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FanDuel PGA Lineup Advice: Shriners Open (2020)

FanDuel PGA Lineup Advice: Shriners Open (2020)

The PGA Tour visits Las Vegas for a two-week stop. This week is the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Next week will be the CJ Cup that was relocated this season from South Korea. This week’s Shriner has a slightly stronger field than normal, probably because of the relocation of the CJ Cup. FanDuel has seven golfers priced at $11,000 or above for the Shriners Open. FanDuel provides DFS players with a salary cap of $60,000 to select six golfers for an average roster spot of $10,000.

Recent U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is the only golfer in the 12K range priced at $12,200. Webb Simpson and Patrick Cantlay are close behind at $11,900 and $11,700, respectively. Collin Morikawa ($11,600) and Tony Finau ($11,400) round out FanDuel’s top-five highest priced golfers.

Work at having a solid process week in and week out as opposed to getting bogged down by recency bias or the ups-and-downs of the weekly golf grind. Any golfer is capable of winning, and even the best golfers can miss the cut (four of the top-eight highest-priced golfers missed last week). Whether you win or lose, golf is one of the most entertaining fantasy sports to follow because you get four days of action. Good luck and, most importantly, have fun!

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Tournament Notes

  • Note: Even though this tournament is played in 2020, it’s considered part of the 2021 PGA Season. It is part of the wraparound season (Fall swing). This can get confusing when looking at course history or past events. The years referenced in this article will refer to the actual year the event was played as opposed to the PGA season it was a part of.
  • The tournament is played at the TPC Summerlin course in Las Vegas. The par-71 course measures 7,255 yards and has hosted the event since 2008.
  • There are 144 players scheduled to tee it up this week with the top 65 (and ties) making the cut.
  • The bentgrass greens are larger than normal. The course itself is not very tricky and can be conquered by many different types of players as it plays as one of the easiest on tour. The high altitude also allows short hitters to hit the ball farther than normal. There are four Par 3s, 11 Par 4s, and three Par 5s.
  • The average winning score for the last 12 years is 21-under par, and that includes the weather impacted event three years ago that Patrick Cantlay won at 9-under par.
  • Past winners in the field include Kevin Na (2019 and 2011), Bryson DeChambeau (2018), Patrick Cantlay (2017), Smylie Kaufman (2015), Webb Simpson (2013), and Martin Laird (2009).
  • There is a strong Las Vegas contingent in this tournament. Charlie Hoffman, Wyndham Clark, Aaron Wise, Collin Morikawa, Kevin Na, Maverick McNealy, Nick Watney, and Scott Piercy are all Vegas natives, current residents, or played at UNLV.
  • Kevin Na shot 23-under par last year, defeating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff. Pat Perez, Adam Hadwin, Brian Stuard, and Bryson DeChambeau rounded out the top five.

Course Fit & Key Statistics

Overall Statistics
My customized overall stat model measures all stats (driving, approach, short game, putting, etc…) from both a short-and-long-form standpoint. It should be noted that I consider putting, but it’s weighted lower than the other factors. The best golfers, in terms of stats, for my customized model this week (in ranked order) are Webb Simpson, Russell Henley, Doc Redman, Matthew Wolff, Scottie Scheffler, Harold Varner, Paul Casey, Harris English, Collin Morikawa, and Tony Finau.

Recent Form
The golfers that rate out the best in my customized recent form model (in ranked order) are Tyler McCumber, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Davis, Kristoffer Ventura, Louis Oosthuizen, Bryson DeChambeau, Charlie Hoffman, Jason Kokrak, Harris English, and Will Zalatoris. Adam Schenk and Harris English lead the field with nine straight made cuts on the PGA Tour. Brendan Steele and Louis Oosthuizen have streaks of eight consecutive cuts. PGA winners from the last six events who are in this week’s field are Sergio Garcia, Hudson Swafford, Bryson DeChambeau, and Stewart Cink. Golfers with multiple top-10 finishes in the last six events include Kristoffer Ventura, Tyler McCumber, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, James Hahn, and Sebastian Munoz.

