FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – Wells Fargo Championship

After a brief hiatus from the DFS game with the unique format of the Zurich classic, the fantasy fun returns with a visit to Wilmington, North Carolina and the Wells Fargo Championship.

The event is one of the newer outings on the circuit, first starting in 2003 as the Wachovia Championship and continuing as a great stop in which some big names have been able to take home the hardware while preparing for the upcoming PLAYERS Championship next week.

The course will be Eagle Point Golf Club, a par-72, 7,396-yard layout which first opened in 2000.  This is a different venue than years past as the usual destination, Quail Hollow, is hosting the 2017 PGA Championship in August.  Eagle Point is a well known course as it is frequently ranked among the best in the country, yet this will be its first time with the honor of hosting a PGA TOUR event and that can make it difficult to look at past data to help in choosing your squad.  It is shorter than the typical length of Quail Hollow, so the longest of hitters won’t have quite as much of an advantage, and being on the coast could benefit those who play well in windy conditions.

With THE PLAYERS coming up next week, plenty of top names will be making their way to North Carolina, and included in that list is Official World Golf Ranked No.1 player, Dustin Johnson, who is getting his first start since a freak accident forced him to miss The Masters.

Joining him from the top-25 will be No. 11 Adam Scott, No. 12 Alex Noren, No. 13 Jon Rahm, No. 14 Paul Casey, No. 15 Patrick Reed, and No. 20 Phil Mickelson.  Johnson should be pleased to get back to playing since before he failed to make his start in Augusta, he had rattled off three consecutive wins; two of which were WGC events.  Mickelson should also feel elated to be teeing it up here as he will be looking to add to his seven top-25s in 2017 at an event which he has placed in the top-12 on 11 occasions.

Last year’s winner, James Hahn, will also be in attendance as he attempts to defend the title; his second career PGA TOUR victory.  He was able to hold off Roberto Castro in a playoff after posting a nine-under mark and staying out of reach of some of the top players in the world.  Hahn nearly choked towards the end, though, putting up a three-putt bogey on the 18^th to send the tournament to extra holes.  Fortunately for the 35-year-old, his competitor put one in the water along the fairway on the 73^rd hole and Hahn took home the big check.

This was the seventh time that the Wells Fargo Championship was extended past 72 holes in its 14 years of existence, but the nine-under mark was just the second in single digits for a winner and came just a year after Rory McIlroy took home his second trophy here behind a tournament record 21 shots better than par.  McIlroy and Vijay Singh are the only two players from outside of the United States to have won here, but with the likes of Scott, Noren, Rahm, Casey, Louis Oosthuizen, Emiliano Grillo, Shane Lowry, and Andrew Johnston putting their names in the mix, there could be a third come Sunday afternoon.

The addition of DFS golf to Fanduel has opened up the game to even more players and will create opportunities for anyone who does their research and understands the format.  Unlike DraftKings, Fanduel has a total of eight golfers needed for your lineups with four in the first two rounds and another four over the weekend.  They will still accumulate any bonus points for their final position no matter if they are chosen to play the first or second half of the event.

Below is a sample lineup we believe could perform well in the upcoming event.

FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks for Rounds 1-2

Nick Taylor – $5,300 – Spending so little money on Taylor will be a nice relief for your overall salary as you are getting a player who has won on the PGA TOUR before and has five top-25s up to this point in the season.  There is nothing special about his game, but he has made seven of his last nine cuts and 12 overall in 17 outings.  He is also one to pick for the first two rounds, as his scoring average is 70 on Thursdays (41^st on TOUR) and 70.13 on Fridays (52^nd on TOUR) compared to ranking worst than 100^th in both weekend rounds.  Watch for the Canadian to get in four rounds of golf in North Carolina this week and provide just the right amount of value.

Matt Jones – $5,400 – Jones is not going to wow anyone, and at this price that is not what you need. What you need here is someone to give you some scoring in the first few rounds with a good chance at notching a top-25 for extra points.  In his six cuts made during the 2017 campaign, Jones has jumped into the top-25 four times; including at each of his past two outings where he tallied six-of-eight rounds at 70 or better.  The longer course won’t hurt him much as he ranks 53^rd in strokes gained off the tee (0.326) and will make up for his lack in distance around the green (3^rd in strokes gained, 0.566).  Jones’ only problem to watch out for will be his approach to the green, but at this price, he has more working for him than against and could really pay off nicely.

