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 $500K Sand Trap [$100K to 1st]
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 fifth 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 eighth 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 (four-ball) 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 Shaen Lowry/Rory McIlroy who are in the field as a team again this season and the overwhelming favorites. While many top players have chosen to take the week off, we still have a few other elite teams in the field like Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama and Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre.
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 the stroke-play years.
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, Nick Taylor, Kevin Kisner, Cameron Smith, and Jonas Blixt — have dominated the leaderboard at this event since it became a team event.
2025 Weather Outlook: The weather this time of year in Louisiana can often be hit or miss, as thunderstorms are common. This year, it looks like the course will get its fair share of wet weather early in the week, which should make the venue play soft and likely lead to some very low scores. Rain is in the forecast Monday to Thursday, but the good news is that the thunderstorms seem to be done by Wednesday, and the chance of precipitation is lower on Thursday, which means there may be no stoppages. The last three days of the event look quite nice, so the players should be able to go target hunting on Friday and Saturday. Winds on Friday pick up a touch in the afternoon, so it may be beneficial to be on the early starters for Day 2. This event does have different starting waves, so stacking a batch of tee times in classic format GPPs on DraftKings can be advantageous, especially with the weather being so volatile.
Last Five winners
2024–Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy -25 (over Martin Trainer/Chad Ramey -25 playoff)
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)
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.
Jesper Svennson/Niklas Norgaard Moller +3500 and $8,500
Comparables:
- Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin ($8,600)
- Akshay Bhatia/Carson Young +3500 and $8,900
Max McGreevy/Sam Stevens +4500 and $7,800
Comparables:
- Jhonattan Vegas/Kevin Yu +4500 ($7,900)
- Matthew Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick +4500 ($8,100)
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin ($8,600): The Canadians have a great record at this event. They finished 2nd in 2023, shooting a course record 63 in the final round of alternate shot format, and were T10 again last season.
2. Davis Riley/Nick Hardy ($7,200): Hardy and Riley are playing together for the third year in a row. They won this event with a fantastic final round of 65 in alternate shot format back in 2023.
3. Alex Fitzpatrick/Matthew Fitzpatrick ($8,100): The Fitzpatrick brothers have been playing together for a while now at this event as older brother Matthew Fitzpatrick attempts to get his younger brother a PGA TOUR win. They finished T11 here last season and T19 in 2023.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st]
Recent Form
1. Rory McIlroy ($12,400): McIlroy is the best golfer in the world at the moment. He leads this field in strokes gained total stats and BoB%. He’s coming off a historic fifth major win and is the defending champion of this event (w’ Shane Lowry). Look for more high-level golf this week from the Northern Irishman
2. Tom Hoge ($9,400): Hoge has been on a nice run of late. The American is 7th in SG: Approach stats over the last 24 rounds and has finished top 20 in four straight events, including the Masters.
3. Andrew Novak ($9,700): Novak had a heartbreaking playoff loss last week at the RBC, after missing an eight-footer to win in regulation. He’s gained over 3.0 strokes on approach in each of his last two starts and has a solid partner in Ben Griffin this week.
4. Ryo Hisatsune ($7,000): Histatune posted another top 20 finish last week at the RBC. The Japanese pro has gained on approach in each of his last four starts and finished top 5 at Valero and Valspar.
5. Ryan Gerard ($7,500): Gerard comes in having made five cuts in a row. Just two starts ago, he finished runner-up at the Valero, after a blazing final round, and a week where he gained over 7.0 strokes putting. He’s paired with Danny Walker this week, who had a solid start at the PLAYERS last month.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Taylor/Hadwin reliable mid-tier value
At just $8,600, the team of Hadwin and Taylor looks like a nice mid-price value. While Hadwin’s play has been mostly erratic this season, he’s often come alive in these lower-scoring events, especially when they are held at a Pete Dye venue. They’ve finished T10 and 2nd here the past two seasons, and their history alone makes them an attractive team to build around. Further down, you also have to like the price on Doug Ghim/Cham Kim ($7,800), a duo with solid recent form who also finished T28 as a pair here last season. Kim had a disappointing Sunday at Corales but has played well of late, gaining over 4.0 strokes on approach in Houston and San Antonio. Other teams to consider for this format include the Fitzpatrick brothers at $8,100 and Hossler/Putnam ($7,500).
Tournaments: Van Rooyen/Bezuidenhout boom or bust target
The South African duo ($7,700) come in with poor form this week, but both men have the ability to go low in this sort of format. Bezuidenhout managed a 65 in the final round of the RBC, and van Rooyen shot some low rounds here in 2023 with a different partner. Country pairings have often gone well at this event, so it would not be overly shocking to see these two excel. They’re very boom or bust but should be very low-owned across most GPPs. Further down, the duo of Sami Valimaki and Ben Silverman ($6,900) has upside, especially with Valimaki’s solid play this season. If you want to get really extreme, and are looking for a stars and scrubs build, the pair of David Lipsky and Dylan Wu ($6,300) is near the min in price, and both coming off made cuts in Corales (Wu finished T12). We have seen a lot of darkhorse teams ride recent momentum to big weeks at Zurich so while they carry a lot of risk, there is some upside lurking with these two in GPPs.
MY PICK: Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre ($10,300)
I like the setup for this high-end European Team this weekend. Both men were non-competitive at the Masters and RBC but should come into this week looking to build some momentum for the PGA in May. Detry already has a win on the season, while MacIntyre had a great Florida swing and won twice on the PGA last season.
Neither man should feel a ton of pressure to “get it done” this week, as they both have secured PGA spots for multiple seasons, but certainly recognize the opportunity given this weaker field. Last year, they finished T8, while shooting rounds of 62 and 64 in the best ball format, and would likely love to go after and defeat the top-seeded team of McIlroy/Lowry here for some Ryder Cup clout when it comes back to selection time for 2026. For what it’s worth, this has been a good spot for Detry, who also finished T13 here in 2023 with another European partner in Victor Perez.
I ike using them as a top team to build around (if fading the favorites) and also like the +1800 odds we’re getting on them in the outright market on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
MY SLEEPER: Bud Cauley/Kevin Tway ($7,300)
Last season, we saw several teams landing top finishers that consisted of one in-form Tour veteran and one random “wildcard” partner. Chad Ramey/Martin Trainer (playoff loss), Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox, Sam Stevens/Paul Barjon, and Patrick Fishburn/Zac Blair were all teams that landed top 10 finishes here last season, a result I think the team of Cauley and Kevin Tway can potentially replicate.
Cauley remains in outstanding form, despite taking a step back last week at the RBC Heritage. He’s 8th in SG: APP stats and 4th in SG: Total stats over the last 24 rounds, and still managed to gain over a stroke on approach at Harbour Town despite finishing T32. He’s also familiar with this course, having finished T14 here in 2014 (when it was a regular stroke play event) and has had great results at other Pete Dye setups like TPC Stadium, where he’s finished Top 10 on multiple occasions.
Tway is struggling, but he’s a veteran of this event who has posted some big finishes at TPC Louisiana (T3 in 2017/Kraft) and gets a massive partner upgrade this season with Cauley. He’s also a former PGA winner who has power off the tee and lots of upside to his short game.
On top of being a tournament target for big field GPPs in DFS, they also make for a solid ladder betting target on the DraftKings Sportsbook where they’re as big as +550 for a top 10 this week.
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.
