The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st] (TOUR)
The Field
One of the most unique events of the season returns this week with the Zurich Classic team event. After being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, this event returns for the fourth season in a row and a late-April date. The field consists of 160 players (80 two-man teams), and this year will mark the seventh year the event has been contested in the team format. With 80 teams in the field, the cut will still take place after Friday — the top 33 teams (plus ties) make the weekend.
The format will lend itself to lots of volatility since Thursday and Saturday will have teams competing in the best ball (fourball) format. In best ball, each player will play their own ball for the entire hole, and the best score will be taken on each hole.
Friday and Sunday will have teams competing in alternate shot format, which is where teams play one ball per hole, alternating turns.
As you can guess, the scores in best ball tend to be quite a bit lower than in alternate shot. The defending champions of this event are Davis Riley/Nick Hardy who are in the field as a team again this season. While many top players have chosen to take the week off, we still have a few other elite teams in the field like Shane Lowry / Rory McIlroy, Sahith Theegala / Will Zalatoris, and Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele.
The Course
TPC Louisiana — Avondale, Louisiana
Par 72 -7,300-7400 yards depending on the setup
TPC Louisiana is a Pete Dye-designed course that carries a mixed bag of hole designs but does allow for some really low scoring if the weather cooperates. In 2015 — one of the final years it was a regular stroke-play event — Justin Rose ended up winning with a final score of -22, and most winning scores were in the high teens or better during stroke play.
One of the main reasons the scoring is so low is that the par 5s all rate as extremely great birdie opportunities. Only the par-5 18th hole comes in at over 580 yards in length. For most players, at least three of these longer holes are reachable in two shots. There are also some extremely short par 4s on TPC Louisiana, with four of the par 4s coming in at under 400 yards — including the drive-able 16th, which is a key hole down the stretch.
The shorter holes this week will be absolute must-birdies for the players during best ball rounds, and you’ll see lots of eagles made as the extra ball in play during that format will encourage aggressive lines.
While the course does have some water and quite a few bunkers on it, accuracy isn’t a huge factor due to the lack of rough and larger fairways. Driving Accuracy stats here are generally higher than the PGA TOUR average, as are GIR%s since the Bermuda greens are typically easier to hold and don’t play firm due to the higher humidity in Louisiana.
Softer greens also mean we see more long-range putts holed. On average, TPC Louisiana sees a larger-than-average number of birdie putts holed from 20 feet and in. Good putters — like Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Cameron Smith, and Jonas Blixt — have dominated the leaderboard at this event since it became a team event.
2024 Weather Outlook: Weather at this event can often be a factor, and it was shortened to 54 holes back in 2016 due to extensive rain and thunderstorms. The good news is that it doesn’t look like we will get any extreme weather to cause stoppages this week. The highs will be in the low 80 F range all four days and there is little to no chance of rain. The wind does pick up after Thursday and the Friday afternoon starters will be dealing with winds that could potentially reach 15 mph or greater. As such, if you’re looking to stack waves this week the Friday A.M. starters look like the best ones to go heavier on for now.
Last Five winners
2023—Davis Riley/Nick Hardy -30 (over Hadwin / Taylor -28)
2022—Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele – 29 (over Sam Burns/Billy Horschel -27)
2021—Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman -20 (over Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel playoff)
2019—Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer 26-under (over Sergio Garcia/Tommy Fleetwood -21)
2018—Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy 22-under (over Jason Dufner/Pat Perez -21)
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 and $9,400
Comparables:
- Alex Fitzpatrick / Matthew Fitzpatrick ($9,700)
- Taylor Pendrith / Corey Conners ($9,500)
Daniel Berger/Victor Perez +4500 and $8,200
Comparables:
- Doug Ghim / Chan Kim ($8,300)
- Thomas Detry / Robert MacIntyre ($8,500)
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele ($11,200): There is little doubt that Schauffele and Cantlay are the class of the field this week, and the duo also carry some of the most extensive course history in the field. They finished T11 in 2021 before winning the event in 2022. Cantlay also had a 7th-place finish with Patrick Reed back in 2018.
2. David Lipsky / Aaron Rai ($8,400): This will be the third year in a row that the Rai / Lipsky team has made the start together at this event. Last season they finished T13 but the year before that they were in the hunt for the win late and managed a T4. Rai’s been solid all season so another big week shouldn’t be discounted.
3. Taylor Moore / Matthew NeSmith ($7,700): This duo of Moore and NeSmith are also making their third straight start together. They’ve now finished T4 at this event each of the past two seasons and certainly have shown the upside needed to compete in this format. Moore’s played very well of late (T2 in Houston) and certainly could elevate his partner to bigger things this season.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st]
Recent Form
1. Sahith Theegala ($10,300): Theegala managed a solo second-place finish last week at the Heritage. He’s got three top-10 finishes now over his last three starts.
