2014 Fantasy GolfChris Garosi

2014 Fantasy Golf Daily Fix: Northern Trust Open Picks

It looks like we’re going to make golf a weekly column here at The Fix. Hopefully, you’ve been taking the time to learn all you can about golf and playing regularly. I’m back to help out this week and every week here on out. This week’s Daily Fantasy picks for DraftKings’ PGA tournament are below.

The Players

The tour stop this week is the Northern Trust Open played at the Riviera Country Club in beautiful Pacific Palisades, California. Poa annua greens await the competitors again on this 7,349 yard par 71 course.  Interestingly, there are no water hazards on the course – a fact that would help my game immensely.  The key this week is to stay out of the rough as it consists of kikuyu grass which looks like this:

Kikuyu Grass
Kikuyu grass forms the rough for the Northern Open. It traps the club and reduces club head speed dramatically. It is important to choose players who keep the ball on the fairway this week.

Yuck.

Let’s look at options in a variety of cost categories to help you build your DraftKings roster:

Jimmy Walker | $10,500 – The highest salaried player this week has won every tournament this season. That’s not actually true, he’s only won three, but he’s on fire. If you are going starts and scrubs, he’s a must start until he cools off or the PGA moves from the west coast.

Graham DeLaet | $10,200 – All of the experts are picking DeLaet to break out soon (if not this week) for his first win. DeLaet has all of the game to succeed at Riviera and that is priced into his cost this week. He’s another option if you want a star that’s not quite as expensive as Walker.

Jordan Spieth | $10,200 – The last of the stars to recommend is the youngster Spieth.  Spieth continues to perform well on the west coast swing with two top tens and four top twenty finishes in his five events thus far. He’s 29 th in greens in regulation and seventh in birdie average

Bill Haas | $9,500 – Well, maybe one more star. Haas owns this course and should find his way on to most of my teams as he has the upside of the three above, but costs up to $1,000 less than those studs. Haas finished 11 th in 2011, won in 2012, and finished tied for third in 2013. He’s a horse for this course and only his recent struggles knock him down below the top rated players.

Charl Schwartzel | $8,800 – I just love the name. Always have. Don’t judge me. However, the South African can play and he’s in his first PGA event of the season. However, he’s already been playing in Africa and Asia to start the year. He’s picked up a fourth, first, sixth and fifteenth place finish in the five events he’s played on the European tour this year.

K.J. Choi | $8,200 – Choi has never missed a cut here and has started the season well. He doesn’t have huge upside, but you want all of your players to make the cut so Choi should be the anchor that allows you to take bigger risks elsewhere.

Justin Hicks | $7,900 – Hicks has made seven of nine cuts this season, is tenth in total driving (a statistic that encapsulates how long and accurate a player is off the tee), has three top 20 finishes and is third in greens in regulation this year. All of that adds up to Hicks being a solid value play this week. I also like Fred Couples ($7,400) who doesn’t play all that often, but has a great record here over the years.

Francesco Molinari | $7,000 – One of the things I always check on his Europeans coming over to play in the States before a bigger event. They are often part time players on the PGA tour and as such go under the radar. Molinari is one such player.  Fredrik Jacobson ($7,000) is another option in the “European who doesn’t play often, but has a solid track record category.”

J.B. Holmes | $6,700 – Holmes’ record at this course (outside of last season) is fantastic. In 2008, he tied for seventh, and then tied for sixth, tied for third, tied for twelfth and tied for eighth. He missed the cut last year, but I’ll assume that’s a blip. And for this cheap, you can’t get a guy with that track record. He’s three for three in cuts this year and looks to be in form.

Derek Ernst | $5,200 – If you want to look deep, check out Ernst. He’s only made four of nine cuts this season, but he’s third in total driving for the season and could catch a break here.

Stay Away Play

Charles Howell III | $10,100 – Everyone seems to be on Howell this week, but he hasn’t looked good so far in 2014. I know he plays well out here, but I’d rather spend my money elsewhere with so many great options.

Now head over to DraftKings and pick your fantasy golf team of the season!

Golfers on each team will accumulate points as follows:

DraftKings Scoring System

Per Hole Scoring

Double Eagle (DBE): +20 PTs
Eagle (EAG): +8 PTs
Birdie (BIR): +3 PTs
Par (PAR): +0.5 PTs
Bogey (BOG): -0.5 PTs
Double Bogey (DBB): -1 PT
Worse than Double Bogey (DBW): -1 PT

Tournament Finish Scoring

1st: 30 PTs
2nd: 20 PTs
3rd: 18 PTs
4th: 16 PTs
5th: 14 PTs
6th: 12 PTs
7th: 10 PTs
8th: 9 PTs
9th: 8 PTs
10th: 7 PTs
11th–15th: 6 PTs
16th–20th: 5 PTs
21st–25th: 4 PTs
26th–30th: 3 PTs
31st–40th: 2 PTs
41st-50th: 1 PTs

Streaks and Bonuses

Streak of 3 Birdies of Better (MAX 1 Per Round) (BIR3+): +3 PTs
Bogey Free Round (BOFR): +3 PTs
All 4 Rounds Under 70 Strokes (A4U70): +5 PTs
Hole in One (HIO): +10 PTs

Scoring Notes: Ties for a finishing position will not reduce or average down points. For example, if 2 golfers tie for 3rd place, each will receive the 18 fantasy points for the 3rd place finish result. Playoff Holes will not count towards final scoring, with the exception of the “finishing position” scoring. For example, the golfer who wins the tournament will receive the sole award of 1st place points, but will not accrue points for their scoring result in the individual playoff holes.

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