Daily Fantasy Golf DraftKings Picks (PGA DFS): Corales Puntacana

Spencer breaks down the DraftKings PGA slate with his Corales Puntacana DFS lineup picks, under-owned value pays, and golfers to avoid for daily fantasy lineups.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! It was a world-class performance we saw from Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, as the 27-year-old captured his first major championship by six shots over Matthew Wolff. DeChambeau often gets criticized for his unique way of thinking about golf, but performances like this emphasize why he might be the most transcendent player the game has seen in years.

The American was able to turn his body into a weapon, and it has allowed him to outmuscle and outsmart opponents with his unusual gameplans that often border between sanity and madness. While most other players entered Winged Foot with a strategy of connecting on fairways and playing it safe, DeChambeau went for a controlled aggression route, using his driver every chance possible to advance his ball down the course. Misses did come into play with only 23 connected fairways over four days, but the now seven-time PGA Tour winner made sure to miss in the right locations to give himself a chance, proving why he is a step above the rest.

I take great pride in the research and energy I put into my selections from a mathematical standpoint, but my numbers or information aren't always the law. If you have any questions about a particular player from a PGA DFS or PGA betting perspective, please feel free to contact me on Twitter @Teeoffsports. Many golfers barely miss out on being mentioned here by fractions of a percent, and I am more than happy to discuss my feelings or stance on anyone that may have caught your eye. Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for DraftKings, 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 articles to help you win big!

PGA DFS Rankings Wizard - Corales Puntacana

We have a special treat for all you RotoBallers and golf enthusiasts. In addition to this article, be sure to also check out Spencer's PGA DFS Rankings Wizard - a powerful and interactive data spreadsheet, allowing user inputs to create custom rankings and models for golf. If you would like to create your own spreadsheet, you will need to make a copy under "file, make a copy." We hope you enjoy!

Corales Puntacana - PGA DFS Overview

Corales Golf Club

7,600  Yards - Par 72 - Greens Bermuda/Paspalum

A Tom Fazio design, the course opened in 2010 and has only been on the PGA Tour rotation since 2018. The Web.com used the venue as a trial run in 2016-2017, but I am only going to use the two years of data that we have on the big-stage while crafting my breakdown for the week.

At first glance, there are a few things that caught my eye for how it appears the property will play. All four par-threes rank inside the nine hardest holes - each coming in at over 200 yards - and your four easiest locations will come at the par-fives, with two featuring over a 50 percent birdie or better rate. There are five par-fours that can play between 450-500 yards on a given day, and it does seem as if a mixture of long-iron and mid-iron proximity will be important.

There aren't any massive outliers that pop off the page for me when breaking down what exactly will be needed to fund success, but an overall level of ball striking does seem like a good place to start at a venue that is relatively straightforward. The 7,600-yard layout bakes most of its length between the par-three and fives, and we do have five par-fours under 440 yards. All of that makes finding an ideal location to target proximity challenging, but I will attempt to weigh a plethora of distances into my research. Length off the tee will most likely help get you to the greens on the longer holes, but I am not so sure it has as much bearing on scoring as the yardage would make it appear.

Let's Look At The Stats

In Vegas, as of Monday, Will Zalatoris leads the way at 12/1 and is followed by Mackenzie Hughes 14/1, Corey Conners 16/1 and Sam Burns 20/1. Your defending champion, Graeme McDowell comes into the week at 45/1.

Key Stats

• Par-Five Birdie or Better 25%
• Par-Four Average 400-500 Yards 15%
• Ball-Striking 15%
• Proximity 200+ 12.5%
• Par-Three Average 12.5%
• Proximity 100-175 Yards 10%
• Bermuda/Paspalum Putting 10%

Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for DraftKings (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.

High-Priced DraftKings DFS Players 

There are four players this week priced above $10,000:

Will Zalatoris ($10,900)

I typically like tournaments that are either extraordinarily robust or watered-down with perceived talent, as I believe we can extract our most considerable edges in those settings. While we get that exact situation for this week's Corales event, it doesn't provide us with a great answer on what to do with Will Zalatoris and his event-leading $10,900 price tag on DraftKings. For me, the going rate is too much to feel comfortable spending top-tiered salary on the 24-year-old, but it doesn't mean we don't see Zalatoris provide a respectable showing.

Corey Conners ($10,600)

I'm emphasizing ball-striking this week, which immediately adds Corey Conners to the shortlist of options to consider. The Canadian is the number one player in the field in that category, and he tends to excel when he gets a shorter iron in his hands. All of that is well and good, but Conners' inability to putt - especially on Bermuda grass - is something that could create a problem situation for him over the four days. I typically don't mind taking a chance on the 28-year-old when the price is right, but you don't have to look any further than his missed cut last season and top-15 in 2018 to show that his level of volatility can be tough to swallow at over $10,000. I'm not going to have much exposure to Conners, but I would advise keeping it for GPP-only if you do decide to go down that rabbit hole.

Mackenzie Hughes ($10,300)

Receiving a massive boost in my model for course history and current form, Mackenzie Hughes will provide gamers with a bit of an enigma situation at a price tag we aren't accustomed to seeing him at for events. I don't have a massive issue with anyone near the top of the board from a stylistic perspective, but slight inconsistencies become magnified when we have to pay top dollar for players that have shown not to be world-class talents historically. I am okay with letting Will Zalatoris, Corey Conners or Mackenzie Hughes beat me if they can get the job done, but once again, none are fades for any other reason than price.

