Daily fantasy golf: FanDuel picks – The 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
Daily fantasy golf: FanDuel PGA – Top-tier picks: ($11,000+)
Webb Simpson – $11,300 – (Cash)
Even with the big names at the top in Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay in the field this week, I will be going slightly more balanced with my cash lineup this week and starting things off with Webb Simpson. Last week’s strategy of going full stars and scrubs was pretty much awful with Hideki Matsuyama missing the cut, and Cantlay finishing T-40, so this week I am going to even things out just slightly.
This is a pretty stacked field on a course where anybody can win, so I am centered on consistency this week. Simpson will be making his season debut, but he is a model of consistency here at TPC Summerlin, and he has not missed a cut on tour since the Valero Texas Open in March. He finished the regular season with back-to-back runner-up’s at the St. Jude Invitational and the Wyndham Championship, and then went T-18, T-24, T-16 in the playoffs to finish 16th in the final FedEx Cup standings.
Looking at course history, Simpson has arguably the best body of work here overall. Koepka has a 2nd and 4th but has also missed two cuts, and he also has not played here since 2016, Meanwhile, Cantlay has played here just twice, and has a win and a runner-up. And then, there is last year’s winner Bryson DeChambeau, who has improved on his finish here every year, tying for 7th two years ago.
All of these are great, and Cantlay obviously is a favorite from this perspective with his results, but Simpson has also won here, albeit back in 2013, and he has posted three top-20’s in the last five years without missing a cut. If Cantlay had done a little better last week my stance may be a bit different, and while I believe he is still in play for cash games, I am going with Simpson.
Tony Finau – $11,200 – (Cash/GPP)
Sticking with the theme, Finau is also playing great golf as of late, and he has also fared quite well at the Shriners Open over the last five years. His best finish was his first appearance when he T-7 in 2014, but he has not missed a cut here and he finished inside the top-20 in 2015 and 2017 as well.
While this may not end up a popular cash-game play and feels more suited for GPP, hence the double tag, I think that Finau has done enough as of late to garner the same attention as Cantlay and Koepka, and he is obviously much cheaper. I would be extremely surprised if Tony misses a cut here. I don’t think he will make my cash lineup, but that will be decided on the final page.
Finau had a rough stretch around the U.S. Open in which he missed three straight cuts, but he seems to be well over that stretch and has been for quite some time now. In my opinion, he broke the slump with his T-23 at the inaugural 3M Open followed by his solo third-place finish at the Open Championship, and with his subsequent run in the FedEx Cup playoffs where he grabbed a solo 4th place at the BMW Championship and T-7 at the TOUR Championship.
This season, Finau started things on the European Tour, and a rough weekend with rounds of 77 and 74 left him with a T-51 at the BMW PGA Championship in his first action. However, he was able to bounce back at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week, firing a couple of 66’s following his opening round 67, and finishing four strokes off the lead tied for 10th.