RADIO
Brooks Koepka tied the lowest score in U.S. Open history (-16) winning by four strokes over Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama. Koepka claimed his first major win and second win on the PGA Tour.
While Erin Hills was beautiful and all, the course was a joke. There is no reason 30 players should be under-par at a U.S. Open. That should NEVER happen. "10-under par would have won every U.S. Open, but two," (discluding this U.S. Open) said one FOX analyst, yet there were SEVEN players who were 10-under or better. SEVEN. Last year there were four players under par and three years ago at Pinehurst there was a grand total of three players. Yes, some years like in 2015 there are eight players under par, but 30. Come on now.
The U.S. Open is supposed to test the best players in the world, not be an easy par-72. I'm not trying to take anything away from Koepka's performance, but take this U.S. Open with a grain of salt. I'm very disappointed at the USGA for giving into the players and making this U.S. Open a TON easier than it should have been.
Anyways, I'll be looking to get back on top the PGA Expert leaderboard providing you with my DraftKings PGA DFS lineup picks for the Travelers Championship. 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
Jason Day ($10,800): Cut, 10-over. Kind of crazy and shocking that the world's top three all missed the cut.
Rickie Fowler ($10,500): T-5, 10-under. Fowler should have won this U.S. Open. If not this major, when? The world's top-three missed the cut and he was the best player in the hunt (yes, better than Matsuyama) and couldn't convert. He played way too conservatively in the final round and kept missing short.
Brandon Grace ($8,600): T-50, 4-over. Couldn't get a consistent round going throughout the tournament.
Jason Dufner ($8,100): Cut, 7-0ver.
Brandt Snedeker ($7,800): T-9, 8-under. He bogeyed the easiest hole, the par-5 18th on Saturday and Sunday. That's bad.
Alexander Noren ($7,500): Cut, 6-over.
Shane Lowry ($7,300): T-46, 3-0ver.
Daniel Summerhays ($7,100): 65th, 12-over. Was 9-over in the final round. Jeez.
Zach Johnson ($6,900): T-27, 1-under. The course seemed to long for him.
Lee Westwood ($6,800): T-55, 7-0ver. Obviously he shoots a 3-under 69 in the first round with five birdies because he always seems to play well in the first round of majors, but then doesn't make even five birdies the NEXT three rounds (he made a total of three).
Marc Leishman ($6,700): T-27, 1-under. Looked promising after a first round 4-under 68, but couldn't build on that opening round.
Bill Haas ($6,600): T-5, 10-under. What a great showing from Haas.
Travelers Championship
There is a stacked field for The Travelers taking place at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT. The course is a par-70, 6,841 yards, with 12 par-4's, four par 3's, and two par-5's. It is very short. So short that the par-4 15th hole is ONLY 296 yards. Pro golfers can drive the ball 300 yards with ease. Russell Knox is the defending champion.
I'll be taking a look at par-4 scoring average and birdie or better percentage.
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for DraftKings (PGA DFS)
High-Cost Players
Rory McIlroy ($11,600) is the highest-priced player available, but he's barely been competing recently. McIlroy's last two tournaments were the U.S. Open and THE PLAYERS. How could I take the highest-priced player who's been injured all year? I can't.
I like the tandem of Patrick Reed ($9,500) and Brandt Snedeker ($9,400). Reed finished 13th at the U.S. Open last week. He was in contention on Sunday after a brilliant third round, but couldn't take advantage on Sunday at easy Erin Hills. Reed is 62nd in birdies 91st in par 4 scoring average. He finished 11th last year at this event and I expect him to continue his strong play after last week.
As for Snedeker, he is such a fabulous putter. On a course like TPC River Highlands, Sneds will surely convert his birdies. He's 40th in par 4 scoring 19th in birdies. He has three straight top-25's at the Travelers ('11, '14, '15). He will be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Middle-Cost Players
Tony Finau ($8,700)
Finau hasn't played in two week so he's more than rested for this event. He played this tournament the past two years finishing 25th both time. His stats are also ripe; 10th in birdies and T-15 in par-4 scoring average.
Jim Furyk ($8,500)
After being cut at six consecutive tournaments, he finished a surprising 23rd at the U.S. Open last week. This will be his third time competing at this event (cut in 2011 and 5th last year). Furyk's stats are iffy, 187 in birdies and T-73 in par-4 scoring, but he'll build off of last week's strong U.S. Open showing.
Bubba Watson ($8,400)
I'm not a Bubba guy. He is just so so unpredictable. He plays such an uncanny style of golf with his wild draws and crazy fades that I can't trust him. Having said that, he's a horse for this course. He's 9/10 in cuts with nine straight. He's won the Travelers twice ('10 & '15) finished 6th in '08, runner-up in '12 and 4th in '13. He's 109th in birdies and T-186 in par 4 scoring, but don't let those numbers discourage you.
Low-Cost Players
Charley Hoffman ($7,300)
Is this price a joke? Hoffman finished eighth at the U.S. Open last week and is 6/7 in cuts made at this tournament. He finished runner-up in 2012, seventh in 2013, and was 25th last year. His stats are good as well; 34th in birdies and T-40 in par-4 scoring. Hoffman is the steal of the week.
Graham DeLaet ($7,100)
He's 5/6 in cuts made at this event including a 3rd-place finish in 2013 and a 4th-place finish in 2015. His last time playing was two weeks ago at the Memorial where he finished 10th. He's 35th in birdies and T-57 in par-4 scoring average.
Danny Lee ($6,800)
Lee is 2/4 in cuts made with his best finish 25th at this tournament. He's 44th in birdies and T-91 in par-4 scoring. He has made four cuts in a row and is good for this price.
Best of luck!
