FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – The Greenbrier Classic

2017 Greenbrier Classic FanDuel Fantasy Preview

Another week on the PGA TOUR and another exciting finish at the Quicken Loans National as Kyle Stanley took home his second career trophy after defeating Charles Howell III on the 73^rd hole of the event. The season continues with the Greenbrier Classic as the field begins to thin out with the impending major, the Open Championship, overseas in just a few weeks.

Old White TPC at the Greenbrier is once again the host for this tournament for the seventh time since its inception back in 2010; flooding caused last season’s outing to be cancelled. The par-70, 7,287-yard course is back up and running and is ready to host the field that lacks much star power at the top.

While the field isn’t up to snuff with a lot of other tournaments, there certainly are some talented golfers that are going to be the headliners over the weekend. Leading the way will be Official World Golf Ranked 21^st golfer in the world, Patrick Reed, who is having a down year by his standards with a current standing of 50^th in the FedExCup rankings after being in the top-10 each of the last three seasons. The only other players getting better than 20/1 odds are No. 36 Bill Haas and No. 24 Kevin Kisner.

All eyes will be on fan favorite Phil Mickelson, though, who was unable to compete in the U.S. Open as he attended his daughter’s graduation and has now dropped to 25^th in the world rankings. Others to keep an eye on in West Virginia include 2015 champion Danny Lee, David Lingmerth, Webb Simpson, Tony Finau, Bubba Watson, and Keegan Bradley; all getting a nice chance to top the leaderboard with 30/1 odds or better.

With there being no event last year due to the disastrous flooding, the last winner here came in 2015 as Danny Lee bested the likes of David Hearn, Kevin Kisner, and Robert Streb in a playoff. This was the third time in the short history of the event that extra holes were needed to decide a winner, and there has not been a player to take home the trophy by more than two strokes.

Over the six years of its existence, the Greenbrier has produced victors from five different countries and has yet to have a winner repeat. Stuart Appley’s win in the 2010 campaign, this event’s inaugural outing, showed how much scoring there can be on the course as he posted a 59 on Sunday; leapfrogging over the field and runner-up Jeff Overton with a final score of 22-under-par.

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. Last week we managed to only get 4-of-8 players through to the weekend, but Fowler (3rd), Lingmerth (5^th), and Haas (13^th) really performed well out of our picks.

That said, below are some names who should put up a strong performance this week and who you can fit into your lineup at different price points.

2017 Greenbrier Classic FanDuel Picks

Rickey Barnes – $5,900 – Barnes had a really tough time playing into the weekend during the middle part of this season, missing the cut in 9-of-10 events from November to mid-March. He is playing much better golf, though, and since that rough stretch he is 11-for-13 in cuts made and has placed in the top-35 at four of his last five starts.

Last week, he posted three rounds under 70 en route to a tie for 17^th at the Quicken Loans National. In the event he hit 51-of-72 greens in regulation (70.83%, 4^th in field) and gained 5.225 strokes around the green (3^rd in field). His overall numbers and cuts made percentage will keep most players away, but his recent play and familiarity with this course will give him the leg up he needs to succeed.

Trey Mullinax – $6,000 – At just 25-years-old, Mullinax is in the midst of his first full season on the PGA TOUR and seems to be getting the hang of things on the biggest stage. His last four events played have resulted in three cuts made and his first career top-10 with a tie for ninth in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

He has a massive drive (307.5 yards per, 8^th on TOUR) and can hold his own with the putter (1.746 putting average, 28^th on TOUR); especially when he is going for a birdie or better (32.52% birdie or better conversion, 16^th on TOUR). Overall he is averaging 3.88 birdies per round (28^th on TOUR) while showing a ton of success on par fours (4.01 average, 31^st on TOUR) which lines up well for some big scoring at this course. Mullinax gained a ton of confidence from his big showing at the U.S. Open and should surprise among this weak(er) field.

 
Sean O’Hair – $7,200 – O’Hair is quietly having one of his better seasons in recent memory as he sits in 47^th in the FedExCup standings and has been able to make 13-of-17 cuts with more top-10s (4) in a single season than he’s had since 2009. This 34-year-old used to be one of the best on TOUR, racking up four tournament wins from his debut in 2005 until 2011, but since he has done not better than 63^rd in the final FedExCup standings.

It is obvious that O’Hair has the pedigree and over his last four tournaments he has netted a pair of top-fives; including a runner-up finish in the Dean and Deluca Invitational where he was nine shots under par thanks to gaining 2.654 strokes with his flat iron (best in field). His talent on the greens will get him to the weekend and he could net his third top-15 finish here in the past five visits.

