The First Tee – CIMB Classic

Whether you’re a first time reader, or been with me for a while, the object is to help you all become more informed and hopefully earn some good money along the way. I provide a weekly strategy review of the high volume “pros” as well as my thoughts for the upcoming tournament. Want to see a specific user on the list? Hear my thoughts on developing trends? Feel free to tweet me and follow me @dfsgolfer23 with any questions suggestions or comments. Enjoy reading!

Week 1 is in the books, and Brandon Steele took him the barrel. Finishing the job, which he was unable to do last year, and his season is off to the races.

Weekly Roundup– The Safeway Open

Well, as I mentioned in the opening, Steele took home the W, but there were plenty of other fantasy stars out this week.

My Fantasy Week Recap: Well, Grillo was my one big miss, as he played poorly on Sunday, but over 50% exposure to Rahm, and Thomas helped me scrap back toward even.

The Winning Strategy: Mickelson/Thomas/Steele if you had those three and could find the fill ins, you were definitely in the money.

Right & Wrong
• Where I went Wrong- Steele, just nowhere to be found on my lineups.
• Where I went Right-Thomas/Rahm

Player Ownership Analysis

Well one of our semi-resident users had himself a week. Let’s take a look.

SaahilSud – Oh Web Simpson…

• Results:
o $3- 150 Entries entered: Best Finish-1165
o $33- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finish- 72nd
o $300-11 Entries Entered: Best Finish- 13th, 19th, 21st

• Players Used-
o $3- 25 Players Used
o $33-25 Players Used
o $300- 16 Players used
o
• Player Own %- $33 used for example.
o Webb Simpson*-98.7% I’m sure Saahil wasn’t checking his golf results much over the weekend.
o Keegan Bradley-76%
o Chris Kirk- 61%
o Phil mickelson-55%
o Charley Hoffman*-32%
o Harrish English/Robert Streb*/Vaughn Taylor-30%

Jetblackx –Tough break with the WD from Jay Day at the TC, but I think he’ll soon forget about that as I believe this week looks good, including a W.

• Results:
o $3-150 Entries-13th
o $33- 150 Entries- 2nd
o $300-11 Entries: 1st, 18th, 24th

• Players Used-
o $3-61 Players used
o $33- 61 players used
o $300-61 Players used

• Player Own % 3$
o English/Na-48%
o Howell III-44%
o Rahm-42%
o Thomas-39%
o Simpson-37%
o Varner-32%
o Steele-30%
o Finau-26.7%
o Bradley-22%
o Kirk-20%d

PriestsApp – After a lackluster performance at the TC, he decided to focus on other sports for this week.

AEJones – A very small amount of entries for Mr. Jones this week. Let’s see if his 5 entries scored him a big return.

• Results:
o $3- 5 Entries Entered: Best Finished- 4606
o $33- 5 Entries Entered: Best Finishes- 554
o $300- 5 Entries Entered: None in the top 25

• Players Used:
o $3- 15 players used
o $33- 15 Players used
o $300- 15 Players used

• Player Own %- 300*
o Casey-80%
o English/Bradley/Simpson*/Rahm-60%
o Lee/Levin*/Taylor/Kizzire- 40%

JAE686 – He’s back…no need to worry.

• Results:
o $3- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finished- 138
o $33- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finishes- 21
o $300- 11 Entries Entered: 8th

• Players Used:
o $3- 57 players used
o $33- 57 Players used
o $300- 57 Players used

• Player Own %- 300*
o Kuchar*-37.3%
o Mickelson-30%
o Rahm-28%
o Simpson*-25%
o Na-24%
o Bradley-22%
o English-21%
o Casey-20%

ChipotleAddict – He must be putting his talents to other sports because no entries here.

CSURAM88 – again minimal participation. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one.

• Results:
o $3- 2 Entries Entered: Best Finished- 4505
o $33- 2 Entries Entered: Best Finishes- 499
o $300- 2 Entries Entered: None in the top 25

• Players Used:
o $3- 8 players used
o $33- 8 Players used
o $300- 8 Players used

PSBC22 – Back as one of our 4 users to max enter all contests we follow. Let’s take a look:

• Results:
o $3- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finished- 1349
o $33- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finishes- 171
o $300- 11 Entries Entered: None in the top 25

• Players Used:
o $3- 36 players used
o $33- 36 Players used
o $300- 15 Players used

• Player Own %- 300*
o Vegas*/Glover*-42%
o Bradley/Swafford-41%
o Casey-38%
o Na-34%
o Wise*-33%
o Taylor-30%
o Rahm-28%
o Murray*/Grillo-26%
o Kokrak/Reavie-24%

FlavorFlav – Back to back HUGE weeks for the rapper. This one though – just wait until you see the results. WOW!

• Results:
o $3- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finished- 5th
o $33- 150 Entries Entered: Best Finishes- 1st, 5th, 8thX2, 12, 13×2, 15th, 16th, 18th 19th, 25th, 26th
o $300- 5 Entries Entered: 2nd,3rd,4th, 7th, 25th

• Players Used:
o $3- 47 players used
o $33- 47 Players used
o $300- 15 Players used

• Player Own %- 33*
o Casey-74%
o Rahm-72%
o Xander Schauffele-29%
o Keegan Bradley-28%
o Laird-25%
o Steele-25%
o Kim-22%

The CIMB Classic:

The stats last week had Mickelson 3x, Paul Casey, Brendan Steele, Kevin Na, and JT. So all in all a rather good showing. Let’s see if we can replicate again this week. Birdies or Better become vital this week with a short course and a par 72, it’s one of the easier tracks these guys will play all year.

