PGA DFS Golf: 2018 WGC Bridgestone DRAFT Rankings (DRAFT.com)

Why do you need another DFS site? Because DRAFT combines the excitement of a season-long draft into one set of games! Get your PGA DFS Golf rankings with FantasyCPR

Welcome to this edition of PGA DFS Golf rankings for DRAFT.com from FantasyCPR, covering the 2018 WGC Bridgestone. 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, let’s quickly look at last weeks Open Championship targets, and talk about this event before we move on to the targets.

Last Week:

Well the RBC Canadian was better me to me than the previous week on DRAFT. I only played four, eight-man games, but was able to win one, and grab a second in another for a small profit. With this nice field for the WGC Bridgestone, I expect to double my play this week, with hopes of similar results obviously. It was another good week for my rankings and targets as well, so let’s recap that a bit before we get to this weeks event.

Of course I will start with the fact that I called the DJ victory. Not a stretch I know, but still had the sense to realize what kind of spot he was in, considering the prior week, and his history at the RBC Canadian Open. He did go on to win by three strokes if you missed that, firing a -6 final round. My other two high projected targets had mixed results however. Charley Hoffman made the cut, but had a disappointing final round, tailing off the top of the leaderboard and finishing T-29th. Brooks Koepka however, seems to be hitting a rut, and failed to make the cut finishing +3. Something is clearly off mentally with Koepka, so we will not see me recommending him here again this week.

The mid projected targets were pretty much spot on, and as good as they could have been for that projection range. We all knew Jhonattan Vegas had the course history, and while he was never really in serious contention to win it, he made the cut with ease. He then proceeded to get hot with the putter in the final round, pushing him to -11 and in a tie for 29th. JB Holmes also made the cut, but finished just -7, while Harold Varner III was the best of this group, as he stayed hot, and fired a final round -5 to notch another top 20, and slide into a T-17 finish.

Another success in finding low projected targets, as all three made the cut, and also had mixed results in their finishes. I was pretty excited about getting Sam Ryder through the cut, as he was my late round wildcard. He never got anything going after that however, and fell all the way down to 78th place. It was a disappointment, and not exactly what we hope for when our guys make the cut. Low projection staple Tommy Fleetwood stayed on fire, notching another top 10, going -17 and finishing T-6. His projection actually got a little bump up in to the 40’s this week, but he will still qualify as a low projected target, and I would be foolish not to write up the first round target once again. Rounding out this group was Joel Dahmen, who also remained hot. He also slid into the top 10, finishing at -15 and T-8th.

This Week:

Let’s see what’s cooking this week, as we will skip over the event history. You can find out about the course in many other articles, and of course Wikipedia is always an easy source. I think it will make for better a read here in this article if we talk about the prior weeks results instead. With that said, Tiger dominates here. To make a long story short, bombers will struggle with obstacles and narrow fairways, and it is also tough around the greens, which helps to even out the field. Greens will also likely be tough as well, as this is one of the more difficult courses on tour.

This is a no cut, invitational event, with 73 total players in the field. It features previous winners on tour, along with the top 50 in the world in the rankings. Again no cut here, and bearing any withdrawals as we approach Thursday, all 73 will play four rounds. It is always held at Firestone Country Club in Akron, OH, and plays at par 70 and 7400 yards. Hideki Matsuyama was able to secure victory here last year, and Tiger has won here an amazing eight times over his illustrious career. With that brief preview, let’s proceed to the targets!

PGA DFS Golf High Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 70-85)

Dustin Johnson – (80.8)

After another outstanding bounce-back victory for DJ, he checks in as the top pick once again. While I don’t think he will go back-to-back and win again this week, he should find himself among the top 10, as long as he keeps the ball in play.  Johnson has won this event once in eight tries, back in 2015. Other than the one victory here though, he hasn’t been great in other years. My gut says this feels like a let down week again, but he is still the number one pick overall for obvious reasons.

Justin Rose – (75.3)

Rose continues to be in contention every weekend, and as I have said in the past here, remains the model for consistency in PGA DFS Golf. He just missed victory at the Open Championship, firing a third round 64, and finishing T-2. The top 5 there gave him two top fives in his last four events, with the other two being top 10’s. That equals four straight top tens, including his victory at the Fort Worth Invitational. Rose faultered here last year, but has done well here at Firestone in the past, notching five top 5’s over the years. He comes in right behind DJ in the rankings, and is consistently being drafted in the top four overall.

Paul Casey – (75)

In a deep field like this with the worlds best in action, when we get into the second round there are still plenty of fantastic golfers. Just edging out the red hot Tommy Fleetwood in my rankings this week is another model of consistency in Paul Casey. Casey is somewhat off the radar, and falling down draft boards this week, going mid to late second round. I can only assume some are turned off by his disappointing T-51 at the Open Championship two weeks ago, but he did play in Germany over the weekend on the European Tour, and notched a top 10 tying for seventh. Like my other targets, Casey has had success here at Firestone, and I am expecting another top 10 this weekend.

PGA DFS Golf Mid Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 60-70)

Rory McIlroy – (68.9)

My favorite play this weekend is shaping up to be McIlroy, as he comes in with great history here at Firestone, and is in fantastic form as well. I will not go as far to say he will win it, as I am saving that for someone else, but it was a long debate between the two. Since missing the cut at the US Open, Rory was in contention at the Travelers Championships, finishing at T-12. He followed that up with a great showing in the Open Championship tying for second, only to be overshadowed by the incredible run of the red hot Francesco Molinari. McIlroy has pretty much been incredible at Firestone in the past. He won the event in 2014 and has a total of five top 10’s. He warrants a mid first round pick this week, and I think he will be in contention.

