Welcome to the Fantasy Six Pack, where we highlight six golfers to use in two popular fantasy golf platforms, DraftKings and FanDuel. On each, you must select six golfers for your lineup under a specific salary cap. (DraftKings $50,000, FanDuel $60,000). As a reminder, I’m a golf nut with a 1.3 handicap and a nose for analytics — according to Rotogrinders, I’m one of the top daily fantasy golf players, and just two weeks ago I made over $25,000 profit! Want to check out the tools I used to win that prize? Head to tourlevelfantasy.com.
The Tour moves South down I-95 to Maryland for the Quicken Loans National. Some say this might be Tiger Woods’s best chance to win this year, and in this week’s Tour Confidential the GOLF.com staff explains why. With that, on to the week ahead!
The Tournament: Quicken Loans National
Course: TPC Potomac
Average Winning Score: -7
Average Cut: +4
Yardage: 7,139 yards
Par: 70
Skills emphasized: Kyle Stanley, last years champion, was able to earn the trophy by losing strokes in putting. But he’s known for being one of the better ball strikers on Tour, so we will focus heavily on that stat this week.
Top 5 finishers last year:
Kyle Stanley
Charles Howell III
Rickie Fowler
Martin Laird
Keegan Bradley
Recap of last week’s picks:
Only one of our eight golfers missed the cut. On a week where several popular golfers MC’d, it was a solid performance. Let’s see if we can do it again.
The Favorite(s):
Rickie Fowler (Odds: 10/1, DraftKings $11,700, FanDuel $12,600) Rickie hasn’t been in the winner’s circle yet this year and is likely facing his weakest field of the season. Fowler is gaining about 9/10ths of a stroke from tee to green over his last six starts, good for seventh in this field. That’s not typically what you’d like from the highest-priced golfer in the field, but his three straight top 20s show consistency. Add in his third-place finish here last year, and this looks like Fowler’s best chance at a title so far this season.
Going Streaking: Players entering this week in the great form
J.B. Holmes (Odds: 66/1, DraftKings $10,000, FanDuel $10,900) Love it or hate it, J.B. Holmes and his incredibly slow play have earned three straight top 15s heading into this week, including back-to-back top 5s. Holmes ranks seventh in the field in strokes gained tee to green over his previous six starts and he’s has been riding a relatively hot putter. Holmes played here last year, made the cut and finished 68th. He’ll aim for better this week.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Odds: 25/1, DraftKings $9,200, FanDuel $10,300) We highlighted Aphibarnrat a couple of weeks ago, but if you really want to get to know the guy, check out this GOLF.com feature. It’s a great insight into the large and lavish lifestyle this Thailand native lives, and who he is as a person. As a golfer, Kiradech is enjoying his best season as a pro. With a win at the Super 6s earlier this year on the European Tour, Kiradech is closing in on full membership to the PGA Tour. With his 15th-place finish at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, his fourth top-30 in his last five starts, the man they call Barn Rat needs just one more top 10 to lock up a PGA Tour card for this year and next. Over his last six starts, Barn Rat ranks behind only Alex Cejka and Billy Horschel in strokes gained ball striking. He’ll look to parlay that into his first ever PGA Tour victory. If he does, I bet he picks up another Lambo to celebrate.
Stewart Cink (Odds: 66/1, DraftKings $8,500, FanDuel $9,400) On a little run of back-to-back top 5s after failing to crack a top 10 in over a year. Pretty crazy. We may be in for a little bit of a regression this week, just based on the fact that Cink hasn’t played this well in quite a while. But perhaps he keeps it going. His tee-to-green game has been solid, gaining more than half a stroke, but his hot flatstick has been the difference. If it stays warm, he could contend again.
Anirban Lahiri (Odds: 150/1, DraftKings $7,800, FanDuel $8,200) Lahiri finished ninth at the Travelers for his first PGA Tour top 10 of the year. He’s been a bit overshadowed by countryman Shubankar Sharma lately, but for a while Lahiri was known as the best golfer from India. Lahiri will look to ride the confidence he’s gained over the last six weeks, where he’s made four straight cuts. Statistically speaking he’s 32nd in par 4 scoring, something that should serve him well this week on a par 70 course.
Seamus Power (Odds: 150/1, DraftKings $6,900, FanDuel $8,000) The Irishman has quietly found a bit of form, as he’s made four of his last six cuts while earning three top 30s, including a 12-place finish three weeks ago in Memphis. He finished 36th here last year, and he’s 23rd in par 4 scoring, which again is a good thing this week.
Mulligans: Players who need a reset and expect to play well this week
Tiger Woods (Odds: 16/1, DraftKings $11,000, FanDuel $12,300) After a dismal U.S. Open two weeks ago, Woods will look to make amends this week. In a total 180 from his prime, Woods now seems to thrive at courses that yield a single-digit-under-par winner, such as the Valspar, where he finished second. He’s won this event, which benefits his foundation, a few times in the past, but he looked so out of sorts at Shinnecock it’s tough to go all-in this week. But then again, at just shy of 7,200 yards, Woods should be able to keep the ball in play. And if he stays in play, he should contend. Vegas has him as the second favorite behind Fowler.
Where to play this fantasy golf this week
DraftKings: Three contests with a 100K first prize. (Pretty good for a weak field!)
1. $5 Buy-in contest called “Drive the Green,” with a top prize of $100,000 and a prize pool of $525,000.
2. $444 Buy-in contest called the “Pressure Putt,” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $375,000.
3. $44 Buy-in contest called the “Club Twirl,” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $450,000.
FanDuel
1. $7.77 Buy-in contest called the “Eagle,” with a top prize of $20,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
2. $.60 Buy-in contest called the “Lob Wedge,” with a top prize of $600 and a guaranteed prize pool of $8,000.
These are just some of the many contests between the two sites. For a full breakdown of all contests and offerings check out the links in my bio. Good luck this week!
Jason Rouslin is the founder of tourlevelfantasy.com. He has been playing golf for the last 20 years, betting on golf for the last five and writing about golf for the last two. Connect with him on twitter @dfsgolfer23 or check him out on the @rotogrinders live golf show on Tuesday’s @ 8 PM!
