RADIO
Joe Nicely's under-the-radar DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the RSM Classic. His Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history.
Welcome back RotoBaller PGA family! DJ!!! Our guy did it! Dustin Johnson captured the green jacket with a Masters-record score of 20-under par. DJ was this article's Horse last week and is also my favorite golfer, so it was truly a special week at Augusta National.
This article's cheapest play, Cameron Smith, managed a runner-up finish...giving last week's HFTC both first and second, with every other player highlighted making the cut. Good times for team RotoBaller! This week, we stay in Georgia for the RSM Classic, one of the last events of 2020. Let's get to it!
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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RSM Classic Overview
For many casual PGA DFS players the "season" ended last week at the Masters. However, those of us that love the grind know there are still a couple of events left this year. We head to Sea Island this week for the RSM Classic, a normally-sleepy little event on the fall schedule.
The RSM is usually something of an afterthought, but as the Masters fog clears, it appears as though this year's field is sneaky good. Veteran mainstays with ties to Sea Island - Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Charles Howell III, and Kevin Kisner - will all be in attendance once again, but they'll also be joined by a surprising influx of talent that's headlined by the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Day, and Justin Rose.
In addition to the flock of veterans, RSM will also host several players that are in the midst of tremendous seasons. Guys like Russell Henley, Harris English, Sungjae Im, Louis Oosthuizen, and Matthew Fitzpatrick will all tee it up this week. Defending RSM champion Tyler Duncan will attempt to be the first-ever repeat champion of this event. All in all, it's a surprisingly-strong PGA DFS slate that I'm excited to dive into. Let's tee it up!
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Course & Plantation Course)
Par 70 - 7,005 Yards, Greens: Bermuda, Designed By: Tom Fazio
We're thrown a little curveball this week, as every player in the field will play two courses (Seaside & Plantation) in the first two rounds. We'll focus on the Seaside Course here, because it's the layout that those players that make the cut will be playing on the weekend... a "plodder's course" is a pretty apt label for the RSM this week, as the bombers will - for the most part - take a back seat at Sea Island. We'll see a lot of less-than-driver holes and we should place a premium on accurate and precise ball striking, as well as course management. For that reason, I'll be targeting traits of "grinders"...driving accuracy, greens in regulation, and consistent ball striking, while also glancing at putting splits on Bermuda greens.
Recent Champions & Winning Scores
- Tyler Duncan (-19)
- Charles Howell III (-19)
- Austin Cook (-21)
- Mackenzie Hughes (-17)
- Kevin Kisner (-22)
The Horse
Webb Simpson
DraftKings: $11,200
FanDuel: $12,000
Notable Course History: 2nd (2020 Season), 3rd ('19), W/D ('18), T36 ('17)
No big surprise that Webb Simpson is our top play here, as Simpson heads to Sea Island with both brilliant current form and elite course history. He's coming off yet another strong outing - a T10 at the Masters - the latest in a string of elite results in 2020. If there was any doubt, the vet has cemented his place as one of the game's most consistent players, posting two victories and six top-10s to just two missed cuts this year.
Simpson, of course, stands out statistically this week. He grades out high in every category we're targeting at Sea Island...standing third in Strokes Gained: T2G and second in SG: Total. His ability to consistently find fairways (14th Fairways Gained) and rack up birdies (fifth Birdies Gained) will be of the utmost importance this week.
It's not a shock that Webb's skills have translated to success in this event. He lost in a playoff to Tyler Duncan last year and secured a solo third-place finish the year before that. We must be willing to pay a high price tag to roster him this week, but his blend of safety and upside is unparalleled in this field.
The Ponies
Russell Henley
DraftKings: $10,100
FanDuel: $11,400
Notable Course History: MC ('20), MC ('19), T10 ('17), T6 ('16)
If you’ve read many of my articles over the last few months, you know I’ve been riding this Russell Henley train for all it’s worth. I see absolutely no reason to hop off the wagon this week, as Henley is currently playing perhaps the best golf of his career.
The UGA alum has been almost otherworldly from tee to green, gaining strokes on Approach in a ridiculous 11 straight starts. That output has resulted in Henley ranking first in this week’s field in SG: T2G, Approach, and Total over the last 24 rounds.
A quick scan of his RSM history reveals missed cuts in his last two starts. Despite those disappointing outings, I think it’s fair to say that Henley is a totally different player at this point and if we stretch back a few years, we can see that he also has back-to-back top-10s on his RSM resume.
Sebastian Munoz
DraftKings: $9,000
FanDuel: $10,700
Notable Course History: 3rd ('20), MC ('19), MC ('17)
“Sea Bass” just keeps recording solid results, with a T19 in last week’s Masters being the most recent in a long line of impressive finishes. Munoz has run off 10-straight made cuts, posting top-25s in seven of those.
He heads to a Sea Island course where he posted a third-place finish last season and should once again be a strong DFS option. Munoz has gained strokes T2G in each of his last five outings and has proven himself to be very solid in every facet of the game. While the Colombian has become well known in PGA DFS circles, he’s most likely still a name that casual fans aren’t super familiar with.
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Brian Harman
DraftKings: $8,500
FanDuel: $10,100
Notable Course History: T14 ('20), T32 ('19), T4 ('18), MC ('17), MC ('16)
The diminutive lefty is never going to jump off the page statistically, but Brian Harman consistently continues to post the type of solid results that are hard to ignore. Harman heads to Sea Island on the heels of 11-straight made cuts! The veteran has also gained strokes on Approach in five consecutive starts.
In addition to his rock-solid recent form, he’s also been dependable in recent trips to Sea Island, going T14-T32-T4 over his last three RSM Classic starts. Another notable connection is that Harman and his family are residents of Sea Island.
Austin Cook
DraftKings: $7,500
FanDuel: $9,600
Notable Course History: T61 ('20), T11 ('19), Win ('18)
2020 hasn’t been kind to Austin Cook. The 29-year-old has mostly struggled over the past 18 months, failing to post a single top-10 finish during the 2019-20 season. Cook ranked just 130th on the PGA Tour in driving distance last season and his lack of length puts pressure on the other facets of his game. If the youngster isn’t striking his irons well and/or making tons of putts...he’s going to struggle.
Fortunately for Cook, he seems to once again be trending in the right direction, as a playoff loss at the Shriners and a top-25 outing in Houston indicate. He posted his best SG: Approach performance in nearly two years at the Shriners, gaining 5.1 strokes with the irons, and he’s now gained strokes T2G in four of his last five starts.
Cook’s trending form is enough to put him on our radars, but it’s the course fit at Sea Island that seals the deal. He won the RSM Classic in 2018 and also has a T11 in this event on his resume.
David Hearn
DraftKings: $6,600
FanDuel: $7,300
Notable Course History: T30 ('20), T15 ('19), T17 ('18), T9 ('16)
I honestly can’t tell you to roster David Hearn with confidence, but he’s certainly an interesting dart throw for those of you leaning in the “Stars & Scrubs” direction this week.
Hearn’s statistical log reads like a heart patient’s EKG...very up and down. However, he’s posted some surprisingly-good finishes as of late, with a T14 at the Safeway and a top-10 in Bermuda both coming within the last two months.
His track record in the RSM is pretty eye opening, with four-straight made cuts since 2016. Hearn has gained a massive 25.07 strokes total over those four Sea Island appearances and - when considering the good-enough recent form and elite course history - he deserves to be in the GPP conversation this week.
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