The PGA TOUR heads to La Quinta, California this week for The American Express. This is the beginning of course rotation season, as there will be a total of three courses in play this week. The Pete Dye Stadium Course is the one we should be focused on, as it will be played in two of the four rounds, including the final round. It measures as a a 7,210-yard par 72 with Poa overseeded greens.
The other two courses (La Quinta Country Club & Nicklaus Tournament Course) both play a bit easier than does the Stadium Course, and will each be played once over the first three rounds. In addition, there will be a 54-hole cut this week rather than a 36-hole cut.
The field is pretty strong for this event, with the likes of Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Sungjae Im all teeing it up.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Sam Burns ($9,800)
Burns absolutely loves PGA West and this event, as he’s finished T18 or better in five of his six starts here, including a pair of T6s. Last year, he was in prime position to win, but absolutely melted down over his final two holes, double-bogeying both 17 and 18.
Regardless, Burns has been playing some great golf for a lengthy period of time now. He’s posted nine top-14 finishes across his past 11 starts, dating back to the RBC Canadian Open last June. This includes a massive FedEx Cup Playoff run where he went T5 at the FedEx St. Jude and T2 at the BMW. It’s largely been his short game carrying him in this stretch, as he sits No. 2 in this field in SG: Putting and 18th in SG: Around-the-Green over his past 36 rounds.
Burns tends to always play well at ‘Burns’ courses, which include Colonial (win, T6), Innisbrook (two wins), and of course TPC Southwind (T5, T2). As mentioned above, his history at this event speaks for itself, and he’s in peak form as well after a T15 at The Sentry, where he gained three strokes from tee-to-green and 2.9 putting.
With Xander Schauffele withdrawing after pricing came out, getting Burns at just $9,800 in this field is pretty strong value.
Nico Echavarria ($7,900)
Echavarria continued his torrid stretch last week at the Sony, where he would ultimately lose in a playoff to Nick Taylor. It marked his second runner-up finish over his past three starts, as he also finished T2 at the RSM Classic behind Maverick McNealy. Burying the lede a bit here, but Echavarria picked up his second-career PGA TOUR victory this past fall at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, and it’s now clear the 30-year old has arrived.
Only Justin Thomas and Lucas Glover in this field have gained more total strokes over the past 16 rounds than the Columbian, while only Max Greyserman and Brandt Snedeker have gained more on the greens. His iron play has been rock solid as well, gaining 2.2 on approach at Waialae last week and eight at the ZOZO back in October.
Despite his recent play, DraftKings left Echavarria at just $7,900 this week, which is a clear misprice. This will be his third time playing the AMEX, and while he did miss the cut in his first trip, he finished T65 last year and is now coming into play riding the best form of his career. Either way, the man is dialed in right now and his salary is simply too nice to pass up.
Keith Mitchell ($7,400)
After three straight abhorrent performances to close out the fall swing, Mitchell got back on track in his season debut last week at the Sony, posting a T30 finish. He still didn’t hit his irons great, which unfortunately has been a theme of late, but he gained 3.98 off-the-tee and 1.64 on the greens, which was pretty encouraging.
He’s always found his way around PGA West, having finished T22 and T9 here over his past two starts. Prior to this recent bad stretch from Mitchell, he had finished posted two T12 finishes and a T3 at the Wyndham, Procore and Sanderson Farms Championships, respectively, over his previous three starts.
The fact that he shook off some rust last week at Waialae, combined with his strong course history at this Pete Dye setup means this $7,400 tag is also quite cheap for the visor-wearing Mitchell.
