FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – BMW Championship

2017 BMW Championship FanDuel Fantasy Preview

The 2017 PGA TOUR season is near its end as the top-70 players in the FedExCup standings pack their bags and head to Lake Forest, Illinois for the BMW Championship. This yearly event is the semifinal matchup leading to the TOUR Championship where the top-30 players attempt to finish the year on top of the golf world.

For the third time in the past five years, this event will be taking place at Conway Farms Golf Club; a par-72, 7,208-yard course designed by Tom Fazio. It was another big name that took last week’s outing in TPC Boston with PGA Championship victor, Justin Thomas, vaulting into second in the standings between leader Jordan Spieth and the No. 1 players in the world, Dustin Johnson.

The list of champions in this playoff event are quite obviously impressive with the decreased field and the best players in the world all teeing it up. Last year it was the aforementioned Dustin Johnson who came away with the trophy after posting a tournament record score of 23 shots under par, outplaying runner-up Paul Casey by three strokes.

Paul Casey, of England, and Jordan Spieth, of the United States,…

Paul Casey, of England, and Jordan Spieth, of the United States, share a laugh on the 8th tee box during the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship on September 4 at TPC Boston in Norton,… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The last time the BMW Championship was played at Conway Farms was 2015, and it was Australian Jason Day who topped the leaderboard after going 22-under and dominating the next closest competitor, Daniel Berger, by six shots. Surprisingly, despite there always being a plethora of dominant players, this tournament does not typically end with a close finish, and only once in the decade of its existence has a champion come away with a margin of victory of one while there has never been extra holes needed to determine the winner.

It is no surprise that the field will be led by the duo of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson with the likes of Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Paul Casey, and Rory McIlroy all getting 20/1 odds or better. The trio of Marc Leishman, Brooks Koepka, and Pat Perez may not be at the top of the odds, but they are currently in the top-10 of the FedExCup standings after putting together a tremendous campaign.

The bubble is always fun to watch as a few golfers earn their way into the TOUR Championship field with their performances in the coming week, and currently it is Bill Haas who sits in the 30^th spot and needs to play well to advance. No. 29 Gary Woodland and No. 28 Jason Day are also near that cut line with No. 31 Mackenzie Hughes, No. 32 Xander Schauffele, and No. 33 Hudson Swafford being the first golfers out.

Some notables who still need to put in work to get to East Lake include No. 34 Sergio Garcia, No. 36 Phil Mickelson, and No. 51 Rory McIlroy.

Playing daily fantasy sports to go along with the excitement of these playoffs can make watching golf over the weekend that much better. Below are some players who we trust will perform beyond expectations at Conway Farms and will fit into a standard lineup on FanDuel.

When constructing a lineup be sure that you are putting golfers on your team who have a safe history for cash games (i.e. 50/50, double-ups) and others who may be a touch off the radar, but posses a high ceiling for large scale GPPs. Good luck!

BMW Championship FanDuel Fantasy Picks

Jordan Spieth – $10,200 – Spieth has been playing the best golf in the world recently and that has translated into him being the current leader in the FedExCup standings. He was the runner-up at each of the first two stops in these playoffs and earned a pair of victories, a runner-up, and two other top-15s in his previous seven tournaments leading up to the playoffs.

No one is very surprised, though, as he has earned his TOUR leading 68.8 scoring average while ranking best in strokes gained with his approach to the green (0.958) and is third in total strokes gained (1.954). Spieth is carding a birdie or better on 25.87% of his holes played (best on TOUR) and amazingly has done so on 21.94% of the par fours (2^nd on TOUR).

The 24-year-old will be making his second career start at Conway Farms after coming in 13^th during his first visit, and will surely be in contention when Sunday rolls around.

Dustin Johnson – $10,100 – It is often tough to get both Spieth and Johnson into a lineup together, but this week there were enough players that we liked in the lower price ranges and it seems as if these two are just playing on a different level than everyone else.

The No. 1 player in the world possesses the second-longest average drive (314.3 yards per) on TOUR and has earned his way to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings thanks to an improvement with his shorter clubs; resulting in 69.80% greens in regulation (8^th on TOUR). Johnson has the most total strokes gained (2.204) and it should come as no surprise that he ranks third in par-five scoring average (4.52). His win at the Northern Trust added to his trio of victories earlier this season and brought his career count to 15 at 33-years-old.

He now will set his sights on taking home his third trophy at the BMW Championship after winning both last year and in 2010 while coming in seventh the last time he played at this venue.

Dustin Johnson greets fans as he walks to the 10th hole tee box…

Dustin Johnson greets fans as he walks to the 10th hole tee box during the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston on September 4, 2017 in Norton, Massachusetts. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Henrik Stenson – $8,500 – Stenson is rolling coming into this week and seems underpriced with his recent play and elite talent over his time as a professional. He earned his sixth PGA TOUR win at the Wyndham Championship and comes in with seven straight made cuts between the European and PGA Tours. In that stretch he has done no worse than 26^th and hit better than 72% GIR and 75% fairways in his past two starts.

