I really do love Harbour Town and would have loved it even more if Kevin Kisner could have held onto his fourth-round lead but can’t win them all. Congrats Wesley Bryan on earning his first career tour victory. This will not be the last time you see his name at the top of a leaderboard on Sunday. It’s time to turn our focus to the Lonestar State for the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
TPC San Antonio has played host to this event since 2010 and fun fact, the winner receives a pair of black boots, so there's that. You will notice that none of my stats or results will come before 2010 because of the venue change. This is a pretty standard PGA Tour event with 156 golfers in the field with the cut line at 70 plus ties. The Valero’s field improves slightly over the RBC but once again Matt Kuchar lands at the top priced spot on both Draft Kings and Fanduel.
TPC San Antonio is a sizable course with narrow fairways, deep bunkers and some nasty hazards to avoid. The par 72 reaches out 7,435 yards but the funny thing about the course is that the Par 3's and Par 5's are some of the longest on Tour but the Par 4's are some of the shortest. That makes it seem like the golfers should punish this track but have I mentioned the wind? Gusty conditions can really put these players into terrible positions. In 2015, there were recorded gusts touching 38 mph at times. The forecast calls for winds below 10 mph on Thursday and Friday but Saturday could get a little dicey. There is a chance of thunderstorms in the morning on Saturday but other than that, it looks good. Keep your eye on the weather reports as they could change between now and Thursday morning when lineups lock.
When you look through the history of Top 10's at this course, players with good approach numbers from 175 yards and out have had greater success. You should also be targeting good scramblers as these players will get themselves into messy situations from missed fairways to deep bunkers and they’ll need to get out of these situations with as little damage done as possible. My lineups will be filled with players who have been playing well recently, great course history, scrambling ability and of course, putting skills!
It looks like the weekend golf will be a regular game on Draft Kings going forward. We will add the optimals to this article on Friday evening after the second round concludes. So, if you are interested in playing the weekend game, keep this article bookmarked! If you did not notice, the comment section has been activated once again and you can ask me any questions you may have about this week’s event. You can also reach me on twitter @Drew_Phelps83!
UPDATE: POST-CUT CONTEST ON DRAFT KINGS
GPP #1
Good Luck!
PRE-CUT PLAYBOOK AND OPTIMALS
DFS PGA PLAYBOOK:
PLAYER | DRAFT KINGS | FANDUEL | BREAKDOWN |
Charley Hoffman | $10,700 | $8,300 | Defending Champ. Never finished lower than 13th since 2010 (1st, 2nd, & 3rd). Don't be afraid of last week's missed cut |
Jimmy Walker | $10,500 | $9,700 | 2015 Winner (3 Total Top 20s in 7 Trips) and has cashed in 7 straight starts with 4 Top 25s. He did miss the cut last year |
Brendan Steele | $9,900 | $8,500 | Winner here in 2011 with 3 more Top 15s since then. He's got a TOUR-leading 15 consecutive cuts made. |
Kevin Chappell | $9,400 | $6,600 | T2 in 2011, T15 in 2013, T4 in 2016 and finished T7 at the Masters. He's a TERRIFIC value on Fanduel, must play |
Adam Hadwin | $9,100 | $8,900 | One of the most balanced players on Tour because of his putting ability. 9/9 Cuts Made this year with 3 Top 10s including a Win |
Billy Horschel | $8,900 | $7,300 | Missed Cut last week but can't ignore his track record here. T3 in 2013, 3rd in 2015, T4 Last Year. 11th on Tour in GIR |
