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.
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The Field
This year will mark the seventh running of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. The field for this fall series event features 130-135 players and features names like Sahith Theegala, Patrick Rodgers, and Thorbjørn Olesen.
As of writing, Rico Hoey is the betting favorite on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +1800. He’s joined by Kevin Yu as the second favorite at +2000.
Four of the last six winners of this event — Brendon Todd, Camilo Villegas, Rafael Campos, and Brian Gay — all went off at 100-1 or greater in the betting odds, so long-shot winners have been the theme here. 2021 winner Lucas Herbert also went off around 66-1.
The event features a regular cutline after Friday, where only the top 65 players and ties will advance to the weekend.
The Course
Port Royal GC—Southampton, Bermuda
Par 71, 6,828 yards
This is the seventh year in a row that this event will be played at Port Royal GC, a shorter Robert Trent Jones-designed course. At one time, the venue did host the now-defunct “Grand Slam of Golf” and underwent massive renovations just to be able to properly host this event before its inaugural running in 2019. The Oceanside Course is the longest on the admittedly tiny island, but still only stretches out to just over 6,800 yards, making it extremely short by PGA TOUR standards.
The venue fits alongside many of the other seaside venues that we see on the PGA TOUR, as it has at least six holes that stretch out and run alongside the ocean. While pure length isn’t necessarily a big bonus here, wind control will be. Three par 5s inhabit the course this week and will all be reachable in two by nearly the entire field. These holes, as a group, played as the three easiest on the course the first three years, and they will be near must birdies on a week where low scoring will likely prevail.
With short par 5s and an open course where wind can wreak havoc, you can start to see why shorter hitters like Brendon Todd (win) and Brian Gay (T3; win) have been able to dominate when their short games and putters get hot. Most holes at Port Royal will allow all modern-day PGA TOUR pros to have short approaches if they hit a decent drive, so position and short-iron play weighs far more here than distance—especially with many holes skirting the water where even a small error off the tee can court disaster.
In many ways, just knowing how to manage your way around a short course like this will be a huge advantage, and that’s the strength of many veteran PGA TOUR players.
Brian Gay was an unlikely winner at Port Royal in 2020 and averaged just 287 yards off the tee in the win, but he ranked 10th in Putts per GIR and 17th in GIR percentage. In 2021, Lucas Herbert ranked seventh in driving distance but was also fourth in scrambling. 2022 winner Seamus Power was also 9th in GIR% and 3rd in putts per GIR. Solid putting or around the green play, with some decent ball-striking mixed in, has been the key at Port Royal.
It’s also worth noting that Gay and 2019 winner Brendon Todd have done the best work of their career at other shorter venues like Waialae (Sony Open), Hilton Head (RBC Heritage), and El Camaleon (former host of the Mayakoba Classic in December). So those will be good correlation venues to look to when comparing venues.
Those leaderboards (and courses) are all likely great comparisons for this week’s test.
2025 Weather Update: The wind is always a factor when you play on a small, unprotected island like Bermuda. After this event saw some easier conditions and low scores in 2023, we did see tougher conditions last season, and it looks like we’ll be getting a fair share of wind again in 2025. The first day has gusts of 20+ mph all day, with the wind slightly dying down in the PM. The second day has constant winds, but they will be less severe (15+ mph). As of now, the Thursday PM / Friday AM wave may have a shot at getting slightly less severe conditions, especially if the wind starts to die down early on Thursday. Saturday and Sunday both have winds of 20+ mph for most of the day, so expect short games to be tested. Last season saw a lot of veteran coastal players with good short games prosper in similar conditions.
Last 5 winners
2024—Rafael Campos -19 (over Andrew Novak -16)
2023—Camilo Villegas -24 (over Alex Noren -22)
2022—Seamus Power -19 (over Thomas Detry -18)
2021—Lucas Herbert -15 (over Patrick Reed, Danny Lee -14)
2020—Brian Gay -15 (over Wyndham Clark playoff)
Winning Trends
- When Todd won in 2019, he was making his sixth start of the swing season already, and it’s worth noting that five of the top-6 finishers from 2019 had all played in four or more fall series events prior to that event.
- Even Rafael Campos in 2025, who came in on a four-event missed cut streak, had played in five fall series events.
- Both Todd and Gay ranked inside the top 10 in Driving Accuracy and GIR% for the week. Neither cracked the top 40 in terms of driving distance.
- Good short-iron play, good around-the-green play, and putting are what matter here the most, so emphasizing a player’s long-term and short-term around-the-green and putting form may reveal a couple of diamonds in the rough this week.
- In 2021, Herbert was seventh in driving distance but still only averaged around 285 yards off the tee. It’s not a course where players will get to hit drivers often.