Kevin Tway – $5,600 – Tway did not play too well over his first full season at this level back in 2014 when he made just eights cuts over 23 starts.  It seems he has figured his game out, though, and is 9-for-13 (69%) in cuts made while coming into the week on the heels of back-to-back third-place finishes.  His calling card is a huge driver which has averaged 305.6 yards per (11^th on TOUR) this year as he complements with a solid putter (0.178 strokes gained putting, 73^rd on TOUR).  There will be four par fives on the course which is a big positive for the 28-year-old as he ranks 24^th in scoring average (4.58) on the longest of holes.  Tway is a much different player then the one that first made his way up to the TOUR and should provide nice value at this price.

Hudson Swafford – $6,800 – Swafford has been flying up the Official World Golf Rankings since the end of 2016, going from all the way down in 222^nd to his current spot of 75^th.  He can attribute this to a hot start in the 2017 season, making 10-of-14 cuts (71%) with three top-10s; including his first career victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge.  It is no longer a question of if he has the talent to win on the biggest stage, but rather if he has the consistency to keep it going.  Over his last three outings before the Zurich Classic, Swafford had two of his top-10s and posted scores of 69 or better in half of his 10 rounds.  He is lethal off the tee (0.735 strokes gained, 8^th on TOUR) and it would not be of a surprise to see him play up to his ranking of 18^th in the FedExCup standings.

FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks for Rounds 3-4

Graeme McDowell – $7,600 – After an off year in 2015, McDowell bounced back last year with his third career PGA TOUR victory and a final ranking of 27^th in the FedExCup; his best since the same standing in 2012.  He has continued to play well in 2017, going 7-for-9 (78%) at getting to the weekend with four rounds of 69 or better in his past two tournaments.  McDowell has a lethal combination of solid performances off the tee (0.275 strokes gained, 64^th on TOUR) and putting (0.526 strokes gained, 26^th on TOUR) which has led to a scoring average of 70.362 (27^th on TOUR).  McDowell no longer possesses the upside that he once did, but continues to have an all-around game which makes this a good buy.

Louis Oosthuizen – $8,700 – It is amazing that Oosthuizen has not been able to get another victory on the PGA TOUR since taking down The Open Championship in 2010, but he still remains one of the more talented players in the field every time he is out there.  It would be surprising if he wasn’t racking up points come Sunday afternoon as he has made each of his nine cuts this year; including his seventh top-three finish since his major win with a third at the Waste Management Open.  A combination of decent distance (295.5 yards per, 56^th on TOUR) and accuracy (63.78%, 62^nd on TOUR) has aided Oosthuizen in gaining 0.550 strokes off the tee (18^th on TOUR) and an overall 1.183 strokes (23^rd on TOUR).  There are no flaws in the South African’s game and it is just a matter of time until he wins again.

Kevin Kisner – $9,000 – Kisner is probably the best golfer out there that no one is really talking about.  He has finished the past two seasons in the top-17 of the FedExCup rankings and is on pace to do so again while sitting in 14^th.  Over his 13 events played, the late-bloomer missed just one cut and nearly won twice with runner-up performances at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and last week in the Zurich Classic.  All facets of his game are clicking with nearly two strokes gained on the field (1.925, 6^th on TOUR) and his proximity to the hole (33’4”, 8^th) being a big contributing factor.  We think there is a chance that players will be more on the big bombers and Kisner could be slightly under owned for what he will provide.

Dustin Johnson – $11,500 – If Johnson is playing against a field featuring no other top-10 players from the OWGR, you get him in your lineup.  He is returning to play four weeks after missing The Masters because of an accident and at that point was riding a three match winning streak; something that isn’t common place in the world of golf.  Although his TOUR-best driving distance (316.2 yards per) would have aided him more on the length of Quail Hollow, he will still be able to take advantage this week.  He also ranks best in greens in regulation (75.25%) and total strokes gained (2.953) while showing more finesse than he had in the past with 0.517 strokes gained putting (27^th on TOUR) and a top-20 ranking in scrambling (65.31%, 20^th on TOUR).  Simply put, there is a reason he is ranked the No. 1 player in the world and there is no reason to not put him in your lineup at Eagle Point.

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