Daily Fantasy Golf FanDuel Picks (PGA DFS) - THE PLAYERS Championship

Joe Nicely breaks down the FanDuel slate for THE PLAYERS Championship, 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 PLAYERS 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, as well as a couple of GPP Value Plays 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!

THE PLAYERS Championship - PGA DFS Overview

TPC Sawgrass - Stadium Course

7,189 Yards - Par 72 - Greens: Bermuda - Designer: Pete Dye

At just under 7,200 yards, the Stadium Course is one of the shortest layouts these players face on the PGA Tour schedule, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in bite. The Pete Dye design that opened in 1982 has endured as one of the trickiest courses in the world. In true Dye fashion, it's a second shot golf course with danger lurking everywhere in the form of water hazards and bunkers.

This layout was specifically designed to not favor any one style of play, so we see holes of varying length in Par 3's, 4's, and 5's, doglegs that go both left and right, with no two consecutive holes playing in the same direction. THE PLAYERS' most iconic hole is, of course, the Par-3 17th 'Island Hole'. The 17th is short, but its psychological impact on players in key moments makes it difficult. A recent update to TPC Sawgrass now has the 12th hole playing as a driveable Par-4 with water in play to raise the risk/reward stakes.

With TPC Sawgrass being such a balanced course, it's tough to give the edge to one type of player this week. While we can normally classify courses as a 'bomber' track or an 'accuracy' layout, we have no such luxury this week. I will say that I'm not giving the distance guys their usual bump this week. I'm targeting ball strikers with strong approach games that are solid from tee to green. I will also consider a player's short game strength and ability to avoid bogeys, as big numbers are seemingly lurking everywhere at TPC Sawgrass. It's always hard to predict putting, but this week's winner will need to get hot with the flatstick on these fast bermuda-grass greens. I will also lean towards those in the field that have some PLAYERS experience, as this track can be brutal on first timers

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: T2G
• Total Driving
• Scrambling
• Bogey Avoidance
• Par 4 Scoring (Emphasis on 450-500 yards)

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 Players 

Rory McIlroy ($11,800)

I don't remember an instance in the past year when I've not led off this article with Dustin Johnson when he's on the slate. While I respect DJ and firmly believe he's very capable of winning this week (or any other week), TPC Sawgrass isn't my favorite layout for his game. The same can be said for the second player on the salary scale, last week's winner, Bryson DeChambeau. As a result, I'm kicking things off with Rory McIlroy, the "official" defending champion of The Players. McIlroy turned in a "vintage" performance last week at Bay Hill, opening with a 66 and closing with a 76 to finish T10 in the API. It's pretty obvious that everything isn't clicking for Rory at the moment - he's admitted as much himself when speaking to the media - but despite that fact, he's still a very intriguing option on this TPC Sawgrass layout. After struggling on this course to begin his career, McIlroy has made the cut in six of his last seven Players starts with a win and three top-10s. Things aren't clicking until they are, and with a player of Rory's caliber things can all come together at any moment.

Xander Schauffele ($11,400)

TPC Sawgrass is notoriously tough on first timers, but Xander Schauffele was an exception to that rule, posting a runner-up finish in his Players debut in 2018. In an illustration of just how finnicky this Pete Dye layout can be, Schauffele promptly missed the Players cut in his 2019 return visit. Despite the Jekyll & Hyde track record - a common them at Sawgrass - the Californian is exactly the type of golfer that I'm targeting this week. The X-Man is excellent in all facets of the game and is consistently able to make up for any shortcomings in one area by excelling in another. This jack-of-all-trades style is what's demanded on this golf course and Schauffle's two runner-up finishes in 2021 indicate that he's on the verge of a big win.

