RADIO
Here at RotoBaller, we are always searching for ways to give our readers the best fantasy sports content possible. With that goal in mind, we are very proud to announce the addition of a weekly PGA “One and Done” column. In this feature, our golf staff of Joe Nicely, Spencer Aguiar and Gianni Magliocco will provide their weekly golf picks every Wednesday. The purpose of this article is to present you with alternative options to consider and hopefully make your selection a much easier process weekly. With that plan in mind, let's get started!
Thanks for joining us here at RotoBaller! The Valspar wasn't very pretty for any of us, but it was especially ugly for me. My pick, Patrick Reed, suffered a MASSIVE TRAIN WRECK and was never close to making the cut. Gianni and Spencer fared better, with Henrik Stenson picking up a solid T24 for our 'OAD' leader Gianni and Sergio Garcia finishing a disappointing T54 for Spencer.
This week we head to Austin, Texas for the WGC-Dell Match Play. It's a tricky event. A little 'bracketology' will be required when making our 'OAD' picks this week. Things get started Wednesday morning, so let's dive right in!
For an in-depth breakdown of the top DraftKings and Fanduel plays, check out Joe Nicely's weekly Horse For The Course that highlights the best fits for the week's course.
And you can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week.
Editor's Note: Our friends at Fantasy National have built some incredible DFS Golf lineup tools including a Lineup Optimizer, Stat Engine, Ownership Projections and Course Breakdowns. They are by far the best daily fantasy Golf tools in the industry. Seriously. You can read all about them here and see screenshots.
2019 WGC Dell Match Play - Austin Country Club
7,108 Yards - Par 71 - Greens Bermuda
For the second time in three weeks, the field will tackle a Pete Dye-designed golf course. Austin Country Club measures out to just over 7,100 yards and contains several Dye hallmarks. The front and back nine are rather different, with the front using the property's natural elevations and the back revolving around Lake Austin. We have seen strong drivers of the ball do well here, with distance popping a bit more than at most Dye tracks. Of course, there's a huge premium placed on approach shots and ball striking. The Par-5's are attackable and a driveable Par-4 presents a juicy risk/reward opportunity towards the end of the round.
One and Done Selections
Joe Nicely - Ian Poulter
Alternate - Tony Finau
This is a tough week. Match play is an unpredictable beast at any level, but especially when you throw in 64 of the world's best players. Due to that fact, I don't want to burn a player that I consider truly elite, even though I desperately need a win to get back in the 'OAD' mix. So, I'm going with a player that might not be considered elite, but that I feel has a legitimate chance to make a deep run in this event. Ian Poulter is arguably the greatest match-play golfer of our generation. If I had to pick a golfer to play a match for my life, I'd take Tiger Woods, but Poulter would probably be second on the list. The Englishman is UNDEFEATED in Ryder Cup singles matches and has previously won both this event and Europe's Volvo Match Play Championship.
The downside to Poulter this week is a surprisingly tough draw in his opening 'pod'. Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner, and Keith Mitchell are no pushovers, but if Poulter can make it through that tough group, the bracket really opens up for him. He's spent 2019 in very sharp form, running off a string of top-six finishes on the Euro Tour and logging a T3 at the WGC-Mexico. Poulter is one of the players in this field that you can count on to take this event seriously. The combination of his solid form and elite match play ability make me feel comfortable pulling the trigger on the Englishman in this tricky event. - Joe Nicely
Yearly Earnings - $1,111,239
Yearly Cuts Made - 9/11
Spencer Aguiar - Haotong Li
Alternate - Jordan Spieth
The NCAA tournament turns the month of March into pure madness, and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play will add its fair share of insanity this weekend at Austin Country Club. Sixty-four players are paired into 16 groups of four participants, and I am looking to find Cinderella in the field this season.
The left side of the bracket is way too complicated to try and decipher. It feels like an unweighted field, so that makes the decision have to come from the right portion of the draw. Jordan Spieth is interesting back in Texas, but I don't love his foursome. Francesco Molinari probably makes the most sense because he drew the second easiest opening group and could potentially have a cleaner path than most participants, but I don't want to risk overlapping my selection with Joe or Gianni this weekend. And while Tony Finau is my selection to win the tournament, I think it is just as likely that he doesn't make it out of his quadrant after drawing Ian Poulter, Kevin Kisner and Keith Mitchell.
