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 $800K Drive the Green [$200K to 1st]
The Field
This is the final event of the 2025 PGA TOUR season. The field is only 30 golfers and is comprised of the top-30 players from the FedEx Cup point standings. For 2025, the PGA Tour has thrown out the confusing handicap format and simply made this a “best man wins” event.
All 30-players will be starting at even par for the week, and the lowest score will win the FedEx Cup and 10 million dollars. It should make things much more enjoyable from a viewing perspective, and from a DFS perspective, it simplifies things and makes this a much better event for fantasy, as it is now essentially a 30-man no-cut event.
Scottie Scheffler won again last week and enters as the number one seed. Rory McIlroy is second in odds but had a poor week at the BMW. Still, none of this matters as all players start at even par for 2025. Scheffler did win this event last season, but McIlroy has won at East Lake three times in his career.
Stay tuned to DKLive for any breaking field updates this week.
The Course
East Lake Golf Club—Atlanta, Georgia
Par 710, 7440 yards; Greens: Bermuda
East Lake Golf Club is a Donald Ross design that underwent extensive renovations before 2024.
The venue was lengthened in spots, and the par-4 14th was changed into a par 5 and lengthened considerably. The par-4 8th was turned into a drivable 4 (and shortened) while the par-3 9th hole, which was already a long shot over water, was lengthened and will play at 250+ yards.
The course had yielded winning scores in the -8 to -13 range for the most part over the last decade or so. In 2019, Rory McIlroy shot 13-under-par over four days to win—his final score was 18-under-par, starting at 5-under (under the new FedEx playing format). In 2020, Dustin Johnson won at 21-under-par but started the event at 10-under. So, he effectively shot 11-under for the week. In 2023, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele both shot 19-under-par and perhaps exposed some of East Lake’s weaknesses, which makes the changes for 2024 all the more timely. Last year, even with the changes to East Lake, Scottie Scheffler managed to shoot 20-under par (30-under if you include his 10-under starting handicap).
As a response to Scheffler’s domination, the PGA has now changed East Lake back into a very long Par 70 at 7440 yards, and changed the 14th back into a long Par 4 (530 yards). Expect this venue to play at least a little tougher on the scorecards this week as a result.
Driving accuracy at East Lake used to be about 10% lower than the PGA TOUR average, while the average driving distance for the week was also about 10% higher. I’d expect driver usage to remain fairly heavy, but with the fairways having been widened in spots, it may increase driving accuracy numbers and make aggression off the tee a more favorable strategy.
Additionally, as some of the greens have been modeled after their original design and made larger and more open, it seemed to place less emphasis on around the green play last season. Scottie Scheffler won despite losing strokes around the green and gained most of his strokes in the ball-striking department.
For statistical purposes, players with higher ball flights who can hold greens at a high rate (high GIR %’s) should benefit most from the changes although putting on these pure Bermuda greens has always been a big factor and again, anyone finding their range with the putter this week will certainly have a shot at making an impact.
Despite East Lake featuring traditional rough, bunkers, and water areas (that come into play on eight holes), I’d still make Pinehurst #2 as a somewhat comparable venue. Pinehurst is another Donald Ross-designed course that was renovated 10+ years ago to its original design, and made more open and inviting off the tee. The fairways and greens were opened up and players were given more room to manoeuver onto very tricky and firm greens. It’s not a one-for-one comparison, but the changes at East Lake sound very similar to what occurred at Pinehurst.
Additionally, when we look at Pinehurst’s leaderboard from the 2024 US Open (Rory McIlroy 2nd, Patrick Cantlay 3rd, Xander Schauffele 7th), we see three former East Lake winners. For stats, I’d emphasize great tee-to-green players first and foremost, but also give extra emphasis to any power players coming in with solid recent form off the tee. I expect we’ll see a firm, longer golf course that may not play quite as tough as a US Open setting, but may tend to benefit those who traditionally do their best work around those styles of courses.
2025 Weather Outlook: The weather this week may not play a huge role, and it may even help the players. The wind isn’t expected to be penal at all with no gusts above 10mph expected. Some rain early in the week may soften up the course, and Thursday afternoon and night has some rain in the forecast as well. Thunderstorms are possible on Friday and could also help soften the course, and may lead to a delay in Round 2. There is also some rain forecast for Saturday, which may make things a little more difficult for players, but could also help to soften the venue once again. Overall, the rain could lead to a stoppage or two, but it will likely help make the course receptive this week and may even help some of the poorer putters gain an advantage on the greens.
Last Five Winners
2025 – Scottie Scheffler -30 – started at 30-under-par (over Collin Morikawa -26)
2023 – Viktor Hovland -27 — started at 8-under-par (over Xander Schauffele -22)
2022 – Rory McIlroy -21 — started at 4-under-par (over Scottie Scheffler and Sungjae Im -20)
2021 – Patrick Cantlay -21 — started at 10-under-par (over Jon Rahm -20)
2020 – Dustin Johnson -21 — started at 10-under-par (over Justin Thomas -18)
Winning Trends
- Three of the last five winners of the Tour Championship won one of the previous two playoff events
- All five of the last five Tour Championship winners finished T8 or better in AT LEAST one of the previous two playoff events
- Four of the last five Tour Championship winners finished T4 or better in at least one of teh previous two playoff events
Winners Stats and Course Overview
2024: Scottie Scheffler (30-under — started at 10-under for the week)
SG: OTT 3.4
SG: APP 4.0
SG: TTG 6.4
SG: ATG -1.1
SG: PUTT 4.4
- Hovland and Scheffler’s exemplary ball striking from 2023 and 204 gives us a good clue as to what is needed for success around East Lake, which features lots of difficult approaches and even harder to hit greens in 2024
- The last five winners of this event have now all gained 2.0 strokes or more OTT, and the last two winners have gained over 4.0 stroeks on approach.
