Welcome back, RotoBallers! It was a fantastic 5-for-5 week for each of my highlighted prop sides last week at the Travelers Championship! I hope that means some readers won some cash over at Monkey Knife Fight. I'll be changing up the format marginally for these articles moving forward, as I'll highlight full More/Less or Rapidfire contests rather than one-off props that I like. Either way, let's hope the success continues so that you all can keep raking in the cash over at MKF.
Using my PGA DFS and betting research for both DraftKings and handicapping, I'll look into some of the Monkey Knife Fight prop bets for the Rocket Mortgage Classic to see which posted numbers make sense to take a stand on. You can use this advice to place your own wagers on MKF. As always, send any questions, comments, or banter my way on Twitter. You can find me @BellRoto.
Now let's get to some PGA Monkey Knife Fight prop bet picks for the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club!
Editor's Note: Here's a great special offer for all RotoBaller readers from our Monkey Knife Fight friends: New AND Existing Player Bonus. All players receive a 100% matched signup or reload bonus up to $50 with code 'BALLER'. Sign up and deposit now!
Pick 1: More or Less (5x Prize)
Birdies or Better: Hideki Matsuyama LESS than 19.5
Matsuyama looked about as bad as you could imagine in his debut since the layoff at the RBC Heritage where he missed the cut. The putter is always a question mark with this boom/bust player, but the driver and irons were suspect as well. There may not be a more streaky player in the PGA, but I still want to see more before I go asking for 20 birdies from Matsuyama. I'll take the under for now.
Birdies or Better: Bryson DeChambeau MORE than 19.5
DeChambeau hasn't finished outside of the Top 8 since February 2nd. His game is all-around impressive from the tee to his putter, and he's one of the best scorers on tour right now. This is an easy course with very get-able Par 5 holes. I expect a Top 5 finish from Bryson, so 20 birdies or better is a solid expectation.
Birdies or Better: Tony Finau MORE than 19.5
Finau's game looked a little off this past week at the Travelers Championship, and he missed the cut on the number (-3) as a result. Even still, we know Finau has the potential to fill up a scorecard very quickly when he makes the cut and gets to the weekend. While we can expect some lapse and a handful of bogeys, the four Par 5s and relatively easy Par 4s make me think the Utah native can get to this number as long as he makes the cut.
Pick 2: Rapidfire (20x Prize)
More Birdies or Better: Bryson DeChambeau (+0.5) over Hideki Matsuyama
See analysis above...
More Birdies or Better: Tony Finau over Rickie Fowler (+0.5)
See analysis above... Still don't trust Rickie Fowler coming off two poor showings.
More Birdies or Better: Webb Simpson (+0.5) over Aaron Wise
This matchup simply makes no sense to me. We have a current Top 7 player in the world up against a volatile kid who barely makes cuts. I suppose it's possible that Simpson has an off week coming off a precautionary week off, but I find that very unlikely. Don't over think this: Simpson is the play over Wise.
More Birdies or Better: Patrick Reed over Jason Day (+0.5)
I'm not a huge Reed fan this week, but I can respect the fact that he's a very streaky scorer. The bogeys come in bunches, but he starts rolling in long putts a few times over the course of a weekend too. Meanwhile, Day's game still needs work, and he's more of a par-focused golfer with less birdie streaks. I think Reed is the easy choice here.
More Birdies or Better: Rory Sabbatini over Brandt Snedeker (+0.5)
Snedeker's around-the-green game saved him from a missed cut last week. That typically doesn't lead to a plethora of birdies and scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, Sabbatini has shown time and time again that he's a professional iron player, especially on Donald Ross courses like Detroit Golf Club. Sabbatini's putter has also looked much better over his first two events since the PGA Tour took a break. I think the South African takes this matchup in Detroit.