Daily Fantasy Golf FanDuel Picks (PGA DFS): 3M Open

July 22, 2020

Joe Nicely breaks down the FanDuel slate, providing information of not only who will come into the week under-owned but also who should be avoided for your lineups.

Hello RotoBaller PGA family! A signature win for young Jon Rahm at the Memorial in what were U.S. Open-like conditions. With the victory, the Spaniard ascends to the top of the OWGR as we head into some huge PGA events.

After a mini-major caliber field at Muirfield Village, we come tumbling back down to Earth a bit for the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the 3M Open. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges.

Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for FanDuel, whether that be from a GPP perspective or a cash-game mentality. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!

Winning Big With RotoBaller

A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of taking down a big tournament for the Travelers Championship over at DraftKings. I couldn't have done it without all the hard work the entire RotoBaller PGA team puts in each and every week.

If you read my articles @RotoBaller or listen to @TheTurnGolfPod I’ve been telling y’all it was #WinningSeason when golf came back! Shoutout to the entire @RotoBallerPGA squad and all you guys that support my work for all the ❤️ pic.twitter.com/07a4ynvbSU

— Joe Nicely (@JoeNicely) June 28, 2020

Between all the incredible Premium PGA content and tools we put out each week, and our Premium Slack Community where we chat with our subscribers before lineups lock, RotoBaller PGA subscribers are armed with the tools, analysis, and advice to win big in 2020. Make sure to use code NICE at checkout for an extra 10% off as well!

3M Open - PGA DFS Overview

TPC Twin Cities

7,481 Yards - Par 71 - Greens: Bentgrass  

This TPC Twin Cities layout was a longtime host of a PGA Tour Champions event, but finally got its shot at the big time last year. The Arnold Palmer layout (with tons of input from Tom Lehman) opened in 2000 and was long considered one of the best tracks on the Champions Tour schedule. The course was lengthened to just over 7,400 yards in prep of last year's inaugural 3M Open.

The addition of yardage didn't slow down the PGA Tour pros however, as we saw three players reach the 20-under par mark in 2019. There are 27 bodies of water in play on this course that takeadvantage of its natural contours and rolling landscape, but players will be able to swing away with drivers as the fairways at TPC Twin Cities are VERY WIDE. This fact - coupled with the players that did well last year - makes me give a significant bump to driving distance and strokes gained: off the tee

Let's Look At The Stats

While distance is always an advantage, that rings especially true this week, as the bombers can fire away at TPC Twin Cities' very generous fairways. Like the fairways, these greens are easy to hit and we'll need to target golfers that can rack up birdies in bunches.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
• Greens In Regulation Gained
• Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
• Driving Distance
• Birdie Or Better %

Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for FanDuel (PGA DFS)

We have tons of great weekly PGA articles, DFS analysis, tools and DFS advice. Be sure to read our other fantastic articles regarding this week's event including DFS lineup picks for DraftKings/FanDuel, betting advice and DFS prop picks.

High-Priced FanDuel DFS Players 

Dustin Johnson ($12,400)

We're always a little reluctant to roster DJ off a multiple week layoff, but I actually had high hopes for him at Memorial. They were quickly dashed, as DJ wasted no time blowing up Thursday morning en route to shooting 80-80 for the week. Not pretty.

However, I'm not opposed to rostering DJ off a missed cut, as he's followed up a missed cut with a win three times in his career (credit to @JustinRayGolf for that nugget). This will be Johnson's first look at TPC Twin Cities, but it should be right down his alley, as he'll have the opportunity to hit it as far as he can and rack up birdies.

Yes...DJ looked horrible last week, BUT he is undoubtedly the class of this week's field on a track that is tailor made for him in theory. It almost feels like you have to have some exposure to him in DFS formats.

