The PGA TOUR is back in the continental United States after a one-week stop in Hawaii. The American Express is typically a low-scoring event with a unique format that utilizes multiple courses and gives PGA TOUR pros a nice ramp up into the season. Without The Sentry in Hawaii this year, though, many of the big names (including Scottie Scheffler) are using this week as the perfect spot to make their 2026 debut. It should be a great week of fantasy golf from the California desert, and if you’re fired up to start 2026 by building your DFS fantasy golf bankroll, one option to consider is playing cash games or double-up contests on DraftKings. If that’s the format you’re looking to attack this week, my top fantasy golf cash game picks for The American Express are Ben Griffin ($10,200), Harry Hall ($9,300) and Mac Meissner ($6,900).
Make sure to also check out my top-three pivot plays for tournament lineups at The American Express if you’re looking for some less popular, under-the-radar picks. Pivot plays for tournament lineups are usually more aggressive, while fantasy golf cash game picks are safer with higher floors and lower risk. The picks in this post generally have higher ownership than my pivot plays, but they are good selections for contests where the uniqueness of your lineup is less important. Think of cash game picks as laying back and playing a par 5 as it was designed, taking three shots before reaching the green in search of a solid birdie. Tournament picks are like going driver off the deck to try to reach the green in two — more reward if it works, but much more risk as well.
These fantasy golf cash game picks are best used in “cash games,” which are contests that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double-Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR Single Entry $10 Double Up!
Ben Griffin ($10,200)
While Scottie Scheffler ($14,200) is the clear cream of the crop this week, for cash games, it’s important to have good balance and paying over $14K for Scheffler will make it very challenging to get the rest of your roster set unless you can pinpoint the best elite values. Building around Scottie leaves you only (gulp) $7,160 as an average for the rest of your roster. For GPP lineups, that makes a little sense, but for cash games, it drops the floor out of the bottom of your lineup.
Instead, building around an extremely steady Ben Griffin makes more sense and saves $4,000 in salary to spend in other spots.
Last week, Griffin picked up where he left off after a breakthrough 2025. He finished in the top 20 at the Sony Open in Hawaii after two very strong rounds and two rounds over par.
It was his first PGA TOUR action since winning the World Wide Technology Championship in November for his third win of the season. He finished with a dozen top-10 finishes in his 30 events, and the first of those came with a T-7 at The American Express, where he fired four rounds under 70.
In each of the last three years, Griffin has made the cut at this event, finishing T-32, T-9 and last year’s T-7.
He’s second in this strong field in Total Strokes Gained per round over the last 12 months while ranking No. 13 in Strokes Gained: Approach and No. 9 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. His sharp overall game, ability to go low in a hurry and consistent excellence make him a great place to start your fantasy golf cash game picks this week.
Harry Hall ($9,300)
Desert golf is a great fit for Harry Hall’s game, and the UNLV alumnus has made the cut in three of his four trips to this event, including a top-25 last season.
Hall cooled off a little in the fall, but he looked well-rested and ready to roll by posting four rounds under 70 and finishing T-6 in Hawaii to start 2026.
He’s typically one of the best putters on tour and he led the field at this event last year with 13 birdies or better when faced with an approach between 125-150 yards. He’s proven he can consistently go low and post finishes high on the leaderboard.
Last season, Hall made 22 cuts in 25 PGA TOUR events with an impressive 15 top-25 finishes. That kind of consistency is perfect to build cash game lineups around, and you can either partner him with Griffin before going cheap, or you can use him as the top player in a very balanced lineup approach this week. Hall has the potential to pick up a win if things go his way, and he’s a relatively “safe” play to make the cut and finish in a strong spot.
Mac Meissner ($6,900)
Meissner is surprisingly affordable this week under $7,000 and is getting lots of attention as a result. He’s probably over-saturated for tournament and GPP builds, but he brings lots of reliability based on his shot-making on this track.
Meissner was in my cash picks for last week as well, finishing T-40 in Hawaii as a nice value. He posted three sub-70 rounds at Waialae last week, with only a 74 in Round 2 keeping him from finishing even higher on the leaderboard.
He is coming off five top-25 finishes last season, which were enough to help him finish at No. 85 in the FedExCup Fall standings to retain his full-time PGA TOUR card.
The 26-year-old Meissner was runner-up at the Wyndham Championship and built on that result throughout the fall, finishing in the top 30 at each of his last four events, with a T-14 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and a T-18 at The RSM Classic.
He ranks in the top 10 in the field in Total Strokes Gained, Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach over the last 30 rounds and has made eight consecutive cuts. He’s a great cash game play at this salary and makes sense to include in many builds at The American Express.
