WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational 7.30.2020

Posted bygameondfsPosted inGolfTags:, , , , , , , , ,

So…Michael Thompson just won last week and 5 of the 6 most expensive golfers missed the cut. Such is life now with the post-break PGA. Thankfully we won’t have that happen again this week as this is a no-cut event so you everyone will play 4 rounds barring a withdrawal. This makes a high/low strategy more viable since your punt play will not get cut, but we still need a high finish across the board. With MLB and NBA back, PGA is most likely not a top priority for most people, but it’s still fun to have a 4 day sweat going!

Draftkings Scoring

Per Hole Scoring
Double Eagle or Better+13 Pts
Eagle+8 Pts
Birdie+3 Pts
Par+0.5 Pts
Bogey-0.5 Pts
Double Bogey-1 Pt
Worse than Double Bogey-1 Pt
Streaks and Bonuses
Streak of 3 Birdies or Better {Max 1 Per Round}+3 Pts
Bogey Free Round+3 Pts
All 4 Rounds Under 70 Strokes+5 Pts
Hole In One+5 Pts
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 Pt

The largest difference for Fanduel is the bonuses, which are similar, but more rewarding than on Draftkings. Most importantly, instead of needing a streak of 3 birdies, you only need 5+ birdies for the whole round. These bonuses really add up so we want guys that can rack up birdies to take advantage of the 5+ birdies and streak points.

Fanduel Scoring

Eagle (Or Better)7
Birdie3.1
Par0.5
Bogey-1
Double Bogey (Or Worse)-3
Streak Bonus (2 Holes in a Row Under-Par)0.6
Bounce Back (Hole Under-Par After Hole Over-Par)0.3
5+ Birdies Or Better (1 Round)4
Bogey Free Round5
1st place30
2nd place20
3rd place18
4th place16
5th place14
6th place12
7th place10
8th place8
9th place7
10th place6
11th-15th place5
16th-20th place4
21st-25th place3
26th-30th place2
31st-40th place1

Much like NASCAR, the most important thing is finishing position, as a high finish generally means a good number of birdies and low bogeys to go along with the placement points. The top guys are always a threat to win, so it is important to find the cheaper guys who can outplace their salary. There are multiple ways to build a lineup so you need to decide if you want to balance cheap and expensive guys, or if you want to go safer with all mid-end golfers. The first composition is great for GPPs, while the latter is more cash-oriented, but any lineup for PGA has potential to win any contest. 

Each player’s tee times have been included alongside their site salaries and betting odds to win. Tee times aren’t as important this week as there is supposed to be a lot of wind throughout the day, but the earlier players should see a little less than the PM waves.. This doesn’t mean that afternoon players are unplayable, but they are at a slight disadvantage.

