Jason Day is part of the star-studded field of The Barclays. (Getty)
It’s playoff time for the PGA Tour and Heavy’s partners at DraftKings have a slew of fantasy golf contests to sign up for.
Sign up for DraftKings here and enter the PGA $425K Drive the Green fantasy golf contest for this week’s first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs, The Barclays. Turn your $3 entry fee into $100,000.
The winner takes home $100,000 and DraftKings is paying out a guaranteed $425,000 in total prize money for The Barclays in New Jersey. Second place wins $30,000 and third gets $15,000. Over 35,800 entered teams will be paid.
The buy-in is $3 and the contest gets underway on Thursday, August 27, from Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. Your fantasy lineups must be set by 7:20 a.m. Eastern.
The rules are simple: With a $50,000 salary cap, pick 6 golfers you feel will play the best at Plainfield CC. The better your selected players do on the course, the better your fantasy team does, the more money you make. You’ll need to get the players who make birdies and pars, but who will also play all 4 rounds. If you have players in your lineup who miss the cut, you’re likely to walk away empty-handed on Sunday. Check out the scoring key at the bottom of the post.
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The field resembles what you would find in a major. In fact, the winners of all 4 majors are teeing it up on Thursday. So let’s take a closer inspection and figure out who you should have in your lineup.
$10,000 & Up
Four players have double-digit salaries — Jordan Spieth ($12,600), Jason Day ($11,500), Justin Rose ($10,900) and Dustin Johnson ($10,700). The last time the event was held at Plainfield CC was in 2011 and Johnson won that year. You know he’ll be in contention, as will the other 3. Chances are you’ll only be able fit 1 of these guys in your lineup. If I had to put them in order, I’d go Spieth, Day, Johnson then Rose. In fact, I have 3 lineups entered with Spieth, Day and Johnson anchoring one apiece.
$9,000 to $9,900
In the $9,000+ range, there are two players I am really targeting — Brooks Koepka ($9,700) and Matt Kuchar ($9,300). Koepka hasn’t scored less than 80 fantasy points in his past 5 tournaments and has 3-consecutive top 6 finishes. Kuchar is a cut-making machine who placed 2nd on the course in 2011.
$8,000 to $8,900
In the $8,000 range, nobody is playing better than Paul Casey ($8,700), who is averaging 92 fantasy points over his past 2 events. Since winning the Open Championship, Zach Johnson ($8,100) is averaging under 40 fantasy points per tournament. Charl Schwartzel ($8,200) is coming off a T3 at the Wyndham Championship after finishing with 3 straight 66s. Patrick Reed ($8,100) has made the cut in 9 of his past 10 events.
$7,000 to $7,900
I like a bevy of players in the $7,000-$7,900 range starting with Justin Thomas ($7,700). Thomas was averaging 95 points per tournament over the prior 4 heading into last week’s Wyndham. He had 3 rounds in the 60s before closing with an uncharacteristic 75. Expect him to continue his solid play.
At $7,900, Robert Streb can actually be considered a bargain. He has 5 straight top 20s, averaging 91 points over that span.
Jimmy Walker ($7,600) has not played well lately, but he’s too good to keep going in that direction.
With the exception of a missed cut at the PGA, Danny Lee ($7,700) is on fire as is Russell Henley ($7,500), who has 4 consecutive top 20 finishes.
I’m also high on rookie Tony Finau ($7,300) this week. He just keeps playing at a high level and making cuts.
$6,900 & Below
Pat Perez ($6,500) was in the zone before missing the cut at the PGA. He didn’t have a good showing here in 2011 (yeah, it was horrendous), but that was 4 years ago and he’s a different player now.
Matt Jones ($6,500) has been stepping up in big events lately, finishing T21 at the PGA and T30 at the British. The Barclays certainly qualifies as a big event.
Chris Kirk ($6,500) hasn’t played since the U.S. Open (thumb), but was one of the more consistent players on the Tour up until then. I like his chances of sticking around Jersey all weekend despite the long layoff.
Here’s a deep sleeper if money you need a real inexpensive golfer — Adam Hadwin. At $5,800, Hadwin has made the cut in 4 straight events, which include a T21, T7 and a T18.
Here are my lineups:
Lineup #1
Jordan Spieth, $12,600
Matt Kuchar, $9,300
Robert Streb, $7,900
Nick Watney, $7,000
Jason Dufner, $6,700
Pat Perez, $6,500
Lineup #2
Jason Day, $11,500
Brooks Koepka, $9,700
Patrick Reed, $8,100
Russell Henley, $7,500
Hunter Mahan, $6,700
Chris Kirk, $6,500
Lineup #3
Dustin Johnson, $10,700
Matt Kuchar, $9,300
Justin Thomas, $7,700
Jimmy Walker, $7,600
Luke Donald, $7,400
Tony Finau, $7,300
Golfers on each team will accumulate points as follows:
Per Hole Scoring
Double Eagle (DBL EAG): +20 PTs
Eagle (EAG): +8 PTs
Birdie (BIR): +3 PTs
Par (PAR): +0.5 PTs
Bogey (BOG): -0.5 PTs
Double Bogey (DBL BOG): -1 PT
Worse than Double Bogey (WORSE DBL BOG): -1 PT
Tournament Finish Scoring
1st: 30 PTs
2nd: 20 PTs
3rd: 18 PTs
4th: 16 PTs
5th: 14 PTs
6th: 12 PTs
7th: 10 PTs
8th: 9 PTs
9th: 8 PTs
10th: 7 PTs
11th–15th: 6 PTs
16th–20th: 5 PTs
21st–25th: 4 PTs
26th–30th: 3 PTs
31st–40th: 2 PTs
41st-50th: 1 PTs
Streaks and Bonuses
Streak of 3 Birdies of Better (MAX 1 Per Round) (3+ BIR STRK): +3 PTs
Bogey Free Round (BOG FREE RD): +3 PTs
All 4 Rounds Under 70 Strokes (ALL 4 RDS UND 70): +5 PTs
Hole in One (HOLE IN ONE): +10 PTs