Tour News
DraftKings Fantasy Preview: Arnold Palmer Invitational
This week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational marks the end of the Florida swing, and is the last name event before the Masters.
Tiger Woods and his eight wins at Arnie’s place are absent, but Rory McIlroy, along with the remainder of the World’s Top 5 (Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Jason Day) will be in attendance.
If you are looking for a fantasy golf competition for just this standalone week, rather than as part of a season-long endeavor, you’ve come to the right place.
DraftKings offers a week-to-week service for PGA Tour events on its website and has a great deal for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, as it is offering a fantasy competition for the tournament with a $45,000 prize pool here:
It only takes $3 to enter the competition, (or no money at all with first deposit), and first place garners $3000, with the top 3,525 scorers winning money as well.
The format is different from the traditional, season-long fantasy golf games. Each player in this week’s field is marked with a certain salary, and you can put six on your roster, with a total salary cap of $50,000.
The top dogs in cost this week are Rory McIlroy at $15,100, Henrik Stenson at $12,500, Bubba Watson at $12,300 and Jason Day at $11,100.
Of course, the higher your player’s finish, the more points he gets, but per-hole scoring, and streaks and bonuses are factored into the final equation.
This makes the ideal player a high finisher who offsets bogeys with several red numbers, rather than a more steady high-level performance.
Need advice on how to succeed in this weekly format?
Below I’ll give you a course outline, along with my “money makers” (the players who will outperform expectations and rocket you up the standings), my “bad bets” (the players whose significant cost and underwhelming play will put you in a hole) and my six-man roster.
Your success in the high-paced, exciting DraftKings format awaits!
The Course
Before we get into names, we must give an outline of the course. Player ability, recent form and history at the layout often factor into prognosticators’ tournament picks, but course fit plays a bigger role than most believe.
The best players rarely contend at courses that are wholly incongruent with their games, and the lesser group of golfers need a layout quite favorable to their style in order to sniff the top of the leaderboard.
To get a sense of the type of player the Bay Hill layout favors, a study of the winners and runners up over a large enough sample size (like 10 years), give us an answer.
Among this group, long hitters were prevalent, although not as pronounced as Bay Hill’s reputation has suggested. Approach play predictably proved a paramount factor, with the course being known for its second-shot reputation. Short game play was also a significant factor.
The only part of the game that had minimal effect was putting, and the flatstick might be even less of a decider this week with the reported wretched state of the greens at the moment.
The best profile at Bay Hill then is an excellent approach player (especially with mid-to long irons due to four par-5s, four par-3s — all 199 yards or more — and a dearth of short par-4s) who tends to be long off the tee and highly adept around the greens. Putting tends to be less relevant at Bay Hill than at your average Tour stop.
Now that we have a profile here, we can get to my DraftKings fantasy advice for this week…
Money Makers
- Adam Scott — $10,900
- Hunter Mahan — $7,500
- Andres Gonzales — $4,800
With the measly $3 buy-in and potential $3000 winnings at DraftKings for Arnold Palmer Invitational fantasy competition, it makes plenty of sense to go for bold moves. After all, the investment is small and a more aggressive approach means greater potential to win one of the competition’s largest sums.
Scott isn’t exactly an outlandish pick, but his price is only fifth-highest in a field where the Aussie should be favored to earn you the most points of any competitor. That statement would’ve seemed outlandish a year ago, when Scott was playing the tournament for the first time five years, and had missed the cut at Bay Hill in his two previous tries.
But then last year Scott jumped out to a seven-shot lead after three rounds at Bay Hill. He faltered in Round 4, but the Aussie’s snug fit with the layout was apparent. Scott is a bomber with world-class approach play from every distance, and an above average short game (with top 70 finishes in Proximity To Hole (Around the Green) the last three seasons).
He should be the top candidate to win the event outright, and along with those points, Scott has been a premier birdie machine in recent years, culminating in the second-highest birdie average last year at 4.24 per round.
Mahan possesses a remarkable ability to go low, which should garner some key points if the American can’t produce a high finish. But I have a feeling he’ll be up on the leaderboard this week.
The 32-year-old has zero top-15s since October, but he has made the cut in every event since then, and has appeared on the verge of capturing peak form. I have a hunch the big payoff comes this week on a Bay Hill layout that fits Mahan in spurts, with his robust driving and good (if overrated) approach play making up for the short game woes that could haunt him at this course.
As for Gonzales, he is certainly a wildcard, but not without thought. “Half-man, half-amazing,” hasn’t had a finish better than a T63 in his last three starts, but did flash fine form beforehand in two top-30s in February.
This course also fits him well. Gonzales combines impressive length with renowned mid- to long-iron play to capture the heart of Bay Hill ball striking. An abysmal short game is his only bugaboo at Bay Hill. But the positives are too powerful to ignore here, along with signs that Gonzales’ game isn’t far from rounding into shape.
Bad Bets
- Henrik Stenson — $12,500
- Ian Poulter — $8,700
- Sean O’Hair — $8,200
My feelings on Stenson are a total gut move. He’s No. 1 in PGATOUR.com’s Arnold Palmer Invitational Power Rankings and with good reason.
