FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – 2017 PGA Championship

2017 PGA Championship FanDuel Fantasy Preview

On the heels of a terrific performance by the best in the world at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational comes the fourth major of the season; the PGA Championship. Many of the golfers who were in Akron watching Hideki Matsuyama put up a Sunday 61, hoisting the trophy when all was said-and-done, will be making the trip to this event with yet another fantastic field.

This PGA Championship will be held at the well known Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina; the home course of the Wells Fargo Championship. The par-71, 7,600-yard course will still feature the dreaded “Green Mile” over the last three holes, but will look quite different as the venue changed it up with some new holes to start out the 18.

With an immaculate field for the second consecutive week it would be a surprise to see anything else but a great showing of golf by many members of the entrants list.

Jimmy Walker played well at Bridgestone CC and will come to Quail Hollow looking to defend his win from last year. It was not easy, though, as Walker needed to complete his third and fourth rounds on Sunday, posting scores of 68 and 67 respectively. He held off Jason Day by a single stroke thanks to a bogey free final round of the tournament.

Jimmy Walker of the United States celebrates with the Wanamaker…

Jimmy Walker of the United States celebrates with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on July 31, 2016 in Springfield, New Jersey. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

A win for Walker this week would make him the first player since Tiger Woods (2006, 2007) to take home the trophy in back-to-back seasons. He has a long way to go to catch up with Jack Nicklaus, though, as he earned five PGA Championship trophies over his stretch of dominance. The Texan also joined Jason Dufner (2013) and Keegan Bradley (2011) as victors in this event from the United States over the last nine outings.

Once again we will be seeing a majority of the best players the golf world teeing it up; including 113 of the top 115 players according to the Official World Golf Rankings. Most of the viewers will be keeping their eyes on Jordan Spieth, who is going for his major grand slam, trying to take back first place in the FedExCup standings, and sits behind only Rory McIlroy in the Vegas odds. Other than those two, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, and Jason Day are getting 30/1 odds or better. McIlroy is likely getting his strong odds because of his past at Quail Hollow where he was able to nail down wins during the 2010 and 2015 Wells Fargo Championship while also losing in a playoff to Fowler back in 2013.

FanDuel is a great resource to play daily fantasy golf as you can dive a little deeper into the field and learn about some new players, root for your favorite golfers on Tour, win a little money, and enjoy watching the event even more. You need to make sure that if you want to win some cash you are putting together a lineup which has the potential for all eight players to make the cut and jump into the top-25.

2017 PGA Championship FanDuel Picks

Hideki Matsuyama – $8,800 – It is certainly going to be tough to net back-to-back wins against some of the deepest fields that you’ll see all year, but Matsuyama has been such a consistent golfer and is still looking for his first major victory. The 25-year-old has shot up to third in the OWGR and first in the FedExCup standings behind five career PGA TOUR wins; including three already this season.

This elite golfer makes up for his less than stellar putter with amazing approaches to the green and great play off the tee (1.734 strokes gained from tee-to-green, 2^nd on TOUR). Matsuyama hits 69.92% of greens in regulation (6^th on TOUR) and ranks first in both par-five average (4.48) and birdie or better percentage (26.05%).

He has done well in majors of late, raking in a top-15 at five of his last five major starts, and will hope to improve on his PGA Championship best fourth-place finish. The top guys on FanDuel are certainly a great choice, but Matsuyama has shown the ability to be the core of a roster and saves owners a nice chunk of change.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan waves to the gallery after a birdie on the…

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan waves to the gallery after a birdie on the 18th hole during the third round of the WGC – HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club on October 29, 2016 in… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Brooks Koepka – $8,600 – Kopeka won his first career major this year in the U.S. Open and has another five top-10s in major tournaments since the 2014 campaign. You need to go back to March to find the last time that he missed a cut (9 starts) as he won his U.S. Open, was the runner-up at the Valero Texas Open, and placed in the top-11 at both the Masters and the Open Championship.

The key to Koepka’s game is bombing it off the tee (309.2 yards per, 6^th on TOUR) and showing finesse on the greens with 0.582 strokes gained using his putter (10^th on TOUR). He knows how to quickly bounce back after a bogey, earning a birdie on the next hole 30.34% of the time (best on TOUR) and he will have no issues on the long par-fives (4.49 average, 2^nd on TOUR). Koepka certainly seems to step it up in the majors and should not be intimidated out there one bit.

