DraftKings preview: THE PLAYERS Championship

The PGA TOUR heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, this week for THE PLAYERS Championship. The iconic Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass will be the host and measures as a 7,275-yard, par 72 with Bermudagrass greens. For the second straight year, THE PLAYERS will carry a purse of $25 million, with $4.5 million going to the winner.

The field is quite obviously loaded, as 46 of the top 50 golfers in the world will be in attendance led, of course, by defending champion Scottie Scheffler.

Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.2

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.4M 2024 Golf Premiere Millionaire [$1M to 1st]

DISCLAIMER: I don’t need to go into detail on why you should roster Scottie Scheffler this week. He’s coming off a dominant win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and is the best player in the world by a mile right now. He also appeared to have figured out his putting woes after switching to a mallet TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter last week. He’s expensive, but there are plenty of ways to fit him with all of the strong $7K options this week.

Hideki Matsuyama ($9,800)

Matsuyama has been on a nice run of late, winning The Genesis Invitational two starts ago, following that up with a strong T12 last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Overall, he’s posted four top-22 finishes over his past five starts.

His short game that has been carrying him, as the 2021 Masters champ ranks fourth in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 23rd in SG: Putting over his past 12 rounds. His ball striking has been fine during this stretch as well, and when you factor it all in, only Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris and Andrew Novak are averaging more Total Strokes per round than Matsuyama during this mini-run.

He will now return to one of his favorite courses on the TOUR in TPC Sawgrass, where the Japanese superstar has six top-25s over his past eight starts, including three top-eights. In addition, Matsuyama was also the first-round leader at the 2020 version of this event, before it was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matsuyama appears healthy to start 2024, and we should be striking while the iron is hot when he’s playing like this, even at this elevated price tag.

Max Homa ($9,600)

Very quietly Homa is rounding into form after a couple of subpar performances at the WM Phoenix Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s coming off a strong T8 finish last week at Bay Hill, which was on the heels of a T16 at The Genesis. His ball-striking has not been in peak form, but his putter has, as he’s gained a combined 8.7 strokes with the flat stick over his past two starts.

We know that Homa is a tough-course maestro and someone you want to roster when conditions get difficult. His results at TPC Sawgrass are proof, as the six-time PGA TOUR winner has finishes of T13 and T6 over his past two starts at this event.

As a matter of fact, only Erik van Rooyen in this field has averaged more SG: Tee-to-Green per round at this iconic Pete Dye design than Homa has. Taking it a step further, if you look at golfers with more than one career start at this event, no one has gained more from tee-to-green per round than Homa.

He always seems to go overlooked when the world’s best players all congregate, despite boasting one of the highest floors you’ll find. Homa has now finished T16 or better in 19 of his past 28 PGA TOUR starts dating back to the 2023 Sentry while missing just four cuts during that stretch.

Erik van Rooyen ($7,300)

Van Rooyen is coming off another strong performance last week at Bay Hill, where he finished T25. Make that nine top-25 finishes across Van Rooyen’s past 11 PGA TOUR starts, a stretch that includes a win, a runner-up and a T8. Dating back 36 rounds in this field, he ranks 10th in this loaded field in Total Strokes Gained and ninth in SG: Ball-Striking.

The South African has made just one career start at THE PLAYERS, but it was a good one, as he finished T13 here in 2022. While it’s only a four-round sample, van Rooyen leads this entire field (by wide margins) in SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Approach per round at TPC Sawgrass, averaging 2.79 and 2.83 strokes, respectively in both categories.

Van Rooyen is one of the hottest golfers in the world right now, and when you factor in his recent form, rolling stats and course history, he’s underpriced this week at just $7,300.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.4M 2024 Golf Premiere Millionaire [$1M to 1st].

The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKingsand experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!

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.

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.