Collin Morikawa ($11,300)

Despite being President of the Collin Morikawa Fan Club, I somehow missed the boat at the WGC-Workday Championship. I suppose it was the putter-grip change and subsequent horrific stats on the greens at Riviera that kept me away, but his supernatural Approach numbers at Genesis (+7.5) should have been a sign that his ball striking was dialed up to 11. Morikawa proceeded to play even better with his irons en route to victory at the WGC, gaining a gargantuan 9.6 strokes on Approach, while dramatically improving on the greens. It's a great reminder that ball striking truly conquers all and that putting can - and often does - change on a dime at the professional level. So while we can't rely on his putter staying hot this week, the youngster's iron play will give a huge leg up on this Sawgrass layout that demands precision. He doesn't have an official Players start under his belt, but fired an impressive opening-round 68 in last year's cancelled tournament.

Webb Simpson ($11,200)

I won't spend tons of time on Webb Simpson other than to say he's one of my favorite plays on the board this week. He's unbelievably consistent from week to week and year to year, both overall and in this event. Simpson dominated TPC Sawgrass en route to a Players Championship victory in 2018 and that win is bookended by T16s in 2017 and '19. He brings veteran savvy to the table, as well as a steady overall game that's allowed him to gain strokes T2G in 13 of his last 14 starts. Webb isn't as flashy as some of the other elite options, but he's a rock-solid piece to build around this week.

Patrick Cantlay ($11,100)

Let's start by saying that Patrick Cantlay will most likely be the highest-owned golfer on this slate. So there is leverage to be gained by fading him in GPPs. However, it is so difficult to ignore what a great fit he appears to be this week. His Players track record is solid - two top-25s in three career starts - and he comes to Ponte Vedra in razor-sharp form, having posted two top-three finishes in his last three starts. He leads this ultra-elite field in SG: Total over the last 12 rounds, while his Swiss-Army ability to do everything well is exactly what's called for on this tricky Pete Dye layout. So much to like here and the only argument I can make for an outright fade is based on GPP game theory due to his expected ownership.

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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Viktor Hovland ($10,900)

Like his young-gun twin Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland doesn't have an official Players start on his resume, but like Morikawa, Hovland fired an opening-round 68 in last year's cancelled Players. While that's a teeny-tiny sample size, it's enough to confirm something we already suspected...Hovland undoubtedly has the ball-striking tools needed to succeed on this Sawgrass layout. He ran off the rails a bit last weekend at Bay Hill, going 77-78 in tough conditions to plummet down the API leaderboard. Is it cause for concern? I don't think it is, especially when taking into account Hovland's recent form. He'd went T2-T6-T5-T2 in his four starts leading up to the API and he grades out third in this Players field in SG: Ball Striking over the last 12 rounds.

Hideki Matsuyama ($10,500)

A rare course-history unicorn at TPC Sawgrass, Matsuyama's Players track record is phenomenal. He's made the cut in five of six career starts with two top-eights and three top-25s. The Japanese superstar posted a blistering first-round 63 to tie the low-round tournament record in last year's cancelled Players. After a truly sluggish start to 2021, 'Deki has quietly been rounding into form over the last couple of weeks. He's gained strokes both T2G and on Approach in each of his last two starts, both of which have resulted in top-20 finishes. It sounds weird with his course history, but Matsuyama's ho-hum form this year might actually allow us to catch him coming in under the radar.

Tommy Fleetwood ($10,200)

I was hoping we could sneakily roster Tommy Fleetwood this week, but an eye-catching T10 last week at Bay Hill will drastically inflate his ownership. The Englishman is nonetheless a very strong option this week, as he's been consistently great in Florida as a whole, as well as at TPC Sawgrass. Fairway Jesus has made the cut in all three of his career Players starts and went T7-T5 in his last two outings at Sawgrass. He always seems to be a popular DFS play and that will only intensify this week, so he's similar to Patrick Cantlay in that we might want to consider an ownership-motivated fade in large-field GPPs.