NameDraftkings SalaryFanduel SalaryThurs. Tee Time (EST)Fri. Tee Time (EST)Odds
Jon Rahm114001200011:40 AM12:40 PM11/1
Rory McIlroy112001190011:50 AM12:50 PM11/1
Bryson DeChambeau110001160011:40 AM12:40 PM12/1
Justin Thomas107001170012:40 PM11:30 AM12/1
Patrick Cantlay101001140011:30 AM12:30 PM20/1
Webb Simpson99001110011:50 AM12:50 PM22/1
Xander Schauffele98001120011:30 AM12:30 PM22/1
Tyrrell Hatton97001080012:30 PM11:20 AM28/1
Daniel Berger96001050011:20 AM12:20 PM28/1
Collin Morikawa95001090012:40 PM11:30 AM25/1
Viktor Hovland94001060012:50 PM11:40 AM25/1
Dustin Johnson93001030012:30 PM11:20 AM28/1
Brooks Koepka92001070012:50 PM11:40 AM33/1
Tony Finau91001010012:00 PM1:00 PM35/1
Matthew Fitzpatrick90001020012:00 PM1:00 PM35/1
Hideki Matsuyama89001040012:40 PM11:30 AM30/1
Patrick Reed88001000012:50 PM11:40 AM35/1
Tommy Fleetwood8700990011:20 AM12:20 PM30/1
Gary Woodland8600970012:00 PM1:00 PM45/1
Billy Horschel8500950011:10 AM12:10 PM45/1
Abraham Ancer8400930011:20 AM12:20 PM55/1
Rickie Fowler8300960011:40 AM12:40 PM45/1
Jason Day8200980012:30 PM11:20 AM40/1
Jordan Spieth8100940011:50 AM12:50 PM45/1
Sergio Garcia8000920011:30 AM12:30 PM60/1
Matthew Wolff7900900012:30 PM11:20 AM80/1
Paul Casey7800880011:30 AM12:30 PM100/1
Marc Leishman7700910011:50 AM12:50 PM60/1
Matt Kuchar7600900011:30 AM12:30 PM70/1
Henrik Stenson760087001:00 PM11:50 AM80/1
Sungjae Im7500890011:30 AM12:30 PM80/1
Kevin Na7500870011:50 AM12:50 PM100/1
Joaquin Niemann7400880012:40 PM11:30 AM80/1
Ian Poulter7400890012:50 PM11:40 AM80/1
Corey Conners7300840011:20 AM12:20 PM100/1
Scottie Scheffler7300860012:00 PM1:00 PM100/1
Adam Hadwin720085001:00 PM11:50 AM80/1
Max Homa7200830012:20 PM11:10 AM125/1
Bubba Watson7100840011:40 AM12:40 PM100/1
Danny Willett7100860012:40 PM11:30 AM90/1
Kevin Kisner700082001:00 PM11:50 AM125/1
Michael Thompson7000850011:10 AM12:10 PM125/1
Kevin Streelman6900850011:20 AM12:20 PM80/1
Rafa Cabrera Bello6900800012:20 PM11:10 AM125/1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout6800790012:10 PM11:00 AM150/1
Louis Oosthuizen6800830011:50 AM12:50 PM125/1
Erik Van Rooyen6800780012:00 PM1:00 PM125/1
Chez Reavie6700820011:40 AM12:40 PM125/1
Ryan Palmer6700800012:00 PM1:00 PM125/1
Matt Wallace6700830012:10 PM11:00 AM100/1
Brendon Todd6600810012:20 PM11:10 AM100/1
Phil Mickelson6600810011:10 AM12:10 PM100/1
Shane Lowry6600790012:30 PM11:20 AM150/1
J.T. Poston6500760012:40 PM11:30 AM150/1
Byeong Hun An6500770012:10 PM11:00 AM150/1
Bernd Wiesberger6500780011:40 AM12:40 PM125/1
Brandt Snedeker6400760012:20 PM11:10 AM125/1
Robert Macintyre640075001:00 PM11:50 AM150/1
Mackenzie Hughes6400770011:00 AM12:00 PM150/1
Keegan Bradley6300740011:10 AM12:10 PM150/1
Matt Jones6300710011:00 AM12:00 PM250/1
Jason Kokrak6300720012:10 PM11:00 AM200/1
Cameron Smith6300730012:20 PM11:10 AM200/1
Joel Dahmen6200740012:10 PM11:00 AM150/1
Cameron Champ6200750012:50 PM11:40 AM150/1
Tom Lewis6200730011:00 AM12:00 PM200/1
Tyler Duncan620070001:00 PM11:50 AM300/1
Andrew Landry6200700011:00 AM12:00 PM300/1
Nick Taylor6100720011:10 AM12:10 PM250/1
Hao-Tong Li610071001:00 PM11:50 AM300/1
Graeme McDowell6100710012:30 PM11:20 AM250/1
C.T. Pan6100700012:50 PM11:40 AM300/1
Sung Kang6100700011:10 AM12:10 PM300/1
Lucas Herbert6000700011:20 AM12:20 PM300/1
Victor Perez6000700012:20 PM11:10 AM300/1
Shaun Norris6000700011:00 AM12:00 PM300/1
Sebastian Soderberg6000700011:00 AM12:00 PM300/1
Jazz Janewattananond6000700012:10 PM11:00 AM300/1

This is a no-cut event so there is no worry about your players missing the weekend, but that also means that you need your golfers to play well all 4 rounds, so we still want to target the most consistent guys on Tour. Cheap punt plays are viable because there is no cut, but remember that they are much less likely to put together 4 good rounds than the better players.

