The FedExCup Playoffs continue this week as the PGA Tour bubble moves from the suburbs of Boston to just outside of Chicago. The top 70 in the FedExCup standings are all expected to tee it up this week as they try to secure their spot in the top 30 go move on to the season finale next week. They’ll be playing at Olympia Field C.C., which is well-known for being one of the top courses in the country even though it doesn’t host the Tour every year. It has hosted the U.S. Open twice along with the U.S. Amateur in 2015. Bryson DeChambeau ($10,600) won that event with Jon Rahm ($11,000) and Maverick McNealy ($6,200) also making the knockout stages of the tournament.
As is typical at this stage of the postseason, we’re past the events that have a cut, so all players will get in four rounds this weekend, barring injury or withdrawal. There are plenty of big stars that you’ll want to target at the top of the salary structure like Dustin Johnson ($11,500), Justin Thomas ($10,800), Rory McIlroy ($10,300) and Webb Simpson ($10,100). If you need to balance out your roster, though, there are also some value plays with big-time potential. Here are the four plays at $7,500 or less that I like the most heading into another great week of fantasy golf on the PGA TOUR.
Editor’s note: Webb Simpson has withdrawn from the BMW Championship.
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The DraftKings slate locks at 6:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 27. Set your lineups here: PGA TOUR $1.75M Penultimate Push [$500K to 1st]
Jason Kokrak, $7,500
Kokrak was forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament in mid-July for unspecified reasons but was able to tee it up at the St. Jude and the PGA Championship. He didn’t fare well at either of those events but has taken off a bit since then with a T15 at the Wyndham Championship and a T13 last week at THE NORTHERN TRUST.
The big 35-year-old needed an eagle on the 18th at TPC Boston to qualify for this event and knocked it in with confidence to move into the top 70. He also came up clutch last year and made a birdie at the final hole of the BMW to get to the TOUR Championship. He’ll need a great showing this week to get back to Atlanta but he should have the distance and long-range proximity needed to put together a strong week. He can be a bit of a boom-or-bust play, which is why he makes sense in a no-cut format since the bust risk is limited.
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Cameron Smith, $7,300
Smith strung together four rounds in the 60s last week at TPC Boston to finish T18, his best finish since winning the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January. The 27-year-old Aussie is currently No. 26 in the FedEx Cup standings, so he’ll need a strong showing at Olympia Fields to avoid falling out of the top 30.
He has been steadily regaining his form since the restart and is peaking at the right time. He made six birdies on Sunday but counteracted that with four bogeys to keep himself from contending in the chase pack behind Dustin Johnson’s runaway win.
MacKenzie Hughes, $7,000
Since the restart, Hughes has been very consistent although his season numbers are still skewed by a rough start back in the fall and winter. Since missing the cut at the first event back after the layoff, Hughes has made seven straight cuts, including the PGA Championship and last week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST, where he finished T13.
Without a cut this week, Hughes still makes sense, though, since he has been doing more than scraping by on the line. He has three top-25 finishes since the restart, highlighted by a T3 back at the Travelers at a T6 at the Memorial. He has not ever made it to the season finale since his current No. 36 FedEx Cup ranking is a personal best, but he has a shot to play next week with a strong result at Olympia Fields.
Danny Lee, $6,300
Lee surged all the way into third place last week at THE NORTHERN TRUST before five straight bogeys on the back nine dropped him to +2 for his final round and a T18 for the tournament. It was still his best result since the restart and his fifth top-25 finish of the year.
In the past, Lee has shown he can contend with elite fields and has a very high ceiling but he has also shown a tendency to implode and go totally off the rails at times. He comes in at a very cheap salary and makes an intriguing punt play since the potential for a high finish is there and he’ll need to move up a few spots to advance to next week since he enters the week at No. 42.
Set your lineups here: PGA TOUR $1.75M Penultimate Push [$500K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) 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 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.