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The PGA Tour heads to Memphis, Tennessee for The WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind. This course plays as a par 70 and measures right around 7,250 yds. 78 of the best players in the world were invited to play in this 4 round, no-cut event. TPC Southwind has seen more balls in the water than any other course on tour. Bogeys will be abundant and birdies will be hard to come by as our golfers have their work cut out for them as they prepare for the PGA Championship next week in San Francisco. As always, ball strikers will be prevalent in our search for the cream of the crop. This will also mark the first time since the break that we see Bermuda grass on the greens.
FavorableStatistics (in order of importance)
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
- Strokes Gained: Around The Greens
- Birdie or Better %
- Strokes Gained: Par 4’s
- Driving Distance
We’relooking to find golfers that can nail their shot approaching thegreens. Great ball strikers, that are accurate off the tee and canprovide some distance, is also a plus. The greens in Memphis are verysmall so we want to keep our eye out for guys that can get up anddown well (SG:ARG).
Strategy
With 78 of the best golfers in the world teeing it up at The WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and no-cut, I’m seeing ownership spread out fairly evenly throughout the top 20 golfers. I believe a good percentage of DraftKings entrants will opt for a balanced type build to their lineups. While this is fine for cash game purposes, I think using a “Stars n Scrubs” type approach may find some leverage in GPP (guaranteed prize pool) entries.
CashGame Golfers
Throwingownership out the window, we just need to find 6 golfers that willconsistently produce enough through all 4 rounds. We don’t needthese guys to win outright as we’re looking for a nice balance ofproduction to get us in the top 50% to make some money in our cashgames.
Avoiding the top 5 golfers on DraftKings to save ourselves some salary, let’s start our cash game builds in the $9K range.
Webb Simpson ($9900) Webb finished 2nd here last year. He may not be long off the tee, but his iron game is almost always on point.
Xander Schauffele ($9800) Xander has a narrative of performing well at WGC events. While he may have one bad round during the week, give this guy 4 rounds and he’s a sure thing to finish in the top 20 at the very least.
Tyrrell Hatton ($9700) Hatton doesn’t play a lot, but when he does he consistently puts up great numbers and finishing positions.
Tommy Fleetwood ($8700) While he may have looked rusty in his return to the PGA tour last week, he also showed flashes of excellence. This salary is a gift for one of the best golfers in the world.
Gary Woodland ($8600) Gary seemed to have fixed his issues with the driver and is always a threat to contend in major-like fields.
Adam Hadwin ($7200) He might not win The WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational but he’s a consistent producer at a salary that allows some of the more expensive guys.
GPPGOLFERS
Ownershipbecomes a much bigger factor here. The larger your field ofcontestants is, the less ownership you’re going to need to bedifferent from your competition. Be careful not to sacrificeproduction for name recognition while searching for a gem to get youinto the top 20% of your contest for a chance at some serious money.You’re going to have to risk a little more here to be rewarded.
Rory McIlroy ($11200) Rory hasn’t won since the Covid break, but he seems to be inching closer and closer to the leader board in every tournament. Finishing 5th in the last WGC event in Mexico, I like Rory to reclaim his status as the #1 golfer in the world this weekend with a win here.
Sergio Garcia ($8000) While Sergio’s ownership seems to be steadily rising, I was discussing with some of the other pro’s this morning that his stats have him coming in FIRST OVERALL in my models. Garcia’s game is looking better than I’ve seen it in years right now. He will never be a great putter but seems to favor Bermuda greens to the point where he actually, barely, gains strokes putting. If he can even get to average with his flat stick, look out for a ceiling game from him this weekend.
Sungjae Im ($7500) I get that Sungjae has lost strokes on approach in his last 5 tournaments. This has NEVER happened before in his career. He’s also never been priced this low, in his career, as he’s easily one of the top 20 golfers in the world. He rarely takes weeks off so I’m hoping that while he was on his vacation last week he found some answers to his iron game, which is generally one of his strongest weapons. He also favors Bermuda greens. Sky’s the limit at this salary if Sungjae has his game again. Gotta catch the train before it leaves the station as I don’t think we EVER see him priced this low again.
Kevin Na ($7500) If you can withstand the possibility of an early withdraw due to back issues, Na is almost always in a position to contend on Sundays. He finished 9th in the bloodbath at the Memorial last week, 5th at the Travelers, and 9th at the last WGC event in Mexico. Currently sitting at 5% ownership and dropping, the risk/reward here is worth a look.
Value
Bubba Watson ($7100) Bubba continues to pop in my models, I continue to write him up and play him, and he continues to fail me. Watson’s strength is long par 4’s which should land The WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational right in his wheelhouse. Unfortunately, the rest of his game replicates something I see from my kids at pitch n putt on Saturday nights. Nevertheless, I’m going back to the well one more time to see if Bubba can anchor my team to the promised land.
While there are some other value guys I have my eye on, I really don’t think it’s necessary to dive to far below $7K this week unless you’re really trying to cram some studs in your lineup. Hit me up in Discord and I can give you my thoughts if you see fit.
Feel free to mix and match, and choose your spots wisely. Its our goal at WinDaily to teach EVERYONE a formula to playing DFS so that we ALL succeed. The BEST overall strategy I can give you would be to join our family in the Discord chat rooms as we discuss, and break down our favorite plays even further.
Thrive Fantasy
Using the information above, you can even make some money on Thrive Fantasy! As I said, I like Rory to reclaim #1 in the world and you can grab the under on his 66.5 player prop. Check them out and use promo code “windaily” when you sign up for some extra bonuses. Learn how to play here on our quick over.
