For the first time since 2019, the Presidents Cup will take place, and it will be played at Quail Hollow Club (par 71, 7,047 yards, Bermuda greens) in Charlotte, North Carolina. This famous course saw renovations under Tom Fazio in 2016 and has hosted 16 of the last 19 Wells Fargo Championships and the PGA Championship in 2017, which was won by Justin Thomas.
At this classic par 71, being long off the tee and catching fire with your flat stick have been the main ingredients for success. Of the last three champions at Quail Hollow, two have collectively ranked inside the top six in both driving distance and SGP for the week. Two of the past three winners in Charlotte have also ranked inside the top three in efficiency on the 450-500-yard par 4s at Quail Hollow, which is certainly the most important length of hole to focus on this week, with six of the 10 par 4s at this par 71 falling in this range.
Now onto this week’s format. The Presidents Cup is a team-styled tournament between Team United States and Team International, each of which consists of 12 players. Unlike the Ryder Cup, which is a three-day event, the Presidents Cup is played over the course of four days.
First, the tournament will begin with foursome matches on Thursday, which is two vs. two alternate shot golf. Next, they will play four-ball on Friday, which is when every golfer plays their own ball and the two-man teams take the best score between their pairing on each hole. Saturday then will be split down the middle with foursome matches in the morning and four-ball matches in the afternoon. Lastly, they will play single matches on Sunday.
In total, there will be 30 matches, with each win being worth one point and ties being worth a half point. The first team to 15.5 points wins the Presidents Cup, and Team United States enters this week as the winner of 11 of the first 13 editions of this unique tournament. With Team International losing many key players to LIV Golf — most notably world No. 2 Cameron Smith — Team United States is a massive -700 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook to win this year’s Presidents Cup.
For DFS, DraftKings is offering Showdown contests for the Presidents Cup. If not familiar with this format, Showdown lineups feature six players, including one captain and five flex players, with the golfer you roster as your captain accruing 1.5x DKFP. Also, the scoring system has been altered for this is team-formatted event.
Per Hole Scoring:
Holes Won: +3 Pts
Holes Halved: +0.75 Pts
Holes Lost: -0.75 Pts
Holes Not Played: +1.6 Pts
Matches Won: +5 Pts
Matches Halved: +2 Pts
Streaks and Bonuses:
Streak of 3 Consecutive Holes Won in Match (Max 1 Per Round): +5 Pts
No Holes Lost in Match Bonus: +7.5 Pts
Due note that pairings are decided and the matchups are organized Wednesday afternoon by the team captains, and a golfer’s partner and/or opponents certainly could change their value for DFS. So, be sure to analyze all the official matchups Wednesday before setting your lineups.
Below, I break down my three favorite sub $7.5K flex options for the Presidents Cup on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Sungjae Im ($7,400 FLEX) – Very few players bring better form to Quail Hollow than Im. The 24-year-old just closed out his 2022 campaign in impressive fashion. He logged three runner-up finishes in his final five starts of the season, including a T2 at the TOUR Championship, finishing only one-stroke back of winner Rory McIlroy.
Im’s recent accomplishments can mostly be attributed to some incredible work with his driver and putter, ranking second in both SG OTT and SGP over his last 24 rounds. Im also ranks third in SG on 450-500-yard par 4s during this time, which bodes extremely well for a trip to Quail Hollow. As the favorite to lead Team International in points on DraftKings Sportsbook at +600, Im is a terrific choice at only $7.4K.
Cameron Young ($6,600 FLEX) - While Young lacks team-event experience, he is a tremendous course fit for Quail Hollow. Last season, the Wake Forest product ranked second and third in SG OTT and driving distance, respectively. Furthermore, when looking at the results fo this tournament’s field at venues with Bermuda greens last season, Young ranks fifth in total strokes gained. Overall, the 25-year-old carded seven top-10 finishes in 25 starts last season, most notably five runner-up finishes.
Most impressively, Young finished runner-up at the Old Course of the St. Andrews for The Open Championship, which was his debut at the major. Young holds the 10th-best odds on DraftKings Sportsbook to finish the Presidents Cup with the most points at +1800, but he is only the 12th-most expensive golfer on DraftKings, showing you how underpriced he is from a DFS perspective.
Adam Scott ($6,000 FLEX) – Scott has carded five top-25 finishes in 11 appearances at Quail Hollow and finished his 2022 season with a pair of T5 finishes in his final three starts. He enters the week gaining strokes with his putter at three consecutive tournaments and ranks 10th in driving distance when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds.
In addition to the terrific form, Scott has won six of his past 10 single matches and this will be his 10th time competing in a Presidents Cup. Scott easily brings the most experience to this Team International roster and is a worthwhile risk at this low salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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