The PGA TOUR and LPGA will be hosting the Grant Thornton Invitational this week at the Gold Course (par 72, 7,382 yards, Bermuda greens) of Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. This is the second edition of this tournament that features 16 teams of two, with each squad including one player from each the PGA TOUR and LPGA. Last year, Jason Day and Lydia Ko won the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational at 26-under.
This three-day event that will begin Friday features no cut and a different format each round. The Grant Thornton Invitational will begin with scramble format Friday, alternate shot Saturday and then conclude with a modified version of four-ball Sunday. For this specific four-ball setup, both players from every team will tee off and then those teammates will switch balls and finish the rest of the hole playing from their teammate’s second shot. Like traditional four-ball, whichever teammate finishes with the best score on each hole, that will be the score used for their team. For DFS purposes, every player will accrue the same amount of FPTS as their teammate.
The Gold Course at Tiburon was designed by Greg Norman and is an easy course, that is home to wide fairways, large greens, 50 bunkers and water in play on 13 holes. Per usual, targeting players who are in strong ball striking form is wise and also efficient par-5 scorers with the Gold Course being a standard par 72 that presents four par 5s. Last year’s Grant Thornton Invitational was the first time a PGA TOUR event has been held at the Gold Course, but this track has notably hosted the LPGA TOUR’s CME Group Tour Championship since 2103. The most recent edition of this event took place late last month and Jeeno Thitkul won, who is paired with Tom Kim this week.
Below, I have featured two of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the Grant Thornton Invitational that both cost less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $60K Sand Trap [$20K to 1st]
Nick Dunlap/Gabriela Ruffels ($7,400) – After a rough patch in the summer, Dunlap has regained his form, finishing T5th, T31st, T28th and T16th in his last four starts. Dunlap gained at least 4.9 strokes on approach at two of these tournaments and this stretch of golf has moved him up 10 spots in the world golf rankings to No.32. This makes Dunlap the fifth-highest ranked PGA TOUR player in the field, but this pairing of Dunlap and Ruffels is the 11th-most expensive team on DraftKings for the Grant Thornton Invitational.
Ruffels has finished T35th or better in three of her past four starts – including a T33 at the Gold Course for the CME Group Tour Championship last month – and she and Dunlap are one of the top values on the board at this affordable salary.
Matt Kuchar/Megan Khang ($7,000) – Khang finished fourth at this event with Denny McCarthy with as her partner last season, and she is poised for another high finish at the Gold Course with Kuchar as her teammate this week. Khang is coming off a T22 at the CME Group Tour Championship at the Gold Course last month, which marked her third top-25 finish in her last four starts and her fifth top-25 finish in her last six solo starts at Tiburon. Khang clearly loves competing at this par 72 and combing her expertise for this venue with Kuchar’s excellent form should translate into success for the duo.
When we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, no PGA TOUR player competing this week has gained more strokes from Tee-to-Green than Kuchar and he has produced five top-30 finishes in his last eight starts.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $60K Sand Trap [$20K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) 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.
