Welcome to Playing the Tips!
Each week this will be the one-stop resource to soak in all the picks from our fantasy staffers at Rotoworld.com.
Here is a quick rundown of what sites and formats we will cover each week:
Page 1 will feature all of our selections for GolfChannel.com and Yahoo! Fantasy Golf.
Page 2 will go over One-and-Done as well as Daily Fantasy Golf picks.
Page 3 will take a look across the pond with Fantasy Race to Dubai selections.
Dave Tindall has you covered for all things European Tour. Check out his Open de France Preview.
Ryan O’Sullivan provides some power rankings as he previews the WGC-Bridgestone & Barracuda.
To check out what you may have missed last week, Mo Yoshimoto has you covered in his Quicken Loans National Recap.
Now for the picks...
GolfChannel.com Fantasy Golf
Ryan O’Sullivan
2016 Earnings: $14,264,792
2016 Rank: 3,860 of 40,932
Group 1: Jason Day
Group 2: Brooks Koepka
Group 3: Shane Lowry
Group 4: David Lingmerth
ANALYSIS: Everyone on this squad has at least one top 10 at Firestone Country Club, although Day’s course history is poor by his standards. It’s hard to ignore his form over the last 12 months, though.
Josh Culp
2016 Earnings: $12,897,094
2016 Rank: 8,159 of 40,932
Group 1: Rickie Fowler
Group 2: Justin Rose
Group 3: Paul Casey
Group 4: David Lingmerth
ANALYSIS: Trying to stick with course experience here. Fowler faltered on Sunday, but I’m ready to jump back on the train. Lingmerth finished T6 in his debut last year and had no problems with slick greens when he took down the 2014 Memorial.
Mo Yoshimoto
2016 Earnings: $13,233,888
2016 Rank: 6,968 of 40,932
Group 1: Jason Day
Group 2: Brooks Koepka
Group 3: Marc Leishman
Group 4: Jason Dufner
ANALYSIS: A good mix of power and finesse. Day and Dufner have the local angle on their side as well as Ohio residents.
Yahoo! Fantasy Golf
*Make sure you check our Twitter accounts for any updates before the first tee ball flies on Thursday. Change in weather, tee times, etc. can always lead to last-minute changes and we will let you know through our social media channels.
Josh Culp
“Future of Fantasy”
Full Season Points: 3,759
Full Season Rank: 8,428
Summer Points: 155
Summer Rank: 6,941
Group A
Rickie Fowler (7): Finally broke out of his three-event slump last week, but still faltered on Sunday. He’s at least showing signs of life at Firestone is a great venue to fully re-emerge.
Adam Scott (6): There are plenty of viable options in Group A, so I will go with course history and save some starts for the other studs. Scott is a past winner here (2011) and likes to peak leading into majors. He should have his best stuff this week.
SUPER SUBS
Jordan Spieth, Jason Day
Group B
Jim Furyk (10): He’s a course horse (10 top 10s) and there are no concerns on wasting starts here.
Justin Rose (5): He’s been circling the winner’s circle here at Firestone for over a decade. In 11 trips he’s collected five top-5 finishes. That’s the upsde we like to see.
Zach Johnson (7): Sticking with good course history, ZJ has finished 16th or better in half of his 12 appearances at Firestone CC.
Brooks Koepka (5): One of the hottest golfers in the field, he’s entering on the heels of T13-T2-P2 over his last three starts. Ride the hot streak.
SUPER SUBS
Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama, Danny Lee
Group C
David Lingmerth (9): Finished top 10 in his WGC-Bridgestone debut and has proven his ability to play in Ohio with a 2014 Memorial victory.
Paul Casey (6): Arrives in a mini-slump (back-to-back MCs) but owns top 20s in six of his 11 WGC-Bridgestone starts. Has that go-low potential that we love to see in the Yahoo scoring format.
