RADIO
Joe Nicely previews the 2020 fantasy golf season for PGA DFS, breaking down the top 50 PGA Tour players. Today he looks at the #41-50 ranked golfers (OWGR).
Hello RotoBallers and PGA DFS fans! While we're currently smack dab in the middle of winter, the PGA Tour will be cranking back up before you know it. With the "Hawaii Swing" kicking off in January, we'll take the next couple of weeks to preview some of the top ranked golfers that we'll be seeing a lot of in PGA DFS tournaments in the upcoming year.
For the purposes of this preview we'll be discussing the OWGR's Top 50 ranked players. We'll tackle 10 players in each part of the preview and get started today with golfers 41 through 50. Thanks for joining me here at RotoBaller! Let's dive in!
You can find out who the smart money is on every week of the PGA Tour season by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report right here at RotoBaller!
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OWGR #50: Keegan Bradley
2019 Player Notes: Made 20 of 25 cuts with three Top-10s. Finished season ranked 19th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 178th in SG: Putting
The most predictable thing about Keegan Bradley is that he's always unpredictable. That's not just a play on words, as I can't think of another golfer that opens tournaments by shooting 64-76 as often as Keegs, which makes him frequently worth GPP consideration, but rarely in the cash game conversation.
2019 was a decent year for Bradley, as he was surprisingly consistent...making 20 of 25 cuts with three top-10 finishes. He's a tremendous ball striker and horrible putter, which tells us we can expect more of the same for him in 2020: lots of erratic play with a couple of very strong finishes on the weeks that he finds his putting stroke.
#49: Erik van Rooyen
2019 Player Notes: European Tour player. One victory (Euro Tour) in 2019, Top-10 PGA Championship, Top-20 Open Championship
The South African isn't available to us very often, as he spends the vast majority of his time on the Euro Tour, but "EVR" worked his way into lots of my rosters in 2019 when he was available in major championships and WGC events. He didn't disappoint, logging a T8 at the PGA Championship and his second-consecutive top-20 finish in the Open Championship.
EVR is a tremendous ball striker that battles a balky putter. He finished 2019 ranked 12th in GIR % on the Euro Tour, but just 137th in Putts Per GIR. Hopefully we'll see him on the PGA Tour a little more often in 2020, as van Rooyen is definitely a player that should be on your DFS radar in the upcoming year.
#48: Adam Hadwin
2019 Player Notes: Made 19 of 24 cuts with five Top-10s. Two Top-5s during Fall Season. Earned President's Cup captain's pick.
Hadwin returned to solid form this year after a rather sleepy 2018. The Canadian made 19 of 24 cuts in 2019 with five top-10 finishes. He saved his best for last, as he ran off two-straight top-five outings during the Fall Swing. Hadwin isn't long off the tee and finished just 119th on the PGA Tour in Driving Distance, but he is extremely accurate with the driver and ranked 32nd on the Tour in Driving Accuracy Percentage last year.
This combination eliminates Hadwin from DFS consideration some weeks, as the layouts on the PGA Tour get longer and longer, but we can still target him on shorter tracks that require precision off the tee.
#47: Andrew Putnam
2019 Player Notes: Made 18 of 23 cuts with three Top-10s. Finished the season ranked fifth on PGA Tour in SG: Putting.
Putnam followed up a win at the Barracuda in 2018 with a very solid year in 2019. One of the best putters on Tour, Putnam finished the season ranked fifth in SG: Putting en route to making 18 of 23 cuts with three top-10 finishes.
Despite averaging just 281-yards off the tee, Putnam still ranked 18th in Birdie Average...which means that he's in play for us on the right type of tracks. We want to target Putnam on shorter layouts where his strong iron play and putting stroke will be of the utmost importance.
#46: Victor Perez
2019 Player Notes: European Tour member, won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
The 27-year-old Frenchman vaulted into the OWGR Top-50 on the strength of his win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in September. Perez finished out the year strong, winning the Dunhill and then losing in a playoff at the Turkish Airlines Open in November.
He is a full-time Euro Tour member, so we won't see him in available on DK's PGA offerings very often outside of perhaps some WGC events or major championships for which he qualifies.
#45: Brandt Snedeker
2019 Player Notes: Made 24 of 27 cuts with six Top-10s. Top-five finish at the PLAYERS. Ranked third in SG: Around the Green & 12th in SG: Putting.
