Bridgestone Invitational Post #1: Our Picks and Discussion

Like with last week’s Quicken Loans National tournament, where our lineup cashed $7 in a $3 entry, I’ve modeled the Bridgestone Invitational (starting Thursday, August 6) and made some commentary for you to consider when building your lineup.

The salaries for this article are those quoted on DraftKings. If you haven’t already – sign up here.

Stay tuned for the full projection set, which will be posted later this week.

My Favorites

• Jordan Spieth ($12,500 on DraftKings) – Spieth has been modeling and playing well and is deserving of his salary. While not the top player in our model from an expected Fantasy Points per dollar of salary perspective, he seems to consistently score a high number of absolute Fantasy Points. Spieth is the Las Vegas favorite to win this weekend.
• Dustin Johnson ($10,800) – Johnson is projected to have the highest single round total in my model.  He’s a beast from a modeling perspective and Vegas also has him as a favorite (second only to Spieth).  Johnson is 8^th on the tour in Strokes Gained Tee to Green (SG:T2G). For a detailed discussion of Strokes Gained, see our previous article. He’s not cheap this weekend but he’s worth it, and I consider him a better overall value than Spieth (but both are likely very strong picks).
• Bubba Watson ($9,500) – Watson is 2^nd on the tour in Strokes Gained and he’s coming off a 2^nd place finish at the Canadian Open.  Look for him to put another solid tournament together this weekend.
• Hideki Matsuyama ($9,400) – Matsuyama leads the tour in Strokes Gained and this course is known as “the Monster” for its length. It is the longest non-major par 70 course this season.  For the price, Matsuyama is a solid find this week.
• J.B Holmes ($7,500) – I love J.B. Holmes this week.  He’s cheap, and he ranks 12^th on the tour in Strokes Gained. This makes him a solid mid-range value pick and complements lineups with pricier players like Spieth and Johnson.

My Dislikes

• Rickie Fowler ($10,500) – I harped on Fowler last week and he proved me wrong.  I’m still on the fence with him.  His stats aren’t great and he ranks 46^th on the tour in SG.  I just think you can find better values.
• Louis Oosthuizen ($9,800) – Oosthuizen ranks 29ths in SG and he’s priced like an upper level finisher.  There’s better value to be had (read Watson, Matsuyama & Holmes).

My Lineup

I entered the DraftKings $3 PGA tournament this weekend and my lineup is the following: 

• Bubba Watson
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Brooks Koepka
• Ryan Palmer
• J.B. Holmes
• Webb Simpson

Good Luck this weekend and ABI,

Rob