Daily Fantasy Golf FanDuel Picks (PGA DFS) - Corales Puntacana Championship

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! Bryson DeChambeau impressed with a huge victory at the U.S. Open last week, taking down his first major championship and dominating Winged Foot Golf Club!

We go from a star-studded field at the U.S. Open to a less-than-stellar list of entrants in the Corales Puntacana Championship. In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the U.S. 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!

Corales Puntacana Championship - PGA DFS Overview

Puntacana Resort & Club (Corales Course)

7,666 Yards - Par 72 - Greens: Supreme Paspalum - Designer: Tom Fazio (2010)

A typical resort course designed by Tom Fazio in 2010, Corales hosted a couple of KFT events before moving up to the PGA Tour schedule and is set to host the "big boys" for the third time. Like most "resort" layouts that caters to guests for 51 weeks out of the year, Corales plays easy for these professionals. This week's field will especially need to take advantage of the front nine, which has traditionally played much easier than the back.

Players will face Paspalum putting surfaces this week, which is a unique grass that isn't seen much on the PGA Tour schedule (here, Mayakoba, and Puerto Rico Open).

This is a coastal course, so there are some days where the wind could possibly play a factor, but overall this layout is gonna be a cakewalk, which forces us to target birdie makers this week. I'll look for players with a solid Birdie or Better Percentage, as well as those that can take advantage of this layout's four Par-5s.

Let's Look At The Stats

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
• Birdies or Better Gained
• Par 5: Birdies or Better Gained
• Scoring Average
• Ball Striking

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 

Will Zalatoris ($11,800)

If you thought the Safeway Open from a couple of weeks ago was sick, wait until you get a look at this week! I was hoping that we might be able to sneak under the radar with Will Zalatoris, but nope, the sites are on to us, as Zalatoris comes in as the second-highest priced player on FanDuel this week (he's the highest on DraftKings!).

Despite the sticker shock, I'm still in on the young man out of Wake Forest. He's been dominant on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, leading the KFT in the points standings and in scoring average. Zalatoris showcased his game to the uninitiated last week at Winged Foot by posting a T6 in the U.S. Open. This is a player that we will see lots of on the PGA Tour for years to come and I'm always a fan of jumping on these types of guys early, rather than taking a "wait and see" approach like many will do.

Sam Burns ($11,600)

Burns is a player that we've been rostering frequently with great results since the restart. I'm gonna continue riding the wave this week, as he seems on the cusp of his first PGA Tour victory. He's sort of the prototypical "modern" golfer...he hits it a mile (eighth on the Tour in Driving Distance last year), devours Par-5s (21st Par-5 Scoring Average), and is a fabulous putter (24th Total Putting).

His iron play can come and go - and it is the only thing holding him back at this point - but Burns' ball striking has looked sharper over the last couple months and he's gained strokes on Approach in four of his last five starts. This would be a likely spot for a breakout win for him.

Mackenzie Hughes ($11,500)

Not only is Mackenzie Hughes coming off a "career year" on the PGA Tour, but he also has some history on this week's course, as he posted a T2 in last year's Corales Puntacana Championship. The Canadian has been in terrific form and logged top-15 finishes in all three legs of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Diving into Mac's stats reveal that he relies heavily on his putter and he ranks first in this Corales field in SG: Putting over both long and short-term measurements. Doesn't pop in statistical models like some of the other players in this price range, but I'm actually giving a bump to putting this week due to all the birdies that will be needed on this track, and I like Hughes' chances of turning in a solid outing.

Luke List ($11,000) 

While I am interested in putting this week, I'm not willing to completely throw ball striking out the window. Luke List is perhaps the best pure ball striker in this field and grades out first in the field in SG: T2G over the last 24 rounds. His struggles do surface once he reaches the green - which is a concern - but he's built to handle these type of events and emerged victorious in a KFT event earlier this summer. Not in love with this price tag, but there's definite upside here if List can get anything at all going with the flatstick.

Denny McCarthy ($10,500)

He doesn't have the name recognition of some players or get much publicity, but McCarthy is perhaps the best putter on the PGA Tour. He's finished the last TWO seasons ranked FIRST on the PGA Tour in SG: Putting and he wields the flatstick like Biggie rocked the mic.

While I normally don't give a ton of weight to putting - unless I'm targeting bad putters with great ball-striking numbers - my outlook changes a bit during some of these swing season events. These things normally devolve into pure birdie-fests and we need guys that can consistently fill it up with the flatstick. McCarthy (and Hughes and Burns) fits that description.