SUPER SUBS
Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman, Smylie Kaufman
Ryan O’Sullivan (O)
“The Golf Aficionado”
Full Season Points: 3,842
Full Season Ranking: 4,420
Summer Points: 138
Summer Rank: 16,767
Group A
Adam Scott (9) and Jason Day (6)
Group B
Brooks Koepka (7), Patrick Reed (5), Jim Furyk (10), and Justin Rose (6)
Group C
Branden Grace (9) and Shane Lowry (9)
Mo Yoshimoto
“@BearsGolf3423”
Full Season Points: 3,745
Full Season Ranking: 9,186
Summer Points: 122
Summer Rank: 28,359
Group A
Adam Scott (6) and Jason Day (4)
Group B
Brooks Koepka (5), Jim Furyk (10), Zach Johnson (9), and Jason Dufner (6)
Group C
Marc Leishman (9) and David Lingmerth (8)
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Daily Fantasy Sports [DFS]
I will be giving out selections for one team each week.
This week I will enter the following lineup into the $3 Drive the Green contest.
This contest has a large number of entries, with guaranteed prize payouts, which means we can’t play it safe if we want to see our name at the top!
DraftKings Picks:
Justin Rose ($10,200): With gamers concerns with his back, now is the time to get on board. He sports the course history at Firestone, and saves us a bit of salary instead of picking one of the big three/four/five.
David Lingmerth ($7,600): The Swede posted a T6 in his WGC-Brdigestone debut. He’s won at the Memorial, so we know he can play in Ohio on fast greens. Sign me up for this salary.
Byeong Hun An ($7,200): We’ve rostered our course fit stars above, so know we get a scorer. An ranks 13th on TOUR in birdie or better percentage. With no cut this week, we get four guaranteed rounds of birdies.
Brooks Koepka ($9,900): Speaking up birdies, Koepka can rack them up with the best of them. It just happens he’s in some fine form, to boot. His game is always very fantasy friendly since he racks up birdies, eagles, and birdie streaks.
Smylie Kaufman ($6,900): His wrist injury is a thing of the past as he’s rattled off top 20s in two of his last three starts. He’s making his course debut but his driver is his best weapon and Firestone will let him use it a lot.
Paul Casey ($7,800): His form is concerning, but that will leave others off the scent. Casey is making his 12th appearance at Firestone CC so course knowledge is on his side. He’s finished outside the top 30 just three times and one of those was a first-round WD with an oblique injury.
Other Picks to Consider
Justin Thomas ($8,000): His great ball-striking makes him a threat to contend when the greens are running smooth and fast since he can position his ball in the proper putting positions below the hole. He’s a birdie maker too.
Emiliano Grillo ($7,000): The fairways are very tough to hit at Firestone but Grillo is one of the best at landing fairways. If he can stripe one or two more fairways per round, he’ll be gaining a nice edge coming into the greens and likely allowing him to hit the greens at a higher clip, as well. Fairways and greens.
One-and-Done
Each week I think aloud to provide you with my One-and-Done selection as well as a few alternatives. Fade or Follow? You decide!
Patrick Reed was in decent position through 54 holes last week but faded over the final round. Not a great finish for my pick last week.
This week I start with course horses Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, and Rickie Fowler. All of them make for good picks, in my opinion, but I prefer Kuchar the least of the bunch and Johnson can be saved for the John Deere Classic if you still have him available.
Of the others in that initial group of course horses, I’ve already used Rose and Fowler which leaves Jim Furyk. He’s posted top 10s in 62.5 percent of his 16 appearances at Firestone Country Club. His current form suggests his wrist injury is a thing of the past, so I’m ready to back him. Jim Furyk is my pick.
As for the Barracuda Championship, I think there are four clear-cut options. Gary Woodland and Brendan Steele are the course horses that have a strong enough baseline to instill confidence. Jon Rahm is the fresh face and worth a look each week until he proves otherwise. Lastly, we have Kyle Reifers who enters with some good season form and also a runner-up here last year.