The Swede has finished no worse than 13th in any of his four events this season and heads to Bay Hill after consecutive fourth-place showings these last two weeks. His recent history at the course is compelling too, with top-15s in each of his last three starts at Bay Hill. And he profiles decently well for the layout.
Not everything in golf is logical, though, and the sport has an irritating way of thwarting matters when signs overwhelmingly point to a specific player’s success. That, to me, is the case for Stenson at Bay Hill, too much is in his favor and expectations are too high for something not to go wrong. He’ll make the cut, but he’ll just be part of the pack on Sunday, far less than his $12,500 cost would imply.
As for Poulter, his game has been a little bit hit or miss this past year, and certainly not in shape to stand up a course that mocks the Englishman’s game. Unfortunately that describes Bay Hill, which mostly does away with the short-hitting, loose ball strikers of the world, no matter their wizardry around the greens. There’s a good chance he misses the cut, which, combined with his likely frustration in finding birdies to boost his score, puts his actual value at about half his listed price.
Finally we come to O’Hair, whose bubble I hate to burst. There’s no question the 32-year-old’s time back in the spotlight in an unlucky playoff loss last week was a feel good story of a man who struggled to inch his way back, and did in a way. He could also weave a tale of redemption at Bay Hill if he could win there after blowing a five-shot lead to Tiger Woods seven years ago.
But last week’s performance was just one event.
O’Hair gets his first top-10 on the PGA Tour in nearly a year and he suddenly carries the 17th-highest salary in one of the season’s better fields?
Seems like way too high a ranking based off 72 holes of brilliance in the backdrop of years of mediocrity.
If the old Sean O’Hair is really back, his $8,200 price tag is actually a bargain. But it’s pretty likely we just saw a mirage of him last week. Until O’Hair can prove otherwise, last week’s showing was a fluke. He’s ripe for a let down after last week’s high, and his play in recent years doesn’t warrant anything above a $6,000 moniker anyway.
Six-man Roster Picks
- Jason Day — $11,100
- Adam Scott — $10,900
- Hideki Matsuyama — $9,600
- Hunter Mahan — $7,500
- Ben Martin — $5,200
- Andres Gonzales — $4,800
DraftKings marks Day as deserving of the the fourth-best salary this week. He’s my top dog partially by default, as Stenson is in my dog house and I don’t have enough trust in McIlroy or Watson at their exorbitant prices.
Instead, I went with Day, whose game has been really tantalizing in the opening months of 2015. He actually profiled better at Bay Hill a couple of years ago when his wedge and high-iron play was weak and his longer iron game was a strength, rather than the present where both sides are strengths only the long irons are less so.
Nonetheless, Day’s driving power and elite short game mark him for Bay Hill gold, as does his recent form and general ability.
Matsuyama, meanwhile, is an outstanding fit for Bay Hill. He’s long, already one of the game’s best few approach shot players and has a tidy short game to boot. He has five top-10s already this season, and he already won last year at another approach-shot friendly event in the Memorial Tournament.
It’s his first time at Bay Hill, sure, but it was his first time at Muirfield Village last year too. He isn’t quite to the level of Day or Scott ability-wise yet — which is why Scott got my bargain buy despite Mastuyama’s superior course fit — but he’s getting there. The 23-year-old cannot be ignored this week, especially with his robust birdie average.
Martin is a promising 27-year-old who thrived previously on approach shot-oriented golf courses in Harbour Town and Congressional. He has the chance to take a crack at Bay Hill, and when he succeeds at these courses, victory is well within reach.
Ultimate Sleeper Roster
- Morgan Hoffman — $5,500
- Chad Campbell — $5,300
- John Peterson — $5,300
- Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano — $4,900
- Andres Gonzales — $4,800
- Hudson Swafford — $4,300
An eclectic bunch, but definitely youth-oriented. Hoffman is secretly in good form with top-25s in two of his last four starts, and his significant talent means he could burst out at any time. Campbell is neither long nor a short game master, but 2014 proved that he can still be unbelievably good with mid-to-long-irons.
As for the others, Fernandez-Castano was a shot in the dark, as he has been out of order thus far in 2015. Peterson seems to have found his way on Tour after a rough rookie education in 2014, going from 7-of-25 cuts made to 10-of-11.
Swafford, like Matsuyama, hits the three points of big drives, excellent approach play and useful around the greens. His recent results (missing six of his last seven cuts) are alarming, but this is a buy low guy who is coming to a course that adheres to his game’s strengths.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Pingback: Fantasy Golf Arnold Palmer Invitational | Discounts For Golf
Ken c
Mar 21, 2015 at 12:33 pm
So far good call on the sleeper Morgan Hoffman
JR
Mar 19, 2015 at 6:47 pm
I have never done DraftKings before seeing this article. I know know how people get addicted to gambling.
gamble gamble
Mar 19, 2015 at 12:48 am
Since you are shorting Stenson and long on Andres Gonzales I will bet you Stenson v 1.4 times Andres Gonzales. Meaning if Andres scores 100 pts you get 140. I love Draft Kings side action