David Lingmerth – $7,600 – Lingmerth is on fire right now as he comes to West Virginia riding a streak of eight cuts made; six of which were a top-25 finish. His best came just last week in the Quicken Loans National where he walked into the weekend topping the leaderboard, but fell off during the final pair of days and ended with a solid tie for fifth.

Lingmerth’s putter has been his ticket to such consistent play as he’s gained 0.508 strokes  on the greens (17^th on TOUR) and is one-putting on 43.18% of his attempts (8^th on TOUR). His streak of nice finishes looks poised to continue at Greenbrier where he has managed a top-16 showing in each of the last three installments; his best coming in 2015 when he left with a sixth-place finish.

Lingmerth is one of the hottest players coming to this event and has some fantastic past results here, making him an asset to your fantasy squad.

Charles Howell III – $7,600 – Howell III has been around for quite some time now and owns two PGA TOUR trophies over 490 events since debuting in 1996. The 38-year-old is playing some of his best golf in 2017, though, and is in line for his best season over the past decade. He already has a pair of runner-up performances at the Farmers Insurance Open and just last week in the Quicken Loans National and has played all four days at 15 of his 16 starts; with his only missed cut being the first event of the year.

Of those he has been in the top-25 nine times thanks to an all-around game which has him in the top-50 in driving distance (297, 48^th on TOUR) and GIR (69.44%, 12^th on TOUR) while owning the best scrambling number (66.14%) on the entire circuit. All of this has led to gaining 1.093 strokes on the field (23^rd on TOUR) and earning a scoring average of 69.940 (14^th on TOUR). Simply put, Howell III is underpriced and is a steal this week.

 
Keegan Bradley – $7,900 – Bradley has successfully bounced back from a very poor season in 2016 when he placed outside of the top-65 of the FedExCup standings for the first time in his career. This year he has made 16-of-22 cuts and has matched his number of top-10s from the previous two seasons with five. Two of them have come in each of the last two weeks as he grabbed an eighth at the Travelers Championship and an even better fifth last week.

Bradley will now make the trek back to Greenbrier where he has competed four different times, making the cut each time and placing a tournament-best fourth in 2014. Everyone knows the struggles that he has with his putter, ranking 134^th in strokes gained putting, but he makes up his strokes off the tee (0.606, 11^th on TOUR) with a lethal combination of distance (296.7 yards per, 49^th on TOUR) and accuracy (66.47%, 31^st on TOUR) which leads to the 20^th-best GIR% (68.62%).

There will be plenty of chances out there for this 31-year-old and whenever his putting can match the rest of his game; he is a threat to take home a high finish.

Bill Haas – $8,800 – Haas continues to dismantle weak fields and proved that once again last week with his 11^th top-25 over 17 starts when he took home a tie for 13^th. He comes in with four straight cuts made, each of which was in the top-25, and has had a round in the 60s in 10-of-16 opportunities over that stretch.

This 35-year-old has remained one of the more consistent players out there over the years and in 2017 he is on pace to get into the top-30 of the FedExCup standings for the eighth straight year.

Haas has been able to have a scoring average of 69.873 (9^th on TOUR) because of his talent at hitting greens in regulation (69.92%, 9^th on TOUR) and gaining strokes around the green (0.444, 11^th on TOUR) with strong scrambling (64.97%, 8^th on TOUR) and sand save (56.18%, 32^nd on TOUR) skills. Although Haas missed the cut here in 2015, he had earned a ticket to the weekend in his first four attempts, raking in a runner-up in 2011 and ninth in 2013, and should once again be near the top come Sunday.

Tony Finau – $8,900 – Finau is one of our favorite players going right now and a lot of it has to do with his massive driver (306.6 yards per, 11^th on TOUR) which has gained him 0.834 strokes off the tee (5^th on TOUR). All-in-all he is gaining 1.215 strokes on the field (21^st on TOUR) as he follows up his drive by pinpointing 70.29% of greens in regulation (6^th on TOUR).

The 27-year-old has made the cut in his last five starts, doing no worse that 40^th while earning two top-20s. With a 13^th here back in 2015, we know that Finau has the game to put up numbers which is backed by the fact he is carding 4.06 birdies per round 11^th on TOUR) and getting a birdie of better on 23.30% of all holes (10^th on TOUR). Finau’s time in the spotlight is coming and this week could be the perfect opportunity to earn a win.

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