The PGA TOUR reaches one of the most important tournaments of the season this week, as it visits TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship. While it isn’t a Signature Event or a major, it is a huge purse, a great field, and an iconic course, which should set everyone up for a great week of fantasy golf. If you’re planning to tee it up for any of this week’s GPP contests on DraftKings, check out these top three fantasy golf picks for THE PLAYERS Championship. This week, I’m taking Shane Lowry ($8,600), Jake Knapp ($7,400) and Ryan Fox ($6,500) as my three top GPP plays, who I think come in with lower ownership but have a strong chance to step up and exceed salary-based expectations as strong pivot plays.
Let’s be sure to define what we’re searching for in this post to be sure we’re all aiming at the same flagstick. A fantasy golf pivot play is a golfer with low expected ownership in tournament formats but high upside. Typically, these selections come with more risk compared to popular options with similar salaries. To differentiate your lineup for tournament play, it’s worth considering these plays even though they are NOT the safest options. These are “grip it and rip it,” boom-or-bust style options that could go off or could flame out. Getting players at low ownership is critical for success in GPP tournament-style events with many entries, so making yours stand out is critical. Be sure to check out my companion post to this one that highlights my picks for cash lineups if you’re looking for safer options that raise the overall floor of your lineup.
Let’s break down why I like each of my top three pivot plays this week!
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $2.25M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st, Eagle Throne Eligible].
Shane Lowry ($8,600)
You could make a strong case that Scottie Scheffler ($14,200) and Rory McIlroy ($11,700) are both pivot plays this week since the public is hesitant to back them after their recent form and injury issues. While both of them could offer some leverage, let’s look lower in the salary structure for an option to pair with whatever star you choose to build around. In the $8,000s, Ludvig Aberg ($8,700) and Cameron Young ($8,100) are getting lots of attention, while Lowry is flying under the radar because he’s higher risk–making him a great GPP pivot play.
He had a strong start to the season and has a game that seems to fit TPC Sawgrass very well. Two weeks ago, though, he imploded down the stretch at PGA National, giving away a tournament that means a lot to him. Last week, he was still a little shaken and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He could still be reeling from that loss and struggle again this week, which is why his ownership is extremely low. If he can right the ship and get back on track, though, he could be right in the mix on Sunday.
Lowry has shown impressive resilience in the past and came into that event two weeks ago on a nice roll. He helped secure the Ryder Cup and then finished 2025 with three top-12 finishes on the DP World Tour. He finished T3 and T26 in Dubai to start 2026 on the DP World Tour before coming to the PGA TOUR and posting a T8 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a T24 at The Genesis Invitational.
After the shift to Florida, Lowry seemed to have the Cognizant Classic under control on the back nine before back-to-back double bogeys. He still finished T2, though, for his best finish of the season.
TPC Sawgrass demands lots of strategy, scrambling and stringing together pars. Lowry has proven he can do those things and has posted five top-25 finishes in 11 tournaments at this venue. He has made the cut in each of the last five years and finished in the top 20 four of those years. His best finish was an eighth-place in 2021, five strokes behind Justin Thomas.
Lowry’s rebound would be an exciting story to track this week, and the 38-year-old from Ireland has the game to contend if his head is in the right place this week.
Jake Knapp ($7,400)
For Knapp, the question marks that are pushing the public elsewhere aren’t his mental game or his skill set. His health is the risk factor that will likely keep his ownership lower than options like Akshay Bhatia ($7,700), Min Woo Lee ($7,500) and Rickie Fowler ($7,400). For GPP, though, Knapp’s upside is worth the extra risk, especially with lower ownership.
Knapp roasted his fantasy manager last week by withdrawing just before his tee time after lineups had already locked. Knapp has been able to practice this week at TPC Sawgrass, though, and seems to be ready to tee it up and return to action this week. If so, he has enough momentum to be worth including.
Throughout the early part of the season, the 31-year-old has been consistently near the top of the leaderboard. He began 2026 with a T11 in Hawaii and then strung together four straight top-10 finishes. Over his last 20 rounds, Knapp leads the field in Total Strokes Gained and is 12th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.
He has also had some success at Sawgrass, making the cut in each of his two career appearances, including a T12 last year. He’s not looking to bounce back from a meltdown like Lowry, but he is looking to return after injury, and getting in early on the comeback makes sense for GPP lineups at this salary.
Ryan Fox ($6,500)
With a full 123-player field, unlike the Signature Events, plenty of affordable options are on the board with salaries under $7,000. Pierceson Coody ($6,700), Harry Hall ($6,900) and Ricky Castillo ($6,200), who have been regulars in my picks and posts this year are all getting plenty of attention, but Fox continues to fly under the radar as a strong GPP play.
I included a Fox top 40 in my SGP for the week, and if he delivers, he’ll also be a great fantasy play at this price. Fox has played THE PLAYERS in each of the last three years after arriving on the PGA TOUR after some success on the DP World Tour. The 39-year-old from New Zealand made the cut in two of those three tournaments with a T27 in 2023 and a T20 last year.
He has been steady all season after posting a T27 at the Dubai Invitational and a T45 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic to start 2026 back on the DP World Tour. He has played four events since coming to the PGA TOUR in 2026, finishing in the top 25 in each event, highlighted by a T7 at The Genesis Invitational.
Fox has proven he can contend on difficult tracks and in strong fields, and he’s a professional par-maker as well, which should serve him well at Sawgrass again this week. If he grinds his way to another made cut and solid finish, he’ll save enough salary for you to stack top options at the top of your lineup.