I wouldn’t mind using Rahm if I needed to, but the other options have some experience with the course. We know Woodland has won here but I’ve already used him. Steele finds a way to get it done here year in and year out but Kyle Reifers has the best course fit in my eyes. He crushes par 72 courses due to his scoring abilities. He’s first on TOUR in total birdies (315) this season and T4 in total eagles (10). Last year’s runner-up is also his career-best finish so his return to Montrêux will mean a lot of him. Kyle Reifers is my pick for the Barracuda Championship.
Past Results:
Wins:
1Top 10s: 6
Top 20s: 15
Missed Cuts: 6
Total Events: 27
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2016 Fantasy Race to Dubai
Dave Tindall is our main man in Europe. In addition to his weekly previews of European Tour events on Mondays, he’ll share his selections and analysis for the Fantasy Race to Dubai at EuropeanTour.com.
Format: Pick 6 golfers. Players accumulate points based on Race to Dubai (R2D) points earned. Captain’s points are trebled and vice-captain’s doubled. Unlimited team changes can be made each week.
Team Tindall (Team name: YESSIR!)
Last week: Had winner Henrik Stenson in Munich but so did everyone. Drop of 139 spots.
Position: 6,827
This week:
Martin Kaymer (captain): “This is a Martin Kaymer type of course,” said Martin Kaymer once. Martin Kaymer has superb course form and has been prominent on last two starts in Europe so get Martin Kaymer on board.
Bernd Wiesberger (vice-captain): Played brilliantly on the weekend (66-65) to win here last year and a standing dish on the Open de France leaderboard. Progressive form of 15-10-7 in last three appearances on European soil.
Graeme McDowell: Course specialist. Winner in 2013 & 2014 and has four other top 20s, including T4 in 2004. Form patchy but playing well on tougher layouts (T9 Sawgrass, T18 Oakmont).
Rory McIlroy: Time for some golf now after recent visits to France were spent watching Northern Ireland in the Euros. Missed the cut at Oakmont but was just one shot shy of a play-off on last start in this event six years ago.
Francesco Molinari: Twice a runner-up at Le Golf National where his tee-to-green strengths are rewarded. In a good place after T8 at Congressional and Italy shining at Euro 2016.
Danny Willett: He’ll be fine when his putter heats back up again. Plenty of good, if old, form at Le Golf National and, having never played in a Ryder Cup, will be keen to put on a show at the 2018 venue.
Matt Cooper joins Dave Tindall as a part of our European team. He contributes to player news, and he’ll share his selections and analysis for the Fantasy Race to Dubai at EuropeanTour.com.
Team Cooper (Team name: NormanStanleyFletcher)
Last week: Another week of climbing after the successful selection of Henrik Stenson, and a solid week from captain Sergio. Willett continues to misfire however and I might wait a while with him, until there is evidence of the finetuning working. This is a big week – R2D points are doubled.
Position: 3,306
Martin Kaymer (captain): Le Golf National is such a curious course: players who have thrived there so often have plenty of MCs in the log book. But Kaymer is 8-for-9, a past winner, and in a strong run of form, including 3 consecutive top 10s in Europe.
Francesco Molinari (vice captain): This one is going for the points rather than the win. He’s 9-for-11 and never worse than T26 when he made the weekend. Arrives fresh from flushing a 65 to finish T8 at Congressional.
Rory McIlroy: Not entirely sure his driving will be suited by the challenge, but his all-round game should be good enough to see him through the weekend. I can see him enjoying the week and hopefully that will lead to contention.
Graeme McDowell: Bizarre but probably of no consequence that 9 of his 11 strokeplay wins have come on par 71s, more relevant that 2 of them were on this course – and that he has another 4 top 20 finishes here. Lots to like about his T18 at the U.S. Open, not least the tidy long game.
Matthew Fitzpatrick: 26-MC doesn’t scream out at you as course form, but he’s improving all the time and his straight game should suit, as should his dynamite putting. Won the Nordea Masters on a course featuring water, water and more water. Might prompt good memories.
Graeme Storm: Leftfield in career terms, but if golf only ever took place at Le Golf National the Englishman would be a world beater. 8-for-11 and all 8 T33 or better. T9 last week. An easy leftfield pick.