2. Patrick Cantlay ($11,200): Cantlay struck it well last week with his irons gaining 4.1 strokes on approach. He’s played solid golf two weeks in a row and looks to be peaking at the right time with three majors over the next three months.
3. Billy Horschel ($8,900): After posting a T7 in Houston a few weeks ago Horschel caught fire in the Dominican last week and won his sixth solo PGA event. He’s a former winner of the Zurich (both as a single and as a team) and will be paired with Tyson Alexander this week.
4. Mattias Schmid ($7,200): Schmid has played solid golf most of the year and comes into this week having made six cuts in a row. He shot 67-67 on the weekend in Punta Cana to finish T11.
5. Collin Morikawa ($10,000): Morikawa had another strong showing at Hilton Head, posting a T9 at the Heritage, one week after landing a T3 at the Masters. He’s paired with Kurt Kitayama this week.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Don’t stray from Schauffele / Cantlay
The favorites this week are sitting around +400 on the DraftKings Sportsbook, which is around what Scottie Scheffler has gone off over the last two events. But Schauffele / Cantlay ($11,200) don’t carry the same premium in DFS as they’re still available well under $12,000. That makes them the proper starting point for cash games and a team you don’t want to be super underweight on this week. Below these two the teams of David Lipsky / Aaron Rai ($8,400) and Taylor Moore / Matthew NeSmith ($7,700) have the kind of experience and upside that makes them attractive for this format as well. Both teams have placed in the top 10 at this event and have made multiple starts together as a team
Tournaments: Garnett / Straka have upside
Sepp Straka ($9,000) didn’t have the Sunday he wanted last week but his game has been on the uptick of late and he’s a dangerous player around these approach-driven Pete Dye-designed venues. Garnett won just a month ago and his putting upside makes him a solid partner for a player like Straka in this format. Daniel Berger / Victor Perez ($8,200) are another intriguing duo. Perez finished T3 in Puerto Rico a couple of months ago and Berger, while still finding form, is a former top 10 player who will eventually pay off as a a huge value at these kinds of levels. Other potential GPP options include Alex Smalley / Mattias Schmid ($7,200) and Kevin Tway / Kelly Kraft ($6,400 – see below).
MY PICK: Tom Hoge / Maverick McNealy ($9,400)
The makeup of this team looks solid. McNealy is one of the premier putters on the PGA and certainly will be buoyed this week by getting to play alongside an elite ball-striker like Hoge who ranks second in strokes gained approach stats over the last 24 rounds. Hoge was deep in contention at this event last season going into Sunday when he teamed with another elite putter in Harris English. They faltered (shooting 73 in round 4 alternate shot) but with Hoge coming off a solid week and McNealy having posted two top 10s in his last five starts, the recipe is there for this team to potentially replicate and even exceed the success of Hoge’s team last season.
While this will be the first year these two have hooked up as teammates I think the pairing and venue benefits both players. McNealy’s iron play can run hot and cold but he’s performed well at Pete Dye venues and other TPC setups before, including a T6 at TPC Scottsdale earlier this season. Hoge’s iron play sets him up great for an approach-based course and he played great golf for 71 holes last week (until a couple of errant shots on 18 knocked him down 10+ spots).
The duo makes for a great upper-tier value to target in both the DFS arena and the outright market on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
MY SLEEPER: Kevin Tway / Kelly Kraft ($6,400)
One of the quaint things about this event is that every season we get to see a couple of grizzled PGA veteran teams outperform their world rankings and DFS salaries. Even though the top teams do end up doing quite well at this event (the favorites won this event two years ago) we almost always get some surprise finishes from unheralded veteran combos and a couple of them have even come closer to taking down this event as huge underdogs in the past.
Kevin Tway and Kelly Kraft are both well into their mid-30s now and have played this event numerous times as a team. They finished third in 2017 and 13th in 2019. While their last few appearances haven’t been profitable Tway is coming off his best showing in quite some time (3rd, Punta Cana) and is a player capable of racking up birdies in a hurry thanks to his prestigious length off the tee and ability to get hot with the putter. Kraft is a bigger wildcard given that he’s had trouble getting starts this season but he ended 2023 on a string of eight made cuts and certainly has the kind of short iron game that can help a team along in a format like this.
On top of being a solid tournament target for big field GPPs in DFS, they also make for a solid top 10/20 ladder bet on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st] (TOUR)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
