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PGA DFS Golf: 2018 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier DRAFT Rankings (DRAFT.com)

By Chris Aliperto

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV - JULY 08: A general view of the first hole during round three of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 8, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV - JULY 08: A general view of the first hole during round three of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 8, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 09: A view of the trophy on the 18th tee during the final round of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 9, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) PGA DFS Golf
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 09: A view of the trophy on the 18th tee during the final round of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 9, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) PGA DFS Golf /

Why do you need another DFS site? Because DRAFT combines the excitement of a season-long draft into one set of games!

Welcome to this edition of PGA DFS Golf rankings for DRAFT.com from FantasyCPR, covering the 2018 version of The Greenbrier Classic, which is dubbed A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. The DRAFT app can be downloaded to your mobile device through your app store, or you can access their desktop site here.   

I play quite a bit on DRAFT, and have always been a big fan of the snake draft format. On DRAFT, for PGA, you simply roster five golfers. They offer head-to-head, 3-man, 6-man and 8-man drafts that start upon filling. In the DRAFT lobby, you will find me in the six-man and eight-man contests, which payout to the top two spots.

My goal here will be to give you my targets in tiers, based upon their DRAFT projections. Followed by that, will be my top 40 overall rankings. The strategy of course here, is that 40 golfers will be drafted for 8-man contests, and these rankings will have you covered. After having completed my rankings for this week, and having completed a few 8-man drafts, let’s talk about the course for a second before we move on to the targets.

About the Event:

Starting Thursday, July 5th in the early morning hours at an undetermined time as of this moment, the 2018 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier will be underway. A recent name change of this event takes place this year to honor the historic sites involvement in the U.S. military over it’s 104 year history. Long dubbed simply the Greenbrier Classic, honoring our heroic military seems fitting for the history of the course. The Greenbrier site was used as a hospital during World War II, and is also the home of Project Greek Island, which is an underground bunker built during the Cold War. Located in the Allegheny Mountains in White Sulfer Springs, West Virginia, the resort and golf course sit almost 2,000 feet above sea level. There is some light rain and possible storms in the forecast for the early rounds, with conditions improving as the event progresses.

Plenty of the games best will not be in action this weekend, as we are seeing a field of only seven of the top 50 golfers in the world in action. Some popular names expected to contend include Bubba Watson, two weeks removed from his Travelers Championship victory, and Phil Mickelson. The event plays at The Old White TPC, which plays at Par 70, and is fairly lengthy at 7,286 yards. Wide fairways will help the bombers off of the tee, and those who gain strokes will obviously succeed. There are plenty of birdie opportunies on the par 4’s, so I am looking to roster the consistent bombers who are good around the greens, and putt well. Before we talk about who I am targeting this week, let’s touch on the history of the PGA event formerly known as The Greenbrier Classic.

Event History:

A regular part of the PGA tour since 2010, The Greenbrier Classic is held at The Old White TPC, which joined the TPC network shortly after this events inception. Due to the elevation, it plays relatively shorter than listed, which makes it a decent place for scoring. Over the past five years, the winner has come out somewhere between -13 and -16. Xander Schauffele won this event last year by one stroke at -14, and he should be a popular pick this week with this field. Despite his top ten at the U.S. Open, his missed cut at the Travelers has me thinking fade. In this events short history there have never been back-to-back winners.

Excessive rains and flooding cancelled this event in 2016, and the year prior to that, it was Danny Lee who prevailed in a four-man playoff, outlasting David Hearn, Kevin Kisner, and Robert Streb. Streb was the runner-up in 2015 and 2017 actually, but his form is so bad right now he his tough sell. Regardless, this field is so bad maybe Streb could put it together at a course he obviously enjoys. I guess you will have to read until the end to see if he cracks the top 40. Let’s first check out my targets.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 09: Tony Finau tees off the sixth hole during the final round of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 9, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 09: Tony Finau tees off the sixth hole during the final round of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 9, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

PGA DFS Golf High Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 60-75)

Tony Finau – (70.86)

Of all of the bombers and high projected players this week, (there aren’t many) I am liking Tony Finau as the top pick this week. Finau has not played on the tour since the U.S. Open, where he was able to battle despite the conditions. He finished alone in fifth, marking just his 2nd top ten finish since February, when he was runner-up at the Genesis Open. He shot a final round of -6 to finish T10th at the Masters, to note his other top ten.

This field is arguably worse than last week. Watson and Phil Mickelson are the more popular top plays, but I prefer Finau, as he should be fresh and ready to attack these wide open fairways. I would also rather target Webb Simpson with my top pick, or possibly my next top target.

Russell Henley – (64.36)

Henley comes in to The Greenbrier in great recent form, and with a good history at The Old White TPC in the event over the years. The 29-year-old Georgia product was -12 through three rounds last week at the National, but a disappointing -1 in the final round left him in a tie for sixth. It was his best finish since the Houston Open in March. He has been consistent however as of late, making four cuts in a row.

This course is one to play Henley at, if there ever was a time to play him. I fell in love with Bill Haas last week due to his record at the Travelers, and this is somewhat similar. However, Henley is at least in great recent form, Haas was not. Henley has finished fifth here in back-to-back years, and has four top 15 finishes in seven tries. I should clarify, there was no event in 2016, so he finished fifth in 2015 and 2017. He is slotting in at the end of the first round, and I feel he has a shot to win this weekend.

