Daily Fantasy Golf FanDuel Picks (PGA DFS) - 2021 U.S. Open

Joe Nicely breaks down the FanDuel slate for the 2021 U.S. Open, providing information of not only who will come into the week under-owned but also who should be avoided for your lineups.

Hello RotoBaller PGA crew! It's great to be back with you guys and I appreciate you joining us here at RotoBaller!

In this article we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges, breaking the groups down into "High", "Mid", and "Low" price options that are worth considering.

Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for FanDuel, whether that be from a GPP perspective or a cash-game mentality. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!

2021 U.S. Open - PGA DFS Overview

Torrey Pines South

7,685 Yards - Par 71 - Greens: Poa Annua - Designer: William F. Bell

Even though we see Torrey Pines on an annual basis for the Farmers Insurance Open, we can expect a completely different animal this week thanks to the USGA. Normally a Par-72, Torrey South will play to a Par of 71 for the U.S. Open. Obviously, the golf course is long, coming in at nearly 7,700 yards, with seven Par-4s of over 450-yards and all four Par-5s playing at 550-yards+.

In addition to the stretched-out length, we can expect some U.S. Open traditions to be in place, meaning tight fairways that are guarded by four-inch+ rough. In the case of Torrey this week, that means the unique (and nasty!) Kikuyugrass, a type of grass that's rarely seen on the PGA Tour and is generally found in Australia. Another unique feature that golfers will be faced at Torrey is Poa Annua greens, a putting surface that's typical on the West Coast, but is notoriously tricky.

We when start to dig into what stats to target for DFS purposes things get difficult. To be successful at Torrey Pines - and any U.S. Open environment for that matter - golfers must basically do everything well physically, while also holding up under the mental strain that is a trademark of the U.S. Open.

For an in-depth breakdown of this week's course, check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett!

Let's Look At The Stats

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
• Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
• Driving Distance
• Strokes Gained: Putting (Poa Annua)
• Bogey Avoidance
• Scrambling

Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for FanDuel (PGA DFS)

We have tons of great weekly PGA articles, DFS analysis, tools and DFS advice. Be sure to read our other fantastic articles regarding this week's event including DFS lineup picks for DraftKings/FanDuel, betting advice and DFS prop picks.

High-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays 

Jon Rahm ($12,200)

Jon Rahm holds the honors on FanDuel this week, coming in as the highest-priced player on the U.S. Open slate. It's with good reason, as Rahm brings both elite course history at Torrey Pines and sharp form into the week. If you have a pulse then you know what happened with Rahm at the Memorial, so we won't dive all the way into that barrel of snakes. While we're really guessing as to the impact the quarantine period will have on his game, if we assume he carries his Memorial form into this week, he'll be tough to handle. The Spaniard has been dominant throughout his career at Torrey Pines, posting a win in the 2017 Farmers, as well as three top-seven finishes in four subsequent starts at Torrey. After a couple of rocky U.S. Open outings early in his career, the 26-year-old has found his stride a bit in golf's toughest tournament, going T23-T3 in the last two U.S. Opens.

Brooks Koepka ($11,900)

There's no real way around discussing the man that's won two of the last four U.S. Opens. Brooks Koepka proved that he still has the infamous "Big Game Hunter" DNA with a deep run at the PGA Championship less than a month ago. That performance eases enough of our injury concerns to put him into serious consideration this week, though there is some concern about his lack of success/history at Torrey, as Koepka has missed the cut in two of his three career Farmers starts. I wouldn't look into that too much, as we can expect a fairly different version of Torrey this week and the FSU alum has repeatedly proven himself in golf's biggest and toughest events. Ability with the driver shouldn't go overlooked this week and Koepka grades out 10th in this field in SG: OTT over the last 24 rounds. His distance and overall toughness will be an asset on this golf course.

Bryson DeChambeau ($11,800)

Like the aforementioned Koepka (I bet these two would be mad if they knew I were comparing them), Bryson DeChambeau has a victory-laced U.S. Open resume and a flat-out ugly history at Torrey Pines. DeChambeau has missed the cut in both of his two career Farmers Insurance Open starts. However, like with Koepka, I'm not going to hold that against him too much, as distance has proven itself to be the great equalizer in recent U.S. Opens. Obviously, DeChambeau has that in spades (first in field SG: OTT & Driving Distance) and showcased just what an advantage prodigious length can be en route to his victory at Winged Foot last year. I expect that to once again be the case on this week's nearly 7,700-yard layout that's marked by tight fairways and gnarly Kikuyu-grass rough. It brings up the (admittedly oversimplified) question, "If everybody is missing the fairway, don't we want the guy that's the closest to the hole?"

Xander Schauffele ($11,400)

Schauffele's U.S. Open resume of the last five years is perhaps second only to two-time champion Brooks Koepka. X has incredibly posted top-six finishes in his each of his four career U.S. Open starts...not bad for an event that changes venues each year and is generally considered to be the most difficult golf tournament in the world.

His Farmer's track record isn't nearly as pristine and is much more complicated. Schauffele is a La Jolla native that played at Torrey Pines throughout his high school days, so it's pretty puzzling that he'd missed four cuts in five career Farmer's starts prior to logging a T2 in this year's edition. There are lots of narrative angles we can take when trying to figure out his struggles on the course - all of which are complete guesses - including being too relaxed in his hometown, feeling too much pressure in his hometown, the off-the-course obligations of dealing with family and friends, or the fact that the course plays much differently than he's used to when set up for professional events. Trying to make sense of it is speculative at best and a waste of time at worst, so I'll just focus on the fact that Schauffele posted a runner-up finish in his most recent start on a course he grew up playing.

