The Albatross – FanDuel Daily Fantasy Golf Preview – The US Open
The FedEx St. Jude Classic turned out to be another successful week for The Albatross and I heard from a lot of you that were able to have a strong bankroll building week. In fact, one FGI subscriber took down the $10K Thu PGA Flop Shot GPP with a final score of 681!!! Between the write-ups and Honorable Mentions, we had Daniel Berger for the win, a T2, T4, solo 9th, a couple T10s and a T24 to round out the ones who finished in the Top 25. We also had a strong fantasy scoring performance from Kyle Stanley who finished T27. There were a couple of MDFs sprinkled in but really only Russell Henley and Brian Gay missed the cut. A lot of us were also able to steer clear of Rickie Fowler’s bad missed cut as he just was not in the mindset to compete from the get go and was already looking ahead to the U.S. Open. This just happened to be another week where fading the top priced golfers worked out. I do not think that will be the case this week for the U.S. Open however.
Erin Hills will be the venue that hosts this year’s second major. It is a long Par 72 course and should be up for the challenge for the world’s best golfers. Long and accurate hitters off of the tee will have an advantage because wandering too far off the fairways could result in a penalty stroke or two. Approach shots will also be important because judging the right distance is essential with many raised surfaces that have run offs. Wind could also come into play and probably more so around the green so the golfers with a solid short game should separate themselves from the rest of the field.
With an elite field, FanDuel has some generous salaries for a lot of high profile golfers and we will need the best DFS Golf tools in the industry to help us select the right ones for our rosters this week. Thankfully, FGI subscribers have access to the FGI PGA Model to assist us with this process because it finds the best golfers with solid Current Form and whose Key Stats set up nicely for this course. Course History will be a little different this week because there obviously is not any, but there are comparable courses to that of Erin Hills and we will take those results into consideration instead. An emphasis on Vegas will also help us in determining any inaccuracies with FanDuel’s pricing this week. Below are the FGI PGA Model Overall weights I will be using this week along with the Key Stats weights for the U.S. Open courtesy of our friends at Fantasy Golf Metrics (@FGMetrics on Twitter):
FGI PGA Model Overall weights:
Current Form: 35%
Key Stats: 40%
Vegas: 15%
Course History: 10%
FGI PGA Model Key Stats weights:
SGT2G: 35%
SGP: 25%
DD: 5%
DA: 5%
PROX: 10%
BOB%: 10%
SCRAM: 10%
DJ is the U.S. Open favorite and world’s best golfer right now will have his sights set on defending his title. He will surely be a popular pick this week but I am personally a little hesitant to just plugging him into my lineup and moving on. His MC at the Memorial Tournament is a little worrisome and I just think that the DJ coming into this major is different than the one we were seeing leading into the Masters, which unfortunately will remain a mystery due to a fluke back injury that occurred the night before and prevented him from playing in it. I will not talk anyone out of rostering DJ this week because even if he is not at a 100% both physically and mentally, it should surprise no one if he is in contention come Sunday. Rory’s price is very tempting but his return from injury and just not seeing his complete game in full effect yet in the events we have seen him compete in has me taking a pass this week. That leaves us with Jason Day, John Rahm and Jordan Spieth that are priced above $10K with realistic chances at winning the U.S. Open. Readers of this column already know that I am reluctant to rostering John Rahm in these stacked fields and that will be the case once again this week. Jason Day and Jordan Spieth are the two top tier golfers I will be looking to roster this week on FanDuel for the U.S. Open.
Jason Day – $10,500: Jason Day has everything that I am personally looking for out of these top shelf golfers this week. His form is trending up as evident with his T15 finish at the Memorial Tournament, but even more so with his solo 2nd finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson where he lost in a playoff to Billy Horschel. Day also captured his first major in the state of Wisconsin at the PGA Championship back in 2015 so that should bring him some additional comfort. It is actually the course that hosted that event back in 2015 that has my attention. Whistling Straits is one of the comparable courses I am looking at this week for Erin Hills and Day seems to have the ideal game for this course type.
