top 25 finishes in his last 5 starts. He has made back to back top 40s here as well. For stats, he's 1^st in the field for SG: Around the Green; 5^th in the field for SG: Approach the Green; and 27^th in the field for B.O.B.%. He's due for a win this season, he'll be my official pick this week.

GPP Plays

Bryson DeChambeau ($8,300) – Here we go again with Bryson. His most recent play is intriguing and with no course history, he'll be a solid GPP play this week with just his recent play alone. He has 3 top 5 finishes in his last 4 starts. For stats, he's 6^th in the field for B.O.B.%; 9^th in the field for SG: Approach the Green; and 10^th in the field for SG: Off the Tee. The only thing that scares me would be his around the green game.

Grayson Murray ($7,000) – Murray is one of those players that I haven't played much, mainly because I have a bias towards him, however, just like Bryson, it will be hard to fade him this week because of his stats and recent play. He has 3 top 20s in his last 5 starts and has made a cut here last year. For stats, he's 9^th in the field for B.O.B.%; 15^th in the field for SG: Around the Green; and 20^th in the field for SG: Off the Tee.

Exposure

Cash Games: For cash games, I like to play the small field 50/50s, for example, anything less than 100 entrants. I tend to make just 1 lineup and that lineup will have the 6 golfers who I think will have the best chance of making it to the weekend and have the upside of a top 10 finish.

3 Entry Max GPPs: For these tournaments, think of it as one lineup for cash, one for leagues and one that is completely different than the first 2. This technique is very common among the DFS community and even the DFS pros. Just start of with your cash lineup then use a “2 vs. 2" strategy for the other lineups.

20 – 150 Max GPPs: With these, you can have a player pool anywhere from 15-100 players. For 20 max GPPS, I tend to stay closer to 15-18 golfers in my pool. For 150 max GPPs, I recommend using around 25-30 golfers.

Weather

As of Monday evening, there doesn't seem to be any advantage for either tee times. The only day that looks concerning as of now, would be Sunday, which is calling thunderstorms in the afternoon. Which means, they might start earlier to beat the storm. If there are any changes, I will let you know via twitter.

Good luck everyone!!