Fantasy Golf: Safeway Open

Sep 22, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Emiliano Grillo watches his shot onto the fifth green from a bunker during the 2016 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Fantasy Golf: Safeway Open /

Fantasy Golf: Safeway Open

The 2016-2017 PGA Golf season kicks off this week, with the Safeway Open. Formerly named the Frys.com Open, The Safeway Open will be held at Silverado Country Club, in Napa California. The course will play at just over 7200 yards, and a par 72. While distance shouldn’t be discredited, this course will play into the hands of solid ball strikers and accurate golfers. Emiliano Grillo is the defending champion, but course history should not be heavily weighted, as we only have two previous tournaments to work with.

I’ll be using two different approaches when attacking cash games and tournaments. At first glance, there appears to be value in the 7k – 8k range, with some trustworthy names that should be able to make the cut. In tournaments however, I’ll be looking to apply more of a “stars and scrubs” strategy, as there are now new and unfamiliar golfers in the field. With the start of the new season, golfers from the Web.com tour have been promoted. This should provide us with an edge, as most people will fail to do the proper research on these unknown players.

Key Metrics

Strokes Gained Tee to Green – A measurement of the golfers efficiency, exuding putting, in comparison with the field

Driving Accuracy (DA) – percentage of a golfer’s drives that land in the fairway

GIR – While driving distance and GIR can generally be conflicting stats, its one of my favorite measures for all players, but specifically for cash games players.

Par 5 Scoring – How well a golfer performs on par 5’s.

Birdie or Better – Birdie or better scoring.

Top Tier

Sep 25, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Paul Casey chips onto the fifteenth green during the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports /

Paul Casey ($11,600)

You know it’s not a normal tournament when Paul Casey is the highest priced player on the week, but regardless, if you’re subscribing to a “studs and duds” lineup approach, you’ll have some salary to burn. Casey was one of the hottest players on tour last season, with 3 top 5 finishes in his last 3 outings. Casey is an excellent ball striker, hitting 71.5% of GIR.

Kevin Na ($9,900)

Na is almost always a top option and worth considering when entering cash game contests. He’s extremely consistent, only missing the cut 15% of the time in the last 75 weeks. Na also has favorable course history here, with a second place finish last year, after losing in a playoff to Emiliano Grillo.

John Rahm ($10,200)

It feels odd paying above 10k for a golfer of John Rahm’s ability, but given the field, he’s a top option for his birdie making ability. Rahm ranks the highest, in this particular field, in both birdie making and Par 5 scoring.

Emiliano Grillo ($10,900)

If you played any PGA DFS last year, you already know Grillo for the stud that he is. He won this tournament last year and should have a great shot to repeat again this year. Grillo has hit 69.8% of GIR and 67.5% fairways off the tee. Grillo has safety in cut making for cash games, as well as upside for tournaments.

Other players I’ll have exposure to: Jason Kokrak, Roberto Castro

Mid Tier

Wesley Bryan ($7,900)

Bryan crushed the Web.com tour last year and had some solid outings on the PGA tour as well. Bryan is more of a ball striker, than a bomber, and should set up nicely for this course. In his 4 PGA events, he’s made 3 cuts, so I’d give him a more than a good enough shot to make the cut this week.

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Huddson Swafford ($7800)

Swafford is another golfer that I couldn’t quit last year. His ability to make cuts was extremely valuable and should be again this week. Swafford does have power off the tee, but compliments it well with a moderate GIR score. Swafford doesn’t have the upside that I’d be looking for in a tournament, but will be a viable cash game option.

Grayson Murray ($7500)

Murray is another Web.com player who is coming in hot, with a tournament win at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Murray had 8 top ten finishes in 2016, proving his ability to contend.

Other players I’ll have exposure to: Bud Cauley, Tony Finau, Adam Hadwin, Charles Howell III, Robert Garrigus, Cheng-Tsung Pan

Bottom Tier

J.J. Spaun ($6800), Ryan Blaum ($6500), Ryan Brehm ($6500), Jonathan Randolph ($6100), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano ($6700), Seamus Power ($6200), Rick Lamb ($6400), Trey Mullinax ($6500)

May 30, 2015; Irving, TX, USA; Jonathan Randolph watches his tee shot on the 16th hole as Jordan Spieth prepares to tee off during the third round of the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort – Las Colinas. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports /

Don’t panic if you don’t recognize any of these names. The bottom salary tier is littered with Web.com players and these are a few who you should be targeting. I’ve evaluated them on the key metrics previously listed, and heavily weighted cut making, birdie scoring, and driving accuracy. Not only will spending down for these players allow you spend up in other spots, but some of these golfers should be ridiculously low owned. As we saw with Grillo last year, this is a weaker field and many of the newly promoted Web.com players are looking to make a splash.

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Note: As of now, there is rain projected for much of the weekend, especially Friday and Saturday. Good luck!