Daily Fantasy PGA Picks for DraftKings & FanDuel - Safeway Open

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 FanDuel. As every week in DFS PGA changes with the course setup, field of players and weather, Chris will be providing a range of different picks for cash games as well as upside plays for tournaments. If you have any questions to lineup lock you can reach him a variety of ways. Leave your question/comment below in the comments section, find him in the DFSR Chat room or hit him up on Twitter(@Jager_Bombs9).

Chris is also providing his DFS PGA Weekly cheatsheet and Season-Long Trends Sheet at absolutely no cost.

Safeway Open

The Course

Silverado Resort & Spa(North) - Napa, CA
Par 72 - 7,203 Yards

**Click to see PGATour.com Course Overview**

Top Stats in the Model

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee(20%)
• Strokes Gained: Approach(30%)
• Birdie or Better %(30%)
• Par 4 Scoring(20%)

Top Course History Targets

Kevin Na
World Golf Ranking (#66)
Vegas Odds (28/1)
Draftkings ($9,400)
FanDuel ($7,800)

It is very likely Na will be the highest owned golfer this week(leads FanShare tags with 15) but he has everything going for him, starting with the course history. He has played here in back to back year finishing 2nd and 7th and in those eight rounds, ranks 3rd overall in DraftKings points(via Fantasy National Golf Club). He finished last season strong making it all the way to the BMW Championship and had two Top 6 finishes in his final four events with 7th most DraftKings points per tournament(in the field) over his last five events. He also crushes it statistically ranking 1st in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, 5th in Par 4 Scoring and 12th in Birdie or Better %. He is a safe play in all formats, especially on FanDuel where he is under $8K to start the season.

Brendan Steele
World Golf Ranking (#59)
Vegas Odds (28/1)
Draftkings ($9,000)
FanDuel ($8,600)

Pictured above are Brendan Steele's stat rankings over the last 12 rounds at Silverado Resort & Spa(via Fantasy National Golf Club) and they are very impressive. He is top 10 in every area besides SG: ARG and has improved here each year he has played Silverado. He has finished T21, T17, and with a final round 65 last season, won the event. He did tail off at the end of the season missing four of his final seven cuts with just one Top 25 but can use a track he is comfortable with to reboot in a big way. Steele also shows up in my stats model this week as he ranks Top 20 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach, Pat 4 Scoring and Top 10 in Birdie or Better %. Like Na, he is a great play in all formats.

Top Current Form Targets

Tony Finau
World Golf Ranking (#49)
Vegas Odds (12/1)
Draftkings ($11,500)
FanDuel ($9,500)

After not being priced above $10K once in 2017(back to ToC) he leads the field this week on DraftKings. This makes him a bit risky and definitely a GPP only play but tops the non-salary model ranking #1 on my sheet. He was one of the 30 golfers to make the TOUR Championship last season and finished strong with back to back T7 finishes shooting in the 60's in five of those eight rounds. He has made the cut here at Silverado in three straight years but has yet to break into the Top 10 but I see that changing this time around. He could have easily been in the Stats section of the article as he ranks 1st in SG: OTT, 11th in SG: APP, 1st in Par 4 Scoring, and 2nd in BoB%.

Harold Varner III
World Golf Ranking (#140)
Vegas Odds (80/1)
Draftkings ($8,000)
FanDuel ($6,200)

Varner also finished the year strong making the cut in his final five tournaments dating back to the RBC Canadian Open. He only had one Top 10 but of all the players in the field this week ranked 5th in DraftKings points per tournament over those five events and that is exactly what we are targeting. Looking at FNCG last 24 rounds overall, he was also 15th in DraftKings points and 7th in Strokes Gained Approach which is my top stat of the week. At $8,000 on DraftKings, I would reserve him to GPP only but is in play in all formats on FanDuel in the low $6K range. He is also likely to be lower owned as he currently sits with just one tag on FanShare(Tuesday afternoon).

Who the Stats Like

Jamie Lovemark
World Golf Ranking (#82)
Vegas Odds (40/1)
Draftkings ($8,700)
FanDuel ($8,000)

Lovemark doesn't top the list when looking at the stats model this week but he is close and stands out in a few areas. He is ranked fourth in the field in Par 4 Scoring and is one of just eight golfers in the field to average par or better on them during the 2016/17 season. He also ranks 15th in Birdie or Better % in the field and despite ranking 33rd in SG: APP, ranks 15th in overall Proximity to the hole. He was also a very consistent option for cash games last season making 22 of 28 cuts with four Top 10's and nine Top 25 finishes. I see a breakout season coming for Lovemark and believe it starts this week.

Luke List
World Golf Ranking (#144)
Vegas Odds (60/1)
Draftkings ($7,900)
FanDuel ($5,400)

It's the start of a new PGA Tour season and that means it's Luke List time! He ended the 2017 season ranked 11th overall in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 27th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th. how did he get there? The swing season. He finished 26th or better in each of his first six tournaments last year shooting in the 60's in 18 of those 24 rounds. I would not ever call him a safe play for cash games but he is one of just five players in the field to rank Top 20 in all four categories on my sheet.

Safeway Open Update Thread

**Weather Update**

Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for five years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, MLB, NASCAR, NHL 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.