Course History
I tend to value baseline talent and recent form, but there is a lot to be said for golfers that enjoy playing at certain courses. Some courses just line up better for some golfers. Comfortability with the way a golf course plays can give a golfer confidence going into the week. The ten golfers that rate out the best in my course history model include Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Webb Simpson, Tony Finau, Chesson Hadley, Pat Perez, Luke List, Patton Kizzire, Brian Harman, and Rickie Fowler. Cantlay has been the winner or runner-up each of the last three years. Bryson DeChambeau has three straight top-10 finishes. Kevin Na has two missed cuts sandwiched between his win last year and a T2 in 2016.

Scoring
It’s always important to play well, but grinding out pars and an occasional birdie probably won’t be enough this week, as the winning score averages 21-under par. With this event producing an abundance of scoring opportunities, we might want to look at the golfers in this field who have the most scoring upside. My custom model takes into account birdie or better percentage, fantasy production, and scoring average. The golfers who rate as the best scorers this year (in ranked order) include Webb Simpson, Matthew Wolff, Bryson DeChambeau, Doc Redman, Kristoffer Ventura, Cameron Davis, Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris, Tony Finau, and Ryan Palmer.

Official World Golf Ranking
All the statistics and course history are good to know, but sports (in particular, DFS golf) often comes down to betting on talent and playing the best overall players. Sure, salary is involved, but fitting as many of the world’s best golfers in your lineups increases your chances for success. According to the OWGR, the best ten golfers in this field (in ranked order) are Collin Morikawa (No. 5), Bryson DeChambeau (No. 6), Webb Simpson (No. 7), Patrick Cantlay (No. 13), Tony Finau (No. 16), Louis Oosthuizen (No. 17), Matthew Wolff (No. 18), Hideki Matsuyama (No. 19), Paul Casey (No. 21), and Sungjae Im (No. 22).

Favorite Upper-Tier Plays

Bryson DeChambeau ($12,200)
I don’t like betting against Bryson when he is hot, and I’d say his steamrolling the field at the U.S. Open would qualify as being hot. His course history is great here as he has finished T4 > 1 > T7 the last three years. Since the restart, he has six top 10 finishes in his 11 events.

Webb Simpson ($11,900)
I will definitely be playing my favorite player (and the world’s seventh-ranked player) on a course that he has previously won at (2013) and finished T7 last year. He had three wins last season on the PGA Tour. Overall, he has top-12 finishes in seven of his last nine events. He is one of the most consistent and well-rounded players on Tour.

Patrick Cantlay ($11,700)
I will bet on talent and course history this week in picking Patrick Cantlay. Many of us avoided the favorites last year to our detriment.  He has not exactly played well over the last few months, but he also hasn’t played terribly. He’s just been pedestrian lately, but coming to a course where he has finished runner-up each of the last two years after winning in 2017 should make the world’s 12th ranked player feel better about this week.

Matthew Wolff ($11,100)
He has three top-four finishes in his last nine starts. Two of those were in major championships, including a runner-up in his last event (U.S. Open). He was T18 last year in his first crack at TPC Summerlin. In the last 24 rounds played, he is fourth in total strokes gained and sixth in fantasy scoring.

Favorite Mid-Tier Plays

Harris English ($10,900)
He had top-20 finishes in 13 of 20 events last season and started this new season with a T4 at the U.S. Open. He ranks fifth in total strokes gained in the last 24 rounds played. He has an elite short game but has also been striking the ball solidly in the last few months. He has made the cut in two of his last three appearances here, including a T4 in 2016.

