PGA DFS: The 2019 U.S. Open – Yahoo Fantasy Special

We have a huge week in the PGA DFS world upon us, as the third major championship of 2019 approaches. The 119th U.S. Open will take place at the infamous Pebble Beach Golf Links, and Yahoo is offering one of the best, low-entry tournaments in the market. As a bonus this week to my loyal PGA readers, this article will break down my favorite golfers on Yahoo.

They say the early bird gets the worm, and that could not be more true if you are a fan of rake free PGA DFS. I have played DFS since FanDuel was born, and I have played on every site that probably has existed. No matter what the website, format or sport, nothing is better than not paying management fees whatever game you decide to enter.

Since DraftKings and FanDuel have dramatically increased their rake over the years, for the casual player it can be hard sometimes just to beat the rake to stay ahead, let alone profit. I often find myself entering more contests to cover the rake should I win, and that seems like a -EV strategy overall.

What I have concluded in my experience is that the lower the rake the better, obviously. Any time you can enter a tournament with a full guaranteed prize pool in which there is zero rake or management fee, you should be all over it. Rake free head-to-matches are available on Fantasy Draft, and Yahoo offers them as well with their quick match feature, but you will be hard pressed to find GPP tournaments in which the house takes nothing from the prize pool.

Even more perfect about this is the structure of this tournament, which caters to the everyday player and not the sharks of the industry. All of Yahoo’s GPP tournaments are 10-max entries at the most, and this weeks featured “No Management Fee” GPP is just a $3.00 entry, is limited to 2000 spots, and of course has the full $6K prize pool. 500 spots pay out, and first place takes home $600. The reason this is my first article this week, is because this tournament will likely be long gone and full well before tee off on Thursday.

As it stands right now still six days before the U.S. Open tees off, almost 300 spots are taken already in this tournament, and by the time this is published it will likely be closer to half full. If all of this interests you, head over to Yahoo Fantasy now, and reserve some entries before they fill. But first, click the bar below to see who I am targeting for this weeks action.

PGA DFS: Yahoo Fantasy – $40+ Targets

Brooks Koepka – $46

I find it hard to believe and it really does not make much sense to me why Dustin Johnson is a full $3 more than Koepka here. Sure Brooks doesn’t have much history here at Pebble Beach like DJ does, but I think it’s safe to say he does okay in Major Championships. Either way, both are obviously the top two plays on the board this week with a bullet, and I have 40% DJ and 50% Brooks in my ten entries.

So let’s just summarize what Koepka has done in majors quickly. First of all, he comes in seeking his third straight U.S. Open Championship, and he also is coming off of a win in his last action. That of course was at the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, where he finished 8-under par for the tournament. The fact that he has not played any of the three events since does not scare me off at all when it comes to a player of this caliber.

Patrick Cantlay – $41

At first I thought Cantlay would be pretty chalky here at this price, but the more I look there are just so many good plays and big names, that people might not flock towards Cantlay like I expect. Jason Day is the same price and has been amazing here at Pebble Beach throughout his career, and a household name like Rickie Fowler is just $1 more. Looking even lower in salary, Jordan Spieth may end up the chalk at just $37, and I can’t help but get on board at that price either with his history here and suddenly fantastic recent form.

Cantlay doesn’t have the great course history here like I would like to see, but he actually hasn’t played much here either. His best finish was at the 2013 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but only two rounds of that tournament are played at this course, so it kind of skews all of our history a bit. Regardless of that, it is more of what Cantlay has been doing lately that is drawing me in anyways.

Since the Masters, Cantlay has played just three events, giving him four total in the last two months. Sometimes not going out there every week pays off I guess, because his schedule seems to be working perfectly for him. He T-9 at the Masters, and that sparked a stretch of four straight top-tens. Cantlay T-3 at both the RBC Heritage and the PGA Championship, then finally put it all together and won the Memorial Tournament in convincing fashion last week. I don’t think anybody is hotter, and he will be my highest owned player for this no-rake GPP at 60%

***Also Consider: Dustin Johnson – $49***

PGA DFS: Yahoo Fantasy – $30-39 Targets

Paul Casey – $39

First thing that grabbed me about Casey was the price. I see no reason for him to be under $40 in a major championship. Yeah $39 is pretty damn close, but that just makes it perfect I guess. Casey withdrew from his last action, and that maybe kept his price down a buck or two? I am not sure, but the guy had a serious case of the flu and was actually briefly hospitalized.

He hasn’t been great in majors this year, and after his win at the Valspar Championship, he actually missed the cut at Augusta. He bounced back at the PGA Championship with a T-29, and prior to that T-4 at the Wells Fargo Championship. While the recent form is a little shaky, the recent history here at Pebble Beach is not.

Casey has been solid at the Pro Am for the last two seasons, finishing runner-up this year to Phil Mickelson, and T-8 in 2018 at 10-under par. Again, the stats are a bit skewed as the Pro Am plays at three different courses. However, at least two rounds are played always played at Pebble Beach as sunday always takes place there, and that gives him four rounds worth of data. In 2018, Casey led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, and in Strokes Gained: Approach as well. Much like everyone I recommend from here on out, it will likely come down who putts the best, as it usually does.

Hideki Matsuyama – $34

Matsuyama keeps trending in the right direction, and surprisingly enough, it looks like the 27-year-old has no history whatsoever here at Pebble Beach, at least at the professional level. I am going to throw that fact right out the window this week, considering this price tag, and the fact that Matusyama just keeps getting closer to a victory.

