Hello RotoBaller PGA crew! It's great to be back with you guys and I appreciate you joining us here at RotoBaller for another Swing Season event. This week the PGA Tour travels to beautiful Bermuda for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the Bermuda Championship. 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!
Butterfield Bermuda Championship - PGA DFS Overview
Port Royal Golf Course
6,828 Yards - Par 71 - Greens: Bermuda - Designer: Robert Trent Jones
At just over 6,800 yards, Port Royal is one of the shortest golf courses that we regularly see on the PGA Tour. As a result, we've seen a pair of "short knockers" in Brendon Todd & Brian Gay take down the first two editions of the Bermuda Championship. It's not that long hitters can't play well here (Wyndham Clark lost in a playoff to Gay last year), it's the fact that this golf course brings the entire field into play that makes it tough for DFS purposes. Port Royal offers unique sightlines and demands accuracy off the tee. There's no rough to speak of, but players need to be in the proper position off the tee in order to attack greens on their approach shots. As if this course wasn't already unique enough due to its length, we must also consider the fact that it is located on the Atlantic coastline of Bermuda and wind is often an obstacle as a result. Players saw gusts of 20-25 mph over the weekend in last year's edition and it showed in the scoring, as Brian Gay won at 15-under par, compared to Brendon Todd's winning total of 24-under in 2019.
It all adds up to a focus on players that are accurate off the tee, sharp iron players, and great Bermuda grass putters. I'll also lean towards those that have some course experience under their belts, have historically performed well on short layouts, and have a history of being good wind players.
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
Stat | Port Royal GC | Tour Average |
Driving Distance | N/A | 282 |
Driving Accuracy | 51% | 62% |
GIR Percentage | 64% | 65% |
Scrambling Percentage | 59% | 57% |
Average Three-Putts Per Round | 0.56 | 0.55 |
Key Stats
- Driving Accuracy
- Good Drives Gained
- SG: Approach
- Par-3 Scoring
- SG: Putting (Bermuda)
- History In Windy Conditions
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
Mito Pereira ($11,600)
With all due respect to Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Reed, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, their placement atop this week's FanDuel salary scale speaks to just how truly weak this Bermuda Championship field is. This Port Royal layout tends to produce some unexpected winners due to its short length and windy conditions that can pop up. As a result, I'll be skipping the tip-top of the board and starting lots of rosters with Mito Pereira. Pereira has been a revelation since earning a "Battlefield Promotion" from the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this year. He's posted three top-six finishes in just eight starts on the PGA Tour. The Chilean blows the rest of this field away statistically, ranking first in the field in SG: Total, T2G, Ball Striking, & Approach over the last 24 rounds.
Seamus Power ($11,500)
Seamus Power is one of the few "high-priced options" with two Bermuda starts under his belt - he's gone T37-T31 in his previous trips to Port Royal - and he also comes in having displayed some nice form in his most recent start. Power gained 6.5 strokes on Approach en route to a T21 at the Shriners two weeks ago. That success with the irons was a hallmark of Power's 2021 surge that included a victory and multiple top-10 finishes, as he gained strokes on Approach in six consecutive starts in the lead-up to his win at the Barbasol Classic. His precision at the Shriners in his most recent start would indicate that the irons are once again firing, a nice sign as he heads to a Bermuda event in which he has experience.
Hayden Buckley ($11,200)
I'm a sucker for the young guns and I'm prepared to go down in flames with Hayden Buckley this week. A KFT graduate, Buckley has already made an impact during his short time in the big leagues, posting a top-five at the Sanderson Farms and a T8 in his most recent start at the Shriners. A cause for concern would be if he'd logged these results simply due to a hot putter, but the Mizzou alum gained 5.8 strokes T2G at the Sanderson and 6.7 T2G at the Shriners, which tells me that his hot start on the PGA Tour is no fluke and could very well continue this week in Bermuda.
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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Denny McCarthy ($10,100)
To a certain extent, it's fair to label the Bermuda Championship a putting contest, which probably explains why Denny McCarthy has had so much success in this event. D-Mac has gone T4-T15 in two previous trips to Port Royal, a golf course that doesn't demand distance or tremendous ball striking and places a premium on Bermuda putting. He's honestly horrible by every statistical metric from T2G but is legitimately a top-five putter on the PGA Tour. McCarthy grades out third in this field in SG: Putting on Bermuda grass greens over the last 50 rounds and routinely finishes near the top of the Tour in SG: Putting every season.
Russell Knox ($9,800)
Knox has been tremendous in his two Bermuda starts and this Port Royal layout is a terrific fit for his game...short and coastal. He's thrived not only at Port Royal, but at similar courses such as Harbour Town and Pebble Beach. He's battled a balky putter recently (big shock), though his game has been in sharp form from T2G, as he's gained strokes on Approach in seven of his last eight starts. He'll need to make a few putts, but I really like the form, fit, and experience that Knox brings to the table this week.
Ryan Armour ($9,700)
Ryan Armour at Port Royal is like Jordan Spieth at Augusta National. Ok, maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but Armour has proven to be bulletproof in his two previous trips to Bermuda, posting a tidy pair of T8s. He undoubtedly fits the Brendon Todd & Brian Gay mold, as he's extremely short off the tee, but grades out second in this week's field in Fairways Gained over the last 50 rounds. The veteran also happens to be an excellent Bermuda grass putter and solid iron player. Sound familiar?
Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players
Nick Hardy ($9,400)
Another one of my "youngins" from the KFT, Nick Hardy is a player with big pro prospects. A star at the University of Illinois, Hardy needed a bit of seasoning on the KFT, but appears ready to spread his wings on the PGA Tour. In his two starts of the new season, he's gained over four strokes T2G in each, while also finishing with positive splits both OTT and on Approach. If we measure just the last 12 rounds, Hardy ranks seventh in this Bermuda field in SG: T2G and Good Drives Gained, in addition to grading out second in GIRs.
Hank Lebioda ($9,400)
A very intriguing combination of elite course history and not-too-long-ago form. Hank Lebioda has gone T16-T3 in his prior starts in the Bermuda Championship and his career SG: Total of 20.08 in the event trails only Brian Gay and Ryan Armour. In addition to the fit at Port Royal, Lebioda flashed some excellent form down the stretch of the 2020-21 season, running off a stretch of three consecutive top-eight finishes across June and July. Unfortunately, that play hasn't carried over to the fall, as he's missed the cut in both of his starts of the new season. Sometimes comfortability with a layout can bring about good play and I'm willing to bet that something clicks for Hammerin' Hank at Port Royal this week.
Alex Smalley ($9,200)
Alex Smalley is by no means a sure thing this week, but I would argue that he is noticeably underpriced when we consider the overall weakness of this Bermuda field. Smalley was considered a "can't miss" prospect when coming out of Duke University in 2019, but he, unfortunately, stumbled out of the gate in his professional career and suffered a further setback due to COVID. He's now back on track and clinched his PGA Tour with a strong performance in the KFT Finals. Smalley has looked extremely comfortable at the pro level and has made the cut in four of his last five starts across the KFT and PGA Tours with a T4 and a T15 among those outings.
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