PGA DFS Picks: DraftkIngs + FanDuel Fantasy Golf

The greatest show on turf takes center stage this week, as the PGA Tour drives east about five hours to Phoenix for the Waste Management Open. The tournament, typically known for its diverse and massive crowds, won’t have quite the same feel this year, with attendance limited. Still, the stadium course designed by Tom Weiskopf provides thrills, spills and everything in between. We should have some elevated scoring and a board full of top-50 options. It’s a fun week to make PGA DFS picks with all the talent available in DraftKings and FanDuel PGA contests.

Here is what you can expect to find in this article, with some new additions:

The Tournament & Format
Course Commentary
Course Facts & Figures
PGA DFS Course Summary & Statistical Comparison
PGA DFS Preview, including sweat sheet and now featuring optimal lineups from last year’s event
Player Preview

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PGA DFS Picks & Preview | DraftKings & FanDuel

The Tournament and Format

Only one course will be used out in the desert this week. Due to how many hours of sunlight we get, there are only 132 players in this field, with the top 65 and ties making the weekend. The tournament itself dates all the back to the 1930s, while the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale has been the host for over 30 years.

The Course(s)

TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course

TPC Scottsdale is an absolute desert beauty just northeast of the city. Opened 35 years ago and designed by Tom Weiskopf, the course is a par 71 measuring just shy of 7,200 yards. Plus, it sits on average about 1,000 feet above sea level, so the ball also travels further. In my opinion, especially during normal, non-COVID years, the final four holes could be the best of any on tour. They start with a reachable par 5 that has water looming, then go into a 150-yard par 3 (also known as the loudest hole in golf). Those are followed by a drivable par 4 with water all around, and then a difficult par 4 to finish.

Latest PGA DFS Content

Course Facts & Figures TPC Scottsdale

Par 71 and 7,250 yards.

Course Difficulty

24/49: -.85

Hole Dispersion:

Par 3’s — 183, 215, 192, 163
4’s — 403, 442, 470, 432, 475, 453, 428, 472, 490, 332, 442
Par 5’s — 558, 558, 553

Grass Types & Hazards

Grass Type: Bermuda
Average Green: 7069 square feet
Water Hazards: 3
Bunkers: Lots
Rough Length: 2.5 inches

Designer

Tom Weiskopf

Facts and Figures

Off the Tee: This is another week where hitting the fairway will be challenging. Although the Bermuda rough here won’t be near as harsh as last week’s thick, wet rough at Torrey, it presents its own set of challenges. Golfers only hit the fairway 55.87% here, ranking 36th out of 45 courses last year. If the long ball is part of a golfer’s arsenal, then this is a good spot to roster him for PGA DFS, as the average drive of 303 ranked seventh longest on tour.
Approach to the Green: With only 55% of the fairways hit here, it’s no surprise to see that greens rank somewhere in the middle at just shy of two-thirds of greens being hit.
Around the Green: Scrambling percentage is under 60%, and putting average ranks the course among the most difficult all year. This course is relatively short and a par 71, so it needs to get its toughness from somewhere.
On the Green: The greens ranked 13th on tour last year.

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PGA DFS Course Summary & Statistical Comparison

I think it’s pretty clear that most of the field take advantage of the desert air and launches the ball further than they do the rest of the year. With that in mind, I don’t think driving distance needs to be as much of a factor this week as it was last week.

PGA DFS Slate Preview

There are additions to this section. I will highlight the upcoming week and what contests are offered, and then I will go over the winning GPP lineups from last year’s three price points. Finally, we’ll look to the DFS sweat sheet to see where the golfers will be scoring the most DFS points this week.

While most contests had no problem filling last week, the $100 contest didn’t end up making it, so we see a slight tick down in the offerings from DraftKings for the Waste Management this week.

Previous Year PGA DFS DraftKings Results

I’ll cover three buy-in levels: The large-field GPP, the high-dollar GPP and the single-entry mid-level buy-in. I’ll also provide a couple of notes on the overall scoring of the event.

Notes

The tournament’s average score (among golfers that made the cut) was 71 points, with the highest at 119 and the lowest at 51.
Only four golfers scored over 100 points.

$5 Buy-In $500,000 Guaranteed:
- Total ownership of under 50%.
- It was not the optimal lineup.
- The lineup wasn’t duplicated.
- The cash line for the contest was 445.

$444 Buy-In, $300,000 Guaranteed:
- Total ownership of 65%.
- The lineup was not duplicated.
- The cash line for the contest was 449.5.

PGA DFS Sweat Sheet

Three holes on the course (third, 13th, 17th) each yield over 10% of the total DFS scoring on any given day. The 16th hole comes close as well, but the water looming around the green creates enough bogeys that the fantasy points remain slightly lower and the golf scores slightly higher.

Previous Winners of The Waste Management

2020: Webb Simpson (-17)
2019: Rickie Fowler (-17)
2018: Gary Woodland (-18)
2017: Hideki Matsuyama (-17)
2016: Hideki Matsuyama (-14)

Player Preview

Last week there were only three top-10 golfers competing, but this week we go up to five. Justin Thomas and Webb Simpson are back on the course, and they join the three top-10 players in the world who all played last week: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele. Just about half of the world’s top 50 are in play this week, giving us another very strong and competitive field out in the desert for the Waste Management.

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Author

Jason Rouslin

Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].