Many of the world’s best golfers will be teeing it up this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, not only because it is a good tournament but because it is also the site of this year’s U.S. Open. Expect the leaderboard to be jam-packed as usual with big-name players.

FanDuel has seven golfers priced at or above $11,000 this week. DFS players have a salary cap of $60,000 to select six golfers for an average roster spot of $10,000. Rory McIlroy ($12,200) and Jon Rahm ($12,100) are the only golfers in the 12K range. Xander Schauffele is the next closest at $11,600. Tony Finau ($11,300) and Viktor Hovland ($11,200) round out FanDuel’s top-five highest priced golfers.

Work at having a solid process week in and week out instead of getting bogged down by recency bias or the ups-and-downs of the weekly golf grind. The best golfers will perform at a high level throughout the course of a season. However, from week-to-week, a major variance can occur. For instance, three of the top-five highest owned golfers missed the cut last week (Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Reed, and Sepp Straka).

Use all the information available to you to make the best decision possible for your lineup. 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!

Find out which stats matter the most for PGA DFS

Tournament Notes

• The Farmers Insurance Open is played at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California.
• This is a 156-player field with the top-65 (and ties) making the cut and playing the weekend at the South Course.
• The players will play two different Par 72 courses during the first two rounds, but the South Course will be used exclusively on the weekend.
• The South Course is long (7,707 yards), has narrow fairways, and the rough is penal. It is the longest course in the regular PGA rotation.
• The North Course is shorter (7,258 yards), also has narrow fairways, but has manageable rough if the drive misses those narrow fairways.
• The greens are different at both courses. The South Course has Poa greens while the North Course has bentgrass greens.
• Just like the American Express, the pro-am event has been canceled, so the rounds will go quicker. This also benefits the golfers that like to play fast, or that gather momentum as the round goes on.
• The golf tournament’s name was changed from the Buick Open to the Farmers Insurance Classic in 2010.
• Eight past winners are scheduled to play this week, including Marc Leishman (2020), Jason Day (2018, 2015), Jon Rahm (2017), Brandt Snedeker (2016, 2012), Scott Stallings (2014), Bubba Watson (2011), Nick Watney (2009), and Phil Mickelson (2001, 2000, 1993).

Course Fit & Key Statistics

Recent Form
The golfers that rate out the best in my customized recent form model (in ranked order) are Harris English, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Rory McIlroy, Si Woo Kim, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, John Huh, Billy Horschel, and Xander Schauffele. Rory McIlroy leads the field with 23 straight PGA Tour events in which he’s played the weekend. Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are close behind with streaks of 19 and 18, respectively. Jon Rahm (14) and Cameron Smith (13) round out the top-five longest PGA made cut streaks.

Course History
I tend to emphasize 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 Brandt Snedeker, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Charles Howell, Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Ryan Palmer, J.B. Holmes, and Billy Horschel.

Overall Statistics
My customized overall stat model measures all stats (driving, approach, short game, putting, etc…) from both a short-and-long-form standpoint. In terms of stats, the best golfers for my customized model this week (in ranked order) are Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, Tony Finau, Rory McIlroy, Si Woo Kim, Scottie Scheffler, Emiliano Grillo, Patrick Reed, and Hideki Matsuyama.

Official World Golf Ranking
All the statistics and course history are good to know, but sports (particularly DFS golf) often come 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 Jon Rahm (No. 2), Xander Schauffele (No. 6), Rory McIlory (No. 7), Patrick Reed (No. 11), Brooks Koepka (No. 12), Viktor Hovland (No. 14), Matthew Wolff (No. 15), Harris English (No. 16), Sungjae Im (No. 17), and Tony Finau (No. 20).

Favorite $11,000+ Plays

Rory McIlroy ($12,200)
There is nobody in the 11K range that I am opposed to playing, and I will scatter all of them into my MME builds. If not playing Rory or Rahm, I will probably lean more Tony Finau ($11,300) or Harris English ($11,100). However, I plan on playing a lot of Rory and Rahm and then going down to the 8-9K range. Rory just finished T3 in Dubai last week and was T5 at the Masters in his last PGA event. He has been T3 and T5 here the last two years. He is one of the best in the world, and I can’t bet against him.

