DraftKings preview: TOUR Championship

The PGA TOUR heads to this week for the TOUR Championship. East Lake Golf Club will be the host, and measures as a 7,490-yard par 71 with Bermuda greens.

The field will consist of the top 30 players remaining in the FedExCup Standings, but as an added wrinkle this week, each golfer will begin the tournament with a designated Starting Strokes score. Scottie Scheffler is in first place in the FedExCup standings, so he will begin at 10-under par. Xander Schauffele checks in at No. 2 in the standings and will start at 8-under.

Once you get past the top five, however, the remaining 25 golfers will be split into groups of five and start anywhere from even par to 4-under depending on where they stand.

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

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]

1. Xander Schauffele ($11,000)

Schauffele will start two strokes back of world No. 1 Scheffler, which can easily be made up over the course of four rounds. Very few in this field come close to the two-time major winner in terms of East Lake course history. Dating back to 2017, which was his rookie year, Schauffele has finished first, T2, solo second, T2, T5, solo fourth and solo second.

His game is tailor-made for this golf course and he should yet again be a factor here late on Sunday afternoon. He did not hit his irons well last week at Castle Pines, but we can chalk that up to the Denver elevation getting the better of him. Schauffele still finished T5 in what was a down week, where Scheffler and Rory McIlroy also struggled mightily with the elevation.

Schauffele ranks as the second-best ball-striker in this field over the past 48 rounds, but sits No. 1 in putting, his clear advantage over Scheffler, in that time frame. He's had his best season to-date on the PGA TOUR and being crowned FedExCup champion will be the icing on the cake.

2. Rory McIlroy ($9,600)

Much like Schauffele, the Northern Irishman shines at East Lake. McIlroy has won the TOUR Championship three times in the past 10 years, while finishing T8 or better on four other occasions. As mentioned above, McIlroy had a rough time adjusting to the Denver elevation as well. He lost 1.4 strokes off-the-tee during his final round, and because of that had to settle for a T11 finish.

McIlroy is in an interesting spot this week due to the fact he's starting at 4-under, which is a clear disadvantage to the guys at the top. However, we are getting a slight discount on him because of this, and he makes for a great second golfer into lineups to pair with Schauffele.

Only Scheffler, Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama in this field rank higher in SG: Tee-to-Green over the past 48 rounds than does McIlroy. Even though he's starting a few strokes behind that triumvirate, those should be made up quickly.

3. Sepp Straka ($6,700)

You are going to need a few punt plays to pair with the top guys this week, and we should look no further than Straka, who's starting at 1-under. The big Austrian has had quite a bit of success at East Lake in his two career starts, having finished T14 and T7, respectively, over the past two years.

He's coming off a solid T13 finish at the BMW last week, where he caught fire with his putter. Straka gained 5.8 strokes with his flat stick at Castle Pines, and while he did lose strokes ball-striking, he looked good in that department at the FedEx St. Jude Championship two weeks ago.

Through two starts, Straka has putted extremely well on these Bermuda greens at East Lake, ranking second in the field (among golfers with more than one start) in SG: Putting per round, behind only Sam Burns. With some of the new renovations made to East Lake, there will now be water in play on eight holes (up from six). This means accuracy will be the name of the game, and very few on the PGA TOUR are more accurate off the tee than Straka.

At just $6,700, the big fella is one of the better value options on the slate.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K 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.

September is Responsible Gaming Education Month. For more information on how to put together your sports betting game plan, visit haveagameplan.org/pgatour.