DraftKings Preview: PGA Championship

The PGA TOUR heads to Rochester, New York for the second major of the 2023 season. Oak Hill Country Club will host the 105th PGA Championship. The course looks to be a bear, measuring as a 7,394-yard par 70 with Bentgrass greens. There are three par 5s over 490 yards and two par 3s over 230 yards. Simply put, this is a big boy course.

The field will be the strongest we’ll see this season, as 99 of the top 100 players in the world will be in attendance. The lone exception is Will Zalatoris, who is recovering from back surgery.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry]

Xander Schauffele ($9,900)

Schauffele is absolutely dialed in right now, having gone T10, solo fourth and solo second across his previous three starts at the Masters, RBC Heritage and Wells Fargo Championship. During this incendiary stretch (eight rounds), Schauffele ranks No. 1 in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green, No. 3 in SG: Ball-Striking and No. 1 in SG: Total.

Obviously, we know Schauffele is no stranger to playing well at major championships, as he’s posted six top-five finishes over the course of his career. His PGA Championship record is good, but not spectacular, finishing T13, T10 and T16 in three of his past four starts. I have no doubt Schauffele is going to win a major at some point, and his $9,900 price tag this week gives you nice savings from the Rahms/Schefflers of the world without losing much upside.

Justin Rose ($7,700)

My favorite part about majors is that we can roster really strong, battle-tested veterans like Rose for just $7,700. Rose has been remarkably consistent this year after seemingly losing his game for the better part of the past few seasons. He won earlier this year at Pebble Beach and has three top-10 finishes in 12 starts.

He’s also in the midst of his best stretch of golf of the season, which started with a T6 at THE PLAYERS. He then parlayed that into a T16 at Augusta and T25 at the RBC Heritage. He’s shown no real weakness in his game during this stretch, ranking 27th in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green and 24th in SG: Total.

The biggest feather in the Englishman’s cap, however, is his PGA Championship record. Dating back the past 10 years, Rose has made the cut in nine of 10 PGA Championship starts, while posting three finishes of T9 or better and four additional T25s. He’s a grizzled vet that knows how to navigate tough courses like Oak Hill, and his price stands out quite a bit in this spot.

Rickie Fowler ($7,600)

Fowler’s price was the first thing that stood out to me when opening up DraftKings this week. He’s simply playing too well this season to be just $7,600, even in this deep of a field. Dating back 24 rounds, Fowler ranks ninth in SG: Approach, 21st in SG: Ball-Striking, 18th in SG: Putting and 12th in SG: Total.

Going by that, there should really only be 11 golfers priced ahead of him, but instead there are 31 golfers priced ahead of him, making him one of the premier values on the slate. Fowler has missed just one cut this season in 12 standard stroke play events, while posting four top-10s. He’s also finished inside the top 20 in seven of his past eight starts and is firing on all cylinders right now.

The PGA Championship has been kind to Fowler in the past as well, making nine of his past 10 cuts at this event with four top-12 finishes. He’s having a resurgent season and is way too cheap in this spot.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry]

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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.