This is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I want to chronicle my journey as a DFS player through this website while providing as much analysis, thoughts, humor (maybe) and strategy as possible. This will be very casual and transparent. I will discuss wins and losses and my thought process behind it all. I don’t claim to be a PGA expert, but I am having a winning season and want to continue to grow my PGA knowledge. Hopefully we can grow together.
Why PGA?
To me, golf is the perfect DFS sport. It has everything you could ever want and then some. It’s a weekly game, meaning you have plenty of time to research and enter lineups. NFL is also a weekly game, but with very limited slates. The NFL DFS season runs for ~20 weeks. The PGA Tour essentially runs year round and will provide 40+ DraftKings contents for you to enter.
There’s only one “matchup” to worry about and that’s the course. You don’t have to dissect five different positions and how 30 different teams fare against those positions like you do in the NBA. Every golfer has the same matchup.
There are few injuries and late scratches. Sure, withdraws happen, but not nearly as much as other sports. You don’t run into golfers resting before the playoffs. You know the field well in advance.
The universal start time is so sexy. All the lineups lock at the same time and you get to see all the ownerships immediately. No waiting around for three hours to see how owned Mike Trout is because he’s playing on the West Coast.
The edge is huge for those willing to commit to the research. For the most part, there are about 140 golfers in every tournament. The average fantasy owner may be knowledgable of about 50 golfers each week. Identifying value through rookies or lesser known golfers can open up a world of possibilities. This is especially true in Majors when brand new players flock to PGA DFS. You’ll see plenty of lineups with guys like Ernie Els, who are household names but haven’t been relevant in years. In general, there is plenty of parity on golf. There’s probably 20 golfers who are capable of winning every single week, which puts the knowledgable owner at a distinct advantage.
What do you play?
Exclusively GPPs. For me, it’s just the way my mind works best. I believe that my biggest edge is identifying value and under-owned players. I will take advantage of those players who I believe will be under-owned and roster them liberally.
For the most part, you’ll see me dump 100-200 lineups into the $3 Birdie on DraftKings each week. Most weeks, there is a very good payout structure in this tournament and a large first place payout around $20,000.
I fully understand the variance in playing 100% GPPs and playing a volatile game like golf. There are going to be large swings, which is why I will never play outside my bankroll.
Results
I’ve dedicated myself to PGA this season. I spent the first few months of the season doing massive amounts of research and entering a handful of lineups into the early season GPPs. I began employing my mass-entry strategy at the Masters this year. Here is how I’ve done so far:
The Masters – 152 lineups, $456 entries, $97 Profit, +21% ROI
RBC Heritage – 146 lineups, $438 entries, ($174 Loss), – 39% ROI
Valero Texas Open – 127 lineups, $382 entries, $374.50 Profit, 98% ROI
Zurich Classic – 150 lineups, $450 entries, ($197.71) Loss, -43% ROI
Total: 575 Lineups, $1,726 entries, $99.71 Profit, 5% ROI
What’s Next?
I will document as much as possible for the rest of the PGA season. I will be as transparent as I can, showing the full list of lineups, exposure and anything else I can think of throughout the process. One of the biggest reasons I am doing this is so that we can grow together. If you have any questions, comments or anything at all please tweet me. I am happy to discuss this process. I hope you enjoy!
Here are three of my favorite players for the upcoming Wells Fargo Championship. Once I have my lineups finalized, I will post them as well.