PGA Championships at Whistling Straights Post #1 – Our Picks and Discussion

Last week, we finished in 43,062^nd place, ~10,000 spots and only 6.5 points out of the money (we scored 387.5 and bubble was 394 points).  It was a disappointing but still decent result given we only made a single entry.  We’re back at it this week with the PGA Championships at Whistling Straights.  

Wikipedia lists this course at 7,201 yards with brutal bunkers.  It’s a par 72 with 4 Par 3s, 10 Par 4s and 5 Par 5s.

Note – all salaries are listed on DraftKings for the $20 entry, $1,000,000 first place prize tournament. 

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My Favorites

·        Jordan Spieth ($12,500): Vegas loves Spieth, Spieth’s stats are great and he’s on a great run.  Last weekend was disappointing for him but look for him to rebound this week.

·        Bubba Watson ($9,900):  Bubba is a big hitter and he’s coming off two 2^nd place finishes in a row.  He’s still moderately priced so he’s a must buy at the PGA Championships. He presents some of the best value among the top tier golfers this weekend.

·        Brooks Koepka ($7,800): Once again, there’s a lot of value here with Brooks.  He’s got great stats for this course and he’s priced on the low end for a high Tier 2 player.  He put up 83.5 points last weekend and finished 6^th on a tough course.  He’s a slam dunk at this price.

·        Jason Day ($10,800): Jason’s last 4 tournaments were as follows: 12^th, 1^st (win), 4^th and 9^th.  He’s hot and he projects well.  He's a very good pick for this tournament. I like Bubba Watson better in this price range but Day is still rock solid.

·         Hideki Matsuyama ($8,000):  Rounding out my top 5 is Hideki Matsuyama.  Hideki had a rough weekend at Bridgestone but he has some of the best SG stats on tour.  He shot a great round on Sunday and look for him to ride that momentum through to this weekend. I think his weak Bridgestone tournament was an anomaly and but that performance is probably making him cheaper for the PGA. I say buy the dip here.

My Dislikes

·        Graeme McDowell ($7,200): Graeme ranks 170^th on tour for strokes gained tee-to-green and he’s 68^th in driving accuracy percentage.  I don’t see a lot to like from him this week.

My Unknowns

·        Rory McIlroy ($11,700): Rory hasn’t played since June when he injured his ankle.  He’s the 2^nd highest priced golfer on DraftKings and he and Spieth are probably justified in being favored to win the PGA Championship.  But for me, there’s too much risk in his ankle, which is an unquantifiable risk. It should be interesting to see just how many people draft him this weekend.

·        Rickie Fowler ($9,800): For anyone who’s followed this blog, you know I have disliked Rickie Fowler.  From his stats, I still don’t like him this week.  Last week, he put up a 10^th place finish (and 68.5 DK points) and at Quicken Loans, he had a 2^nd place finish (for 130.5 DK points).  I don’t like him, but he’s a mystery to me. 

My Lineup

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

·                  Bubba Watson

·                  Brooks Koepka

·                  Hideki Matsuyama

·                  Jason Day

·                  Justin Thomas

·                  Rory Sabbatini

Good luck and ABI,

Rob