Louis Oosthuizen ($10,400)
I’m pretty sure that this is the first time I have ever recommended Oosty as a play. I don’t ever play him, but he is too good of a value to let personal bias get in the way of money. This might end badly for my lineups, but here is why I am considering him for the first time in four years. He is the sixth highest-ranked golfer scheduled to appear this week (17th in the OWGR). However, he is only the 15th most-expensive player on FanDuel. That is one of the best values on the slate. In the last 24 rounds, he is ranked ninth in total strokes gained. Only the nine straight cuts that Harris English and Adam Schenk have made on the PGA Tour are more than Oosty’s eight. During that streak, he top-15 finishes at the WGC-St. Jude, NORTHERN TRUST, and a T3 at the U.S. Open the last time we saw him.

Jason Kokrak ($10,100)
Four straight top-20 finishes, including a T6 at the BMW and a T17 at the U.S. Open. He ranks third in SG: OTT and fourth in SG: BS for the last 24 rounds. In other words, he is great from tee-to-green, but he struggles around the green and with the flat stick. If he could ever get that figured out, he’d be contending for a win. He has made the cut here in five straight starts, but his best finish was only a T20 in 2017.

Will Zalatoris ($9,700)
I am going to get right back on the Zalatoris train with a $1,900 discount from last week. He finally missed a cut after making the weekend in 19 straight professional events. There was some talk of him being burned out. Missing a cut might have been good for him. After all, Collin Morikawa missed his first-ever cut and came back to win the Workday Charity Open the next week. Everyone misses a cut once in a while. Not everyone has back-to-back top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour as he did prior to that with a T8 in the Dominican and a T6 at the U.S. Open. During his cut streak, he had a win, seven top fives, and 12 top 10s. I love Zalatoris this week at just under the average roster price.

Denny McCarthy ($9,200)
He has made the cut in seven of his last eight events. He has two top-10 finishes during that streak, including a T6 this past week at the Sanderson Farms. As for course history, he has a T9 and T15 in his last two starts here.

Favorite Lower-Tier Plays

Kristoffer Ventura ($8,800)
His T6 last week was his seventh top-25 finish in his last 12 professional starts. It was also his fourth top-10 finish. He is fifth in fantasy scoring and 10th in total strokes gained over the last 24 rounds. He was T18 last year here.

James Hahn ($8,400)
He has made the cut here in four straight years, with his best finish being a T15 back in 2016. The good news is that he’s done more than just make the cut in his last two PGA events. He recently finished T6 in the Dominican Republic and was T9 at the Safeway Open before that.

Adam Schenk ($8,100)
Nobody in this field has made more straight PGA cuts than he has with nine. Statistically speaking, he is a good bet to make the cut, but his upside is limited somewhat. During this streak, he has only one finish inside the top 25, and that was a T12 at the Barracuda. He has experienced some success here in Las Vegas by making the cut in two of the past three years with a T18 last year and a T20 in 2017.

Tyler McCumber ($8,000)
He was runner-up in the Dominican, and then he followed it up with a T6 last week at Sanderson Farms. If just looking at the last eight rounds played, he is first in both total strokes gained and fantasy scoring. I don’t expect him to contend again on Sunday with this field, but there is no reason he can’t produce a top-20 finish. It’s rare to get someone at this low of a price coming into the week with back-to-back top-10 finishes, but we have that with two different 8K golfers in McCumber and Hahn.

Watch the tournament live on Golf Channel with FuboTV partner-arrow

Whether you’re new to daily fantasy golf or a seasoned professional, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Golf Glossary. You can get started with The Stats That Matter Most or head to more advanced strategy — like How To Use Vegas Odds To Generate Your Lineup  — to learn more.

Jamy Bechler is a regular contributor to FantasyPros for NBA, NFL, and PGA. You can send him questions and follow him on his DFS twitter @WinningDFS101. When he is not playing DFS, Jamy is an author, host of the “Success is a Choice” podcast, and a leadership consultant, working with businesses and teams across the country (including the NBA). Even though he offers his advice on players and contests, after additional information and consideration, he may end up using different players and strategies than what he recommended in this article.

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