Collin Morikawa & Viktor Hovland ($11,200 & $10,900)

It's probably not fair to either one of these guys, but I always seem to think of them as a pair, so that's how they are posted in this week's article. Both are young, yes, but Morikawa already has a major championship to his credit after winning the PGA at Harding Park last year and Hovland has quickly inserted himself into the conversation with a runner-up at Torrey earlier this year and top-13 finishes in each of his only two career U.S. Open starts. Neither are crazy-long off the tee, but both are long enough when we consider their elite ball-striking abilities.

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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays

Patrick Reed ($10,700)

There's no statistical reasoning for Patrick Reed being as good as he is - especially from a T2G perspective - but he somehow is always a factor in golf's biggest events. That's certainly been the case in the U.S. Open, as Reed has made the cut in six of his seven career starts in the national championship, posting a top-five and three top-15s over those appearances. He's also demonstrated an affinity for Torrey Pines. Reed won the Farmers (with a little controversy tossed in for fun) earlier this year and hasn't finished outside the top-25 in any career start at Torrey. He loves this course - and the spotlight of golf's biggest events - and will rely on his other-worldly short game to grind throughout the week.

Tony Finau ($10,600)

Tony Finau - fairly - catches a lot of flak for never actually winning events, but he has consistently been a rock-solid performer in the biggest events on the toughest layouts. He's posted a top-five result and a T8 over his last two U.S. Open starts while accumulating a ridiculous 50% top-10 rate in his 20 career major-championship starts. For how great he's been in major championships, Finau has been even better at Torrey Pines. He's recorded a stunning four top-six finishes in his last five trips to the San Diego course and heads into the week on the heels of top-10 performances in each of the year's first two majors.

Will Zalatoris ($10,400)

I usually prefer to lean towards experience in U.S. Opens, but Will Zalatoris is an exception to that rule. The rising superstar proved his major-championship mettle with a runner-up finish in this year's Masters, as well as top-10s in both last year's U.S. Open at Winged Foot and this year's PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Even though Willie Z only weighs about 120lbs. soaking wet, he's extremely long off the tee and his averaging just over 306 yards in Driving Distance this season. That prodigious length paid dividends at Torrey Pines earlier this year when Zalatoris posted a T7 in the Farmers.

Louis Oosthuizen ($10,000)

Perhaps our major championship mantra should just be, "Always play Louis."...It wouldn't be a bad strategy, as the South African consistently offers great DFS returns in golf's biggest events. His latest exploit was a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship last month. Oosthuizen has also thrived in the U.S. Open, amassing a 71.41 career scoring average in the event - the sixth-best average in the field among players with at least two U.S. Open starts - with four career top-10 finishes over 11 starts. Yes, there are some Tony Finau-like questions about his ability to actually win tournaments, but at this price, he certainly has the ability to please his DFS backers.

Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Justin Rose ($9,900)

Things start to get decidedly more dicey as we move down the salary scale, so I don't mind giving a veteran like Justin Rose a look. The Englishman has the accomplishment of being both a U.S. Open (2013) and Farmers Insurance Open (2020) champion...a nice collision of superlatives when the national championship is set to take place at Torrey Pines. Rose has consistently performed well in both the U.S. Open (a win and four top-10s) and the Farmers (win and two top-10s), and though he's been a mess statistically (Rose does check a couple of "Torrey Boxes"...he's been both good off the tee & leads the field in Three Putt Avoidance on Poa over the last 24 rounds) and from a consistency standpoint, he warrants GPP consideration in this spot.

Shane Lowry ($9,600)

Shane Lowry certainly doesn't check the "Distance" box that we're targeting this week, but the Irishman heads into the week with trending form, solid history at Torrey Pines, and a major-championship pedigree. Lowry is best known for his Open Championship victory at Portrush a couple of years ago, but he's also been in the mix in some U.S. Opens over the course of his career, going T9-T2 in 2015 & 2016. He comes in on the heels of a top-five finish at the PGA, as well as a pair of additional top-10s over his last four starts. Lowry hasn't played the Farmers in a few years, but he has sneaky-good course history at Torrey, posting a T7 in 2015 and a T13 in 2016 on the La Jolla track.

Max Homa ($9,000)

There's no need to sugarcoat it, Max Homa has not been good in major championships to this point in his career. However, Homa's two career wins have been on major-like golf courses in Quail Hollow and Riviera, which makes me think he has the game to handle majors. He's a Cali kid that's very familiar with Poa Annua greens and has posted a couple of encouraging results in his last two Farmers starts (T9-T18 in '20-'21). Homa is also coming in with some positive momentum on the heels of his best performance in over a month - a T6 at the Memorial two weeks ago.

Charley Hoffman ($9,000)

It's a little hard to believe that Charley Hoffman has been one of the best ball strikers in the world for the better part of 2021, but that's where we are. Hoffman grades out SECOND in this field in SG: Ball Striking over the last 24 rounds...ahead of guys like Justin Thomas and Corey Conners. The veteran also ranks fourth in SG: Approach over the same time frame. In addition to the ball striking form, the Californian has loads of experience both at Torrey (three career top-10s) and in the U.S. Open (made the cut in six of seven career starts).

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Our very own Joe Nicely took down a big DraftKings DFS tournament for the Travelers Championship. And as an encore, RotoBaller subscriber @tenndolly2 won $100K on FanDuel with the help of Joe and the rest of our Premium PGA team:

If you read my articles @RotoBaller or listen to @TheTurnGolfPod I’ve been telling y’all it was #WinningSeason when golf came back! Shoutout to the entire @RotoBallerPGA squad and all you guys that support my work for all the ❤️ pic.twitter.com/07a4ynvbSU

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