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TPC Kuala Lumpur (West)
Par 72 - 6,951 Yards
After a soggy Safeway Open it was Brendan Steele shooting an impressive final round 65 to take home the first tournament of the year. He did so by hitting Greens in Regulation at a 64.3% clip while the average for the field sat at 53%. It was Steele's second career win and first since the 2011 season. On to next week where we hopefully have some better weather.
This week the PGA Tour packs up and heads across the pond to Malaysia for the 2016/2017 CIMB Classic. The host course is TPC Kuala Lumpur which was formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. It is short Par 72 course coming in just under 7,000 yards with average greens and some real mind tests for the golfers. There are some well placed bunkers which will force a lot of players to club back off the tee to hit the right spots to present attainable approach shots. There are also some risk/reward Par 4's that are driveable by most but will punish you if you miss in the wrong areas. Last year Justin Thomas won with Adam Scott finishing runner up. Both ranked worse than 150th in Driving Accuracy at the end of the season. The year before that Ryan Moore won with Kevin Na right behind him. Both ranked worse than 145th in Driving Distance with Moore ranking 11th in Accuracy and Na 84th. What does this tell us? Neither stat is going to be a great indicator of success this week. Because of this I will be concentrating on Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, Par 5 Scoring , Birdie or Better % and Bogey Avoidance. Let's dig in to some top picks this week.
If you have any questions leading up to lineup lock Thursday morning you can reach me in a variety of ways. Leave a Q below in the comment section and I will get you an answer. You can hit me up in the new chatroom here at DFSR(It's crazy busy with NFL talk so try and private message me for specific PGA Q's). I will also be joining Doug on the Wednesday Podcast to discuss the tournament each week. I am always available on Twitter as well(@jager_bombs9). Good luck this week!
High End Targets ($9,000+)
Adam Scott
Vegas Odds - 13/1
Draftkings - $10,900
FantasyAces - $5,750
He is definitely going to be the chalk this week in my opinion. In a very weak field you can get the #1 golfer in Strokes Gained Tee to Green as the 4th most expensive on DraftKings. He also ranks #1 in Strokes Gained: Approach due to his #1 ranking in Proximity and #3 ranking in GIR. He is 8th and 13th in Par 4 and 5 Scoring and 21st in Bogey Avoidance and 9th in BoB%. Add to it that he came in second here last year and you have an elite play that hits on every level. He is safe in all formats.
Kevin Na
Vegas Odds - 21/1
Draftkings - $9,900
FantasyAces - $5,300
When it comes to course history here at Kuala Lumpur there isn't many better than Kevin Na. He has yet to win it here but has finished 3rd and 2nd in his first two trips to Malaysia. He is one of the golfers who is very short off the tee but very accurate(29th last year). He was consistent during the '15/'16 season as he participated in 26 events and only missed four cuts all year with 14 Top 25 finishes. He will be in a great position to capture his first win since the 2011 season just like Steele last week. Safe in all formats.
Gary Woodland
Vegas Odds - 29/1
Draftkings - $9,600
FantasyAces - $5,250
While both of the golfers I listed above will most likely be chalky I feel Woodland may be a bit under owned with Na and Sergio right above him. When I think of Woodland I always think boom or bust GPP play only. This was not the case last season as he made 22 of 26 cuts and was really consistent. The upside was a little lacking as he only recorded four Top 10's but nonetheless he was a fantastic play for DFS as he makes birdies and limits the damage ranking 10th in Bogey Avoidance. He struggled here last finishing 56th but came in as the runner up in each of the first two years this tournament was played at Kuala Lumpur.
Also Consider - Patrick Reed
Daniel Berger
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Draftkings - $8,500
FantasyAces - $5,200
I had Brendan Steele in this spot last week and he paid off in a big way with a win. I won't be fading him this week but will definitely lower my exposure as his ownership should rise with just a $100 price bump. This week it is most definitely Berger time! He was very impressive last season missing just three cuts in 26 events with all three coming before March. He add six Top 10's and 12 Top 25 finishes and ranked very well in a ton of statistical areas. He ranked 32nd in SG:T2G and 23 in SG: App which is highlighted by a 7th in Prox form 150-175 and 3rd in 175-200 yards. He didn't fare well here last year finishing 64th which I feel will just add to his already projected ownership. Perfect play for GPP formats this week.
Russell Knox
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Draftkings - $8,200
FantasyAces - $4,900
Anytime the Tour heads to a shorter accuracy course I always look for Knox in the field and see what price point he comes in at. This week he sits in the low $8K range which makes him a perfect play in any format for me this week. Accuracy is definitely the name of his game as he ranks 9th in GIR and 11th in Proximity. He also ranks 25th in scoring average, 17th in Bogey Avoidance and 28th in scrambling. He got an early win last year at the WGC-HSBC Champions and followed that up with a 2nd at the OHL Classic. After missing his fourth cut at the Masters he finished the season strong with 12 straight cuts made including a second win at the Travelers Championship and he also made it to the TOUR Championship finishing 23rd. He will look to build off that tremendous season and is a great DFS play this week.
Alex Cejka
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Draftkings - $7,400
FantasyAces - $4,450
Another accuracy player who fits the course perfectly this week. He finished tied for 17th last year in his only trip to Kuala Lumpur and is a good bet for another Top 20 this week. He struggles off the tee as he lacks distance(155th) but is extremely accurate ranking 22nd in Driving Accuracy, 10th in SG: APP, 20th in SG: ATG, 1st in Bogey Avoidance, 3rd, 14th and 10th in Par 3/4/5 Scoring and 17th in BoB%. Lock him into your GPP lineups this week.
Also Consider - Jim Herman
Chez Reavie
Vegas Odds - 151/1
Draftkings - $6,300
FantasyAces - $4,350
There isn't a whole lot to like under $7K this week so I dig right to the bottom with Chez Reavie. He ranks inside the Top 20 in SG:T2G and SG: APP and was 10th on Tour last year in Driving Accuracy. That isn't the only stat ranking that stood out for Reavie as he was 13th in Proximity, 22nd in Par 3 Scoring, 14th in Par 4 Scoring, 19th in Bogey Avoidance and 15th in Scrambling. He has never played here in this tourny but has the game to put together a solid week.
Also Consider - Danny Lee
Want to see how more analysis and information on building lineups for The CIMB Classic? Chris has his targets and cheatsheet for only $5. He covers DraftKings & FantasyAces. Fill out the form below or Purchase Through PayPal.
CIMB Classic
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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