Brooks Koepka ($12,100)

Brooks isn't a "pick" for me this week, but I felt he deserved to be touched on, because he is an elite player in a very weak field. We know that Koepka can "flip the switch" better than any player in golf, but you have to wonder if that's gonna come next week at the WGC in the lead-up to the PGA Championship. He hasn't shown much recently and didn't exactly light this course up in his 3M appearance last year, so a bet on Brooks is a bet that he is ready and able to turn it on. I'm not there myself and will be more interested two weeks from now.

Tony Finau ($11,600) 

Another agonizing near miss for Finau last week at the Memorial, as he once again failed to step on the throat of the field in a tournament that he was leading. The hangover from his horrible weekend at Muirfield Village is a concern, but Finau's ability both off the tee and to make birdies should help him to thrive on this golf course. He leads this week's field in Birdies or Better Gained over the last 24 rounds, despite not really playing his best golf since the restart.

Another factor that has be leaning in Tony's direction is his familiarity with this layout - he notched a top-25 finish in the inaugural 3M Open last season - an advantage that not many in this field have. I'm hopeful of a Finau bounce-back this week, but I recognize that we could get burned here. Normally reliable, I would almost classify him as a boom-or-bust option in this spot.

Paul Casey ($11,200) 

The word "reliable" doesn't come to mind when discussing this field, but Paul Casey feels like perhaps the most steady option on the board this week. The Englishman missed the cut last week at Memorial thanks to carding an 8 on a Par-3, though outside of that one-hole meltdown he played well, gaining strokes both off the tee and on approach.

Casey's weakness is his short game, but I'm not at all concerned about that area on this TPC Twin Cities layout that should present a low-stress environment when it comes to scrambling. He's a world-class ballstriker and should find this layout very much to his liking. We will need Casey to make some putts however, and bent is by far his best surface historically. He'll be popular, but there's a lot to like here.

Matthew Wolff ($10,900)

The defending 3M Open champion has been a study in volatility over his first year on the PGA Tour, as we've seen highs - his win in this event last year - and lows - he's missed half the cuts since the restart.

So, while getting Wolff right is kinda like hitting a moving target, we do have to be encouraged as he heads to Minnesota this week. He's displayed some signs that he's finding his form - a near-win at the Rocket Mortgage a few weeks ago and a very strong ball striking week at the Memorial - and we know that he's comfortable on this layout.

The young bomber will be freed up to swing away off the tee this week and we know that he can bomb it - sixth on the PGA Tour in driving distance this season. His length will help on this layout and it wouldn't be surprising to see him in the mix Sunday afternoon.

Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium DFS PGA subscription?

Like what you read today? You can show your support for Joe by using promo code NICE when purchasing a PGA Premium Pass. You get 10% off and full access to all of our Premium PGA articles, DFS tools, and Lineup Optimizer!

Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Erik Van Rooyen ($10,200)

My buddy Nagels Bagels calls them "Ball Striking Bastards" and we can definitely put EVR in that category. The South African used to be something of a hidden gem that we could fire up in major championships at low ownership, but he's been playing more and more in the U.S. this year and the secret is now one that everybody knows.

Van Rooyen was second in last week's elite Memorial field in SG: Approach, gaining a MASSIVE 8.3 strokes with his irons. Like the aforementioned Paul Casey, EVR's short game can be extremely hit or miss, but that's not something we are concerned with this week.

Another narrative you can consider with him this week...he played his college golf at the University of Minnesota, which often uses TPC Twin Cities' facilities for practice, so EVR is not only coming off a tremendous ball striking performance last week, but he should be extremely comfortable and familiar with this golf course.

Sam Burns ($10,000)

This is the portion of the salary scale where pricing starts to get a little gross this week. However, we just have to power through it in this fairly weak field. I'm not crazy about Sam Burns' $10k price tag, but I do really like him as a play in this spot.

Burns is a young bomber out of LSU that is averaging just over 311 yards off the tee this season. The 23-year-old has been under-the-radar solid since the restart, making three of four cuts with two top-25s. He logged a T7 in last year's 3M Open and checks all the boxes on this TPC Twin Cities layout. His length allows him to devour Par-5s, he'll have plenty of room to operate off the tee, and he's actually a tremendous putter that stands 27th on the PGA Tour this season in SG: Putting.