Ryan Palmer | $8,600 | $7,700 | Finished T11 last week and just LOVES this track with 4 Top 15s including a T6 in 2015 and T4 in 2016. Cash Game Must |
Tony Finau | $8,400 | $8,100 | Made the Cut here as a Rookie in 2015. 7/9 Cuts this season with 6 of those 7 going for T30 or better (3 Top 10s). |
Jhonattan Vegas | $8,100 | $7,200 | He's only 2/4 in Cuts Made here with 0 Top 40s but I love his game & his current form. Only missed cut was at the Masters (PIVOT PLAY) |
Harold Varner III | $7,800 | $5,900 | Finished T9 in his debut here as a rookie last year. 4 straight cuts made coming in with 2 Top 25s. Makes for a nice value play |
Graeme McDowell | $7,700 | $7,500 | An injury cut short his one other trip to TPC San Antonio but his game fits perfectly here especially with his Driving Accuracy. |
Luke List | $7,600 | $6,600 | 2/2 Cuts Made Here (T29 Last Year). T3 at the Shell Houston. The missed cut last week will scare people off of him. |
Sam Saunders | $7,000 | $5,300 | One of my FEW players without a track record here. This is his debut trip but comes in with 3 Straight Top 20s (T11 last week) |
Daniel Summerhays | $7,000 | $6,600 | 5/5 Cuts Made here since 2012 finishing T7, T2, T4, & T13. This is one of those plays where recent form doesn't matter, he just owns it here |
Aaron Baddeley | $6,700 | $5,300 | 4/4 Cuts Made (3 Top 20s including a 3rd). Not playing great with only 1 Top 15 this season but makes for a decent GPP contrarian flier |
Nick Taylor | $6,500 | $5,100 | 11/15 with 4 Top 25s this season (T22 last week at Harbour Town). He finished T21 last year at the Valero in his rookie debut. |
Justin Leonard | $6,400 | $4,700 | 6/7 Cuts Made (No High Finishes). Texas Boy, Loves playing in his Home State. GPP Flier Option. |
Matt Jones | $6,300 | $5,100 | 4/5 at TPC San Antonio with 2 Top 30s. 5/7 Cuts Made this season (2 Top 25 finishes). 31st in Scrambling & T18 in Par-5 Scoring |
Martin Flores | $6,200 | $4,600 | 5 Trips to TPC San Antonio - 3 Top 25s including a T10 in 2013. He's another Texan who loves playing at home. |
***LINEUPS UPDATED 4.19.17 at 10:52pm ET***
DRAFT KINGS OPTIMALS:
DRAFT KINGS CASH | PRICE |
Charley Hoffman | $10,700 |
Brendan Steele | $9,900 |
Adam Hadwin | $9,100 |
Tom Hoge | $6,500 |
Daniel Summerhays | $7,000 |
Matt Jones | $6,300 |
DRAFT KINGS GPP | PRICE |
Brendan Steele | $9,900 |
Kevin Chappell | $9,400 |
Tony Finau | $8,400 |
Harold Varner | $7,800 |
Daniel Summerhays | $7,000 |
Brian Gay | $6,900 |
FANDUEL OPTIMALS:
FANDUEL CASH | ROUNDS | PRICE |
Adam Hadwin | 1 & 2 | $8,900 |
Ryan Palmer | 1 & 2 | $7,700 |
Luke List | 1 & 2 | $6,600 |
Harold Varner III | 1 & 2 | $5,900 |
Brendan Steele | 3 & 4 | $8,500 |
Charley Hoffman | 3 & 4 | $8,300 |
Kevin Chappell | 3 & 4 | $6,600 |
Daniel Summerhays | 3 & 4 | $6,600 |
FANDUEL GPP | ROUNDS | PRICE |
Tony Finau | 1 & 2 | $8,100 |
Graeme McDowell | 1 & 2 | $7,500 |
Harold Varner III | 1 & 2 | $5,900 |
Matt Jones | 1 & 2 | $5,100 |
Jimmy Walker | 3 & 4 | $9,700 |
Brendan Steele | 3 & 4 | $8,500 |
Charley Hoffman | 3 & 4 | $8,300 |
Daniel Summerhays | 3 & 4 | $6,600 |
ONE & DONE PLAY:
ONE AND DONE PLAY | FINISH |
SBS - Jimmy Walker | T9 |
Sony - Charles Howell III | T8 |
Career - Bill Haas | T17 |
Farmers - Brandt Snedeker | T9 |
Waste - Brendan Steele | T16 |
Pebble - Phil Mickelson | 65th |
Genesis - J.B Holmes | T34 |
Honda - Graeme McDowell | T14 |
Mexico - Alexander Noren | T55 |
Valspar - Ryan Moore | T18 |
Palmer - Zach Johnson | T66 |
Match - Sergio Garcia | Out of Sweet 16 |
Puerto - David Hearn | T17 |
Shell - Lee Westwood | MC |
Masters - Justin Rose | 2nd |
RBC - Kevin Kisner | T11 |
Valero - Charley Hoffman | ??? |