The PGA TOUR is wrapping up a two-week stop in Texas with a stop in San Antonio for the historic Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. If you’re looking to get your fantasy golf game tuned up ahead of next week’s first major championship of the season, DraftKings has some big GPP tournaments available this week. As you build your tournament lineups, my top three fantasy golf pivot plays this week: Ludvig Aberg ($10,800), Rico Hoey ($7,600) and Sami Valimaki ($7,100). Each of those players should have lower ownership but also the ability to outperform expectations at their price point.
To make sure we define all understand the kind of picks we’re going for in this post, a “pivot play” is a golfer with lower ownership but similar upside to more popular options available near the same DFS salary. Sometimes, the golfer with lower ownership brings extra risk factors, but to make your lineup stand out in tournament formats, it’s worth the extra risk for the lower ownership and higher ceiling. Players with lower ownership increase the chance of your entry finishing higher on the leaderboard. These pivot plays tend to be “boom-or-bust,” bringing high risk and high reward. Even though they’re NOT the safest plays in the price range, they have enough potential upside to be worth the risk. Be sure to check out my picks for cash lineups if you’re looking for safer options that raise the floor of your lineup.
Let’s break down why I like each of my top-three pivot plays this week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st]
Ludvig Aberg ($10,800)
Normally, the most expensive players in the pool aren’t ones I highlight in my fantasy golf pivot plays because their ownership is way too high, but that doesn’t look like it will be the cast this week, since the public seems to view Aberg as overpriced at almost $11K. This creates a good pay-up spot for leverage, though, if Aberg is on his game in the final run-up to Augusta.
With this pick, I’m buying the long-term class of Aberg over his recent results. He only has played six tournaments this season and just two since winning The Genesis Invitational at the end of the West Coast swing. While he finished T22 at Bay Hill, he missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass, leaving him with just his one top-20 finish over his last five events. Wth that “shaky” recent form, there’s risk in playing Aberg this week, but as a pivot play, his upside is too good to pass up.
Aberg has done well at Signature Events this season with three top-25 finishes, and he has a good history at this course, where he finished T14 last year. He has the shortest odds in the field to win this week and to finish in the top 10.
With two-time Texas Open champion Corey Conners ($10,100), defending champ Akshay Bhatia ($9,300) and Patrick Cantley ($10,200) all getting plenty of attention and ownership this week, Aberg actually becomes a pivot play even though he clearly has what it takes to win if he’s at the top of his game. If he’s at his best, no one in the field can match him.
Rico Hoey ($7,600)
Hoey also stands out as a great pivot play this week and is my favorite GPP option under $8,000. Options like Bud Cauley ($8,300), Maverick McNealy ($8,100), and Alex Smalley ($7,300) are getting much more attention than Hoey, even though the 29-year-old has a great ceiling this week.
Over the last 24 rounds, Hoey leads the entire field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Ballstriking and ranks 21st in Strokes Gained: Approach.
He comes to San Antonio after posting his best finish of the season with a T11 in Houston, where he opened with a 70 but then turned in three rounds under 70. Last year, Hoey finished T14 in San Antonio and then caught fire in the second half of the season, making the cut in 13 straight events and with nine finishes in the top 30 from the middle of June through the end of the year.
After a quiet start to 2025, Hoey has four top-35 finishes in five events, so he comes back to San Antonio with good momentum and form but is still mostly under the radar.
Sami Valimaki ($7,100)
While there are plenty of great pivot options under $7,500, Valimaki brings a good balance with both a high ceiling and a high floor. Justin Rose ($7,300), Victor Perez ($7,100), Max McGreevy, and Danny Walker ($6,500) are getting most of the eyeballs in this range, but Valimaki has enough momentum to be one of my fantasy golf pivot plays this week.
Valimaki finished last week in Houston with the low round of the day on Sunday with an eagle and six birdies. He led the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach and GIR% last week and finished in fourth place.
He isn’t just a one-round wonder, though, since he has been in good form most of 2025. He ranks third in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach over his last 24 rounds. and has made the cut in five straight tournaments. He also had a T15 back tat the Famers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
The 26-year-old from Finland is third in the Aon Swing 5 standings, which could earn him a ticket to the next Signature Event at the RBC Heritage with another strong finish this week. He’ll be making his debut on this track, but he has a great ceiling as one of my top fantasy golf pivot plays this week
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]!
