DraftKings: The American Express preview

The PGA TOUR heads to La Quinta, Calif., this week for The American Express. There will be a three-course rotation and 54-hole cut in play this week, with golfers playing each of PGA West’s Stadium Course, La Quinta Country Club and PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course over the first three rounds. The final round will be played back on the Stadium Course.

All three courses are par 72s that are on the shorter side, with the Stadium Course measuring 7,187 yards, La Quinta measuring 7,060 yards and the Nicklaus Tournament Course measuring 7,147 yards. All three courses will also feature Bermuda greens.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st].

GOLFERS TO CONSIDER

Tony Finau ($10,200)

Obviously, you do not need me to tell you that Jon Rahm is an elite option this week, especially coming off his triumphant come-from-behind victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, so instead, we will pivot to Tony Finau.

Finau very quietly posted another top-10 at the TOC in his last start, finishing in a tie for seventh, which was his seventh such finish across his past nine starts. He’s been locked in for quite a while now and actually ranks No. 1 in this pretty loaded field in SG: Total over his past 48 rounds.

Finau has also shown a bit of upside at The American Express as well, having finished T4 and T14 in 2021 and 2020, respectively. DraftKings did not price anyone above $11,000 this week, giving us quite a bit of value to choose from in the $10,000 range. Finau stands out with both his recent form and rolling stats among that group.

Andrew Putnam ($8,700)

Putnam did what he does best last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and that’s putt the lights out. He gained a whopping 10.54 strokes on the greens at Waialae, which catapulted him up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth place. He now ranks No. 1 in this field in SG: Putting over his last 48, 24, eight and four rounds.

This will be Putnam’s seventh trip to La Quinta, and he has very strong history here. He’s made the cut in each of his past five starts with three top-21 finishes, including a T10 in 2020. Among anyone in the field with at least three career starts at The American Express, Putnam ranks fifth in SG: Total per round, behind only Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Cameron Davis and last week’s winner, Si Woo Kim.

He will likely go overlooked with all the studs at the top of the board this week but has shown as much upside as anyone of late.

Adam Hadwin ($8,200)

Very quietly Hadwin has been playing some great golf recently, making the cut in all five of his Fall swing starts, including a T7 the last time we saw him at the Cadence Bank Houston Open. He gained 7.62 strokes on approach and 2.38 off-the-tee over his four rounds in Houston, which ranks him third in this field in SG: Ball-Striking over that small span.

It’s worth noting, however, because Hadwin should absolutely keep the good times rolling this week at an event he loves. He’s made seven starts at The American Express in his career, making the cut in each of them, while finishing T6 or better in four of those. He ranks seventh in this field in SG: Total and third in SG: Putting per round at the Stadium Course in his career.

Not only is Hadwin an incredibly safe option this week, but he’s flashed a ton of upside here and his $8,200 price on DraftKings makes him a nice bargain.

Set your DraftKingsfantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st].

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) 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 do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. 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.