Draftkings & Fanduel Expert Survey for the Sony Open
By Alexander Ross
Our panel of experts is here to give you their PGA DFS picks for this week’s contests by answering a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup-building decisions. Want to know who Noto has as the top three finishers? Or who is STLCards’ top overall golfer? Find out below!
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey for the Sony Open
Who is your favorite golfer for cash games?
Notorious: JT Poston
STLCardinals84: Corey Conners
hondizzle: Corey Conners
Who is your favorite golfer for large-field tournaments?
Notorious: Cameron Davis
STLCardinals84: Cameron Davis
hondizzle: Tyrrell Hatton
Who is your favorite salary relief play for cash games?
Notorious: Andrew Putnam
STLCardinals84: Adam Svensson
hondizzle: Brendon Todd
Who is your favorite salary relief play for large-field tournaments?
Notorious: Ben Griffin
STLCardinals84: Pierceson Coody
hondizzle: Matt Kuchar
Which golfer are you afraid of being underweight on compared to the field?
Notorious: Ludvig Aberg
STLCardinals84: Chris Kirk
hondizzle: Ludvig Aberg
Which high-priced golfer will you have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
Notorious: Will Zalatoris
STLCardinals84: Will Zalatoris
hondizzle: Sahith Theegala
What type of golfers are you targeting most? (i.e., bomber, short game specialist, etc.)
Notorious: Plodders (good approach, around the green, and putting)
STLCardinals84: Ball Strikers
hondizzle: Ball Strikers
Which statistic other than Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green are you weighing most?
Notorious: SG: Approach
STLCardinals84: SG: Approach
hondizzle: SG: Approach
Predict the top three finishers of the event.
Notorious: 1. An 2. Cole 3. Fitzpatrick
STLCardinals84: 1. Davis 2. Conners 3. Aberg
hondizzle: 1. Hatton 2. Conners 3. Kuchar
Predict the winning score of the week (e.g., E, -5, -10).
Notorious: -18
STLCardinals84: -20
hondizzle: -22
Which useful trend or statistic stuck out most during your research?
Notorious: This is one of those courses that levels the playing field off the tee. There are a lot of doglegs and overhanging trees that really negate power off the tee. The setup is much like Harbour Town and Colonial Country Club, which grade out as the best comp courses for the week. Golfers will be playing from similar spots on most holes, and it’s worth nothing that 70% of approach shots come from 125-200 yards. It’s a lot of wedges and short irons into greens. Even though this is an easy course, around the green has been important here over the years. And to win, you need to get red-hot on these Bermudagrass greens.
STLCardinals84: 10 of the last 11 editions of this event have seen a winning score of 17-under or better. Whenever the wind doesn’t blow, we can expect plenty of scoring opportunities despite the fact that this is a par 70 course. I will once again target strong ball strikers and players who can make birdies in bunches. You don’t need to be long off the tee to contend here, as Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar are examples of short hitters who have both won this event within the past five years.
hondizzle: The first full-field cut event of the season should be a fairly low-scoring affair. Length off the tee is not important this week (or is at least not a big separator). Good iron play and timely putting tend to be more important at the Sony Open. I always like to use this space each week to look at roster construction ideas. One of the things that stands out to me is that there is a lot more uncertainty, as we are basically seeing some of these golfers either for the first time or for the first time in a long time. Upside is always important, and I would tend to push players out of my pool that I feel I am okay with just making the cut and getting a top-40 type of finish. Birdie-strong events will often need more of the top type of finishes than weeks that play a little harder.
Who is your top contrarian golfer (when considering price, key stats, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
Notorious: Ben Griffin – He’s one of the many golfers in this field that seems to excel on short Par 70 courses. His strengths are iron play and putting, which really pays dividends on this course. For whatever reason, he’s not getting as much love as the other course fit specialists this week. The last time he teed it up, he finished in a tie for 8th at the RSM Classic. In his debut at this event last year, he finished in a tie for 12th. I love the combination of form, course history, course fit, and low ownership.