After running some numbers, the softest group happened to be Brooks Koepka's. Tom Lewis is one of the weakest players in the field, and Alex Noren is riding into the event off of last year's performance but features no form whatsoever to speak of this season. Koepka would make the most sense as the judicious selection in Texas, but even his current body of work is less than stellar, and it doesn't feel like an event to burn a top player in the world.
Enter in this year's Cinderella, Haotong Li. The Chinese sensation has battled the likes of Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose over on the European Tour in the past few months and has been rounding into form if you exclude his two slip-ups at the Players Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational. I think the order that Li drew his opponents in is quite interesting if we believe he can find success during the match play. His first antagonist will be Alex Noren, who I mentioned above is riding in off of name value and past results. The potential to get him when he still hasn't hit stride is significant and facing Koepka second could be just as important. The American will have to face Noren in the final matchup, and it is a classic lookahead spot in the second pairing when he takes on Li. Closing with Lewis would make advancing that much more comfortable, and I think if he can pull the slight upset of Noren on Wednesday, we are in a position where he should gain at least two victories and has potential to sneak out of the group unnoticed. There is enormous volatility with this selection, but it is a unique spot to be different and features at least a $50,000 payday to alleviate a bit of the risk that is involved. It is the month of March. There is madness in the air. And I am going dancing with Haotong Li. - Spencer Aguiar
Yearly Earnings - $2,199,771
Yearly Cuts Made - 10/11
Gianni Magliocco - Francesco Molinari
Alternate -
This is the most unpredictable event on the calendar for my money, and not one I'm particularly comfortable making a pick for in this competition. With so many upsets at last year's event, the temptation was to go for a true outsider, but after seeing how the draw worked out, I just can't see Francesco Molinari not emerging from his group.
The Italian suffered a hangover after winning at Bay Hill when he finished T56 at The Players, but I can't see him struggling for a second consecutive event, as he has become one of the more reliable players on Tour. In a group with Webb Simpson, Thorbjorn Olesen, and Satoshi Kodaira, Molinari will fancy his chances, and all you can do when making a pick this week is to look for a player who you feel will make it out of their group. Anything can and often does happen in match play, but Molinari has the confidence and pedigree to go deep at this event if he's on top form. - Gianni Magliocco
Yearly Earnings - $4,688,388
Yearly Cuts Made - 9/11
Running Totals
|
Joe Nicely |
Spencer Aguiar |
Gianni Magliocco |
|
|
Sony Open |
Gary Woodland $11,520 |
Justin Thomas $99,200 |
Kevin Kisner $12,864 |
|
Desert Classic |
Jon Rahm $212,400 |
Jon Rahm $212,400 |
Patrick Cantlay $159,300 |
|
Farmers Insurance |
Marc Leishman $21,158 |
Patrick Cantlay $0 |
Charles Howell III $79,804 |
|
Waste Management |
Hideki Matsuyama $113,600 |
Webb Simpson $76,917 |
Justin Thomas $482,800 |
|
Pebble Beach |
Chez Reavie $31,160 |
Phil Mickelson $1,368,000 |
Phil Mickelson $1,368,000 |
|
Genesis Open |
Xander Schauffele $100,788 |
Hideki Matsuyama $177,600 |
Dustin Johnson $177,600 |
|
WGC Mexico Championship |
Justin Thomas $201,000 |
Xander Schauffele $128,000 |
Tommy Fleetwood $103,750 |
|
Honda Classic |
Adam Scott $0 |
Gary Woodland $25,346 |
Adam Scott $0 |
|
Arnold Palmer |
Rory McIlroy $294,613 |
Justin Rose $19,474 |
Jason Day $0 |
|
Players Championship |
Sergio Garcia $125,000 |
Tiger Woods $77,625 |
Rory McIlroy $2,250,000 |
|
Valspar Championship |
Patrick Reed $0 |
Sergio Garcia $15,209 |
Henrik Stenson $54,270 |
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