We were spoiled.

With three Signature Events sprinkled across the first seven tournaments of Segment 1 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore, only one of which with a cut (that ejected just 18 players at The Genesis Invitational) and the guarantee of four scores for three rounds before a cut at The American Express, greed was good from the get-go.

Now things are going to get harder.

While many of us having reserved Scottie Scheffler’s last start of Segment 1 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, where he will be the defending champion and likely the most-designated captain, we still need to navigate the next two weeks of larger fields with standard 36-hole cuts of low 65 and ties. It’s a taste of what will be the norm when all starts are reset for Segment 2, so these lessons will pay forward.

Ownership among the most popular picks will be more dispersed as customary chalk rests until Bay Hill in three weeks. As a result, the impact of the captain will be greater across the spectrum of possibilities.

While the instinct is to select the golfer you think has the best chance to contend for the title at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld this week – because more golfers will be cut and you’re getting double the points from your captain – there’s merit to thinking first about choosing the golfer in whom you have the greatest trust to pay only that off, never mind a trophy. It’s about respecting golf and retaining an edge for the weekend and beyond.

Oddly but accurately, chasers can be friskier for the same reasons. They possess more power in the short-term because they’re unlikely to be stymied by the chalk that so many of us owned in the same Signature Events early on. This fortnight that includes next week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches is your time to make a move from the outside. It won’t be unusual if you share only one or two of the same golfers as your targets. It’s exactly what you want and need right now.

Captain

Akshay Bhatia … Once Maverick McNealy withdrew, there was no debate. The lefty is by far the most logical choice no matter position relative to others. Because I play conservatively in the long term and nothing is decided this week, I’ll allow the others on my roster to square off against unlike opponents on others. A victory for me this week is a push, that is, to retain my position of second place among my little league in PGA TOUR Experts.

Other considerations

• Patrick Rodgers … With a top 10 in every edition of the tournament, the support is undeniable. He’s also fresh off a T3 at The Genesis where he was the 54-hole leader. The rub is that he’s still winless in 284 PGA TOUR starts as a professional.
• Justin Lower … Another non-winner but also a classically timed maneuver if you’re sniffing prizing in Segment 1 and/or you’re the aggressive type. Finished T3 here last year. Also recorded a T2 some 340 miles across the ocean at the World Wide Technology Championship in November and a T5 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship the following week. All three are similar in their exposure to the sea and the breezes. Fewer than nine percent of the gamers had him rostered early on Tuesday.

Rounding out the roster

I build from the ground up, not from the top down. It’s always been my philosophy when advising in DFS, too. Load up on the value that fulfills your basic goals before bolstering in spots with whatever leftover salary you want to spend. It promises depth and support. In this case, I simply want six guys who I like to make the cut. Everything after that is a bonus because it will stack up against not only my competition but the randomness of how the leaderboard promises to shake out.

My starters

• Akshay Bhatia (C)
• Justin Lower
• Taylor Moore
• Patrick Rodgers

My bench

• Aaron Rai (1)
• Sam Stevens (2)

Careful

For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants avoiding, and it might be represented in my Power Rankings, which is not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I single out who demands pause and why.

Jake Knapp ... This is his first title defense on the PGA TOUR, so the experience is new. While it no doubt injects confidence, it also can be a distraction to his routine. Form upon arrival is why he’s as high as No. 9 in the Power Rankings.

Harry Hall … He’s No. 4 in my Power Rankings and was the swingman until I landed on my six, but I’d still like for him to eliminate residual doubt since he wiggled into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the 11th hour. The key is that he’s rested now, finally.

Kurt Kitayama ... Just inside the top 10 most-owned, a T2 in the inaugural in 2022 jumps off the page, but he hasn’t returned since, and he’s without a top-35 finish in four starts this year. Best suited in full-season formats and angular considerations in DFS, but his cachet dilutes the punch when he delivers.

Patrick Fishburn ... Confronted with a fantasy double-cross this week. The large greens neutralize his proficiency in hitting them in regulation – he missed the cut in his debut but he led the PGA TOUR in the stat in 2024 – but he’s way off his pace early in 2025. Since a T6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he’s missed three straight cuts and ranks 136th in GIR.

Returning to competition

Braden Thornberry ... Hit by the ubiquitous illness that was floating around at the Farmers Insurance Open and walked off at the turn of his opening round on the South Course of Torrey Pines. The former world’s top-ranked amateur is 0-for-3 as a PGA TOUR rookie.

Karl Vilips ... The 23-year-old Aussie is the last rookie to make his season debut. He’s been sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Made quick work of the Korn Ferry Tour where he didn’t play until mid-July, a few weeks after he wrapped up his college career at Stanford. Among the most popular grads, but this will mark be his first PGA TOUR start as a professional.

Notable W/Ds

Maverick McNealy ... When he secured second place at The Genesis, he locked up a spot in the Arnold Palmer Invitational via the Aon Next 10, so he can afford the breather.

Keith Mitchell … This is his first early withdrawal since the 2023 Wyndham Championship. Currently 71st in the FedExCup with a pair of top 25s contributing to a 4-for-4.

Norman Xiong ... Just two starts into the season and with only six remaining on his medical extension to collect 312.468 FedExCup points, he’s going to be choosy on where to burn them. Missed the cut in his debut here last year.

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