RADIO
Kevin Kisner (-10) held off Sean O'Hair, Jon Rahm, and Jordan Spieth by one stroke to win the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. Kisner shot a final round 66 to capture his second PGA Tournament.
I'll be looking to get back on top the PGA Expert leaderboard providing you with my DraftKings PGA DFS lineup picks for the Memorial Tournament. My goal as always is to help put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups. Additionally, if anyone has lineup questions before the start of the tournament Thursday morning, feel free to contact me via Twitter @Seth_Fink.
Reviewing Last Week's Pick
Zach Johnson ($9,8000)- 7-over, T-63. After a shooting a promising first round 67, ZJ went on to shoot a 75-75-70.
Jason Dufner ($9,000)- Cut. You wouldn't have known Dufner was cut based on his facial expression at the end of the second round.
Brant Snedeker ($8,100)- 3-over, T-58. Sneds couldn't put together a good round.
Ryan Palmer ($7,900)- 10-over, T-70. Palmer was my pick to win and he completely bombed.
Sung Kang ($7,400)- 5-0ver, T-57. Was 2-under after the first round, but couldn't maintain that level of play.
Ben Martin ($7,200)- 5-0ver, T-57.
Danny Lee ($6,900)- 7-under, 6. A player I chose finally played well.
Martin Piller ($6,400)- Cut.
Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament will be played at Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Golden Bear will be roaming the grounds throughout this tournament. A ton of big-name golfers will be competing this week in what is their final preparation before the U.S. Open, which begins in two weeks, June 15th.
The course is a par-72 and plays to 7,392 yards. There are four par-3's and four par-5's on the course. The par 5's range from 527 yards to 567 yards, and are the four easiest holes on the course, so players will have to make birdies on those holes. The fairways are pretty wide so players should be able to hit the fairways regularly, but if you hit it in the rough, you are in big trouble. The rough is thick, which makes it a perfect preparation for the U.S. Open. There are 79 bunkers, many of them around the green, so reaching the green in regulation is key. Also, strokes gained: approach is vital for this week.
William McGirt (-15) defeated Jon Curran in a playoff last year. Past winners include David Lingmerth, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Kuchar, and K.J. Choi.
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for DraftKings (PGA DFS)
High-Cost Players
Dustin Johnson ($12,000) is the highest-priced player this week, followed by Jon Rahm ($11,100). As weekly readers of my column know, I hate taking the highest-priced players.
Instead, I'm going to pair Hideki Matsuyama ($10,000) and Patrick Reed ($9,200). Although Matsuyama was cut last year, that was an anomaly. He won here in 2014 and finished fifth in 2015. He hasn't played since finishing 22nd at THE PLAYERS and his stats are ripe for this tournament; 7th in GIR, 1st in par-5 scoring and 19th in strokes gained: approach.
Reed has finally turned his game around after three consecutive missed cuts at the Houston Open, Masters, and Texas Open. He finished T-12 at the Wells Fargo, T-22 at THE PLAYERS and T-20 two weeks ago at the Byron Nelson. He's competed in this event twice, the past two years, finishing 26th and 8th. Although his stats aren't too good; 161st in GIR, 95th in par-5 scoring, and 140th in approach, I'll overlook that in favor of recent form and course experience.
Middle-Cost Players
Tony Finau ($7,900)
The long-hitting Finau finished eighth and 11th in his two tries at Muirfield. He's fifth in GIR, 48th in par-5 scoring, and 21st in SG: approach. Finau has four top 10s in 2017 and I believe he makes it five after this week.
Phil Mickelson ($7,700)
Lefty's price is pretty low this week. He has two top 10's at this event, but those came way back in 2006 and 2010. Mickelson has never missed a cut at this event, although he's withdrew twice, 2007 and 2012. He also hasn't missed a cut all year. He's 149th in GIR, fifth in par-5 and 24th in SG: approach.
Kyle Stanley ($7,400)
He was cut two weeks ago at the DEAN & DELUCA, but did finish fourth two weeks ago at THE PLAYERS. Stanley has played this event four times between 2011 and 2014, finishing 37th, cut, 3rd, and 74th in 2014. He's second in GIR, 14th in par-5 scoring, and fourth in SG: approach.
Low-Cost Players
Byeong-Hun An ($6,900)
Ben An has had a nice string of tournaments recently; T-8 at the Wells Fargo, T-5 at the Byron Nelson and T-24 at the BMW PGA Championship this past week. He finished 11th at this event last year and was cut in 2010. He's 87th in GIR, 190th in par-5 scoring, and 28th in SG: approach.
Marc Leishman ($6,900)
Leishman has played in the Memorial Tournament every year since 2009 placing 58th, cut, 62nd, 58th, 41st, 37th, fifth, and 11th last year. He's T-40 in GIR, 48th in par-5 scoring and 53rd in SG: approach. He's a solid sleeper.
Brendan Steele ($6,700)
Steele had his best finish at this event last year finishing 20th and has only been cut twice in six tries. His stats are also perfect for this event; 32nd in GIR, 22nd in par-5, and 18th in SG: approach. He hasn't played since finishing T-6 at THE PLAYERS, so he has had ample time to rest up for this U.S. Open tune-up.
Best of luck!