Henrik Norlander ($9,800)

Another price tag that triggers my gag reflex, but sometimes you just gotta ride the hot hand. Henrik Norlander has been a value-play mainstay for us over the past month and he's rewarded us by going T6-T31-T12 over his last three starts. We can't expect him to replicate his +8.4 SG: Putting numbers from last week at the Memorial, but his +4.1 mark on approach from Muirfield Village should be repeatable and is really what we're targeting here. He ranks inside the top-25 in this 3M field in every major ball striking metric over his last 24 rounds.

Patrick Rodgers ($9,800)

Patrick Rodgers fits into the Sam Burns "bombs it off the tee and makes tons of putts" mold, and it's a formula that I'm willing to lean on this week. Rodgers' approach numbers aren't as strong as we normally like to see, but I'm willing to make some exceptions on a week such as this. He's 16th in this field in Driving Distance and seventh in SG: Putting over the last 24 rounds, tools which should help him to succeed on this layout.

Will Gordon ($9,500)

The youngster fresh out of Vandy popped up a few weeks ago with a T3 at the Travelers and promptly missed the cut the following week at the Rocket Mortgage. He hasn't teed it up since, which might help him fly under the radar a bit this week. Gordon is an explosive young player that is very long off the tee and can make birdies in bunches. He only has 22 qualifying rounds, but stands fifth in this field in Birdies or Better. We must be willing to accept a certain level of volatility this week, and while Gordon is still a bit of an unknown, early stat indicators point to him bringing lots of upside to the table.

Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Troy Merritt ($9,100)

I had some interest in Troy Merritt last week and he totally hung me out to dry. However, I'm willing to try again with Merritt in this spot, as he has strong Minnesota ties and played well en route to a T7 in last year's 3M Open. He's a "jack of all trades" type of player and we never really know where to put him statistically, as some weeks he'll get it done with the irons and some weeks it's with the putter. More of a gut play than a statistical one, I wouldn't be surprised to see him play well.

Sam Ryder ($8,900)

This week's theme seems to be "embrace the volatility" and Sam Ryder is a player that truly embodies that, as some weeks the 30-year-old looks like a top-50 player in the world and some weeks he looks as though he should be playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. He's extremely tough to predict, but he gained over four strokes both OTT and on Approach two weeks ago at the Workday which is very encouraging.

Richy Werenski ($8,800)

On a week where everyone feels overpriced, Werenski is actually a player that feels somewhat underpriced in comparison to the field. He's made the cut in all four of his post-layoff starts and most recently logged a T35 (Workday) and a T21 (Rocket Mortgage) the last two times he's teed it up. Werenski gained an impressive 6.3 strokes on approach in his last start at the Workday. On what's a shaky week, he passes for a stable option - especially at this sub-$9k price tag.

Chase Sieffert ($8,600)

Another player that appears cheap at first glance, Chase Sieffert is coming off the best result of his young career in his last start, a fourth-place finish at the Workday. The FSU alum is a great bentgrass putter, but he's starting to raise the level of his iron play. Seiffert has gained strokes on approach in his last EIGHT starts on the PGA Tour, dating back to November of last year. Outside of the Workday top-five, it hasn't necessarily translated into great results, but his game is on the upswing right now.

Seamus Power ($7,600)

We're closing out the week with a bargain-basement special in Seamus Power. The Irishman - and East Tennessee State University alum - hasn't been teeing it up much lately, but looked extremely impressive in his only post-layoff start at the Rocket Mortgage when he scored a T12. He hits it a long way with the driver, which give him explosive scoring ability. Power ranks 28th in this field in Birdies Gained and seventh in Eagles Gained.

Golf DFS News and Player Outlooks

More PGA Analysis and DFS Lineup Picks