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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Thomas Detry ($9,900)

Thomas Detry comes into this week as something of an unknown to most PGA fans. The young man from Belgium is a Euro Tour regular and has played very well on that circuit since the restart, notching two runner-up finishes in six post-layoff starts. He squeezed out a T49 last week at Winged Foot and the Corales Puntacana is actually the only other PGA Tour on his resume (he logged a T33 in this event last year). Don't let his lack of credentials in the U.S. fool you, he's a strong player that ranks fifth on the Euro Tour in SG: T2G this season.

Rob Oppenheim ($9,700)

A veteran that displayed some solid form as of late, Rob Oppenheim should be on our mid-range radar this week. Oppenheim posted a T15 at the Wyndham and a T36 at the Safeway Open in his most recent starts. Those finishes were powered by sharp iron play and a warm putter. The 40-year-old also has some Corales experience under his belt and posted a T35 in this event two years ago.

Chris Baker ($9,500)

I really like the ball-striking form that Chris Baker brings to the Dominican Republic this week. Weirdly, his strong play tee-to-green hasn't resulted in great finishes - outside of a T20 at the Wyndham - but we can likely chalk that up to spotty play around the green. We're not too worried about scrambling ability at Corales, which puts Baker firmly on our target list. He's gained strokes T2G, OTT, and on Approach in five-straight starts. Despite ranking seventh in this week's field in both SG: T2G & Ball Striking, Baker is the 27th man on the FD salary scale and presents maybe the best price-considered value on the slate.

Patrick Rodgers ($9,300)

Patrick Rodgers is kind've a pet player of mine, but I like targeting him on specific types of layouts. This Corales course qualifies as one of those and Rodgers should be able to flourish this week...he's long off the tee (18th on Tour in Driving Distance), plays Par-5s very well, and is a tremendous putter (11th SG: Putting). Scored a T22 in his lone trip to Corales in 2018.

Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Keith Mitchell ($8,900)

When you play PGA DFS every week, you become a fan of some of these guys. That's the case with Keith Mitchell for me, as "Killa Keith" has produced lots of great results for me over the last few years. Unfortunately, his huge breakthrough win at the Honda Classic in 2019 hasn't really kick-started his career like I'd hoped. Instead, we've actually seen Mitchell regress and he heads to Corales in slumping form. There's no statistical reason to roster him this week, but he's an explosive player with a dirt-cheap price tag in a very weak field. Posted a runner-up finish on this course in 2018. It's the type of layout that will allow him to relax a bit and just try to make a bunch of birdies.

J.J. Spaun ($8,600)

Like the aformentioned Keith Mitchell, JJ Spaun is a player that I've had some DFS success with over the years, but that has struggled mightily over the past year. However, Spaun heads to the Dominican fresh off his best outing in ages...a T9 at the Safeway Open. He gained a massive 8.1 strokes T2G at Silverado and his irons looked crispy. Spaun is a notoriously streaky player, but we've seen some high finishes from him when he finds the groove. I'll try to catch him with a hot hand this week.

Will Gordon ($8,400)

Gordon has consistently disappointed since a breakthrough T3 at the Travelers. Despite his underwhelming results, I'm still a believer in the young man that's fresh out of Vandy (my neck of the woods). Gordon ranks fourth in the field in Birdies or Better Gained over the last 24 rounds and this is a Korn Ferry-like layout that should offer him a chance to attack. There is volatility that comes with rostering him, but there is sneaky upside at this price tag.

Akshay Bhatia ($8,200)

The 18-year-old (yes 18!) finally showed glimpses of his potential at the Safeway Open when he posted a T9 after dropping rounds of 66-72-66-68 at Silverado. Bhatia is a phenom that has almost unlimited upside. Like many that have come before him, he's struggled a bit in the early stages of his career and had missed the cut in all seven of his previous PGA Tour starts before breaking through at the Safeway. He's playing this week on a Sponsor's Exemption and this Corales layout will be - by far - the easiest course he's faced since turning pro. Obviously, this is a "GPP Only" play that is boom/bust, but I always enjoy jumping on these young guys early while their DFS price tag is still low.

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Our very own Joe Nicely took down a big DraftKings DFS tournament for the Travelers Championship. And as an encore, RotoBaller subscriber @tenndolly2 won $100K on FanDuel with the help of Joe and the rest of our Premium PGA team:

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

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