The Tour Junkies dish out the goods for The Northern Trust from Ridgewood GC 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.
Key Stats: SG: Off the Tee / Proximity / SG: Around the Green / Ownership / Recent Form
Lock of the week:
Brooks Koepka $10,500 - Why would you fade the hottest (both in golf & man dime-ness) player on the planet right now as the $10 million dollar FedEx Cup playoffs begin? Brooks loves big biceps, big drives, big paychecks and big events. This course requires length and elite scrambling ability. Brooks is your man. We don’t care what his ownership turns out to be this week, we’ll be playing in GPP and cash contests. With a smaller 120 man field, you’re going to see a higher percentage of players make it to the weekend. Getting six of six through the cut on DraftKings is not enough. You need scorers. You need top five guys and the winner. Brooks is as safe a bet as any to finish top five. Don’t overthink the Koepka.Value Plays:
Jon Rahm $9,700 - The Spaniard is a gut play for us this week, but we’ll both have heaps of him in GPPs on DraftKings. He checks the box in SG: OTT and scoring. We know from an inside source that he turned over a new leaf after the Saturday round at the PGA Championship in terms of managing his emotions during rounds. He’s played much better since, and his team thinks that subtle change could make a big difference with the young stud. If the putter gets even a little warm, Jon could make a serious run in the playoffs starting at Ridgewood. Full send on Rahmbo for us.Embed from Getty Images Xander Schauffele $7,800 - Like Koepka, Xander seems to be a big game hunter when it comes to the schedule. As a multiple winner on the PGA Tour, X man won the Tour Championship last season, has played exceptionally well in his young career in majors and WGC’s, and he’s primed to make another run as he eyes his first potential Ryder Cup selection. He checks all the boxes from a course fit perspective. Vegas loves him too. He has better odds to win on most books than Casey, Hatton, Watson and Noren all priced above him. He’s a tremendous value. Another full send.
Keegan Bradley $7,000 - Our Keegan radar is going off this week yet again as the former PGA Champion has gained over 6 strokes total from tee to green in the last five tournaments. If this dude could ever figure out the flat stick, he’d have multiple wins each year with his ball striking ability. As long as a guy in good form, checking all the boxes but putting, and a good value...then, he’s worth a play in hopes the putter hits. Putting comes and goes unlike any other skill in golf. At $7K, we’ll bet on Keegan’s putter getting just lukewarm at this point in order to return value. Love the option in GPPs as he’s likely to be sub 10%. Roster Sir Twitch-A-Lot and just don’t watch shottracker once he gets on the putting surface.
Best bargain basement option:
Embed from Getty Images Keith Mitchell $6,300 - There are more than 60 players on DraftKings priced in the $6K range. Only 14 have better Vegas odds to win than Keith Mitchell, yet he’s only $100 shy of the minimum price on DraftKings. Keith is an aggressive bomber that can score with the best of them when he gets hot. He’s gained over four strokes total tee to green in his last five tournaments. Like Keegan, it’s all about the flat stick for the former Georgia Bulldog stud. With the higher percentage of players making the cut this week, Mitchell is worth the risk at this price.Player to Avoid:
Brandt Snedeker $9,000 - Insert “recency bias” here after the Sneds victory last week. We talked him up last week on the podcast as a good fit for Sedgefield. However, this is a different track at Ridgewood than Sedgefield. It’s a bombers track with an emphasis on long iron play. That is NOT Sneds game. He ranks 84th in SG: OTT in the last 12 rounds despite being known as a more accurate driver and 52nd in Proximity from over 200 yards. We’ll let everyone else get excited about Sneds this week and avoid completely.
