Preview: The Tour Junkies dish out the goods for The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges and what it’s going to take to build the right DraftKings lineups. David and Pat come together to give their lock, value plays, sleeper and player to avoid in DFS formats.
Lock of the week:
Embed from Getty Images Jason Day $10,600 - Everyone’s favorite hypochondriac is back at it after finishing the FedEx Cup Playoffs at Eastlake. Day is an elite short game player coming to a track here at Nine Bridges where scrambling is key. The tough layout and undulating greens will lead to heaps of up and down opportunities. Plus, you get an elite ball striker and scorer. Scoring is key this week in DFS with a 78 man no-cut event. The value and upside is too good to pass up on Jason regardless of ownership. He’s a full send in GPP and cash game contests. Hope he takes his Vitamin C in South Korea though...Value Plays:
Byeong Hun An $8,700 - As an 11th place finisher here last season, An arrives in solid form coming off a T13 last week at the CIMB. The ball striking is never in question along with the scoring ability of the young Asian. But, we bet you didn’t know that An is a top notch scrambler compared to the rest of this field. Whether you look at the last four rounds, the last 100, or any number in between, An is in the top 20 in this field. We love Byeong in all DFS formats regardless of ownership.Embed from Getty Images Ian Poulter $7,600 - Speaking of a long term, elite scrambler...Poulter arrives hot after the massacre at Le Golf National for the Ryder Cup. Historically, Poulter plays rather well on difficult golf courses against strong fields. Nine Bridges was the 4th toughest course on the PGA Tour rotation last season. We do suspect it will play a little easier this year, but it will still be a challenge. He played well enough here last year to get a T15, and we suspect that could be his floor this week.
Joaquin Niemann $7,600 - Niemann is a pure upside play in a no cut event where course history and experience are irrelevent. The young stud lit up the PGA Tour last season, and makes a ton of birdies. You’re guaranteed four rounds with him, and you need the DraftKings points above all. He’s got enough talent and drive to come out and win a tournament like the CJ Cup for his first victory similar to Justin Thomas at the CIMB a couple of years ago. He’s a GPP lock for us.
Best bargain basement option:
Jaime Lovemark $6,800 - We will likely live and die on California Jaime this week. He’s an absolute bomber than nukes it off the tee. He loves birdies and eagles and DraftKings points, long walks on the beach and occasionally finishing DFL in golf tournaments. While still waiting on his first PGA Tour victory, he’s been close lately including here last year with a T5 finish. However, we bet you didn’t know that Lovemark is an incredible scrambler both over the short term and long term. He’s 1st in this field over the last 24, 50 and 100 rounds in SG: Around the Green. With an automatic four rounds, we’ll take the bait on Lovemark in GPPs.Player to Avoid:
Hideki Matsuyama $10,400 - Full disclosure: The Tour Junkies disagree a little here, but David won the ro-sham-bo contest to type this up on Deki bot. However, we totally screwed the pooch last week by fading the guy who won the tournament (Leishman)...[insert hand over face emoticon] Anyway, Hideki’s short game comes and goes with an unpredictability unlike any other. He finished the year on a hot run, but coming to a tougher course that he’s never seen before may lend itself to mistakes. We always try to make a bold call for the player to avoid since it does you no good if we tell you to avoid Tae Hee Lee, so fade at your own risk and may your screens be green!
