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Hello RotoBaller PGA crew! It's great to be back with you guys and I appreciate you joining us here at RotoBaller for your PGA DFS research. This week we head to legendary TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship, one of the biggest events on the schedule! Can't wait to dive in!
In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for THE PLAYERS. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges, breaking the groups down into "High", "Mid", and "Low" price options that are worth considering.
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!
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THE PLAYERS Championship - PGA DFS Overview
The Course: TPC Sawgrass
Par 72 - 7,256 Yards, Greens: Bermuda, Designed By: Pete Dye
At just over 7,200 yards, the Stadium Course is much shorter than most other "major championship" courses these golfers will face, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in bite. The Pete Dye design that opened in 1982 has endured as one of the trickiest courses in the world. In true Dye fashion, it's a second-shot golf course with danger lurking everywhere in the form of water hazards and bunkers.
This layout was specifically designed to not favor any one style of play, so we see holes of varying length in Par 3's, 4's, and 5's, doglegs that go both left and right, with no two consecutive holes playing in the same direction. THE PLAYERS' most iconic hole is, of course, the Par-3 17th 'Island Hole'. The 17th is short, but its psychological impact on players in key moments can certainly make it difficult. A recent update to TPC Sawgrass now has the 12th hole playing as a driveable Par-4 with water in play to raise the risk/reward stakes.
For an in-depth breakdown of this week's course, check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett!
Let's Look At The Stats
| Stat | TPC Sawgrass | Tour Average |
| Driving Distance | 278 | 282 |
| Driving Accuracy | 62% | 62% |
| GIR Percentage | 63% | 65% |
| Scrambling Percentage | 53% | 57% |
| Average Three-Putts Per Round | 0.63 | 0.55 |
Key Stats
- SG: Approach
- Proximity
- Total Driving
- SG: Par-5s
- SG: Par-4s (450-500 Yards)
- Course History
- SG: Putting (Fast Bermuda)
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 Plays
Justin Thomas ($11,700)
No one has ever won THE PLAYERS in back-to-back years, but Justin Thomas has a very real chance to be the first to do it this week. JT comes into this year's PLAYERS in an eerily similar fashion to what we saw last year...he's yet to win this year but has displayed very sharp form to this point in 2022, posting top-eight finishes in three of his four starts this year. Thomas is certainly showing flashes but has failed to put everything together for all four rounds of a tournament. It feels like a steady build-up to an inevitable eruption of the sort we saw over the weekend in last year's PLAYERS when he posted rounds of 64-68 to win at TPC Sawgrass.
In an event that can be conservatively categorized as highly volatile, Thomas has been impressively consistent. He has never missed a cut in six career PLAYERS starts and his 70.35 career scoring average at TPC Sawgrass stands as the fourth-best among this week's field of entrants.
Patrick Cantlay ($11,700)
THE PLAYERS is a high-variance event and that's certainly noticeable when looking at Patrick Cantlay's track record at TPC Sawgrass. The Californian has missed the cut in his last two PLAYERS starts but had logged a pair of top-25 finishes in his two previous trips to Sawgrass. While it does feel a little risky to fire up a guy that's failed to make the weekend in this tournament over the last two years, I can't shake the feeling that Cantlay's jack-of-all-trades skillset is a nice fit for this Pete Dye-designed layout. He heads into the week ranked second in this elite field in SG: Total over his last 24 rounds and has posted top-five finishes in three of his five 2022 starts.
Xander Schauffele ($11,500)
Like the aforementioned Cantlay, Xander Schauffele has stumbled in his last couple of trips to TPC Sawgrass. However, I feel as though his 2018 runner-up result in THE PLAYERS is a better reflection of how well his game suits this layout. If you follow PGA DFS regularly, then you likely know that Schauffele is a perennial contender in golf's biggest events. That level of competitiveness on difficult golf courses can be traced to his mastery of all facets of the game, a trait that should serve him well in the long run at Sawgrass. The Californian ranks inside the top-20 in this week's elite field in SG: Total, T2G, Ball Striking, & Approach over long-term measurements. He's the total package and it should lead to a strong outing in this event sooner rather than later.
