Golf is back after a one-week hiatus, and with any PGA TOUR event comes the ability to play in DraftKings Pick6 contests, a single-user daily fantasy game where users choose players to go for more or less than the totals.
This week, the PGA is headed to Napa Valley to take on Silverado, a shorter Par 72 venue with Poa greens where players typically can wield driver a ton on the tree-lined course. Winners at Silverado have often outperformed off the tee so that’s something to keep in mind for this week. However, it’s also important to remember that for Pick6 contests we are looking at round-by-round totals so it’s not imperative that we necessarily hyper-focus on one style of player.
This venue has yielded some very low scores in the past, and last year Sahith Theegala managed to get to -21 in his win, with the top five finishers all getting into the clubhouse at 15-under Par or better. My initial take on things this week is that some of the birdie totals are worth looking at. There are four short Par 5’s on the course (all good birdie opportunities), and while players may struggle on the longer Par 4’s and Par 3’s, there are also seven Par 4’s on the course that tend to play under par for the week, in terms of scoring average.
With the weather also looking nice, I’d expect we see scoring similar to what we saw last season, which again, suggests that we’ll see a lot of birdies in Round 1. With that in mind, I’ve focused on a couple of my favorite “more than” plays in the birdie or better department and also picked out a couple of totals from two other markets to focus on to round out your cards this week.
Eric Cole More Than 4.5 Birdies or Better
Eric Cole can be erratic from a scoring perspective on a round-by-round basis but the man does know how to make birdies. He comes into this field ranked 9th in opportunities gained and 11th in birdie or better percentage over the last 24 rounds of play and has tended to save his best golf for these sorts of easier tracks. While he’s not great off the tee, Cole also knows how to take advantage of the Par 5s, ranking 1st in Strokes Gained Par 5 scoring, and first in SG: Par 5 scoring between 550-600 yards (three of the four Par 5’s fall in this range). This will be just the third time Cole has tee’d it up at Silverado, but his second start at this course last season saw him finish in T4 and shoot three rounds of 68 or better. He may not win, but we’ll likely see him outperform again from a birdie-making perspective, making the “more than” option for his 4.5 total for Round 1 something I’m interested in playing.
JJ Spaun More Than 4.5 Birdies or Better
Spaun comes into this week playing terrific golf. He’s gained over 4.0 strokes off the tee in each of his last four starts and has generally been solid off the tee of late, gaining 2.9 strokes OTT at the Wyndham in his final regular-season start. You never know when the putter will go cold with Spaun, but he’s been sinking his chances of late and comes into this week’s event ranked 4th in Birdie or Better percentage and 3rd in Strokes Gained Par 5 scoring over the last 24 rounds. Like Cole, even if Spaun makes a few bogies on the tougher holes, the four Par 5’s will likely afford him enough chances to go for more than 4.5 birdies or better in Round 1, given his excellent form and course experience (he’s played this event seven times and has finished T9 and T11 over the last four seasons).
Min Woo Lee Less Than 69.5 Strokes
Min Woo Lee is a player I’m high on this week. The 26-year-old is uber-talented and is already one of the best drivers of the ball on the PGA, ranking 5th in strokes gained OTT in this field over the last 24 rounds. He’s also a great spike putter and profiles similarly to Cameron Champ and Max Homa, two past winners at Silverado. Lee will be playing Silverado for the first time this week but has already proven to be a quick learner, racking up a T6 at the PLAYERS last year on his first visit to TPC Sawgrass, and a T2 finish in June of 2024 at Detroit Golf Club, another shorter Par 72 with Poa greens. With nice weather on tap, I’m more than fine with rolling with Lee to have less than 69.5 strokes in Round 1. He should be ready to go from the onset this week, given the longer layoff he had after missing the last two playoff events, and the fact he’s playing in the Presidents Cup in two weeks.
Corey Conners More Than 11.5 Pars
Conners is a quality player, whose elite ball-striking tends to give him a shot at high placements every time he enters an event. While he didn’t have the greatest end to the 2024 regular season, he still ranks 9th in Strokes Gained Total stats over the last 24 rounds and should be looking to put in a solid week with the Presidents Cup on the horizon. Conners isn’t the greatest putter, hence him only ranking 30th in birdie or better percentage (last 24 rounds), but since he hits so many greens and fairways, he also doesn’t tend to get in much trouble either and comes in ranked a solid 6th in bogey avoidance. Looking at ways to back him in Round 1, I like the idea of him going for more than his 11.5 Par total in his opening round. Even if he struggles with the putter, with four Par 5’s on the course he’s not likely to make a ton of bogies making 12 Pars a realistic benchmark for him to hit, barring some kind of birdie barrage on the tougher holes.
What is DraftKings Pick6?
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2 to 6 players and select whether or not you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
How to Play DraftKings Pick6
Create a Pick Set
Create a Pick Set by choosing between 2-6 players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
Enter an Amount
Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.
Sweat Your Picks
When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.
Compete for Prizes
Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.
Play at DraftKings Pick6 or by downloading the DraftKings Pick6 app on Apple or Google!
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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 skills 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.
