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Plainfield Country Club - Edison, NJ
Par 72, 7,091 Yards
Davis Love III won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday to secure his spot in the Fedex Cup playoffs. He came into the tournament in 186th in the standings and with the win moved to 76th in the standings and inside the top 100 cutline which will come after the Barclays this weekend. Four other players broke the bubble and played their way into the first playoff event at the Barclays. Jason Gore, with his 2nd place finish, moved from 166th in the standings to 98th. The other three to play their way in were Jonas Blixt(135th - 121st), Camillo Villegas(129th - 123rd), and Ryo Ishikawa(130th - 124th). Overall, it was an exciting event this past weekend. Tiger Woods had his best finish in two years and was a final round away from contending for another win. The crowds were huge throughout the entire weekend and Tiger playing like Tiger is only a good thing for the game. He didn't make the Fedex Cup playoffs but ended his season on a high note after a season of lows.
This week the PGA Tour heads to Plainfield Country Club for the first of four playoff events in the race for the Fedex Cup and 10 million dollars. The top 125 golfers in the Fedex Cup standings have made it to the playoffs but not all will be teeing it up this weekend at the Barclays(Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, & Louis Oosthuisen most notably). The top 100 in the standings following this tournament will advance to the the Deutsche Bank Championship next week. From there the top 70 will advance to the BMW Championship and from there the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake. The cutline for this tournament will still be top 70 and ties.
The main course at Plainfield Country Club was originally designed by Donald Ross back in 1916. During the past 10 years architect Gil Hanse has lead some massive changes to the course including the removal of over 1200 trees, additions of bunkers lost years ago, 16 green renovations, and the addition of more length. The Barlcays tournament rotates its courses each year and the last time Plainfield CC was used was in 2011 where Dustin Johnson won after weather forced the tournament to end after 54 holes. A few of the holes have changed since 2011 including hole 5 which has been converted to a Par 4 from a Par 5. This makes the course a Par 70 this week where as it was a Par 71 in 2011. Making birdies will be key this week as the winning score should be around -20. Dustin Johnson won with a -19 and that was after 3 rounds. I will be weighing Strokes gained:Tee to Green, Proximity, Par 4 Performance, Birdie or Better %, and Strokes Gained:Putting most heavily this week. Below is a list of all the stats used i my cheatsheet this week:
Jordan Spieth
Vegas Odds - 6.5/1
Draftkings - $12,600
Victiv - $12,000
Fantasy Feud - $193,000
He comes in first almost anywhere you look. Fedex Cup standings, Money List, multiple stats, Major Championships, and World Rankings. He has a huge lead coming into The Barclays and will be looking to add to the list of 2015 accomplishments by winning the Fedex Cup. His worst stat on my cheatsheet is Driving Accuracy(82nd) which isn't at the top of the list anyway. He is elite across the board when looking at SG:T2G, GIR, Prox, Par 4Perf, Bird or Better %, and Putting. He hasn't finished worse than 10th in six straight tournaments and has a win and five top 5's in that span. I would be shocked if he doesn't get another top 5 this weekend. Prepare to read more about Spieth in the coming weeks.
Justin Rose
Vegas Odds - 23/1
Draftkings - $10,900
Victiv - $10,300
Fantasy Feud - $172,000
Like Jordan, he is coming into the Barclays with excellent form. He has four straight top 6 or better finishes and is coming back to a tournament he has had success at. In his previous 5 trips to the Barclays, Rose has three top 15 finishes including a 6th place finish in 2011 when the tournament was last held at Plainfield CC. He is top 60 in all nine stats on my cheatsheet except for Scrambling and Putting here he is average. Look for a strong finish from Rose this week as the playoffs kick off.
Rickie Fowler
Vegas Odds - 26/1
Draftkings - $9,800
Victiv - $9,700
Fantasy Feud - $158,000
After his win at the PLAYERS he missed consecutive cuts which I am calling a post win hangover. Since then has two 30th place finishes at the Open Championship and PGA Championship, a T10 at the Bridgestone Invitational, and a runner up at the Quicken Loans National. He finished 52nd here in 2011 and has scored a top 10 in each of the last two years at the Barclays. He is 37th in Strokes Gained: tee to Green and 23rd in Birdie or Better %, two stats I am weighing heavily this week.
