The PGA TOUR’s fall schedule rolls on, and as with any PGA TOUR event, comes the ability to play in DraftKings Pick6 contests, a single-user daily fantasy game where users choose players to go for more or less than the totals.
This week, the PGA is headed to Yokohama, Japan, for the Baycurrent Classic, where the players will be taking on Yokohama Country Club, a 7,300+ yards Par 71 venue with Bentgrass greens and tighter tree-lined fairways. This event has been played in Japan for over five years now, but this is the first time that Yokohama CC will be used in competition. The venue should play somewhat similar to other classic tree-lined venues we see on the PGA each season, such as Colonial Country Club.
I went over more stats and course dynamics in the Baycurrent Classic PGA Cheat Sheet and included some notes on the course below.
“There isn’t a whole lot of information about Yokohama out there, but like most Japanese golf courses, it is a bit quirky in design. The venue is a par 71 but will only feature two par 5s and just three par 3s. There are eight par 4s on the back nine alone, so Par 4 scoring is obviously something to weigh a little more this week. The venue does appear to be heavily tree-lined, but it isn’t as claustrophobic as some of the tight classic designs on the PGA like Colonial. That said, its layout does have similar features to Colonial, such as some tricky par 3s guarded by water and tight doglegs that require precision off the tee rather than power.”
This week is also a limited field event with 78 golfers taking part, and no Friday cut line. Something to keep in mind for Pick6 lineups.
Last week we hit all four of our Pick6 targets, so we’ll be looking to follow up with another strong week. For Pick6 play, my initial take on things this week is that scoring for Round 1 is likely to be very tough. There are higher winds expected and cooler temperatures. Even if the course plays easy, birdies will be hard to come by with 15-20mph winds. The rest of the week has better conditions but I’d be careful about being overly bullish on player totals and birdies for Round 1.
With that in mind, I’ve focused on a few of my favorite plays for Round 1 below.
Collin Morikawa More Than 68.5 Strokes
As mentioned above, the conditions for Round 1 don’t look ideal. Add in the fact that this is the first time players will be playing Yokohama in compeitition and you have a scenario where it makes sense to outright fade anyone with a total that looks abnormally low in the total strokes department. With this being said, I’m not necessarily bearish on Morikawa this week but with him being the only player this week with a total lower than 69.0, he’s an easy fade for me for Round 1.
The American had a horrible Ryder Cup and wasn’t playing all that great before BethPage either. He only managed a T43 in his first fall start of the year in Napa and hasn’t posted a top 10 on the PGA since June at the Rocket Mortgage. For Round 1, I like the Less Than on his 68.5 total, which would require him to shoot -3 or better, a very tall task given the conditions for anyone in this field.
Alex Noren More Than 11.5 Pars
Noren has some of the best recent form in the field this week. The Swede landed two wins on the European Tour over the fall and comes in with loads of confidence. While he’s excelled of late at lower scoring events on the PGA, he has one of the best short games on the PGA having gained strokes ATG in eight straight events, and has the sort of game that will help him survive the tougher conditions players will see at the start of the week.
I could see Noren lighting things up in the later rounds given how well he’s been striking his irons, but for Round 1, trusting him to grind out an even par sort of round makes sense as well. As of now, his Par total for Round 1 is just 11.5 and with the birdie chances likely to be slim on Thursday, his form should allow him to avoid lots of big mistakes and hit the more than on this total.
Si Woo Kim Less Than 69.5 strokes
I’ll take one chance on being bullish in Round 1 with a less than on Si Woo Kim, who only has a 69.5 Round 1 total and comes in playing some solid golf. The South Korean has gained well over 2.0 strokes on approach in each of his last two PGA starts and recently put up a T6 finish in England at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship. He’s also got plenty of experience playing in this part of the world, having finshed T6 at this event last season.
The venue is different this season for Kim, but he’s typically excelled at these tighter tree-lined courses and is also the kind of player who has excelled in tough conditions, having posted the biggest win of his career in windy conditions on fast greens at Sawgrass in 2017. I like him at this event in general and backing him for a fast start in Round 1 seems prudent.
What is DraftKings Pick6?
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether or not you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
How to Play
Create a Pick Set
Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
Enter an Amount
Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.
Sweat Your Picks
When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.
Compete for Prizes
Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.
