RADIO
Welcome back RotoBallers! It's been a couple of weeks since my last golf column, but with the NCAA Tournament winding down, it's onto golf season. The Masters will begin next Thursday so this week's tournament is the final tune-up before Augusta.
In this article, I will be providing you with my DraftKings PGA DFS lineup picks for the Valero Texas Open. My goal as always is to help put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups. You can also track my selections against every other fantasy golf expert on dailyoverlay.com
If anyone has lineup questions before the start of the tournament Thursday morning, feel free to contact me via Twitter @SethFinkTV.
Featured Promo: For this week only, take 50% off any full-season or yearly Premium Pass on the site! Just enter discount code THANKS when checking out. Thanks for being a reader, and Happy Holidays! Sign Up Now!Editor's Note: Our friends at Fantasy National have built some incredible DFS Golf lineup tools including a Lineup Optimizer, Stat Engine, Ownership Projections and Course Breakdowns. They are by far the best daily fantasy Golf tools in the industry. Seriously. You can read all about them here and see screenshots.
Valero Texas Open - PGA DFS Overview
The PGA Tour heads San Antonio, Texas for the Valero Texas Open. This tournament is usually played in mid-April, but with the schedule change, it was moved ahead in the calendar.
AT&T Oaks Course is a 7,435 yard par-72. There are four par-3's, 10 par-4's, and four par-5's. The par-5's are the three of the four easiest holes on the course. The Bermuda greens are average in size and average in speed.
Let's take a look at the stats:
| Stat | AT&T Oaks Course | Tour Average |
| Driving Distance | 283 | 283 |
| Driving Accuracy | 58% | 61% |
| GIR Percentage | 58% | 66% |
| Scrambling Percentage | 58% | 57% |
| Average three-putts per round | 0.58 | 0.56 |
The average cut line the last seven years has been around 1-over.
| Player | Strokes Gained Total (last five years) |
| Jimmy Walker | 42.9 |
| Charley Hoffman | 30.28 |
| Ryan Palmer | 30.23 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 28.28 |
| Chris Kirk | 26.66 |
The defending champion is Andrew Landry. Previous winners are, Kevin Chappell, Charley Hoffman, Jimmy Walker, Steven Bowditch, Martin Laird, Ben Curtis, Brendan Steele, and Adam Scott
In Vegas, as of Monday on sportsbook.ag, Rickie Fowler is the 10-1 favorite. Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau are next at 16-1.
My custom stat model will be focusing on stats from the last 24 rounds; SG: Par 5, Par 4: 400-450 yards, SG: putting Bermuda, fairways gained, GIR's gained, proximity 150-175, proximity 175-200, proximity 200+, SG: Total (moderate/high wind)
*Note: I will not really include stats or records from last week's match play event*
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for DraftKings (PGA DFS)
High-Priced DFS Players
There are five players this week priced above $10,000;
Rickie Fowler ($11,700) - Fowler has remained quiet since February after he won the Phoenix Open and finished runner-up a the Honda Classic. In March, he recorded a T-40 at the Arnold Palmer and T-47 at THE PLAYERS. With this being Fowler's first time competing at this tournament, his sights are set on The Masters next week. That's not to say Fowler isn't going to play well, but he is more focused on tuning up his game in hopes for his first major.
Matt Kuchar ($11,200) - Kuchar hasn't had a top-20 finish since the T-4 at Phoenix Open (early February). He'll make the cut here, but will the distance of this course be too much on the 40-year-old who ranks 122nd in driving distance? That remains to be seen, but Kuchar stats checks all the other boxes.
Tony Finau ($10,800) - Finau has made his last four cuts, but only got a T-15 once. His stats are solid and he is 2/2 in cuts made here (2015, T-68, 2017, T-3). I just don't think he's worth this price.
Jordan Spieth ($10,300) - For Spieth to get this pricing with his best finish this season being T-45 is remarkable. I mean, he's been playing awful. The only place that can save him is Augusta, and that's not until next week.
Sungjae Im ($10,100) - I think you've noticed by now the stars are taking this week off to prepare for The Masters, but Im is a good player. He actually deserves this pricing in this field. Three of his last four tournaments have seen him finish in the top-10, including two top-five's. This will be his first time playing this tournament.
Middle-Priced DFS Players
Jim Furyk ($9,600) - Furyk is the number one player on my custom rankings. He's made his last three cuts including a T-6 in 2014. He's had a great last month from a T-9 at the Honda Classic to a runner-up at THE PLAYERS to a T-18 at the Valspar Championship
Jhonattan Vegas ($8,700) - Vegas can crush the ball which is why he does well on long par-4's. He's on a roll of late making his last four cuts. And while he's alternated making the cut at this tournament last five years, he's due to make it this year.
Ryan Palmer ($8,400) - He's third on most strokes gained at this event in the last five years. He's had an up-and-down year but has tossed in some good performances. While he missed the cut here last year, he did finish in the top-10 the previous three years.
Andrew Landry ($7,200) - The defending champ comes in off a T-47 and a T-46 which would be a great result if you take him in DraftKings at this price.
Low-Priced DFS Players
Vaughn Taylor ($6,800) - Taylor finished T-16 at this event last year. He comes in off a T-18 at the Valspar. Taylor will need to rely on his putting if he has hopes to contend.
D.J Trahan ($6,700) - The 38-year-old has made three consecutive top-10's. His stats are also pretty good including strokes gained: par 5.
Freddie Jacobson ($6,200) - The Swede has made four consecutive cuts at this tournament. Choose him at your own risk.
Custom Rankings
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