THE PLAYERS Championship FanDuel Report
Welcome to TPC Sawgrass, home of THE PLAYERS Championship. This is a Pete Dye designed course that is meant to mess with your head from start to finish. 17 of the 18 holes have water, including the infamous 17th, which essentially has an “island” green 132 yards from the tee box. This course is a par 72, measuring 7,189 yards with Bermuda greens. It’s a 144 player field and the top 65 (and ties) will make the cut after 36 holes. I’ll be looking at some tournament history this week, but it will be the recent form and stats that will ultimately make my decisions for “the fifth major”.
$10k+
Cash: Rory McIlroy - $12,200: Rory will be the chalk here, and I would be ok playing him in any format. He has three straight 5/T5 finishes over the last month and he’s also the defending champion at this tournament. He also has a T35 in 2017, a T12 in 2016, and a T8 in 2015. He’s checking the boxes in every category I’m looking at. Sixth in SG: App, first in SG: T2G, first in Opps Gained, third in SG: P4, 26th in Scrambling, and 40th in SG: P (Bermuda).
GPP: Adam Scott - $11,500: Scott is one of my favorite plays this week. He has struggled with putting on Bermuda (119th among the field over his last 100 rounds), but he has been so solid in all of the other categories. 21st in SG: App, second in SG: T2G, 24th in SG: P4, and 39th in Scrambling. He has finished no worse than T12 each of the last four years here at TPC Sawgrass.
Pivot: Webb Simpson - $10,700
$9k+
Cash: Matt Kuchar - $9,700: For this range, I’m sticking with experienced players. Kuchar finished T26 in 2019, T17 in 2018, and T2 in 2016. His recent form has been solid, as well. He finished T22 at the WGC-Mexico, T2 at the Genesis, and T38 at the AT&T Pro-Am. He’s not the longest hitter, but this tournament doesn’t require you to be. He’s ninth in SG: T2G, 30th in SG: P4, 22nd in SG: P (Bermuda), and ninth in Scrambling.
GPP: Ian Poulter - $9,500: Poulter’s ownership is just a tad less than Kuchar’s, so you could play either guy in Cash or GPPs. While he barely cracks the top-100 in Opps Gained, he’s 43rd in SG: T2G, 21st in SG: P4, 37th in Scrambling, and 45th in SG: P (Bermuda). His last two recent starts finished with a T32 last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and a T27 the week prior at the Honda Classic. He knows how to make the cut at the tournament, and finished T11 in 2018 and T2 in 2017.
Pivot: Byeong Hun An - $9,000
$8k+
Cash: Joel Dahmen - $8,100: Dahmen will probably be the highest owned golfer in this range, and I’m ok with that. He’s 24th in SG: App, 27th in SG: T2G, 12th in Opps Gained, fourth in SG: P4, and 4th in Scrambling. Like with Adam Scott above, it’ll be the putting that Dahmen needs to straighten out this week. He has great recent form, with two straight T5 finishes at the Arnold Palmer and the Genesis (his two most recent PGA Tour appearances), along with a T14 at the AT&T Pro-Am. Last year was his first time at THE PLAYERS, and he finished T12.
GPP: Abraham Ancer - $8,900: Ancer didn’t have a great outing last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T56), but he did have a T12 at the WGC-Mexico. Like Dahmen, last year was Ancer’s first time in this tournament and he finished T12. Ancer is 19th in SG: T2G, 12th in SG: P4, and 35th in Scrambling.
Pivot: Max Homa - $8,500
$7k+
Cash: Jimmy Walker - $7,700: I really like Walker at this price. He’s 35th in SG: App, 22nd in Opps Gained, and ranked in the top half of the field in SG: T2G, SG: P (Bermuda), and Scrambling. He has two straight top-25 finishes at the Arnold Palmer and Honda over the last two weeks.
GPP: Cameron Tringale - $7,300: Tringale finished T27 at the Honda Classic and T30 at the Genesis. He hasn’t played in this tournament since 2017, where he finished T35, but the year prior in 2016 he finished T16. He’s 13th in SG: App, 28th in SG: P4, and 12th in Scrambling.
Pivot: Bud Cauley - $7,600
Key Stats “Key”:
SG: App = Strokes Gained Approach
SG: P4 = Strokes Gained Par 4 Scoring
SG: P (Bermuda) = Strokes Gained Putting on Bermuda Greens
Opps Gained = Birdie Opportunities inside 15 feet from green/fringe
Scrambling = Chip Shop or Putt from less than 50 yards off the green, with an end result of Par or better
SG: T2G = Strokes Gained from Tee to Green
* All Stats and Ownership Projections courtesy of Fantasy National
