The 2022-23 PGA Tour season will come to an end this week in Atlanta.
It’s the TOUR Championship, the playoff finale, which features the final 30 golfers remaining in terms of FedExCup standings.
With a small field and staggered scoring, it makes you really think when setting your DFS rosters this week. Do you lean heavily on finish-position bonuses and target the top of the leaderboard, or look for value from the bottom of the board? I think the correct answer is somewhere in between. Starting strokes or not, course fit still plays a role so let’s see who shines on Bermuda turf.
Bring it on, Bermuda
East Lake features bermudagrass rough and bermuda greens.
This combination is particularly lethal, putting an emphasis on good driving and smart approach play.
Regular experience on the grainy grass can often provide a bit of comfort and help shave a stroke or two over the course of four rounds.
There are 13 golfers in the field this week that improve over the baseline on bermuda, so here are the top 13 performers in adjusted strokes gained per round on courses with bermuda greens, over the last two years:
Rory McIlroy
Jon Rahm
Viktor Hovland
Patrick Cantlay
Tom Kim
Scottie Scheffler
Tyrrell Hatton
Collin Morikawa
Xander Schauffele
Tony Finau
Max Homa
Sungjae Im
Matt Fitzpatrick
We can also look at performance versus baseline to see who shows the largest increase in performance compared to their typical scores:
Tom Kim
Taylor Moore
Viktor Hovland
Tyrrell Hatton
Si Woo Kim
Emiliano Grillo
Collin Morikawa
Lucas Glover
Russell Henley
Sepp Straka
Corey Conners
Rory McIlroy
Jon Rahm
Overlap List: names that show up on both lists include Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim, Tyrrell Hatton, and Collin Morikawa.
Hovland to stay hot in the ATL
When gamers dive into the grass splits, they often just look at putting performance. I think tee-to-green play can often tell a story, too. For Hovland, he’s gained 12.9 strokes on approach in 12 career rounds at East Lake. To me, that says the course suits his eye and he’s not intimidated by the tricky, bermuda rough. Hovland just had a career round on Sunday in Chicago and should be able to keep his foot on the gas this week on a course that suits him well.
Climb the board with Hatton
Hatton is one of just five golfers to get no help in terms of starting strokes this week. He will start at even par, as usual. His win equity is nearly non-existent as a result, but he’s priced accordingly on DraftKings. He had a rough ball-striking week in soft conditions at the BMW but should like the firmer test at East Lake. He gained 2.4 strokes putting in his only previous start here (2020) and if he plays to his baseline or better than he should easily be able to climb the board and exceed his salary this week at the playoff finale.