Jon Rahm ($12,100)
Two wins and a runner-up in his last 11 starts, along with four other top-10 finishes. There is a reason he is the number two ranked golfer in the world. He was also runner-up here last year after a T5 in 2019. Oh yeah, he also won this event in 2017. I can’t fade him this week.

Favorite $10,000 Plays

Patrick Reed ($10,900)
Hopefully, a missed cut last week will keep some people off of the world’s 11th ranked player. This is a nice price for him. Reed can pop any week and is difficult to gauge on pure statistics. He is at his best when he is scrambling, getting creative, and draining putts. Before his missed cut last week, he had six top-15 finishes worldwide in his previous seven starts. In the last three years, he has finished T6-T13-T23 here.

Jason Day ($10,300)
I love this play if it looks like his ownership will be reasonable. Day loves this place as he’s won a couple of times and finished T16 last year and T5 the year before. He has flashed upside in the last year but has been rather inconsistent. He hasn’t played since the end of November, but hopefully, that means he is completely rested and ready to go. He had six top-10 finishes in the 2020 calendar year. I would also be interested in Sungjae Im ($10,700) and Adam Scott ($10,000) in this price range.

Favorite $9,000 Plays

Will Zalatoris ($9,900)
He hasn’t played since early December, but the guy is ultra-talented. In the 2020 calendar year, he had 16 top-20 finishes in only 21 starts. An amazing 13 of those resulted in top-10 finishes, as well. In his last six PGA events, he has finished in the top-10 three times. In his last 24 rounds played, he ranks fourth in total strokes gained. All of this to say that the guy is a stud, and I can’t wait to plug him into my lineups. He will be my highest owned golfer of the week.

Ryan Palmer ($9,600)
If Zalatoris doesn’t end up being my highest-owned golfer, it’ll be because Palmer is. He has finished T21-T13-T2 here for the last three years. Half of his last 12 PGA events have resulted in top-20 finishes, including a T4 against stacked fields at both the Tournament of Champions and the ZOZO. In the last 24 rounds played, he ranks sixth in the field in fantasy scoring and 15th in total strokes gained.

Sam Burns ($9,300)
I will go right back to Burns this week after he let a lot of people down with his missed cut. He hadn’t played in more than two months, and the rust was obvious, shooting a 77 in the first round. However, he rebounded the next day to shoot a 66. He hits it long and can get really hot with his putter. He’s made the cut here each of the last two years. Before his missed cut last week, he had nine made cuts and four top-20 finishes in his previous 11 starts. I will take the $1,000 price discount from last week. I love the 9K range and will also be considering Cam Smith ($9,700), Billy Horschel ($9,600), Gary Woodland ($9,300), Talor Gooch ($9,200), and Charles Howell ($9,100).

Favorite $8,000 Plays

Max Homa ($8,900)
The native Californian finished T9 here last year. He had a terrible Sunday last week at the American Express, falling from tied for first all the way down to T21, but I am willing to give him another chance. He is a sneaky long driver, which can be helpful this week. He got on a hot streak last year, starting with this event as he had four straight top-15 finishes. He showed a lot of life last week, and this could be the start of a good run of golf for Homa.

Doug Ghim ($8,100)
He missed the cut here last year but was T20 the year before. Ghim is coming off a T5 at the American Express last week, giving him his sixth top-25 finish in his last 10 starts. One of the best values on the board this week as he ranks 14th in total strokes gained and 17th in fantasy scoring in the last 24 rounds.

Doc Redman ($8,100)
This is a plug and play as far as I am concerned at this low of a price. He is an elite ball-striker and is just too cheap for his upside. He has three top-five finishes in his last nine events. Other 8K golfers I will be considering are John Huh ($8,800), Maverick McNealy ($8,600), Harold Varner ($8,600), Matt Jones ($8,400), Tom Hoge ($8,300), and Kramer Hickok ($8,000).

Favorite $7,000 Plays

I will be loading up on the 8K guys much more than risking it with the 7K golfers. However, guys I’ll be sprinkling into my MME builds will be Luke List ($7,900), Jhonattan Vegas ($7,700), Jimmy Walker ($7,200), Chase Seiffert ($7,200), and Kevin Tway ($7,000)

Check out the FREE betting guide for the Farmers Insurance Open at BettingPros

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 a 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.