As we sit just a little over two weeks away from the PGA Championship, the PGA TOUR heads back to Texas for THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. TPC Craig Ranch will be the host course and measures as a 7,569-yard par 71 with Bentgrass greens.
We are back to a standard full-field, 156 man tournament this week, with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leading the way at the top. After Scheffler, the field falls off in a hurry, most likely due to next week being a Signature Event.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Sam Burns ($9,800)
It’s been an incredibly disappointing season thus far for Burns, who has missed three of his past five cuts, while posting only one top-10 finish on the year. However, there are signs he might be coming out of this funk, as he finished T13 at the RBC Heritage in his last start, which was his best finish since his T8 at the Sentry back in January.
Burns gained .52 strokes from tee-to-green for the week at Harbour Town, which was shockingly his first time gaining in that department since the Genesis Invitational over two months ago. Maybe most encouraging was that he found his groove off-the-tee, where he gained 2.97 strokes for the week at Harbour Town. When Burns is clicking, he’s dominating both with the driver and the putter.
His putter has been strong all season — ranking third in SG: Putting in this field over his past 36 rounds — so if he’s truly found his long game, it bodes well for his chances this week at TPC Craig Ranch.
Burns has played this event twice before in his career, where he posted both a missed cut and a runner-up finish (2021). Despite his struggles, Burns has remained an elite scorer, ranking 19th on the PGA TOUR in BOB% this year, as well as ninth in this field.
We know to win at this course you need to pile up the birdies, and after Burns’ positive showing in Hilton Head, he should be in great shape to contend this week in what looks like a very below average field behind Scottie Scheffler. He’s my favorite play in the $9k range.
Eric Cole ($8,100)
Cole, like Burns, was also in the midst of a very down season up until recently. Through his first 10 starts of 2025, he had missed the cut four times, while posting finishes of T50 or worse in four of his other six.
However, Cole has clearly found something of late, because since his missed cut at THE PLAYERS, he’s posted four consecutive top-26 finishes (excluding the Zurich Classic), including a pair of top-15s at the Valspar and Houston Open. During this stretch, Cole ranks 12th in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green, 10th in SG: Approach and fourth in Total Strokes Gained. He even gained strokes off-the-tee at Harbour Town for the first time in five starts.
In his lone trip to TPC Craig Ranch in 2023, Cole posted a T23 finish and gained 7.72 strokes from tee-to-green. He simply couldn’t make a putt that week, which can be considered a massive outlier because Bentgrass is his best putting surface.
At just $8,100 in a weak field, I fully expect Cole to continue his run of good play and easily pay off this price tag.
Henrik Norlander ($7,100)
Most people are probably unaware, but Norlander his having a very strong 2025 season. He’s posted four top-18 finishes across his past eight starts and actually ranks No. 1 in this field in SG: Approach over his past 36 rounds. Unfortunately, the rest of his game has not caught up with his irons, so he has missed his fair share of cuts. However, at a course with wide fairways and easy scoring conditions like he’ll see this week, his approach play will be paramount.
In his three career starts at this event, the big Swede has a pair of made cuts, including a T34 finish back in 2023. Obviously that’s nothing to write home about, but the fact he’s seen the course multiples, while showing some modicum of success only bodes well for his chances this week.
With the way he’s striping his irons right now, you can do far worse than Norlander at $7,100.