Jason Day ($10,000)

Wahoo!!! Jason Day played at Bay Hill last week and didn't WD to go to Disney Land! The Aussie was actually playing well too before tumbling down the API leaderboard with a brutal final-round 79. I've been very selective about when to roster J-Day for the past couple of years due to his well-known WD history, but I'm willing to consider him in this spot. He's been in solid form as of late, posting a T7 at Pebble Beach and a top-20 at the WGC-Workday, and he's a former Players winner that's logged top-eight finishes in each of his last two trips to the Stadium Course. This one isn't without risk, but I'm intrigued with getting some Day exposure in GPPs.

Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Joaquin Niemann ($9,800)

Playing Sawgrass "first timers" probably isn't a terrific strategy this week, as the course is notoriously tough on new players. However, rules are made to be broken and Joaquin Niemann simply feels too cheap in this spot. Niemann logged a 73 in last year's unofficial Players first round, so there is a tiny bit of familiarity with the layout, though what I'm more drawn to is the Chilean's 2021 form. He logged runner-up finishes in each of his first two starts this year, while also flashing at both the Genesis and WGC before falling victim to one bad round in each. Niemann grades out sixth in this field in SG: T2G over the last 24 rounds and while the (legitimate) knock on him is his short game, he's actually gained strokes around the green in all four of his starts this year.

Will Zalatoris ($9,600)

Another player making his Players Championship debut, but another great spot to simply bet on talent. Will Zalatoris just continues to defy expectations and impress. Zalatoris dominated on the KFT throughout 2020 and a T10 on a very tough Bay Hill layout last week brought his top-10 grand total on the PGA Tour to five. Five top-10s since September! The kid has displayed the ability to handle the toughest of layouts and grades out eighth in this elite field in SG: T2G over the last 24 rounds. His lack of Sawgrass experience could certainly bite him this week, though I love the upside we're able to grab at $9.6k.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($9,500)

The man with the long name is something of an unknown commodity to casual American fans, but the South African has been consistently posting strong results internationally over the last couple of years. Bezuidenhout has three Euro Tour wins on his resume and has looked good in just two U.S. starts this year, most recently posting a T7 last week at the API. His calling card is his short game - a trait that we're bumping up in importance this week - and he ranks second in this Players field in SG: Short Game over the last 24 rounds. Bezuidenhout fired an opening-round 65 in last year's cancelled Players, an indicator that he's yet another international golfer that has a chance for success on this layout.

Max Homa ($9,200)

Riding the recent form here with Max Homa, a fan favorite that posted a huge win at Riviera a few weeks ago. The Genesis victory certainly sticks out on his resume, but Homa had actually been playing very good golf before that win and has continued to impress in his two post-Genesis starts. The drawback here is his lack of Players Championship experience. However, it's tough to ignore a player that grades out fourth in the field in SG: Total over the last 24 rounds for just $9.2k.

GPP Value Options

Chris Kirk ($8,800)

Loved him last week and love him this week. Chris Kirk entered last week's API with a lot of trending factors and delivered a stout T8 at Bay Hill. The same can be said of the UGA alum this week, as he's got three top-13 finishes on his TPC Sawgrass resume. He gained strokes in every major statistical category last week and has gained strokes T2G in four of his five 2021 starts.

Ian Poulter ($8,700)

Ian Poulter is past the point of blowing us away statistically, but this is a cheap way to grab a veteran with lots of Players experience under his belt. The Englishman is twice a runner-up at TPC Sawgrass and is a player that's historically been able to gear up for the biggest events on the schedule. Looked solid with a T26 at Bay Hill last week.

Emiliano Grillo ($8,500)

It is never not gross when you roster Emiliano Grillo, but I'll have a sliver of GPP exposure this week. He's been surprisingly good in The Players, making the cut in three of his four previous starts. The Argentinian owns a 70.93 career scoring average at TPC Sawgrass. Grillo comes into the week with some trending form, having logged top-25 finishes in three of his last four starts, including a T21 on last week's brutal Bay Hill layout.

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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:

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