1. Strokes Gained Approach to Green – It’s clear this tourney is a shootout, every year. JT won it last year at -26, yup you read correctly -26. Approach to the Greens become very important. Let’s take a look – Scott, Matsuyama, Casey, Danny Lee, Chappell

2. Tee to Green – Scott, Matsuyama, Garcia, Casey, Woodland

3. Par 5 Scoring – Justin Thomas/ Woodland, Reed, Cejka, Baddeley

4. Scrambling – Cejka, Hun-an, Blair, Fraser, Reed

5. Birdie or Better % – JT, Matsuyama, Finau, Scott, Steele

Player Focus: The CIMB Classic

On the Rise: Last week’s results weren’t the best. 4th 7th 26th 62nd MC MC MC. All three MC’s were on the number at -2 except Murray who blew up on his back 9 on Friday. I’ll look to rebound this week in Kuala Lampur.

• Kevin Na- $9,900 Well after his sprint round at the TC and a bad first round, Na settled down and was able to finish 7th. He remains as my top owned guy below 10K. Course history and recent form both look compelling.
o 99 DK Points

• Kevin Chappell – $9,100 The guy that just couldn’t find the win last year, and did just about everything else under the sun with multiple runner ups, a loss in a playoff, just about everything. I think this is his year, and maybe even his tournament to finally get that W.
o P/PR= 91

• Scott Piercy- $8,900 A wonderful 62 in the opening round in Napa, Piercy couldn’t carry it through the week as he was outplayed by Steele. However, his price didn’t increase any, even with a top 5 finish so I like Piercy’s form heading to Asia.
o P/PR=81

• Tony Finau- $8,100 Victim of losing his mojo to the rain storm, Finau had a really nice round going on Sunday until the rain came and derailed it. I like him to take that form into this week in the CIMB. Plus, you know he’s a huge hitter, and a no cut event, I love for him to make at least 1 eagle this weekend.
o P/PR=78

• Jhonattan Vegas- $7,500 I know I recommended him last week and he burned me, but really he was right on the number at -2, and if one more golfer goes to that number he’s around for the weekend and at that point you never know what can happen. AKA Justin Thomas. I love playing a HEALTHY Vegas in a no cut event. Make sure you check to see if he’s healthy or not before rostering, as he had a bad back in Rio and it could still be lingering.
o P/PR=75

• James Hahn- $7,200 Little stretch here, but I needed someone in this price range. Good course history as he placed 6th here last year. Having some extra travel time as he missed the cut in Napa, we’ll see if that’ll help Hahn this weekend.

• John Senden- $6,600 Playing a little closer to his home country of Australia, Senden comes off a decent week in Napa placing 31st, and has some good history here placing 7th in 2014. I like John to come and have a solid start to his 2016-2017 campaign.
o P/PR=66

Last week my tour rookies section featured two very good value plays in JT Potson, and Richie Warenski. This week I’ll try and mix in some Euro tour and Asian Tour Players you might not have heard about.

• Ryo Ishikawa – $7,500 – Ryo has been around the tours for quite some time as he busted on the scene in 2007 and became the youngest player to win a PGA Tour Japan event at the rip age of 17. His form is on point as in his last 4 starts on the Japan Tour he’s placed first, second, third and 7th. Making his third start here in Kaula Lampur, I like him to get his 2016-2017 season started off on the correct foot.

• Yonghan Song – $7,300 – This Korean has played primarily on the Japanese tour recently. He placed T40th in the Japan Open Golf Championship, and second at the Honma Tour World Cup. We remember him from the WGC-Bridgestone where he came in 21st.

• Wang Jeung-Hun – $7,100 – A regular on the Euro Tour, Hun was also an Olympic participant. Most recently he placed T13th at the Venetian Macao Open, so recent form comes in pretty good.

• Shih-Chang Chan – $6,900 – Chan from Taiwan, comes in playing very well. His last three starts, all on the Asia PGA Tour, he’s placed T3 T12 T12. Ranked number 177th in the world this 30 year-old looks to make a splash here in Kaula Lampur.

• Gaganjeet Bhullar – $6,700 – Coming in with the best name in the field. Bhullar is fresh off a T57th in Maccau, but prior to that he was 5th at the BNI Indonesian Masters, and 1st in the Shinhan Donghae Open. That win propelled him to 235th in the world golf ranking. This 28 year-old from India looks to keep climbing up the OWGR.

Pick to Click: Well I took JT last week and he provided some great return to those who rostered him. If he could change that triple bogey he made in round 1, to a bogey he’d be right in the thick of it. That’s why I’m sticking with my guy and saying he will defend his title this week.

Justin Thomas $10,400 – Coming back to defend his title on a course that just seems absolutely perfect for his game. I like him to pick up his first of 3 victories this week.

Heading South – Fades

Well, Castro did end up making the cut, but finished in 35th so it really wasn’t a good return at all. I’ll try and do the same again this week.

Rafa Caberea-Bello $9,200 – He’s been playing a ton of golf lately, and really hasn’t played all that great. He has no course history, although I don’t’ think that means much as JT won last year and it was his first year playing. However, I just would rather roster Chappell Piercy or Steele and save some money. Not a complete fade but I project I’ll be under the average.

The Pro Review: With a new year starting, I plan to update this regularly as lineup and roster construction is pivotal to everyone’s success in DFS.

Players Used: 45
Top Golfer % Owned- 60%

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