3 months agoThere are a lot of question marks for K.H. Lee as tee times draw closer on Thursday. The 32-year-old South Korean has undoubtedly shown moments of brilliance throughout his seven-year PGA Tour career, but you wouldn't know it by looking at his recent scorecards. He enters the Mexico open on the heels of two consecutive missed cuts, and he's lost strokes off-the-tee and on approach in four of his last five starts. Over the last 36 rounds, Lee ranks 79th in the field in driving distance and 53rd from approach play from 200 yards and beyond. With no course history to rely on, fantasy managers would be taking a significant risk by rostering Lee this week based solely on recent form and statistical course fit.
--Ryan HickeySource: PGA Tour
3 months agoFantasy managers leaning heavily on driving distance this week will likely overlook Carson Young, and that could be a costly mistake. Long iron play will be equally important, and that is an area where the second-year pro excels. Over the last 36 rounds, Young finds himself outside of the top-100 golfers in driving distance, but he ranks 33rd in overall approach, 20th on approach from 175-200 yards, and 15th on approach from 200-225 yards. He's also gained strokes ball-striking in all but one of his eight measured starts so far this season. The 29-year-old Clemson alum impressively racked up six top-25 finishes in his rookie season, one of which was a T15 at this even last year in which he gained 7.2 strokes ball-striking. In the year of the longshots, there's no reason to doubt Young's ability to find himself toward the top of the leaderboard coming down the stretch on Sunday.
--Ryan HickeySource: PGA Tour
3 months agoMatt Wallace found himself in incredible form on the DP World Tour in the second half of the 2023 calendar year. The 33-year-old Brit racked up four top-10 finishes in his final eight starts, culminating with a T2 finish at the DP World Tour Championship in November. Unfortunately those results haven't been replicated on the PGA Tour, as he's failed to post a top-25 finish in nineteen straight stars since his victory at the Corales Puntacana Championship in March of 2023. Wallace has also lost strokes ball-striking in four of his five PGA Tour starts this calendar year, which is a recipe for disaster at Vidanta Vallarta. This may help explain his course history here, which is a T67 in 2022 and a missed cut in 2023. Fantasy managers should look elsewhere for value in the $7,000 price range on DraftKings this week.
--Ryan HickeySource: PGA Tour
3 months agoScott Stallings seemingly came out of nowhere to finish T2 at the Sanderson Farms Championship back in October. Aside from that event, it has been ugly for the OWGR No. 119. He hasn't finished inside of the top-25 since the WM Phoenix Open in February of 2023, and he's missed the cut in over 50 percent of his 25 starts during that span. Statistically, Stallings doesn't quite the fit the mold for success this week either, as he ranks 77th in driving distance 68th in approach from 200 yards and beyond over the last 36 rounds. He also missed the cut in his only start here back in 2022. Fantasy managers have a bevvy of course horses around Stallings' DraftKings price tag and would be wise to limit their exposure to him this week.
--Ryan HickeySource: PGA Tour
3 months agoSam Stevens has made each cut in 2024. In those four tournaments, however, the American golfer has shot 73 or worse three times. His only time under par was at the Waste Management Phoenix Open (70). Stevens has not exactly been at the top page of the leaderboard but has not performed badly, either. He drives the ball at an average of 305.2 yards per shot and ranks 58th on tour in putting (0.268 strokes gained). His driver accuracy ranks outside the top 150 at 48.81%. For Stevens to have a chance, and particularly on Sunday, he will need to keep his long drives in the fairway. It would not hurt to make some putts, too, on Sunday.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: PGATour.com
3 months agoGreyson Sigg has started up and down like a lot of golfers early in 2024. The American has made two cuts and missed two cuts so far. This includes a Top 25 at The American Express. More recently, he missed cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open. Opening round 73's made it difficult to catch up for the 184th-ranked golfer in the OWGR. Putting has been a big issue for Sigg in 2024 where he has lost 1.102 strokes. While driving accuracy ranks seventh on tour, Sigg only drives the ball at around 284 yards. He will need to putt better early to stay in contention in Mexico.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: PGATour.com
3 months agoJ.J. Spaun has struggled out of the gate in 2024. The American golfer has missed the cut in four out of five tournaments. The 2022 Valero Open winner performed well in 2023 as he made the cut in 25 of 32 tournaments. Spaun finished in the Top 25 a total of 13 times and the Top 10 four times. However, the first part of this year has been a different story. Spaun has struggled in a variety of metrics, does not drive well (283.9 a shot), ranks 147th or worse in five major strokes gained metrics, and yet oddly made the cut at Pebble Beach. Even with a lesser field, Spaun may still struggle.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: PGATour.com
3 months agoAlexander Bjork has entered 16 tournaments on the PGA Tour. The Swedish golfer has made the cut eight times. Yes, that is 50%. Bjork does have 1 Top 25 result in 2024 at The American Express. He narrowly missed out on the Top 5 even (Tied for 11th). Anyway, so far his putting has been okay this year but his drives average 272.6 yards per shot. That ranks a dismal 175th. The long 7.456 yard course rolls in with Par at 71. Bjork will need his approaches to be perfect. Those rank 39th on tour early in 2024. The golfer has no margin for error as he needs to get off to a good start.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: PGATour.com
3 months agoDespite four top-20 finishes so far in 2024, J.T. Poston has yet to find his elite ball-striking upside that won him his two career PGA events. The 30-year-old has relied on red-hot putting to climb up the leaderboards thus far, but he'll need his irons to compliment the flat stick if he wants to truly contend for another victory on tour. Poston has missed the cut in each of his past two appearances at Riviera, and in a stacked field at this elevated event, ball-striking will be pivotal. Even at just $7,800 on DraftKings, it's tough to trust Poston coming off a missed cut in Phoenix. Most will wait and see if he can get his iron magic to return before jumping back in.