Henrik Stenson – $8,000 – Like Koepka, Stenson recently won his first major at the 2016 Open Championship and is now looking to take home a PGA Championship after four top-sevens in the event since 2009 (6 starts). He has made the cut in seven of his last eight outings between the European and PGA Tours while finishing in the top-26 each time.

Between the Open Championship and Bridgestone Invitational, Stenson has posted six rounds of 70 or better and used scores of 68-67 over this past weekend to jump into a tie for 17^th.

There is always a lot to like in Stenson because of his ability to play his best under the biggest lights and he is at the right price here.

Matt Kuchar – $7,900 – Kuchar really gave Spieth a run for his money at the recent Open Championship, leading late on Sunday before the youngster pulled out some shots and took home the trophy in the end. The win would have given him his first major victory and eighth career PGA TOUR win.

The 39-year-old has been on a tear since May, making eight consecutive trips to the weekend with a top-10 in four of them. Kuchar’s fantastic play this year stems from a tremendous short game (0.399 strokes gained around the green, 12^th on TOUR) with 65.05% scrambling (7^th on TOUR) and is one of the best at bouncing back (25%, 14^th on TOUR) after a poor hole.

Kuchar has always been just a notch under the elite in the game, but he has shown some impressive play in 2017 and should continue in North Carolina.

Matt Kuchar of the Unites States waves to the gallery after a…

Matt Kuchar of the Unites States waves to the gallery after a hole-in-one on the 17th hole during the third round of the WGC – HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club on October 29,… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Paul Casey – $7,600 – Casey’s price remains at a spot where we would likely play him every week as he always seems to make the cut and has a top-11 finish at four of his last five tournaments played. Just last week, Casey posted a solid seven-under score which led to a tie for fifth behind his 70.83 GIR% and 0.470 strokes gained putting.

Overall he is ranked ninth in total strokes gained (1.418) with a strong approach to the green (0.860 strokes gained, 3^rd on TOUR) and a solid putter (0.275 strokes gained, 30^th on TOUR). His 69.665 scoring average (6^th on TOUR) is nothing to ignore and this week he will put his name in contention once again.

Zach Johnson – $6,600 – Although this 12-time PGA TOUR winner is now 41-years-old, he has still managed to play at the top of his game and nearly earned his first win since 2015 in last week’s Bridgestone Invitational. He sat in the wake of Matsuyama’s big Sunday with 11 strokes under par and sole position of second place. It was his fourth top-10 of the year and third top-15 finish in as many starts.

As a two-time major winner, Johnson will have no issues with the field here and will use a great short game featuring 0.294 strokes gained around the green (25^th on TOUR) and an average of 1.741 putts per hole (17^th on TOUR) to stay out of trouble. Johnson is playing well at the moment and is a great hot hand to aid you in Charlotte.

Charley Hoffman – $6,500 – Hoffman has been on fire of late and has risen all the way to No. 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings. His ascension up the world rankings has been aided by a great showing in the first three majors of the year, coming in 22^nd at the Masters, eighth at the U.S. Open, and 20^th at the Open Championship a few weeks ago.

In what is looking to be a career year, Hoffman has posted a pair of runner-ups and a pair of third place finishes, one of which came just last week. Overall in 2017, Hoffman has seven top-10s and does not look to be slowing down while searching for his 13^th consecutive made cut.

The 40-year-old has torched both the par-four (3.99, 10^th on TOUR) and par-five (4.58, 12^th on TOUR) holes as he’s netted a birdie or better on 23.17% of his holes played (10^th on TOUR). With the way he is hitting the ball, Hoffman is a boarderline must-play in cash games at this price.

Charley Hoffman of the United States reacts after finishing on the…

Charley Hoffman of the United States reacts after finishing on the 18th green during the final round of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills on June 18, 2017 in Hartford, Wisconsin. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Keegan Bradley – $5,700 – Keegan Bradley is not the player that set fire to the league as a rookie who earned two wins in his first season, including this event. That being said, he has improved greatly over 2016 and is currently 41^st in the FedExCup standings behind 18-of-24 cuts made (75%) and five top-10s. Two of those have come in his last four starts and he did well once again at his last start, the RBC Canadian Open, with a 14^th-place.

Bradley’s putter has certainly been his crutch since they disallowed the anchored putter, but he has been able to get by with a his 0.683 strokes gained off the tee (6^th on TOUR) and is getting a birdie or better on 20.14% of par-four holes (5^th on TOUR). Bradley is dirt cheap for a golfer of his caliber and could be a bargain top-10 finish.

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