Daily Fantasy PGA Picks for DraftKings & FantasyAces  - RSM Classic

DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly PGA picks, analysis and breakdowns to help you cash on DraftKings and FantasyAces. 

 

RSM Classic

Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside) Par 70 - 7,005 Yards

Sea Island Golf Club (Plantation Course) Par 72 - 7,033

 

The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort marks the final FedEx Cup point paying event of the 2016 portion of the season.  For us daily fantasy golf fans it is a short break as DraftKings most other sites run contests during the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in two weeks. Then after the Franklin Templeton Shootout  the tour takes a break until January where the 15'/16' winners will meet at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

This week's tournament will be played on two different 18 hole courses for the first two days. Players will all play one 18 hole round on the Seaside Course and one 18 hole round on the Plantation Course and those who make the cut will play the remaining 36 holes on the Seaside Course. It is a 7,005 Yard, Par 70 that plays as a traditional coastal Links style course.  When playing on Links courses the biggest defense is always going to be the wind. Here is a look at the forecast as of Tuesday morning:

Thursday and Friday look excellent while the wind should pick up through the weekend. Off the tee golfers are going to be faced with, what I consider, smaller than average fairways for a Links course with marsh, sand, water and native areas which can be very penal. Because of this Driving Accuracy will be an important stat as will Greens in Regulation as almost ever green is protected by multiple bunkers and/or water and marshland. It will also be important to not only look at GIR but Proximity to the Hole as the Greens are larger than average with some having different levels throughout the green.  Hitting every green is impossible and will become even harder on the weekend if the wind picks up so rostering golfers who are good out of the sand and good overall scramblers is a plus. With any Par 70 course Par 4 Scoring becomes a key stat as there are 12 of them with just two Par 5's.

To see a closer hole by hole look at the course visit the following LINK.

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 am also always available on Twitter(@jager_bombs9). Good luck this week!

 

 

High End Targets ($9,000+)

Kevin Chappell
World Golf Ranking  (28)
Vegas Odds (23/1)
Draftkings ($10,200)
FantasyAces ($5,700)

The large majority of my core lineups this week are going to built around Kevin Chappell. Sure he isn't coming into the week with fantastic form(T35, T45) this fall but a closer look paints a different picture. He finished off a fantastic 2016 season with a runner up(his 4th of the season) and if you look back to the start of last season we see a similar trend. He came into last seasons event with a MC, T62 and T29 before a runner up here at the RSM Classic. That isn't the only course history he has here either. The year before he finished 8th and has made all four cuts in his career. He is due to break through for that first tour win. Will it be this week? A gotta feeling and it's not the Black Eyed Peas.

 

 

Charles Howell III
World Golf Ranking (97)
Vegas Odds (34/1)
Draftkings ($9,200)
FantasyAces ($5,450)

I am 100% prepared to roll with the chalk in the upper tier this week. In weaker fields it is going to be unavoidable and as long as you are rostering them for the right reasons it makes perfect sense. You can get away from the herd in five other spots. I think Chucky 3 Sticks makes sense this week as it checks off every box for me. In a weak field it feels like terrific value getting him at a low $9K price tag given his stats, course history and form. He started off slow missing the cut at the Safeway Open but has since gone T39, T15 and T7 in last weeks OHL Classic. You know winning is on his mind. It's been 10 years since his last one and he is trending in the right direction. He hasn't been the most accurate to start the year(129th) but comes in 17th in Ball Striking, Top 40 in Proximity and has avoided the big numbers ranking 10th in Bogey Avoidance. The final piece of the puzzle is his course history. He has made the cut in all six trips to Sea Island Golf Club with three Top 10 finishes including two straight. He is safe in all formats.