After posting three top-tens in 11 events to start 2019 through the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship, Matsuyama T-32 at the Masters, and started a trend of upward finishes since. He followed that by finishing just outside the top-20 at the Wells Fargo Championship and the Byron Nelson.

Matsuyama was then able to battle the elements and difficulty at the Black Course at Bethpage for the 101st PGA Championship, and worked his way up to a T-16 finish. In his last action two weeks ago at the Memorial, he improved once again. After posting a 64 on Saturday at Muirfield Village, a disappointing 72 on Sunday led to a solo sixth place finish, but he continues to trend in the right direction.

***Also Consider: Tommy Fleetwood $38 – Jordan Spieth $37***

PGA DFS: Yahoo Fantasy – $25-29 Targets

Henrik Stenson – $28

Welcome to the chalk zone baby! I wanted to split this into two smaller ranges here, because recency bias will probably make both of my targets in this range mega chalk. We are only part way through round two at the RBC Canadian Open as I am writing this so things could change quickly. However, the prices on these two golfers is just way too low, and they both feel like locks in this range. On top of that, both are now finished with their respective seconds rounds at Hamilton Golf Club, and both are highly in contention.

The first is Henrik Stenson. I am guessing not a big fan of the Pro Am or likely committed to European Tour events, Stenson does not have much history here at Pebble Beach, and we have to go back to the 2010 US. Open to find some. Pebble was a bear that year, as Graeme McDowell was the champion at even par. Stenson finished +11, but that was still good enough for a T-29 finish. My initial thoughts on this week is that the winning score will likely be in that even par range once again, and things will be tough. Stenson has been so good with his irons as of late, if he can get comfortable with the winds, and sink some putts of course, he could make some noise.

Brandt Snedeker – $26

Depending on how this RBC Canadian Open finishes up this weekend, we could end up seeing Snedeker approach 50% ownership in this no management fee GPP on Yahoo this week. He will head into the weekend T-3, after an incredible round of 60 on Friday, and it looks like he will head to Pebble Beach at the very least with three consecutive top-20’s under his belt.

Stenson and Snedeker at these prices will obviously be popular. My only problem with any pivots in this price range is that they are just not comparable. Truthfully, these two could easily get plenty of consideration in the $30-$34 range with they how they have been playing.

On top of Snedeker rounding into form, he has played very well at Pebble Beach throughout his career. He is a two-time champion at the Pebble Beach Pro Am, with victories coming in 2013 and 2015, and in our four-round sample from the U.S. Open back in 2010, Snedeker T-8. I have a few days to tinker with my lineups of course, but right now I have Sneds in six of ten entries.

PGA DFS: Yahoo Fantasy – Value Targets (Below $25)

Shane Lowry – $21

It’s actually unfortunate most of my targets for this weeks action in Canada are playing well. I mean don’t get me wrong here. Lowry was not going to be sneaky or anything at this price for the U.S. Open with the way he is playing, as he came into the RBC Canadian Open off of back-to-back top-tens with his T-3 at the RBC Heritage, and his T-8 at the PGA Championship.

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After two rounds at Hamilton Golf Club, Lowry currently sits T-7, with rounds of 64 and 68 respectively. He was already going to probably be chalky, now 30-40% looks very possible, especially if he is able to grab another top-ten this week.

The 32-year-old doesn’t have great history here at Pebble Beach, but he is well known as one of the best players in the world in windy conditions, and is a golfer I love to target for PGA DFS events with the “ocean effect.” His best finish at a Pebble Beach Pro Am was in 2017 when he T-14, and he missed the cut this year at this years event.

Graeme McDowell – $20

Another obvious target here in my opinion, minimum priced GMac with how well he is playing as of late, and the fact that he was the 2010 U.S. Open Champion here at Pebble Beach is a no-brainer. If you haven’t done it yet, make you sure you scroll through every single one of those $20 players this week. Do it slow though because I think I almost had a seizure thinking it would never end.

I am not sure if it is changed yet, but there are plenty of players in the player pool who are NOT qualified for the tournament and will not be playing. First couple names that come to mind who are actually over $20, are Jason Kokrak, and Emiliano Grillo.

Just like Lowry before him, and Snedeker and Stenson as well, McDowell is also playing very well thus far at the RBC Canadian Open. He is currently T-7 at 8-under par, and the 39-year-old Northern Ireland native is currently on a stretch in which he has not missed a cut since the Mayakoba Golf Classic last fall, excluding an MDF at the Honda Classic.

McDowell won this season at the alternate event to the WGC-Mexico, the Corales Championships, and grabbed another top-ten at the Valero Texas Open as well. Having a guy at minimum price who you feel will make the cut is a necessity, as you will need all six of your golfers to make the weekend to take this thing down. McDowell and the surging South African Erik Van Rooyen are my best bets to do so, and my ownership is split up evenly among the two.

There is a link to the rake free tournament in the last paragraph if you missed it, and as I hit submit on this article, it just about a quarter full. My guess is that it will fill up sometime Monday, so don’t wait too long if you want to join me at the top!

***Also Consider: Tyrell Hatton $23 – Erik Van Rooyen $20***

Thanks for stopping in and checking out some of the earliest free PGA DFS content you can find for the U.S. Open. Be sure to check back here at FantasyCPR often in the next few days as we get closer to Thursday, because this will be my first of four pieces for this weeks third Major Championship.

I hope to get the weekly PGA Power Rankings extended to 30 golfers out by Sunday night, and FanDuel Targets and the DK Cash Core will follow. Let’s get pumped up and play some Fantasy Golf!