Bethpage Black (par 70, 7,352 yards, POA/Bentgrass greens) in Farmingdale, New York, is hosting the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup this week. Team USA will be looking to redeem themselves on their home soil, after Team Europe defeated Team USA in Rome at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Both teams consist of 12 golfers and this three-day match play event that begins Friday will feature four foursome matches and four four-ball matches on Friday and Saturday, and then on Sunday, there will be 12 single matches. Each match won is worth one point and each match tied is worth half a point, and the first team to 14.5 points will win and if the teams finish in a 14-14 tie, Team Europe will retain the Ryder Cup as the defending champs.
Players will play 1-5 matches each and which players will see the most matches is determined by the team’s captains, so rostering the golfers who compete in the most matches will be vital for winning in DFS. With this being a team event that only features 24 golfers, DFS on DraftKings this week is specific to the Showdown format. If not familiar with Showdown, each lineup for this format features six golfers, one of which being a captain, who will accrue 1.5x FPTS. The scoring format for the Ryder Cup is also different from a normal week of golf, as golfers will accrue points based on holes won, lost or halved.
Below, I have featured three of my favorite DraftKings targets for the Ryder Cup.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR Cup $400K Sand Trap ($100K to First)
Captains Pick:
Patrick Cantlay ($12,300)
While rostering Scottie Scheffler at captain is obviously a totally viable move this week, not paying all the way up for the world No. 1 at that spot and saving at captain allows you to have a ton of flexibility with your lineup, and will naturally make you contrarian, as Scheffler should be owned as a captain by a good chunk of the field. This brings me to Cantlay, who is way underpriced and an excellent target at Bethpage Black.
The last professional tournament that this difficult par 70 hosted was the 2019 PGA Championship and that week, Cantlay finished T-3. The 33-year-old now returns to Bethpage Black with two top-10 finishes in his last five starts, most notably with a runner-up finish at the TOUR Championship last month. Cantlay has gained strokes with his putter at four events in a row and he will be competing on Bentgrass/POA mixed greens at Bethpage Black this week, which is notable for Cantlay, as he has notoriously played his best golf on bentgrass throughout his career, as six of his eight PGA TOUR wins have come at venues with bentgrass putting surfaces.
Cantlay has also been great at match play tournaments during his career, with a 5-2-1 record at the Ryder Cup, a 13-6-2 singles match record and a 10-6-1 team matches record. Cantlay’s prowess for match play and Bethpage Black should result in him playing at least four matches and he should have a successful week as TEAM USA looks to bring the Ryder Cup home.
FLEX Targets:
Tommy Fleetwood ($8,800)
Fleetwood was terrific for Team Europe during the team’s win at the 2023 Ryder Cup, finishing 3-1-0 in his four matches played. The Englishman is 7-3-2 at the Ryder Cup overall and this time around, Fleetwood is playing the best golf of his career. The 34-year-old is on the heels of his breakthrough win at the TOUR Championship, which is just one of Fleetwood’s seven top-five finishes in 18 starts last season.
The elite ball-striker finished second only to Scheffler in total strokes gained and Fleetwood finished sixth in SG APP, which is a great sign for Bethpage Black. This course features small, tough-to-hit greens and each of the past two individual winners at Bethpage Black have finished the tournament top-six in SG APP.
Fleetwood leading Team Europe in points is very possible this week and he is a must-play.
Ben Griffin ($5,800)
Griffin lacks match play experience, with just a 1-2 record for both singles and team matches, but the 29-year-old is in outstanding form and absolutely could make some noise in his Ryder Cup debut this week. Griffin just finished runner-up to Scheffler at the Procore Championship a few weeks ago, marking his fifth straight top-12 finish. Griffin ranks ninth in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds and he was one of the best players on the PGA TOUR this past season, with two wins and two runner-up finishes.
One of these wins came at the team-based Zurich Classic in April and while this is a stroke play event and not match play, Griffin thriving with a teammate is obviously a great sign for his chances in the foursome and four-ball matches at the Ryder Cup this week, as he will be playing with a partner for these matches if selected.
Griffin playing in 3-4 matches is possible this week and he could effortlessly out-produce this low salary.