Jordan Spieth – $10,100: Speaking of the 2015 PGA Championship played at Whistling Straits, Jordan Spieth finished a solo 2nd there right behind Jason Day. His form is also headed in the right direction with recent finishes of T13 at the Memorial Tournament and T2 at the DEAN & DELUCA. Spieth is starting to drain some putts now that he is comfortable with his new equipment and that should make up for any length issues off the tee due to slower playing conditions.
Louis Oosthuizen – $8,400: Louis Oosthuizen is known for showing up at major championships and his recent play suggests that he is in a great position to capture his second major. His T2 finish at THE PLAYERS followed up by a T18 at the AT&T Byron Nelson is exactly what I’m looking for out of a golfer in this salary range. Louie also has shown decent form at the comparable courses to Erin Hills.
Kevin Kisner – $8,100: We are probably spending up a tad for Kevin Kisner this week but you cannot deny the form he has been displaying all year. Fresh off a win at the DEAN & DELUCA, he followed up with a T6 at the Memorial Tournament. Kisner’s Key Stats are amongst the best in this field and I believe his ability to handle any winds near the green will also come in handy. He may not win the U.S. Open but finishing points should be there for him if he puts together four solid rounds of golf.
Francesco Molinari – $7,800: Molinari remains a weekly write up for me it seems because he just does not hurt you by rostering him. He is coming into the U.S. Open off of a T24 finish at the St, Jude Classic last week and before that a solid solo 2nd finish at the BMW PGA Championship over on the Euro Tour. Molinari has been a steady cut maker this season and has shown that at majors throughout his career as well. My hope is that he can finally break through and provide some much needed finishing points this week.
Branden Grace – $7,700: Brendan Grace has an ability to show up for big events and recently did just that with a T9 finish at the BMW PGA Championship over on the European Tour. He has also been flashing some form on the PGA Tour with a respectable T48 finish at THE PLAYERS, but more notably a T10 at the Valero Texas Open, a T11 at the RBC Heritage and a T27 at the Masters. The South African also has posted consecutive Top 5 finishes at the U.S. Open which leads me to believe he is ready to strike again. At $7,700, Brendan Grace is a great option for a mid-priced golfer when building your FanDuel lineups this week for the season’s second major.
Thomas Pieters – $7,400: Thomas Pieters has already shown that he can handle the big stage with the world’s best golfers. This season he has already finished T5 at the WGC – Mexico Championship, T4 at the Masters and just recently T14 at the BMW PGA Championship where one bad 3rd round of 78 probably cost him of winning it. $7,400 is a great price for the Belgium young up-and-comer and his long game will surely be on display at the U.S. Open.
Charl Schwartzel – $6,800: Charl Schwartzel showed gamers once again last week that his wrist is fine with a T2 finish at the St. Jude Classic. He is another South African that just has the tendency to show up at major events and I expect this week to be no different. $6,800 gives us a very nice discount from last week and some much needed salary relief from a golfer of his caliber.
Kevin Chappell – $6,700: Kevin Chappell continues his nice little run since he finished T7 at the Masters. He followed that up with his first PGA Tour win at the Valero Texas Open and a T35 finish at THE PLAYERS, a mediocre T52 finish at the Memorial Tournament and then last week a T4 at the St. Jude Classic. At $6,700 I think we getting a golfer who is in great overall form that also has shown the ability to make the cut at similar tracks in prestigious events.
Hao-Tong Li – $4,900: Hao-Tong Li is my sub $5K value play this week. Li is a big hitter out of China and has shown some respectable form over on the Euro Tour recently. Consecutive Top 30 finishes come after a solo 3rd at the Rocco Forte Open and a T11 at the Volvo China Open. Li has the game to make the cut at Erin Hills and that is exactly what we are looking for out of a golfer in this salary range. With a little good fortune, he just might be able to crack the Top 25 and provide us with some unexpected finishing points as well.
Honorable Mentions:
Justin Rose – $9,300
Rickie Fowler – $9,200
Paul Casey – $8,800
Shane Lowry – $7,100
Matthew Fitzpatrick – $6,300
This should be another big week for Team FGI over at FanDuel and flexing a little bit more bankroll is never a bad thing during a major week. Please use proper judgement when doing so because we have many more successful weeks ahead of us. As always, be sure to let me and @FantasyGolfers know when you finish at top of the leaderboards. Good luck.
-Erik Dantoft
@edantoft | edantoft@yahoo.com
Follow Us