Top Tier:

Even though we don’t need to look for cut-makers, we still want consistent golfers this week. Patrick Cantlay jumps out as he has made all 9 cuts this year and has only finished worse than 17th twice this season. That kind of consistency is great as we need 4 good rounds from everyone to place well, and there may not be anyone more reliable than Cantlay on Tour this year, and he finished 12th here last year so another great finish is likely this week. Xander Schauffele has been a high-placing machine this season with 12 top-25s in 14 events. Schauffele has 3 straight top-20s and he is definitely near the top as far as consistency goes. Daniel Berger, Tyrell Hatton, and Collin Morikawa have all won 1 or their past 3 tournaments and all of them have a solid chance to do so again this week. Berger has actually won this tournament twice in his 3 attempts, so another win wouldn’t be all that surprising, especially after finishing in the top-10 5 times in a row before missing his last cut. Tyrell Hatton has finished no worse than 14th this season and he has 5 top-6 finishes in 6 events. Collin Morikawa has a win and a playoff loss since the restart, and his iron play is second to none right now. All 3 of these guys are firmly in play and getting all of them to start a lineup might not be a bad idea. At the very top we have Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy both have a good combination of recent form and course history, so they are probably the best options if you are looking to pay way up. Rahm finally had his first top-25 since the restart last time out with a win at The Memorial, while McIlroy has made every cut this season. Rahm finished 7th in his first appearance here last year, while Rory has finished 4th and 7th in his last 2 tries here. Both of these guys have as much winning potential as anyone, but they are a little pricey so you need your punts to play well all week.

Upper-Mid Tier: 

Viktor Hovland absolutely collapsed over the weekend in his last event, but he still finished 48th which isn’t too bad, but it was his first finish outside the top-25 since the restart. As always, if his putter is on, he will most likely be in contention for the win on Sunday. Tony Finau is coming off back-to-back top-10s, but he still seems to struggle with putting himself in position to win on the weekend. Still, Finau is on a roll recently and it wouldn’t be surprising to see another top-10 finish this week, which would be great for his price. Matthew Fitzpatrick doesn’t usually have the same upside as the guys around him, but he finished 3rd last time out and 4th at this tournament in his first appearance here last year. Another top-5 shouldn’t be expected here, but a top-20 or even top-15 is easily doable for Fitzpatrick and that should be enough with the way some of these other guys have been playing. Patrick Reed always seems to play well when there’s a strong field and he is coming off his 2nd top-10 since the restart. Reed finished 12th here last year and a similar result this week is definitely in play. Billy Horschel isn’t the most consistent golfer on Tour, but he has finished 13th and 7th in his last 2 events after missing the previous two cuts, so maybe he has found his game. Horschel has 5 top-10s in his last 6 appearances here, so he could be an outside threat for a top finish again. After missing his first two cuts of the season, Abraham Ancer has made 13 in a row with 7 top-15 finishes. Ancer has 1 top-20 in his 2 appearances here, and he should be able to find his way to another one this week.

Lower-Mid Tier: 

After a very rough stretch that saw him miss 5 of 6 cuts, Jason Day has finished 4th and 7th in his last 2 events. Day is as good as anyone when his game is on, and he seems to be rounding back into form as of late. Dropping down a bit, Kevin Na seems like the perfect player for a no-cut tournament, as he has 2 top-10s and 2 missed cuts in his last 4 events. Obviously another top-10 isn’t expected here, but Na can get hot and could have another great week here as long as he doesn’t withdraw again. Ian Poulter’s putter has been carrying him all season so there is a decent chance that he crashes here if it’s not on again, but he has 2 top-10s in his last 3 tries here and his putter is usually his strong suit. Poulter has been solid all season and if he keeps his hot putter, another strong finish could be in the books. Adam Hadwin doesn’t usually finish all that well, but he has been one of the most consistent players on Tour this season. Of course, we don’t need a cut-maker this week, but a top-30 is very doable for Hadwin and that would be just fine for his cheap price this week.

Value Plays:

Kevin Streelman has quietly played some great golf recently with 2 top-10s in his past 3 events and a solid performance at The Memorial outside of a very rough Saturday. There aren’t many high-upside options down here, so Streelman may be the best chance at a high finish from this value group. Chez Reavie has finished 22nd and 17th in his last 2 events and he has great history at this course for someone this cheap. Reavie has 3 top-12 finishes in his last 5 appearances here, with a 27th on either side of those. Another top-27 would be great at his price and it would allow you to spend way up if you want to. Matt Wallace is coming off a 4th place finish at The Memorial and he finished 27th in his only appearance here last year. Like Reavie, another top-30 finish this week would be great at his price and his game seems to be coming along recently so that may not be too high of an expectation.

Risky Plays:

Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka have each won here in the past and are great golfers when they are on form, but both of them are dealing with injuries right now that have thrown off their games. They are both playable as risky dart throws in GPPs at low ownership, but just know that at this point, a withdrawal seems more likely than a win for these guys.

If you have any questions or need strategy help, feel free to hop in the Premium Discord and ask away.

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