Another solid season for Sneds, as he logged six top-10 finishes despite his less-than-stellar ball striking...an issue he tried to address when he reunited with his old coach earlier in the year. It paid dividends, as he recorded top-five outings at the PLAYERS, the RBC Canadian Open, the Rocket Mortgage, and the BMW Championship. Great short game as evidenced by his ranking of third on the TOUR in SG: Around the Green and 12th in SG: Putting.
His lack of length is a true hindrance on some of the schedule's stretched out tracks, which makes him a player that we can avoid when sharp ball striking and distance off the tee is needed. We can comfortably target Sneds on courses where he's previously performed well and that don't require distance with the driver, as well as any tournaments where we expect lots of wind and bad weather, as he remains one of the best "mudders" in the game.
#44: Bubba Watson
2019 Player Notes: Made 14 of 19 cuts with three Top-10s. Third in SG: Off the Tee, sixth in Driving Distance, and 167th in SG: Putting
It was kind of a typical year for Bubba...erratic play with some strong finishes on courses that he likes mixed in. Started the year strong and played really well during the stretch between the Waste Management and the Masters by recording two top-five finishes in that timeframe, but his game fell off a cliff after Augusta, as he only logged one top-25 the rest of the season.
It seems like there have been some big things happening off the course for Bubba over the last couple of years - though we've never received a clear explanation of what exactly is going on - and he played a really limited schedule down the stretch in 2019. Lots of questions surrounding Watson as we head into 2020, which will make me very reluctant on him. That said, he's streaky and is capable of getting hot at any time, and he's always worth a look on "Bubba tracks" if he finds any type of form.
#43: Jordan Spieth
2019 Player Notes: Made 19 of 23 cuts with four Top-10s. Second in SG: Putting and 157th in SG: Tee to Green.
Whewww, there's a lot to unpack here. My initial thought is that I can't believe that Jordan Spieth is all the way down to 43rd in the OWGR, but 2019 was the second-straight year that he struggled. There are a couple of positives to take away from the season for Spieth...he rediscovered his pure putting stroke to finish second on the Tour in SG: Putting and was very good overall around the greens.
He also finished the season ranked 10th in Birdie Average, despite routinely spraying the ball all over the yard. Spieth proved that he's still a gamer even without his best stuff, as he recorded top-25 finishes at both the Masters and the Open, in addition to a strong T3 effort at the PGA. The bad? He's still wildly inconsistent throughout the bag. His struggles with the driver are REAL and his iron play has been downright ugly, as he ranked just 152nd on Tour in Proximity to the Hole. It's anybody's guess as to what to expect from Spieth in 2020, but I look for more of the same...lots of inconsistency with some bright spots on weeks that he puts it all together.
If any of you have ever struggled with your golf swing then you have some idea of what Spieth is going through - and I truly believe he is completely in the weeds with his swing right now - but he did enough good things last year to give me hope for a re-emergence at some point. I look for him to continue struggling with consistency, but I wouldn't be at all shocked if he randomly popped up to contend in a major championship this season.
#42: Byeong Hun An
2019 Player Notes: Made 19 of 22 cuts with three Top-10s. First in SG: Around the Greens, seventh SG: T2G, and 182nd SG: Putting.
Since we just discussed Jordan Spieth, it jumps out at me that Benny An is basically Spieth's polar opposite...he's a tremendous ball striker, but a truly horrible putter. Despite his struggles on the greens, it was a strong year for An, who put himself in the weekend mix in several tournaments this season and logged three top-10s, in addition to making 19 of 22 cuts (though I think I had him in DraftKings lineups for all three of those missed cuts!).
He's helped by silky play around the greens and ended the year ranked first on Tour in that Strokes Gained category. It isn't hard to envision An taking another leap forward in 2020 if he can get things figured out with the flatstick, as he's the prototype for what a modern PGA Tour player needs to be: very long off the tee, a tremendous ball striker, and great around the greens.
#41: Ian Poulter
2019 Player Notes: Made 15 of 18 cuts with six Top-10s. 12th in Total Putting and 106th in Total Driving.
Ian Poulter basically "Ian Poulter'd" his way through 2019...playing really solid, if unspectacular, golf. He did notch an impressive six top-10 finishes and narrowly missed a top-10 at the Masters. The Englishman has all the trappings of a "veteran"; he's consistent, a great putter, and has a difficult time keeping up with the longer (and younger) players on the Tour.
He seemed to find his way into lots of lineups for me this season, as he felt consistently under priced on DraftKings. Like some of the other short-ish hitters on Tour, we can consider him on shorter layouts and tracks where he's previously performed well. I expect more of the same from Poulter in 2020, though you do have to wonder when the 43-year-old will start slowing down a bit.