Francesco Molinari – (68.5)

With all of these huge name in the field this week, the hottest player in the world right now is falling to the early to mid second round. He was just incredible in the final round grabbing the major at the Open Championships, notching his second victory in his last three tries. More impressive, sandwiched between his victories was a T-2 at the John Deere Classic. Going back even one more event for Molinari, he finished T-25 at the US Open, giving him four straight top 25’s with three straight top 5’s and two victories. You simply can’t argue the recent form here, so draft Molinari with confidence in the second round.

Henrik Stenson – (66)

With Stenson, he kind of remains questionable with the elbow injury, but was able to finish the Open. He did make the cut, but never really got anything going, finishing T-35. He has had an extra week to rest that injury, and I think he bounces back this week and ends up in contention. He hasn’t had the success at this course like some of the previous targets, but the stats line up for him here. I think if he falls to you in the third round you have to grab him. This has happened to me a couple of times at least already in my early drafts.

PGA DFS Golf Low Projected Targets: (Players with DRAFT Projections of 30-60)

Tiger Woods – (39.6)

Yup I am all in on Tiger. I think this is the week he puts it all together, as his recent form has been fantastic, and he has dominated this course more than any other player in the history of the game. Woods should be jacked up for this one, coming off of a T-4 at the Quicken Loans National, and a T-6 at the Open Championship. While we all know Tiger’s story, it has been a long time since he played here. But man what he has done here is elite. Eight victories in fifteen tries is unthinkable, and really makes you flash back to when Tiger simply dominated the game. I am going to go ahead and say it, what the hell it worked last week right? Woods wins this weekend, securing his ninth victory at Firestone.

Tommy Fleetwood – (41.5)

Here we are again. Fleetwood was in contention once again last week at the RBC Canadian Open, notching his third top 10 in four tries, with the miss being a T-12 at The Open Championship. While his form is as good as any besides Molinari obviously, his only disadvantage is his lack of experience here at Firestone. Instead of repeating any other info from the last five articles or so where Fleetwood has been a target, I will add an extra target instead. He has to be noted here however, as his projection is still just way too low.

Alexander Noren – (57.9)

I am a big fan of Noren, and his recent play suggests he will make for a solid third round pick this week. He took a week off as he did not participate in the Canadian, but is riding a streak of three straight top 25’s on the PGA tour. He is kind of an off the wall pick it seems to be turning out, as not many of the sharps are on him this week. Noren’s stats and game don’t necessarily fit Firestone, but his forms leads me to believe he should stay in that top 25 range, and pay off his third round ranking.

Thorbjorn Olesen – (33.8)

My sleeper this week is Olesen, who plays mostly on the European Tour. He has participated in just the US Open and the Open Championship on the PGA tour with mixed results. He missed the cut at the US Open, and was fairly impressive on his home side of the pond at the Open Championship, finishing T-12th. He recently won the Italian Open, and is currently ranked 57th in the world. As the week goes on and Thursday morning approaches, I am sure this will not be the last time you hear about Olesen.

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.

More from FanSided

• Shohei Ohtani Rumors: The best trade package from every NL East team
• Cardinals Rumors: Surprise extension, Dylan Carlson-Yankees link, Rays trade idea
• USWNT vs. Vietnam: Key takeaways before they take on the Dutch
• NFL rumors: 49ers trending toward contract drama with defensive star
• Steelers avoid any camp drama with latest roster move

1. Dustin Johnson – (80.8)

2. Justin Rose – (75.3)

3. Tiger Woods – (39.7)

4. Rory McIlroy – (68.9)

5. Francesco Molinari – (68.5)

6. Justin Thomas – (78.2)

7. Jordan Spieth – (79.3)

8. Henrik Stenson – (66)

9. Paul Casey – (75)

10. Rickie Fowler – (77.9)

11. Tommy Fleetwood – (41.5)

12. Jon Rahm – (77)

13. Hideki Matsuyama – (77.5)

14. Tony Finau – (71.1)

15. Patrick Cantlay – (73.6)

16. Jason Day – (70.4)

17. Alexander Noren – (57.9)

18. Zach Johnson – (62.1)

19. Brooks Koepka – (72.7)

20. Charley Hoffman – (64.4)

21. Xander Schauffele – (62.5)

22. Adam Scott – (61.4)

23. Marc Leishman – (70.6)

24. Bubba Watson – (58.2)

25. Thorbjorn Olesen – (33.8)

26. Patrick Reed – (65.3)

27. Matt Kuchar – (67.3)

28. Pat Perez – (65.3)

29. Kevin Chappell – (61.6)

30. Webb Simpson – (66.3)

31. Phil Mickelson – (71.8)

32. Daniel Berger – (64.9)

33. Ian Poulter – (60.5)

34. Kevin Kisner – (63.2)

35. Gary Woodland – (62.9)

36. Kyle Stanley – (63.6)

37. Brendan Steele – (65.3)

38. Louis Oosthuizen – (63.1)

39. Luke List – (61.4)

40. Rafael Cabrera-Bello – (58.8)

That is all for this weeks PGA DFS Golf DRAFT rankings for the 2018 RBC WGC Bridgestone. 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!