Stenson was a participant at this tournament the last time it was played at Conway Farms, and was able to place in tenth after going 12-under and gaining 0.611 strokes putting. Earlier in the season the 41-year-old looked to be past his prime with a handful of missed cuts, but is poised to put up some big numbers this week and prove he still has plenty left in the tank.

Louis Oosthuizen – $7,800 – Oosthuizen is certainly a fan favorite and seems to truly enjoy playing golf for a living. He comes into this event ranked 20^th in the FedExCup despite starting a mere 17 times thanks to runner-up showings at both THE PLAYERS Championship and PGA Championship while also owning a third at the Waste Management Open and a fourth top-10 in the first round of these playoffs.

He is an elite talent who ranked 11^th in total strokes gained (1.339) behind a great short game (62.08% scrambling, 29^th on TOUR); including coming in 10^th-best out of the sand (60.67%). There is no doubt that Oosthuizen is one of the best playing this week and we are confident he can improve on his 19^th here from 2015.

Justin Rose – $7,700 – Rose has really been a wildcard this year and over his past 10 starts has finished outside of the top-50 five times, two ending in a missed cut, but has also earned a 12^th or better in the other five tournaments; including a runner-up at the Masters and back-to-back 10^th-place finishes in the first two rounds of these playoffs.

The Englishman is tremendous around the green with 0.385 strokes gained (14^th on TOUR) and is able to put a birdie on his card 22.92% of the time (11^th on TOUR). One of the biggest positives for Rose is his ability to stay away from a stretch of poor holes as he is ranked best on TOUR in bouncing back from a bogey with a score he can circle (28.93%).

Both of these stats will earn you extra points in daily fantasy and provide you with a nice high-floor, high-ceiling player at a middle of the road price range.

Justin Rose of England lines up a putt on the second green during…

Justin Rose of England lines up a putt on the second green during round three of the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston on September 3, 2017 in Norton, Massachusetts. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Kyle Stanley – $5,500 – Stanley really came out of nowhere in 2017 and currently sits in 17^th in the standings after doing no better than 116^th over the previous three years. He’s done so behind a career-best 11 top-25 finishes in 21 visits to the weekend over 27 starts and was also able to get into the winner’s circle for the first time since 2012.

Stanley went seven-under over the weekend at the Quicken Loans National to take home the trophy and should be feeling confident once again after consecutive 25^th-place weeks at both the Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship. Combining his talents off the tee (0.687 strokes gained, 6^th on TOUR) with his approach to the green (0.653 strokes gained, 8^th on TOUR) make up for a below-average putter, and if he is able to find his stroke with the flat iron, he could shoot up the leaderboard and really put some pressure on some of the top guys in the TOUR Championship.

Pat Perez – $5,200 – Perez is certainly the most surprising player to be in the FedEx top-10 at the moment, but he has typically been a very successful golfer during his 400 starts as a professional and finished in the top-90 each year from 2007 through 2015. In that time he never made it to the TOUR Championship, though, with a 33^rd-place in 2009 being his best showing. Now, at 41-years-old, the former Arizona State graduate will aim at not only just getting to East Lake, but also ranking as one of the best golfers in the world.

Perez got to this point after missing a mere three cuts in his 24 starts (1 withdrawal) and took home an impressive six top-10s; including his second career win at the OHL Classic. He certainly won’t be wowing anyone off the tee (-0.043 strokes gained, 120^th on TOUR), but is still great on the longest of holes with a birdie or better on 49.25% of his chances on par fives (11^th on TOUR) thanks to an exceptional talent around the greens (0.414 strokes gained, 8^th on TOUR).

Perez is a great story and he should be pumped and ready to continue a fantastic 2017 campaign this week.

Pat Perez of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the…

Pat Perez of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the third round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 12, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Hudson Swafford – $4,900 – Swafford did most of his heavy lifting during the early parts of the season, taking home his first career win at the CareerBuilder Challenge and another pair of top-10s before the start of the summer. That being said, recent showings have proven he was not just a flash in the pan and he has shown grit with a tie for 10^th in the Bridgestone Invitational and a tie for 13^th just last week in Boston. Both of these events pegged him against the best in the world and at TPC Boston he managed to nail 75% of his greens in regulation while carding four rounds of 70 or better.

The key to Swafford’s game is off the tee where he is getting 0.443 strokes on the field (28^th on TOUR) with an average drive of 304.4 yards. That ability off the tee has led to 68.22% GIR (22^nd on TOUR) and a birdie or better on 47.37% of his par five attempts (24^th on TOUR).

Swafford is nearly the lowest priced player on FanDuel this week and we think he is a strong candidate to finish in the top-15 after the dust has settled.

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