Sam Burns ($10,100)

Ownership is going to be the massive decider for me on Sam Burns. The 24-year-old is the first golfer over $10,000 that has piqued my curiosity, but it appears as if I am not the only person in this industry that has come to that conclusion. At this moment, Burns is projected to be the highest-owned player on the slate, but it is easy to understand why with all the checkmarks he provides across the board. I don't mind taking stances in all contests when I think there is positive equity to be had on the play, and I most likely will find myself on par (or above) with my own personal ownership percentages. It remains to be seen if I will take the brunt of my exposure and use it on him as the staple of my cash-game builds, but I can justify and understand building some GPP lineups around him.

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Mid-Priced DraftKings DFS Players

Denny McCarthy ($9,600)

I don't find myself backing Denny McCarthy nearly ever, but the slow, grainy surface at Corales Golf Club will amplify his edge in putting over the field. I am not a believer in placing much emphasis on anything with the flat stick since it is one of the most challenging statistics to quantify mathematically, but McCarthy fits the venue for more reasons than making putts. The American ranks inside the top-30 when it comes to par-three average, par-four scoring between 400-500 yards and par-five birdie or better percentage - placing him as one of only two players in the field (Will Gordon) to fall underneath that criteria.

Kristoffer Ventura ($9,200)

Kristoffer Ventura is the forgotten about golfer from the National Championship Oklahoma State squad. All the accolades (and rightfully so) have been bestowed upon Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, but Ventura is an exceptional talent of his own that is beginning to make strides with his game. Three straight finishes inside the top-37 has me believing that Ventura's inaugural victory on the PGA Tour might be just around the corner, and it wouldn't shock me if we see him accomplish that task in the Dominican Republic.

Charley Hoffman ($8,900)

I still believe there is this stigma attached to Charley Hoffman that often undermines his actual golfing ability. The ongoing joke is that Hoffman is a force that can't be stopped during the first round of a major championship, making him essentially Tiger Woods of Thursday golf. Look, I'm never going to argue with one of my UNLV alumni getting compared to the greatest golfer of all time - and frankly, we were Oklahoma State before they thought it was cool to become good at golf. But the bigger picture I am trying to make here is that Hoffman was an exceptional player in his prime that won four titles on tour. I don't believe we ever see him get back to that level of production at the age of 43, but the 151st-ranked player in the world has turned back the clocks slightly by posting four top-25 appearances on tour over his previous 10 events.

Luke List ($8,700)

I am done trying to predict Luke List's win equity because it is clearly higher than I believe it to be. The 35-year-old tends to be one of the most significant outliers for me weekly when it comes to being overpriced, but it has amounted to zero wins so far in his PGA Tour career. Like Corey Conners, there will be some issues on the putting surface, but I feel better about ignoring List's deficiencies at nearly $2,000 less.

Patrick Rodgers ($8,000)

I am going to find myself substantially overweight compared to the field on Patrick Rodgers. The American has produced six straight made cuts, with three finishes inside the top-35, but a lot of the public support will be missing because of three consecutive sub-par results that resulted in placements outside of the top-45. Maybe I should be more concerned than I am with his perceived negative trajectory, but I never found any of those tests to warrant that much positive outlook when I handicapped them originally. Rodgers has the perfect bounceback spot that will accentuate his strengths at Corales Puntacana.

Low-Priced DraftKings DFS Players

Jhonattan Vegas ($7,700)

Jhonattan Vegas sputtered at the Safeway Open, finishing with a final round 73 to fall down the leaderboard on Sunday. It has been a questionable restart for the Venuzealun with five straight results outside the top-50, but I have no issues going back down the well again if we think we can grab Vegas at around 10 percent ownership. I consider this to be a strictly GPP-only play, but there is upside to be captured at $7,700.

Keith Mitchell ($7,600)

We have had some conflicting reports on whether Corales Puntacana should be viewed as having bermuda or paspalum greens, but I don't see a massive difference either way because of their similar "grainy" textures. In reality, I hope everyone calls them paspalum because the cat is already out of the bag when it comes to Mitchell's improvements as a putter on slower bermuda surfaces.

Will Gordon ($7,600)

I just can't seem to avoid this Will Gordon trap during inferior quality events. I realize my sample size of data that I have on the American is small, but Gordon grades out as an elite player almost across the board. His nearly 20% projected ownership total might have me consider using him as nothing more than an outright wager, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that there is upside for a big result.

Seamus Power ($7,500)

Seamus Power got himself stuck into the $6,000 range for so long that DraftKings has had issues moving his salary much further than where we are getting it this weekend. The Irishman is far from a guarantee to post a made cut, but three top-30 finishes over his previous six tournaments should be yielding higher than a four percent ownership rate. At this moment, it is not.

Doug Ghim ($7,300)

Three out of four finishes in the top-50 for Doug Ghim since the 3M Open should be viewed as encouraging for his prospects this weekend, and his overall level of ball striking places him in the top-10 compared to the field. At under seven percent ownership, Ghim provides a potential pivot away from Chris Kirk and Chris Baker.

Akshay Bhatia ($6,900)

Akshay Bhatia became the youngest player (18) to finish in the top 10 of a stroke-play event on the PGA Tour during the Safeway Open since Justin Rose finished 4th in the 1998 Open Championship. Bhatia is beginning to look like one of golf's next up-and-coming stars, and he will get another opportunity to keep the momentum rolling this week.

Michael Gligic ($6,500)

It has been a strong run for Michael Gligic over the past five events, making the cut in each outing. The Canadian enters the week after posting a strong 14th place showing at the Safeway Open, and he should be able to use his par-five scoring ability to find another weekend at his reduced price tag.

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