- Scrambling around these tricky green complexes is tough as the field averaged about a 2-3% lower up-and-down rate than the PGA TOUR average. However, Scheffler did lose stroeks around the greens last season and Hovland only gained 1.1 strokes ATG in 2023.
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.
JJ Spaun +2500 and $8,100
Comparables:
- Russell Henley +2600 and $9,600
- Collin Morikawa +2800 and $8,300
- Sam Burns +2800 and $8,500
odds by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
Horses for Courses
1. Rory McIlroy ($11,300; best finishes: win-2016, 2019, 2022): McIlroy has now won this event three times, coming back from a five-stroke starting deficit in 2019 and a six-stroke deficit in 2022. He’s also landed two other finishes of T7 and T2 at East Lake since 2014. McIlroy enters as the number two seed but didn’t play the first playoff event and could only manage a T12 last week at the BMW.
2. Patrick Cantlay ($8,700; best finishes: win-2021, T5-2023): Cantlay won this event with a great effort here in tough conditions back in 2021 and finished T5 in 2023. He’s done well in the playoffs during his career, but will need to rebound from a poor effort at Caves Valley last week, where he finished T30 and lost multiple strokes on approach.
3. Justin Thomas ($9,100; best finishes: T3-2019, 2nd-2017): Thomas has come close to winning at East Lake on multiple occasions. He finished T2 back in 2017 before the event switched to a handicap start and has finished inside the top seven at this event in seven of his nine career appearances. Like Schauffele, Thomas has not played well in the playoffs yet, but his experience suggests this week may be a good time to be bullish on him for DFS purposes.
Recent Form
1. Scottie Scheffler ($13,900; T5-T2-win): Scheffler picked up his fifth win of the season last week, gaining over 5.3 strokes OTT and on Approach. He might be hitting the ball as good as he ever has and will be coming to an East Lake venue where he gained over 4.0 strokes putting last season. Fade at your own risk.
2. Tommy Fleetwood ($9,900; T2-T6): Fleetwood is no Scheffler, but he continues to showcase elite ball-striking. He’s gained over 4.5 strokes on approach in the first two playoff events and has also gained over 3.5 strokes putting in two straight starts. If anyone can take down Scheffler, it might actually be Tommy Lad, who looks primed for a run at the title this week.
3. Cameron Young ($7,900; 2nd-T10-T18): After winning at the Wyndham, Young has now finished T11 and T5 in the first two playoff events. His ball-striking regressed a bit last week, but he continues to putt well. Fatigue could be a factor, as this will be his fourth week in a row playing.
DraftKings DFS Strategy
Cash Games: Scheffler, Griffin, nice starting duo
There is little reason to fade Scheffler ($13,900) in core or cash game lineups this week with a no-cut event and plenty of solid names under 8k this week. Ben Griffin ($7,700) is one of the main names that stick out to me under the 8k range that feels like a great player to stack with Scheffler. The American is having a career season and has posted top 15 finishes in each of his first two playoff events. It will be his first time around East Lake, but he’s gaining on approach and has a good history of putting well on Bermuda. Below Griffin, Harry Hall (see below), and Justin Rose ($6,800) also stick out as potential values to build around.
Tournaments: Cantlay could shock
Scheffler does feel like a bit of an inevitability this week, but with 10 million dollars up for grabs, a veteran like Patrick Cantlay ($8,700) could be motivated to strike for a big payday. While he didn’t have a great BMW Championship, he was T9 in Memphis and gained over 6.0 strokes on approach for the week there. With a win at East Lake, he makes for a viable GPP target this week in lineups with or without Scheffler. Further down, Chris Gotterup ($6,600) is another name with plenty of upside that I wouldn’t mind gambling a bit on. He showcased big confidence in his win in Scotland vs McIlroy and is a great off the tee player who should put himself in good positions on this challenging and long course.
MY PICK: Tommy Fleetwood ($9,900)
Winning your first PGA event at a season-ending championship with 10 million to the winner does sound like fairy tale stuff, but Fleetwood is trending towards a big result. He’s been in contention at each of the first two playoff events and, outside of Scheffler, is hitting his irons as well as anyone on Tour at the moment.
In terms of experience, Fleetwood has now played East Lake four times, which certainly counts for something. He had a disappointing start last season (T20) but was T6 here back in 2023 and has gained strokes putting at this venue each of the past two seasons. From an experience standpoint, Fleetwood has actually had solid success on the European Tour in these short-field, season-ending events, landing wins at the Nedbank Challenge playoff events in 2019 and 2022.
For DFS, Scheffler/Fleetwood lineups will likely be very unique, given they leave you with just 6,600 average salary for your last four golfers. For betting, his +1400 outright number isn’t huge, but given the trends at this event, he does set up as one of about five or six players who seem to have a legitimate shot this week.
MY SLEEPER: Harry Hall ($7,000)
Hall is having an excellent season. He comes into this week having finished top 30 in nine straight PGA starts and has already had an excellent playoffs, landing a T6 last week at Caves Valley and a T22 in Memphis. The Englishman will be playing East Lake for the first time this week in competition, but his ball-striking has been consistent of late, and he’s one of the best short game/putting specialists on the PGA right now, as he showed again last week when he gained 3.2 ATG and 51 strokes putting.
At $7,000, the only risk is that his lack of experience causes a sudden drop on the greens, but as mentioned, his ball-striking has been carrying him a bit of late and should help put him in some good positions on this longer course. I’d feel good about using him in larger field DFS GPPs given his putting upside, and for betting, he’s certainly a name to think about for top 10 bets at +210 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Drive the Green [$200K to 1st]
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