 

 

Kevin Streelman
World Golf Ranking (104)
Vegas Odds (36/1)
Draftkings ($9,100)
FantasyAces ($5,400)

With my final upper tier pick this week I will go a bit off the board, at least according to some of the excellent resources out there predicting ownership(FantasyFanatics, DailyOverlay, FanShare Sports). He is the cheapest guy in the tier and also has the highest rank so far this year when looking at Driving Accuracy(28th) and Ball Striking(15th) overall. What I think will bring the sub 10% ownership is the fact he missed the cut here last year after a three year absence from the tournament. He has had success here at Sea Island as he finished 6th in his first trip back in 2011. Looking at his last two tournaments he has exceeded expectation at low ownership(OHL <5% owned - 117.5 DK points, Shriners <10% - 72 DK points). While I don't think you need to touch him in cash games, I suggest getting some exposure in GPP's. It won't take much to be over exposed if he is again under 10% owned.

Also Consider - Bill Haas

 

Mid Tier Targets ($7,000 - $8,900)

John Huh
World Golf Ranking (221)
Vegas Odds (67/1)
Draftkings ($8,300)
FantasyAces ($5,150)

Believe it or not the #1 golfer in my overall model this week is John Huh. I haven't rostered him since early last season when he was playing his best golf of the year. It's tie to get back on board this week. He has played here each of the last two years finishing T48 in 2015 and even coming in missing three of his first four cuts finished T9 last season. He is coming in with much better form this season making all four cuts and finishing no worse than T39. He has been solid statistically early this season ranking 25th in SG: APP, 37th in SG: ATG and 31st in Driving Accuracy. Three areas that are going to be key to success this week. I also think his season high price will force people to the red hot Cody Gribble or SG: OTT leader Jason Kokrak. This is great news for GPP's and I also believe there is enough safety here to use him in cash games, especially in head to heads.

 

 

Anirban Lahiri
World Golf Ranking (78)
Vegas Odds (41/1)
Draftkings ($8,700)
FantasyAces ($5,150)

I am sticking with Lahiri this week who actually seen a price decrease of $300 after a T28 last week. He has been dynamite to start both tournaments this season with six rounds under 70 and could easily have a win and contended for another had he been able to close out on Sunday with a 72 in both tournaments. He only qualifies in a few stats categories so far this year but they sure stand out. He is #1 in Putting Average, #5 in Par 3 Scoring, #2 in Birdie or Better % and #18 in Sand Save %. It will be his first trip to Sea Island Golf Club but if he continues play this week he should have no problem making the cut and if he can stay out of trouble on Sunday could very well score another Top 10 and maybe a win. He is an excellent GPP play that becomes elite if his ownership stays in the 5% range.

 

 

 

Also Consider - Robert Streb

 

Low End Target (Min Price - $6,900)

Michael Johnson
World Golf Ranking (592)
Vegas Odds (101/1)
Draftkings ($6,600)
FantasyAces ($3,500)

Who? Most will be unfamiliar with Johnson(I sure was) who made his pro debut in May after graduating from Auburn University. He made a huge splash in July at his first Pro event finishing 3rd at the Barbasol Championship. Now I know it isn't a great field but either is this weeks. He followed that terrific performance with three disappointing ones missing three straight cuts at much higher ranked events. He started the fall season off with a trip to the Sanderson Farms Championship and despite an opening round 74 finished 10 under with a T18. There is no safety in such a raw player but the the upside in these weaker fields events is definitely there.

 

Xander Schauffele
World Golf Ranking (289)
Vegas Odds (126/1)
Draftkings ($6,200)
FantasyAces ($4,450)

With an expanded lower tier this week in a weaker field I am going to add a second pick down in this area. I am rolling with rookie Xander Schauffele is currently ranked #2 behind the red hot Cody Gribble. He has made all four cuts so far this season highlighted by a T5 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Statistically he has been solid across the board and is one of the few golfers to rank inside the Top 100 in all Strokes Gained metrics. He hits it a mile(17th in Driv Dist) but lacks some of the accuracy we are looking for so he is definitely a GPP play only this week. He has also been solid ranked Top 60 in Par 3 Scoring, Scoring Average, BoB% and has been excellent from the sand ranked 18th.

 

 

Also Consider - J.T. Poston

 

 

 

RSM Classic Update Thread

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.