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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Scottie Scheffler ($10,700)
What can't this guy do? After grabbing his first career PGA Tour victory last month in Phoenix, Scottie Scheffler wasted little time getting his second. The rising star booked a huge win last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on a very difficult Bay Hill golf course. When we combine his elite performance of this year with his growing resume in major championships, it's fair to wonder just how many weaknesses Scheffler's game has. The only real blemish I can find here is that the youngster did miss the cut in his PLAYERS debut last year, something I'm willing to chalk up to the effect TPC Sawgrass has on first-timers. If we zoom in on his last 12 rounds, Scheffler grades out first in this week's elite field in SG: Total and fifth in SG: T2G.
Daniel Berger ($10,500)
You have to imagine that Daniel Berger has spent the last week or so licking his wounds after a final-round meltdown at the Honda Classic, an event in which he let a five-shot lead slip away on Sunday. Despite that setback, I look for Berger - a player that I've always felt was mentally tough - to rebound in a big way at TPC Sawgrass. He's been a consistent performer in THE PLAYERS, making the cut in five consecutive starts in the "Fifth Major" with a pair of T9s among those outings. He did battle a minor back injury at the end of January, but his performance in the Honda erased any concerns for me. His overall skill set suits TPC Sawgrass well and he surprisingly grades out first in this field in SG: Approach over the last 50 rounds.
Adam Scott ($9,700)
It's truly amazing that a guy that won this event 18 years ago is still relevant to the DFS discussion this week, but Adam Scott and his beautiful golf swing continue to defy father time. Since that breakthrough PLAYERS win in 2004, the 41-year-old Aussie has posted three additional top-10 finishes at TPC Sawgrass and has maintained a high level of consistent output in one of golf's most volatile tournaments. Scott has run off a hard-to-fathom nine consecutive made cuts in THE PLAYERS Championship, with top-12 finishes in four of his last five trips to TPC Sawgrass.
Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players
Talor Gooch ($9,100)
Obviously, this week's field is super deep. That depth opens up some terrific DFS value for us on this slate. The first true eye-catching price tag for me is Talor Gooch at just $9.1k. Gooch has put together a strong stretch of golf over the last several months, notching his first PGA Tour at the RSM Classic in November and carrying that form over to 2022. He comes in off the heels of a T7 in the API, a result that could've been much better if not for a final-round 77 in tough conditions. It's the second time that Gooch has laid a final-round egg when in contention this year (WM Phoenix Open), which is a slight concern, but it's not something I'm going to waste too much time worrying about at $9.1k. In addition to the form, the OSU product scored a T5 result in last year's PLAYERS. He'll likely be popular this week, but it is with good reason.
Billy Horschel ($8,800)
My personal dislike of Billy Horschel aside, I have to admit that he's a true standout play at this way-too-cheap price point. The Baton Boy was firmly in the mix last week at Bay Hill, ultimately settling for a runner-up finish in the API. It was the latest in a string of nice results for Horschel, as he's now logged top-25 results in five of his six 2022 starts. He's undoubtedly a streaky player that often does a lot of his damage with the putter, and while the flat stick has certainly been firing, his ball-striking has also been superb as of late. Billy has gained an average of 4.1 strokes T2G over his last five tournaments and has gained a combined 10.7 strokes on Approach over his last two. The case for him gets even stronger when diving into his PLAYERS track record, as the Florida native has made the cut in six of his eight career appearances at TPC Sawgrass.
Chris Kirk ($7,800)
Those of you that read this article regularly know that I've been firmly planted on the Chris Kirk wagon over the past few weeks. I see no need to abandon ship at this point, as Kirk put forth another stellar effort last week at Bay Hill, notching a T5 in the API. I won't get into just how many short putts he missed in the final round (A TON!), but let's just say that he had a realistic shot to win a tournament for the second consecutive week (he logged a T7 at the Honda Classic two weeks ago). In addition to the sterling recent form, the UGA alum has been very good in previous PLAYERS starts, making the cut in eight of his 10 career appearances (he did WD in 2016) with an eye-opening three top-15 finishes at TPC Sawgrass.
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