3 months agoBrendan Steele has a missed cut and a T65 finish in his last two starts, and he will need to be better with his putter if he wants a better result this week at ZOZO. Steele is struggling to save pars, evidenced by a scrambling rate of just a little over 50 percent. He also ranks 224th on Tour in strokes gained putting. He has been fairly accurate with his irons but is clearly struggling to convert those approach shots into birdies. Steele's DFS price is just $6,500 this week but likely has very little reward.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoJason Kokrak will enter the ZOZO Championship coming off his first career PGA Tour victory last week at the CJ Cup. He ranked first in the field in strokes gained putting and 12th in strokes gained approaching the green. He now ranks fifth on Tour in total strokes gained, and he will need to continue his hot putting and solid iron striking if he wants to compete in a deep field this week. He has obviously been playing well as of late, but playing the week after his first career win could lead to a letdown performance. He may be a bit overpriced at $8,600.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoJoaquin Niemann will make his fourth start of the season this week at ZOZO and is off to a solid 2021 campaign. He has improved in each of his last two starts, including a sixth place finish last week at the CJ Cup. He is crushing the ball off the tee, ranking fourth in driving distance. He also has a good feel with the flat stick at the moment, ranking 20th in strokes gained putting. Niemann does not have the popularity of other names in the field this week, but he should have great value at a price of just $8,400.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoCameron Smith is off to a solid start to the 2021 season. After finishing T38 at the U.S. Open, he has notched finishes of T24 and 11th at Shriners and the CJ Cup, respectively. His putting has been the best part of his game, ranking 31st in strokes gained and 39th in putting average. A concern for Smith coming into this week is that he seems to struggle on Jack Nicklaus designed courses, most notably Glen Abbey and Muirfield. Smith is a risky play this week, but he can put himself in a position to compete if he can continue to hole some putts.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoRickie Fowler had a respectable T28 finish last week at the CJ Cup and will look to build on that success at this week's ZOZO championship. Sherwood is a familiar course for Fowler, and he has found success here in the past. It has been a while since he has played at Sherwood, but he had a fourth-place finish in 2012 and a sixth-place finish in 2011. Fowler's irons have not been great, but he does rank 36th on the Tour in approaches from 125 to 150 yards. He ranks 29th in driving distance, so those drives should put him in the approach range he is most comfortable with. He is definitely a risky play but may be worth a DFS look at a price of just $7,700.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoAdam Scott has withdrawn from the ZOZO Championship at Sherwood Country Club after testing positive for COVID-19. Scott, who last competed at the U.S. Open in September, should be okay for the Masters in one month, but it is a disappointing outcome that will most likely keep him out of action for the next two weeks. Jim Herman will get his spot in the field this week in California, but it is difficult to expect much of the 104th-ranked player in the world. Herman does have two victories in the past two seasons, but those are also his only two top-10 results he has to his name.
--Spencer Aguiar - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoKevin Na will make his third straight start this week at ZOZO. He has back-to-back finishes inside the top 50, but he could have finished much higher if would have been consistent every day. He has played fairly well in rounds two and three but ranks 208th in round one scoring and 181st in round four scoring. He is not converting as many birdies as he would like, and part of that is likely due to ranking 153rd in proximity to the hole. He will need to give himself better birdie looks this week if he wants to have a chance at competing on Sunday. His DFS price is $6,900 this week and does not offer a whole lot of upside.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoAbraham Ancer has played fairly well in his last couple starts with a fourth-place finish at Shriners and a decent T28 finish last week at the CJ Cup. Sherwood is not an overly long course, which sets up nicely for Ancer. He has played well on short par-three courses, short par-fours and medium par-fours, and there are six such holes that fall into one of those categories this weekend. Other than the U.S. Open, this will be the most competitive field Ancer has played in this season, which is likely why he is priced at just $7,800. There are players with higher ceilings in this field, but Ancer has the potential to be a good value play.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoMarc Leishman will make his third start of the season at this week's ZOZO Championship. Leishman has not played well since the PGA restart and has notched just one top-40 finish over his last seven made cuts. He does not seem to have anything positive going with any part of his game and does not rank inside the top-100 in any key performance metric. There will likely be a lot of birdies out there this week, and Leishman ranks 252nd on Tour in birdie or better conversion percentage. He is a super cheap DFS option this week but holds little to no value.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoGary Woodland will make his second consecutive start this week after coming off a T72 finish at last week's CJ Cup. Woodland has now failed to finish inside the top 30 in each of his last six starts. He has been poor with his irons, ranking 186th in strokes gained approaching the green so far this season. He will need to be better with his irons if he wants to have a shot at competing this week at Sherwood. Woodland has a cheap DFS price of $7,300 but likely will not generate much of a return on that investment.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months ago
It has been five straight top-27 finishes for Russell Henley, who will look to keep the positive momentum rolling at the ZOZO Championship. Henley enters the week off of a third-place result at Shadow Creek, and there are reasons to believe he might be in line for another solid performance in California. The American is ranked second over his last 24 rounds compared to the field in strokes gained approach and is also inside the top-25 in strokes gained total, par-three and par-four scoring, as well as overall bogey avoidance. If you are looking for a negative, he ranks just 62nd in our model for par-five scoring, but will that be enough to ignore him entirely?
--Spencer Aguiar - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoMatthew Fitzpatrick enters this week's ZOZO Championship coming off a solid T12 finish. He was solid with his approach shots, ranking 10th in the field in greens in regulation percentage. His good iron play is also evidenced by him ranking 7th in the field last week approaching the green. Sherwood sets up nicely for good iron players, so that is encouraging for Fitzpatrick coming into this week. If Fitzpatrick can carry over momentum from last week, he should be a solid DFS play at a price of $8,300.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoPaul Casey will make his third consecutive start at ZOZO this week. Since finishing T17 at the U.S. Open, Casey has hit a bit of a rut, missing the cut at Shriners and finishing T69 last week at the CJ Cup. His putting has been the most concerning part of his game, ranking 151st in strokes gained putting and 178th in putting average. He has also struggled with scrambling at a success rate of just a little over 52 percent. Casey had some success at ZOZO last season, finishing T17, but a new venue presents a bit of a challenge. He is a cheap DFS option this week but likely comes with a limited ceiling.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoTommy Fleetwood has continued to struggle into the 2021 season. He had an abbreviated 2020 season and is still searching for form. In two starts this season, he has missed the cut at the U.S. Open and finished T59 at last week's CJ Cup. His putting has been average, and that has actually been the best part of his game. He ranks 216th in strokes gained tee to green and 245th in strokes gained off the tee. He is a player that can get hot at any time, but it has been a while since we have seen that Tommy Fleetwood. He has a DFS price of $8,500, which is probably a bit steep based on recent performances.
--Connor WegeSource: PGA Tour
3 months agoScottie Scheffler will be teeing it up for the fourth week in a row, hoping to regain some of his pre-COVID form. Scheffler has failed to crack the top-35 in his previous three starts since recovering from the virus, but we wouldn't discount his potential at Sherwood Country Club. The American is a ball-striking savant that can score on par-fives, and his $8,200 salary on DraftKings should provide GPP optimism for those that are willing to take a chance. There is no guarantee Scheffler turns it around, but there are worse gambles to take at around 10 percent ownership.
--Spencer Aguiar - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
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