At $6,800, Robert Streb is a fine bargain play in DraftKings. (Getty)
Editor’s Note: Heavy’s partners at DraftKings have set up the Millionaire Maker fantasy contest for golf’s final major, which begins Thursday at Whistling Straits. Sign up with DraftKings today and enter for your shot at $1 million.
Golf’s fourth major of the season is upon us and Heavy’s partners at DraftKings have created another Millionaire Maker fantasy contest. The total prize pool is a biggest-ever $3.3 million and the winner takes home $1 million of that.
The pros get underway from Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on Thursday, August 13. With a fixed salary cap of $50,000, you choose 6 golfers you feel have the best chance to score well on the links-style course. The better your selected fantasy players do, the more money you will make. Lineups must be set by 7:45 a.m. Eastern on Thursday.
Considering you get an average of $8,333 per your 6-player team, you’ll need to find some bargains to fill out your lineup. Especially if you want to plunk down $20-22K or so for 2 of the elite players in the field. And there are definitely diamonds in the rough this week. Are these hidden gems capable of winning the entire tournament? Sure, but it’s likely not happening. But you want players who will play all 4 rounds and get you birdies and pars. And the players below should be sticking around all weekend.
As mentioned above, Whistling Straits is a links-style course, in the fashion of the British Open or the U.S. Open from this year at Chambers Bay. While driving distance and putting are always important, you’ll need to be a great ball striker and possess quality bunker play and scrambling ability in order to be successful this week. And it goes without saying recent play and course history should also factor in.
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Here are a few of the lower-salaried players (under $7,000) who could pay dividends for fantasy teams:
Robert Streb, $6,800
At 5th in FedExCup Standings, Streb isn’t a typical sleeper, but that price tag certainly makes him a bargain. He’s a cut-making machine (20 of 25, including 9 straight) and has come up big in the brightest stages. Streb has a T30 at The Players, a T18 at the British Open and is coming off a T5 at the most recent World Golf Championships event. He’s better-than-average in many of the important categories for this week — ball striking (19th), putting strokes gained (25th), total driving (49th), scrambling (78th) and sand save percentage (84th). I’m on board with Streb.
Jason Bohn, $6,700
I’m in Bohn bandwagon this week, too. He’s accurate off the tee (3rd), he can scramble (31st) and scores birdies at a high rate (12th), which is what you want in DraftKings. Bohn is averaging nearly 92 fantasy points per tournament over his past 3. He missed the cut at this course for the same tournament in 2010, but Bohn is a different player now.
Steven Bowditch, $6,600
Since winning the Byron Nelson in May, Bowditch has made 7 of 8 cuts, including a T12 in last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Inexpensive and unlikely to be widely-owned in DraftKings, Bowditch ranks 2nd in scrambling and 16th in sand save percentage, while cracking the top 50 in birdies and eagles. Add in a better-than-average putter and driving ability, and Bowditch can certainly be considered a sleeper.
Matt Jones, $5,600
Jones likely isn’t going to win, but I like his chances of spending all weekend in Wisconsin. And that’s what you want, especially at that bargain price. If you can get 4 rounds for $5,600, you have an excellent chance of finishing in the money. Jones doesn’t do anything spectacular, though his scrambling and sand save percentage rank in the top 50. And the Australian has shown the ability to play well on links-style courses, coming off a T30 in the Open Championship last month. If you’re going top-heavy with bigger salaries, Jones is a good, cheap option.
Rory Sabbatini, $5,600
Speaking of good, cheap options, Sabbatini is quietly playing some quality golf. He’s made 5 of his past 7 cuts with T6, T10, T30, T24 and T11 finishes. This is his first major of the season and hasn’t made a cut in one since the 2011 PGA. Wow. So why Sabbatini? Because his scrambling (9th), greens in regulation percentage (34th) and sand save percentage (51st) are all above-average and nobody is expecting anything from him. Rory won’t win the whole thing (at least not this Rory), but his price tag and current string of good play make him an attractive option.
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