Matt Kuchar
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Draftkings - $9,300
Victiv - $8,500
Fantasy Feud - $137,000
When looking at all factors this week, Kuchar hits in all areas. His current form has been excellent with three top 7 finishes in his previous five tournies no missed cuts. In his previous five trips to the Barclays he has a win and three top 5 finishes including a runner up in 2011 when this tournament was played at Plainfield last. He is elite in SG:T2G, Par 4 Perf, Bird or Better %, Scrambling, Sand Save % and Putting. Look for old Mr. Smiles to finish strong once again and improve his standings going into the Deutsche Bank Championship next week.
Brandt Snedeker
Vegas Odds - 41/1
Draftkings - $8,600
Victiv - $7,800
Fantasy Feud - $130,000
He let a lot of people down(including myself!) last week at the Wyndham with a 75 in the final round. I am hoping this leaves a bitter taste in most people's mouth as I will be jumping back on the train this week. Another factor that might have people shy away is his Barclays history where he has missed the cut the past two years and three of the last five. In the other two years, however, he has finished 2nd in 2012 and 3rd in 2011 when the tournament was last held at Plainfield CC. He is elite in Par 4 Performance, Bird or Better %, Scrambling, Sand Save %, and Putting. Not that it means much but he is the only player to win the Fedex Cup and return to the Tour Championship the next year. Look for Snedeker to make another run at a win this weekend at a lower ownership % than last week.
Webb Simpson
Vegas Odds - 56/1
Draftkings - $7,900
Victiv - $7,200
Fantasy Feud - $116,000
He hasn't missed a cut in his past four tournies and had his best finish in two months at the Wyndham finishing in 6th place. Last time he visited Plainfield CC in 2011, he finished in 10th and golfed great on Saturday carding a 63 before the tournament was halted. The only downside to using Webb in fantasy has been his putting. He is ranked 170th in Strokes Gained: Putting, so he will need another solid week of knocking it close to keep the putt lengths to a minimum.
Patrick Reed
Vegas Odds - 51/1
Draftkings - $8,100
Victiv - $8,200
Fantasy Feud - $123,000
I have this feeling with Reed all year that he was going to do something big but it never transpired....yet. Maybe he was waiting for the playoffs and the $10,000,000 payday. His current form has been pretty good with three top 20 finishes and no missed cuts in his previous five tournaments. Last year at the Barclays he finished in 9th place but has not played Plainfield before in a professional tournament. One of the main reasons why he hasn't contended more this year is his poor Driving Accuracy, GIR, and Proximity. He is elite in almost all other stats this year. If he can hit some fairways(more generous than in the past here) this week and give himself a better shot at hitting the greens he should come away with a nice finish to start his run for the Fedex Cup.
Charley Hoffman
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Draftkings - $7,000
Victiv - $7,100
Fantasy Feud - $81,000
He is very inconsistent so I am only recommending him as a GPP play this week. In his last five year at the Barclays he has made four of five cuts and most notably a 10th in 2011 here at Plainfield CC. He is top 60 in Strokes Gained:Tee to Green, Par 4 Performance and Bird or Better %. This combo could come together nicely for him again here at Plainfield and he comes at a discounted price.
Hunter Mahan
Vegas Odds - 126/1
Draftkings - $6,700
Victiv - $6,900
Fantasy Feud - $88,000
He has been very average in 2015 with no wins, one top 5 and three top 10 finishes. He has been consistently making cuts though having only missed 3 on the season. This makes him a nice cash game play this week at reduced price to help get in some top tier golfers. Mahan is the only golfer to make the Tour Championship in each of 8 years the Fedex Cup has been around and has a perfect attendance in those 8 years as well. He comes alive during playoffs so get him in your lineups.
Chris Stroud
Vegas Odds - 201/1
Draftkings - $6,100
Victiv - $5,400
Fantasy Feud - $53,000
I added an extra lower tier guy this week and it is a long shot at best. He has missed three cuts in a row and 12 on the season. His cut made rate is just above 50%. Pretty awful! But when he is making cuts he has been getting some nice results for the price. He went on a stretch from the end of June till mid July where he made four straight cuts with finishes of T10, T37, T5, T32. Not bad at all. When looking at his stats he is top 60 ranked in Driving Accuracy, Proximity, Birdie or Better %, and Sand Save %. He is a perfect fit for your stars and scrubs lineups this week.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for The Barclays? Chris is selling lineups plus a cheatsheet for only $5. He covers DraftKings, Victiv and Fantasy Feud. Fill out the form below or click here to purchase using PayPal. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north.
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