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Joe Nicely digs into his PGA DFS Core Four for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, an article that provides DraftKings daily fantasy golf lineup selections.
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Hello RotoBallers and thanks for joining me for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am! In this article you will find my four favorite overall DraftKings DFS lineup plays for this week's PGA tournament.
The 'Core Four' will usually be spread across different DraftKings price points, but every week in PGA DFS is different and this article will reflect that by trying to give you an overall outlook of how the slate is shaping up. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!
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AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Notes
Full disclosure...this isn't my favorite tournament of the year. It's really a shame, because Pebble Beach is one of the finest golf courses this country has to offer. Unfortunately, instead of just letting some of the best players in the world go at it for four rounds on a great golf course, this event uses a Pro-Am format, which means tedious six-hour rounds and lots of Larry The Cable Guy during the TV coverage. We're also back to a three-course rotation similar to what we saw at the American Express a few weeks ago and we'll have a 54-hole cut instead of the usual 36-hole routine.
Because of the 54-hole cut nature of this event, our first DFS instinct is to get aggressive. There's certainly some players at the top of the salary scale that we would love to get exposure to, like DJ, Patrick Cantlay, and Paul Casey...the problem is that there's not a ton to love in the value range, which makes "Stars & Scrubs" a dicey (though viable in GPPs) proposition. Due to the lack of great value plays that jump out, I find myself leaning towards a more balanced approach this week in single-entry builds, as there are some really solid options scattered throughout the mid-range.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week.
Branden Grace - DraftKings: $9,300
I certainly didn't start this week with Branden Grace in mind. He's a player that I haven't rostered in quite a while, but I've warmed up to the South African throughout my research process this week. Grace looked completely lost for the better part of 2019 and played progressively worse as the year wore on. However, he seems to have figured something out over the short winter break, as he's entered 2020 on fire.
Grace took down the South African Open to kick off the year and has looked sharp in appearances in Abu Dhabi and Phoenix. He gained over five strokes on approach at the Waste Management last week and heads to an AT&T event in which he's logged solid finishes of T28 and T20 over the last two years. I think it's also safe to consider Grace a bit contrarian this week - as he's not really popping in any ownership projections that I've seen - and he's a unique way to gain leverage on a slate where I think we'll see a lot of concentrated ownership
Daniel Berger - DraftKings: $8,900
This is the second-straight week that Daniel Berger has been a member of the Core Four. He played well for us last week in Phoenix, scoring a top-10 finish with blistering weekend rounds of 66 and 67. Berger hasn't played this event in a few years, but logged a T10 in the 2015 AT&T.
As I mentioned last week, this is a player that was once considered a true rising star on the PGA Tour, but injuries have derailed that trajectory. The 26-year-old appears to be getting back on track and has made six of seven cuts in the new season while averaging two strokes gained T2G over his last five tournaments. Berger is a Poa specialist and I expect another strong outing this week.
Russell Knox - DraftKings: $8,600
Russell Knox has been good to me this year, so I'm very content to go back to the well this week. I'm always interested in Knox on shorter layouts and this event's three courses that all come in at less than 7,000 yards qualifies in a big way. Knox's game has translated very well in the AT&T and he's logged two top-15 finishes in this event over the last two years.
He heads to Pebble in sharp form with top-25s in his last two starts. Knox hasn't missed a cut since September and has gained strokes both T2G and on Approach in every subsequent start. All in all, just a really solid play at a reasonable price point.
Jim Furyk - DraftKings: $7,800
We're gonna break ol' Jimmy out of his winter slumber this week. Like Russell Knox, Furyk is a player that I'm always interested in rostering on shorter layouts. He's played well in this event, with a T7 and a T14 on his AT&T resume in three starts since 2015.
The veteran was last seen grinding out top-25s back in the fall and he gained a massive 6.7 strokes on Approach in his last start at the RSM Classic. It was - get this - the 11th-straight tournament in which he gained strokes with his irons. So while the rust factor is a bit of a concern with Furyk this week, I love his grind-it-out style, sharp iron play, and excellent Poa putting splits at $7.8k.
