DraftKings picks PGA Championship

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

DraftKings picks for the PGA Championship

What a summer it’s been, personally moving as my wife Debi and I downsize after living it a bigger house on 3 acres. With the two kids going off on their own and no child to mow those 3 acres it was time for a change. Unfortunately we would of rather not of sold our house in July and having to move the day after I get back from Europe. But we sold the place and now we are in a much smaller place with a nice size backyard that can be mowed in about five minutes.
As for me and work, it’s been a struggle all of my stuff are still in boxes, I have a nice new office with a desk, a big monitor for my computer, a TV and the recliner. What more from life does one need?
I will have more time to do more things in fantasy golf and that means spending more time with DraftKings, which I really haven’t had any time to do since before the U.S. Open. As I said at the British Open, I was able to pick six guys very quickly but by picks of Ryan Fox and Padraig Harrington screwed things up when they missed the cut. Also didn’t help when Tommy Fleetwood shot a second round 77, so lets just say that the British Open was a bust.
As for the PGA Championship I can say this, there are a lot of great picks in the $6,500 to $7,500 price range, which could give you more flexibility to take more top players.
Lets look at the possibilities that we have, Jordan Spieth is on top at $12,000 followed by Rory McIlroy at $11,800, Hideki Matsuyama ($10,500), Dustin Johnson at $11,400, Rickie Fowler at $10,700, Jason Day at $10,400 and Jon Rahm at $10,100. For those wondering about Masters champion Sergio Garcia he is at $9,400 and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka at $9,200. Despite this being a major, the PGA is using Quail Hollow which has been the site of the Wells Fargo Championship between 2003 and 2016. So for those looking for a good tool, look at our Quail Hollow Performance Chart.
This is a great way of seeing who does well year in and year out at Quail Hollow. I can say this, Rory McIlroy has a great record at Quail Hollow, so he was my first choice. Those that have also done well at Quail Hollow is Justin Rose ($9,000), Phil Mickelson ($8,500), Rickie Fowler ($10,700) and Lucas Glover ($7,000). So you can see some of them have very good prices and you can mix them in on your team. Of the top guys I like Spieth, McIlroy, Matsuyama and Fowler. Wouldn’t touch Dustin Johnson this week or even Jason Day and Jon Rahm.
In looking at the bottom end, there is a lot of great picks low so that means for this week I can take two top guys. My first pick is Hideki Matsuyama at $10,500, who won last week. He is a type of player that does well for weeks on so he was my first choice. What made my decision easy, in this three starts at the Wells Fargo he was T-11th last year, T-20th in 2015 and T-38th in 2014. My next choice and one that I thought a lot about was Rory McIlroy at $11,800. I also like Rickie Fowler who has a great record at Quail Hollow, but in the end I can see McIlroy getting better each week and think he can win. So just like that I have used up $22,300 of my $50,000. Going toward the bottom I found Jim Furyk at $6,400, who won at Quail Hollow in 2006. He also was a runner-up in 2014, but has missed the cut the last three starts at Quail Hollow. Still he has gotten better since the U.S. Open and I think he will be around for 4 days. Also like that Gary Woodland was only $6,700. He was T-4th at Quail Hollow in 2015 and he has the stats to do well, he is 51st in Proximity to the hole, 12th in Strokes Gained tee-to-green. Next up is Zach Johnson at $6,800, in his last 8 starts at Quail Hollow he has made the cut all of the years and his best was T-6th in 2011. But I like the fact that in his last 3 starts he was T-5th at the John Deere, T-14th at the British Open and 2nd last week at the WGC-Bridgeston. So with that said, I had one more pick and $7,800 to work with. I was surprised to see that Paul Casey was $7,800. He was probably so low price wise because he has missed two cuts and was T-41st in 2016. But he has all the right stats, he ranks 52nd in driving accuracy, 18th in proximity to the hole, 9th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 5th in scrambling. I also like that in his last 3 starts he was T-5th at the Travelers, T-11th at the British Open and T-5th last week at the Bridgestone. Even better in his last 9 starts going back to May his worst finish was 26th at the U.S. Open so I like him.
Now for some of the players that I like that were price low, Ian Poulter is only $7,000. Lucas Glover, who has a great record at Quail Hollow was also $7,000. Kevin Kisner, Brian Harman and defending champion Jimmy Walker are only $6,900. Steve Stricker is only $6,800 along with Francesco Milinari. Jason Dufner is $6,700, Alexander Levy is $6,500, Charles Howell III is $6,400 and for those that want to pick a club pro Mike Small is a good choice at only $6,100.
So happy picking and I only hope that you folks can finish second behind myself.

My Choices for the week
Rory McIlroy at $11,800
Hideki Matsuyama at $10,500
Paul Casey at $7,800
Zach Johnson at $6,800
Gary Woodland at $6,700
Jim Furyk at $6,400

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