- Power won in 2022 with some solid iron play (top 10 in GIR%) but mainly a hot putter, where he ranked third in Putts per GIR.
- In 2023, Villegas was coming in off a T2 finish in Mexico. He ranked just 74th in driving distance but was first in GIR% and also T16 in Scrambling (and 11th in Putts per GIR).
Finding Values on 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.
Vince Whaley +3500 and $9,000
Comparables:
Sahith Theegala +4000 and $8,000
Comparables:
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
Recent Form
1. Thorbjorn Olesen ($10,100, Recent finishes: T14-T3-T9): Olesen continues to pile up big finishes over the fall swing. The Dane is hitting the ball superbly and feels like he just needs his putter to get hot at one of these easy courses to book his first PGA win.
2. Sami Valimaki ($8,200, Recent finishes: T2-T72): Despite some hiccups this fall, Valimaki has now booked two runner-up finishes over five fall starts. His last one came in Mexico last week where he shared the first round lead with a 61. The Finn may not benefit from the windy conditions this week given his lackluster short game.
3. Jackson Suber ($9,300, Recent finishes: T11-T15): Suber managed a final round 63 last week to move into a top 12 spot. The American has closed well in each of his last two starts, having also finished T15 in Utah.
4. Eric Cole ($8,400, Recent finishes: T10-T48-T9): Cole is gaining big on approach and managed his second top 10 finish in three starts last week in Mexico. The American does struggle off the tee but this week’s shorter setup should be right up his alley as he won’t have to hit as many drivers as usual.
5. Francesco Molinari ($6,500, Recent finishes: T27-T42): Don’t look now but the Italian and former Open Championship winner may be making a bit of a comeback. Molinari has made two cuts in a row and also had some strong stretches in Mexico. At this week’s short coastal setup, his sort of precision on and around the greens could lead to some decent returns for DFS.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Big Field Tournaments: Perez could lift tides
Given the wind factor and a whole lot of other variables, I do like this week as a spot for Frenchman Victor Perez to excel. The field doesn’t have a whole lot of proven talent at the top so right off the hop, Perez with his three European Tour wins should be someone who will feel comfortable competing against anyone down the stretch on Sunday. He’s got solid form, having made three cuts in a row (T21 last week) and has played and won in windy environments before, including the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which is played on a rotation of links venues in Scotland. On the PGA, he’s also done his best work outside the USA having posted T3 finishes at both Puerto Rico (2024; another coastal venue) and in Canada (2024 RBC Canadian Open). At $8,100, he’s the sort of veteran winner that should excel in the conditions and field we have on tap for the week. Further down, veteran names like Andrew Putnam ($7,100) and David Lipsky ($6,900) also stand out. Putnam opened with a 64 last week, while Lipsky has been solid most of the fall and finished T9 at this venue last season.
MY PICK: Alex Smalley ($9,000)
Smalley took last week off, but, overall, this will be his fifth fall start of the season. While he’s coming off a missed cut in Utah, this week’s shorter course should be a much better spot for him to excel. Smalley’s got an excellent short game and gained over 3.7 strokes ATG in Japan, where he finished T4 just two starts ago. He’s also posted top five finishes at two other coastal courses in Corales and Sea Island, and has finished inside the top 12 in Bermuda in two of his four starts at Port Royal.
While there are other top pros here coming in with better recent form, Smalley’s exactly the sort of player I expect to benefit from the heavy winds and could also see a boost from not having to trek it into Bermuda from Cabo in Mexico, given that he took last week off. I see him as a great core play for this week, which lacks big favorites and elite names, and also a solid value in the outright market where he’s currently +3500 on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
MY SLEEPER: Hayden Buckley ($6,300)
Buckley fits the bill of the sort of wind specialist I want to back this week. He’s had all of his best results at shorter coastal courses similar to Port Royal, including a 2nd place finish at Waialae CC in Hawaii back in 2023. Buckley has also excelled at other tighter venues like Hilton Head, where he finished T5 in 2023 and Colonial where he also finished T5 back in 2024.
The 29-year-old has struggled much of the season but is starting to find some form in the fall. He comes in on a three event made cut streak that has seen him gain strokes on approach in all three events. While he’ll need the putter to continue heating up, he did show improvement in that area last week (T29 in Putts per GIR) and is the sort of solid ball-striker that may benefit from slightly tougher conditions if the wind is up. Whatever the case, with his form starting to simmer a little and his solid track record at more technical venues, he’s the sort of longshot target I would want to mix into larger player GPP pools this week for DFS.
Given how many longshot winners we’ve seen at this event over the years, I’d also have no problem with a small outright wager at +30000, and would also look to him as a potential top 10 and ties (+1400) target on the DraftKings Sportsbook as well.