--Tommy BellSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoWill Zalatoris took a couple of weeks off after his T13 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, but he'll return for a tournament that's treated him well over the past few years, and his form might finally be trending up enough for fantasy managers to back. The 27-year-old has logged a T15, T26, and solo fourth place finish at The Genesis Invitational over the last three seasons, and his irons led the way in each of those events. While the California native has yet to get back to elite ball-striking status, it was great to see him gain strokes in every category a few weeks back. If there was ever a time to buy Zalatoris before the crowd, this could be it at just $7,900 on DraftKings.
--Tommy BellSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoThe 21-year-old South Korean phenom returns to The Riviera Country Club after a T45 finish in 2023, and while his current form isn't amazing, it's tough to completely rule out the upside of Tom Kim. The irons finally showed up for Kim in his T17 finish at the Phoenix Open last week, as he gained 5.4 strokes on approach, but he failed to beat the field in any other category. It would not be outlandish for Kim to use his past experience and quick improvement on approach to get in the mix over the weekend at the Genesis Invitational. At $8,100 on DraftKings, it may be a good time to buy low on the talented, three-time PGA winner.
--Tommy BellSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoIn his best form, Matt Fitzpatrick can lean on his elite ball-striking to propel him towards the top of leaderboards on the PGA Tour. Lately, however, the Englishman has struggled in that area. He's gained strokes on approach just once in his four 2024 events thus far, and his putting has been sporadic as well. The 29-year-old does have a T5 finish at Riviera in 2021 on his resume, but he missed the event in 2022 before missing the cut last year. All things considered, there are too many risk factors at play with Fitzpatrick. Many fantasy managers will look elsewhere this week, and with good reason.
--Tommy BellSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoSam Burns is coming off three straight top-10 finishes as he readies for The Genesis Invitational this week. The Louisiana native has leaned on his strong iron play and above-average putting to flirt with the top of the leaderboard early in 2024, and while he's missed the cut in his last two trips to Riviera, a third place finish in 2021 shows there's plenty of upside to be had at this west coast course. With five victories on tour at the age of 27, it's easy to see why DraftKings managers and golf bettors alike gravitate to Burns just below the top tier of players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. He'll be popular once again in the betting market as well as on DraftKings at $8,700.
--Tommy BellSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoIn two PGA Tour events, Tommy Fleetwood has been disappointing this season. Fleetwood comes off a season where he was elite in strokes gained: tee-to-green but that hasn't been the case this year on the PGA Tour. However, in his two DP World Tour starts, Fleetwood had a win and T14 last month. He returned to Riviera for the first time in four years last season with a T20. With his skill set, Fleetwood should have success this week and shake off the surprising start to his season.
--Rob RoseSource: PGATOUR.com
3 months agoTony Finau has followed the Scottie Scheffler formula to start the season but with worse results. Finau is No. 9 in strokes gained approach and No. 23 in strokes gained off the tee so he should be in contention each week. Unfortunately for Finau, he is ranked No. 169 in putting as well. During his past six trips to Riviera, Finau has two runner-up finishes and has been much better on the greens, so this could be a week where he's fighting for another win on Sunday.
--Rob RoseSource: PGATOUR.com
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