May 7, 2025
The absence of the world No. 1 leaves Rory McIlroy as the overwhelming favorite in Philadelphia this week. The current Masters champion has been the hottest player this season with three total victories. Until Scottie Scheffler's dominant performance at TPC Craig Ranch, he had been leading the PGA Tour in strokes gained from tee to green. He now sits second in that metric at an average of plus-1.725 while leading in strokes gained off the tee (plus-0.855). The 36-year-old also ranks ninth in strokes gained putting (plus-0.593), which is currently a career-best. Given the bigger fish on the plate in a week, a safe consensus is that McIlroy's focus likely won't be totally in Pennsylvania. And though playing him may never be a ship-sinking move, it might not be the most beneficial this particular week at $13,000 on FanDuel.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
April 22, 2025
Coming off his historic win at The Masters, Rory McIlroy will tee it up again with good pal, Shane Lowry, this week at TPC Louisiana. Much like McIlroy's route to two victories this season, he and Lowry won this event last season in a playoff over Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer. There isn't much to know about the layout this week other than that it rewards the long ball off the tee, which the Northern Irishman is one of the best in the world at. Leading the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee to green (+1.725), this formidable team is the undoubted favorite ahead of Thursday's opening round.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
April 9, 2025
Many years throughout Rory McIlroy's career have seemed ripe for him to capture a green jacket. Aside from the collapse in 2011, much of his inability to convert at Augusta has been from slow starts and poor play around the greens. In his last four starts at The Masters, McIlroy has lost strokes around the green in three of them; 2022 being the outlier, where he gained an average of +2.01 in this area and finished in solo second. The Northern Irishman has undoubtedly been the hottest player this season, with two wins already under his belt and leading the PGA Tour in total strokes gained average (+2.319). The work he's put into the mental side of his game is evident by the uncharacteristically strong start to the year and his recent performances in majors. Buying into the hype this year might honestly be worth it.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
March 26, 2025
There is no other way to explain the Rory McIlroy show making a stop in Houston this week than that he feels as close as he possibly ever has to winning a green jacket. It's certainly the hottest start to a season he's had in quite some time, coming off the second Players Championship win of his career and notching a victory at Pebble Beach earlier in the year. 2025 could very well be the year for the Northern Irishman, which draws concerns for him from a DFS perspective this week. At $13,200 on FanDuel, getting to his pricetag will be hard enough, but how serious he takes this week is another major concern. It feels like he's only a useful asset with a win, which doesn't seem like it would be of much importance given the bigger prize in a couple of weeks.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
RADIO
