This week, the PGA TOUR is ready to roll for the sixth Signature Event on the schedule for the 2025 season. It has a new name due to a new sponsor, and for this year, it gets a new home at the Wissahickon Course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. Normally, this event takes place at the Quail Hollow Club, but since that course is hosting the PGA Championship next week, we get a fun new course to check out with a fully loaded field. If you’re looking to find some fantasy golf pivot plays who are low-ownership options to help you differentiate your lineup, my top three pivot plays this week are Viktor Hovland ($9,100), Andrew Novak ($7,800) and Garrick Higgo ($6,100). Each of those three players should have lower ownership but also the potential to outperform expectations at their price point.
To make sure we’re all aiming at the same green, a “fantasy golf pivot play” is a golfer with lower ownership but similar upside to more popular options available around the same DFS salary. Often, golfers with lower ownership bring extra risk factors, but they can be worth that added risk since their lower ownership improves your chance of finishing near the top of tournaments. Even though they’re NOT the safest plays in their price range, they have enough potential upside to be worth the sweat. 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 $750K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Viktor Hovland ($9,100)
The top players in this field are all getting lots of attention. I like Justin Thomas in my fantasy golf pivot plays from the very top tier, but since I covered him in cash games, I’m scrolling down a little bit to spotlight Hovland, who is getting very little attention this week. He’s a great pivot from Corey Conners ($8,800), Sepp Straka ($8,700), Patrick Cantlay ($9,500), and even Jordan Spieth ($9,200) who are each getting much more attention than the 27-year-old from Norway.
Hovland’s long-term form isn’t great, to be sure, but his most recent rounds are a huge reason for optimism. He won at the Valspar Championship and built on that momentum with a T-21 at Augusta National and a T-13 at Harbour Town. Both those events were star-studded fields like this week’s tournament, and when he’s at his best, he can definitely be right in the mix with the best in the world.
Hovland ranks fifth in the field in Total Strokes Gained over the last 12 rounds and third in Strokes Gained: Putting. If he can keep that going he has an extremely high ceiling for a player without much ownership attention coming into the week.
He has a high ceiling since this is his favorite putting surface as well. His best putting performances have typically come on bentgrass greens, including two of his last four PGA TOUR victories. If he can keep his flat stick rolling on the greens at Philadelphia Cricket Club, he could be right in the mix on Sunday.
Andrew Novak ($7,800)
Novak is another one of my fantasy golf pivot plays that makes sense based on his excellent recent form. Novak was on fire in April. He started the month with a T-3 at the Valero Texas Open, finished runner-up to Thomas at the last Signature Event at the RBC Heritage, and then won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans while teaming up with Ben Griffin ($7,200).
Novak has six top-10 finishes in his 14 events this season but has also missed the cut six times. This week, there is no cut to miss, so he’ll play all four rounds. Given how hot he has been lately, that could mean another low-scoring week for Novak.
Even though his win at TPC Louisiana doesn’t count toward his Strokes Gained numbers due to the team format, he has the third-most Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and the third-most Total Strokes Gained over his last 12 rounds.
His game still has some rough edges, but he’s proven he can go low and be in the mix, and in a no-cut event as a pivot play, he brings a high enough ceiling to be a strong option under $8,000.
Garrick Higgo ($6,100)
Without a cut, it’s a good week to really grip and rip it with an ultra-cheap flier play with a high ceiling but plenty of high risk. Higgo comes in with enough form to get my attention, even though much of his success has been on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Higgo qualified for this event by winning the Corales Puntacana Championship a few weeks ago. He went low in the first two rounds and battled tough conditions on the closing holes to close out a one-shot win over six players who tied for second.
The 25-year-old from South Africa actually won his first PGA TOUR event in 2021 at the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree and he had already claimed six international wins before that. He has only played three events on the PGA TOUR this season, making the cut in each of them and finishing T-12 at the Puerto Rico Open. Last fall, he also had top-20 finishes at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and the World Wide Technology Championship.
On the Korn Ferry Tour, Garrick Higgo has played four events, withdrawing from one and finishing T-26 and T-3 leading up to his win at Puntacana.
The lefty typically attacks courses a little differently than most with his unique ball flights and strong ball striking. With his salary this low, he allows a ton of salary cap flexibility and almost every player he finishes ahead of will be a worse value than he is.
He’s high-risk, but he has enough ceiling to be one of my top flier fantasy golf pivot plays this week.