STLCardinals84: Pierceson Coody – We have quite a few faces with brand new PGA Tour cards as we start the 2024 season, and no casual DFS players are going to bother researching these value options. This is the best time to buy low on some talented golfers that you will be able to get at both a discounted salary and 1-3% ownership. Coody is my favorite for this week. He was a two-time winner last year on the Korn Ferry Tour and was the #1 ranked college golfer when he finished his career at Texas. There will be ups and downs, but the pressure is off to some degree now, and he’s a fine GPP punt.
hondizzle: Matt Kuchar – I know that most people will start to look at Kuchar as being old and perhaps a bit dusty. I am a sucker for good course history and good course fit. Kuchar has 7 top-10s at the Sony Open including a win a few years ago. He is not going to overpower any course, but he instead relies on an elite short game and consistent iron play. There is enough upside left in his game to once again be a factor at a course where he plays well.
Who is your top overall golfer (when considering price, key stats, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
Notorious: JT Poston – He doesn’t have the same course history as many priced around him, but he plays this event every year and finished in a tie for 21st here last year. To me, he’s a much better golfer than he’s been at any other point in his career. After being a short game specialist for years, he has really found something with his ball striking recently. Over the last six months, he’s top 5 in this field in strokes gained approach and birdie or better percentage. It was also nice to see him play well at The Sentry last week (T5).
STLCardinals84: Corey Conners – I believe that Conners offers the best combination of safety and upside this week. He knocked off the rust with a middling finish last week. Otherwise, the form and course fit are excellent. He ranks 4th in this field in tee-to-green play and 5th in ball striking over the last 36 rounds. Conners also boasts four consecutive finishes of 12th or better at this tournament, where he has gained a total of over 30 strokes above field average.
hondizzle: Corey Conners – In the last 3 years on tour, Conners has 79 PGA TOUR starts. During that time, he has finished inside the top 25 or better at a rate of 56%. With 37% of his top 25 or better finishes inside the top 10, Conners also flashes a fair amount of upside. For me, this means Conners is a golfer you can look to target on most weeks. Factor in that he has a very good track record at the Sony Open (32 strokes gained in his last 4 starts), and that makes Conners a top golfer to anchor rosters in all formats.
What is your hot take of the week?
Notorious: The Noto model regulars, Brendon Todd and Andrew Putnam, both finish in the top 10.
STLCardinals84: Pierceson Coody finishes inside the top 10.
hondizzle: Despite rumors of a LIV move, Hatton wins in his Sony Open Debut.
Image Credit: Getty Images
Our panel of experts is here to give you their PGA DFS picks for this week’s contests by answering a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup-building decisions. Want to know who Noto has as the top three finishers? Or who is STLCards’ top overall golfer? Find out below!
Notorious: This is one of those courses that levels the playing field off the tee. There are a lot of doglegs and overhanging trees that really negate power off the tee. The setup is much like Harbour Town and Colonial Country Club, which grade out as the best comp courses for the week. Golfers will be playing from similar spots on most holes, and it’s worth nothing that 70% of approach shots come from 125-200 yards. It’s a lot of wedges and short irons into greens. Even though this is an easy course, around the green has been important here over the years. And to win, you need to get red-hot on these Bermudagrass greens.
STLCardinals84: Ten of the last eleven editions of this event have seen a winning score of 17-under or better. Whenever the wind doesn’t blow, we can expect plenty of scoring opportunities despite the fact that this is a par 70 course. I will once again target strong ball strikers and players who can make birdies in bunches. You don’t need to be long off the tee to contend here, as Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar are examples of short hitters who have both won this event within the past five years.
hondizzle: The first full-field cut event of the season should be a fairly low-scoring affair. Length off the tee is not important this week (or is at least not a big separator). Good iron play and timely putting tend to be more important at The Sony Open. I always like to use this space each week to look at roster construction ideas. One of the things that stands out to me this week is that there is a lot more uncertainty, as we are basically seeing some of these golfers either for the first time or for the first time in a long time. Upside is always important, and I would tend to push players out of my pool that I feel I am okay with just making the cut and getting a top-40 type of finish. Birdie-strong events will often need more of the top type of finishes than weeks that play a little harder.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
