Count me in as a person who will never be underweight on Scottie Scheffler ever again. Even with a seemingly imminent distraction looming over him like an albatross, he was simply masterful yet again in winning the RBC Heritage with ease. Over his last five events, the only tournament he did not win was when he shaved his beard and finished runner-up at Houston.
Oh, he had a five-foot putt skirt past the edge of the cup on the 72nd hole that would have forced a playoff with Stephan Jaeger and possibly linked one of the most dominant stretches in the history of golf. I will at least match the field from here on out. He’s that good.
This week affords Scheffler (and the rest of the PGA Tour) a reprieve from the almost tedious way he consumes the sport. The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is very unique. It is the only team event sanctioned during the season, making it loathsome to try and find an edge in DFS contests. Crinkle that model up and pitch it in the rubbish bin. Eighty pairs of golfers descend upon the Crescent City and your guess as to who will succeed is as good as any.
PGA DFS Advice & Picks: Zurich Classic of New Orleans (2024)
(Salary Prices Courtesy of DraftKings)
TPC Louisiana is a nice course. It is among the longest Pete Dye courses at over 7,400 yards, with a traditional par-72 on the card. The signature visual trickery and Bermuda surfaces are indeed present to signal Dye’s handiwork, but this is not as daunting as the other tracks on Tour that bear his mark.
Rounds one and three will see the teams play in a four ball (best ball) format. Each golfer will hole out their ball and card the best score between them on each hole. The second and fourth rounds are two ball (alternate shot) format. The pairs will exchange shots using the same ball until holed.
Birdie opportunities are as bountiful as they are precious in this tournament, especially in four ball. Converting on scoring chances is the most heavily weighted metric in the modeling I did. In two ball, I felt it was important to focus on teams with golfers whose styles are complimentary to their partner. There weren’t many pairs I fell in love with this week. It’s the perfect opportunity to risk less of your bankroll and roll with a fun (yet conservative) approach. From beignets to Bourbon Street, let’s dig in.
High-Priced ($9,000 & Above)
- Chalk Plays: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala/Will Zalatoris
- Chalk Fades: Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry, Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy, Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin
- Leverage Plays: Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama, Nicolai Hojgaard/Rasmus Hojgaard
Mid-Priced ($7,600 to $8,900)
- Chalk Plays: Doug Ghim/Chan Kim, Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak, Austin Eckroat/Chris Gotterup
- Chalk Fades: Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen, Daniel Berger/Victor Perez, Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith
- Leverage Plays: Taylor Montgomery/Ben Griffin, Kevin Yu/CT Pan, KH Lee/Michael Kim
Value-Priced ($7,500 & Below)
- Chalk Plays: Alex Smalley/Matthias Schmid, Parker Coody/Pierceson Coody
- Chalk Fades: Justin Lower/Dylan Wu, Nate Lashley/Rafael Campos, Jimmy Stanger/Adrien Dumont De Chassart
- Leverage Plays: Chandler Phillips/Jacob Bridgeman, Carson Young/Ben Martin, Thriston Lawrence/Aldrich Potgieter, Justin Suh/Rico Hoey