NEW DELHI, INDIA – MARCH 09: Anirban Lahiri of India plays out of a bunker on the 12th hole during day two of the Hero Indian Open at Dlf Golf and Country Club on March 9, 2018 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
NEW DELHI, INDIA – MARCH 09: Anirban Lahiri of India plays out of a bunker on the 12th hole during day two of the Hero Indian Open at Dlf Golf and Country Club on March 9, 2018 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /

PGA DFS Golf Mid Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 50-60)

Anirban Lahiri – (57.3)

Lahiri is a guy who tends to bounce back and forth between the PGA and European Tours. It seems that wherever the 31-year-old Indian born professional is playing he is usually playing some good golf. He comes in in as good of form as any, having made five straight cuts, and scoring top 15’s the last two weeks. He shot all four rounds under par at The Travelers finishing T9th, and followed that up with a T13th last week at the Quicken Loans National. His projection from DRAFT is a bit too low in my opinion, as he has the 17th highest projection on the board. He is firmly in play at any point in the second round for me.

Brian Gay – (53.25)

Known as one of the better putters on tour, Gay is another golfer that comes in to White Sulfer Springs in great recent form. If you rank him 28th based on his projection, you are probably going to miss out on him. I currently have him ranked 11th, while he will likely slip to somewhere in the third round. Gay has made five straight cuts, and has a pretty remarkable four top 20’s in that span. Again this field is very thin, this type of consistency is what you are looking for. He finished T8th last week at the Quicken Loans National, and should be ready to compete once again.

POTOMAC, MD – JUNE 30: Joaquin Niemann of Chile hits off the fourth tee during the third round of the Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac on June 30, 2018 in Potomac, Maryland. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
POTOMAC, MD – JUNE 30: Joaquin Niemann of Chile hits off the fourth tee during the third round of the Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac on June 30, 2018 in Potomac, Maryland. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

PGA DFS Golf Low Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 25-50)

Joaquin Niemann – (33.9)

Well we talked about Beau Hossler and the secret being out with him last week, and he was in contention for the first three days of the tournament. We also highlighted Niemann here last week in this spot, and the 19-year-old continued to live up to the hype, as he fired a final round 65 to move him into his third top-20 in his last four tries. With no Hossler in the field this week, Niemann is all set to be that guy this week. Also in the same fashion as Hoss, Niemann is not a secret this week, and is a top 10 pick at the very least in every draft. I have zero objections to taking him as high as sixth overall, and I expect another top 20 finish at the very least.

Cheng-Tsung Pan – (48)

Pan was a guy who I almost wrote up here last week, but I opted for Si Woo Kim instead who missed the cut. My bad. Well I am here to not make that mistake again, as Pan continued his run of quality golf. Pan was red hot making four cuts in a row, until he faltered at the Travelers a couple of weeks ago. He bounced back nicely at the National, but had a few slips ups in the last round costing him a top ten finish. The 26-year-old Taiwan native should be considered a long shot to win or even crack the top 20, but four days of scoring at the least is what I would expect. I am targeting Pan late third and early fourth round.

Andrew Putnam – (35.1)

Starting to sound like a broken record probably at this point but enter another extremely low projected golfer in a weak field in fantastic recent form. Putnam has played nine events since March, and has missed just two cuts. During this run, he also has three top 10’s, including his T2 a month ago at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He was back in action last week at the Quicken Loans National after a couple of weeks off, and posted a respectable T27th. I think Putnam makes a good run again this week, and is a great pick in the third round.

HUMBLE, TX – APRIL 02: Russell Henley poses with the trophy after winning the Shell Houston Open at the Golf Club of Houston on April 2, 2017 in Humble, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
HUMBLE, TX – APRIL 02: Russell Henley poses with the trophy after winning the Shell Houston Open at the Golf Club of Houston on April 2, 2017 in Humble, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

PGA DFS Golf DRAFT Rankings: Top 40

My rankings are pretty easy to follow. I have ranked the top 40 overall. Following each golfer is their DRAFT fantasy point projection in parenthesis.

1. Tony Finau – (70.9)

2. Webb Simpson – (66.2)

3. Russell Henley – (64.4) 

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4. Bubba Watson – (59)

5. Phil Mickelson – (72.3)

6. Joaquin Niemann – (33.9)

7. Charles Howell – (64.6)

8. Brian Harman – (64.4)

9. Jimmy Walker – (54.6)

10. Anirban Lahiri – (57.3)

11. Brian Gay – (53.3)

12. Andrew Putnam – (35.1)

13. Cheng-Tsung Pan – (48)

14. Ryan Moore – (58.1)

15. JB Holmes – (60.1)

16. Brandt Snedeker – (62.7)

17. Xander Schauffele – (61.6)

18. Ryan Armour – (50.1)

19. Keegan Bradley – (63.5)

20. Kevin Streelman – (58.3)

21. Kevin Na – (60.7)

22. Jamie Lovemark – (61.7)

23. Kevin Chappell – (60.1)

24. Austin Cook – (36.6)

25. Ollie Schniederjans – (57.3)

26. Kevin Kisner – (62.5)

27. Scott Piercy – (53.9)

28. Danny Lee – (48.5)

29. Johnson Wagner – (44.1)

30. Seamus Power – (54.5)

31. David Lingmerth – (52.4)

32. Hudson Swafford – (53.9)

33. Bill Haas – (55.8)

34. James Hahn – (56.5)

35. Corey Conners – (34.8)

36. Vaughn Taylor – (56.2)

37. Jason Kokrak – (53.1)

38. JJ Spaun – (53)

39. Chris Stroud – (45)

40. Robert Streb – (45)

Next: Don't Miss OB's FanDuel PGA DFS Lineup!

That is all for this weeks PGA DFS Golf DRAFT rankings for the 2018 Greenbrier Classic. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing. I more so hope I guided us all to some success on DRAFT! If you have any questions, give me a follow on Twitter at @JuanBondDFS. You can also leave a question right here in the comments, and I will do my best to respond before lock Thursday morning. Good luck this weekend, enjoy your golf, and happy drafting on DRAFT!