Frys.com Open – DraftKings Edition
Welcome back after a long and grueling offseason. We spent the last three weeks reflecting on our mistakes or basking in our glory of winning our leagues. Now it’s back to grind.
The first week out of the gate is a doozy. It’s the Frys.com Open, but here’s the catch. It’s played at a new venue, and we get a boatload of Web.com Tour grads to handicap as well. I would advise against getting too excited about any of the graduates just yet. No matter what stat you want to look at on the Web.com Tour, the transition to the PGA TOUR just can’t be counted on. For example in 2013, Edward Loar was third in scoring average, fourth in all-around ranking, and fourth in regular season money list. Fast forward a year, and the Texan went 3-for-19 and failed to finish inside the top 50 a single time.
John Peterson was another guy that looked like a cant-miss prospect after his time on the Web.com Tour, but we all know how that ended up last year.
There were definitely some guys that made the transition, but even then, consistency wasn’t the name of the game. I’m looking at you Chesson Hadley, Ben Martin, and Will MacKenzie. Feel free to take a shot on one or two guys this week in deeper formats, but please don’t get carried away.
I’m going to keep this short this week. I’m going to throw out the California Love team and then give some value plays. It’s shorter than usual, but check back tomorrow for the full preview…Now onto some DK picks:
California Love
Jimmy Walker @ $11,200: The King of Cali, ten top 10s in his last 14 Cali tourneys, including two wins.
Hunter Mahan @ $10,800: Top 25s in seven of his last nine Cali tournaments.
Vijay Singh @ $4,900: Top 50s in nine of last 13 Cali.
Bryce Molder @ $6,300: Top 40s in 11 of last 17 Cali, including ’11 Frys win.
Brandt Snedeker @ $9,900: Top 25s in six of last nine Cali, including two wins.
This team is based on performance in California tournaments over the past four years. I stuck with the high sample size guys. That explains the exclusion of Hideki Matsuyama who has finished 16th and 3rd in two Cali trips. Also, Kuchar has played seven Cali events since 2011 and hasn’t finished outside of 38th place. Consistency is the name of his game. This core lineup leaves you with $6,900 for your sixth and final spot.
Handpicked Value Plays
Cameron Wilson @ $4,100: My favorite sleeper this week, but it’s really just a gut play. The stats won’t back me up on this one as he’s 0-for-4 on TOUR so far. What I really like is his college pedigree and familiarity with the area. Playing at Stanford as recent as last year, he posted the second-lowest all time stroke average at Stanford in a season of 69.76, bested only by teammate Patrick Rodgers. You don’t just stumble onto a 69.76 scoring average. His Sagarin College Ranking was fourth overall last season. For basically min. price, I am going to take a shot on some Wilson this week. Speaking of Rodgers, he makes a juicy GPP play as well this week at just over $5K.
Daniel Summerhays @ $6,700: Last year he made the move from high-risk, high-reward into the steady-eddie category. Summerhays missed just five of 27 cuts last season and landed inside the top 25 on eight occasions. He’s not quite up there with de Jonge and DeLaet for guys that are due for a win, but at the same time, a win would not surprise any of his followers. At $6,700 you are getting a great cash game play.
Brendon de Jonge @ $7,000: Still one of the finest talents without a win on TOUR. Could easily get overlooked this week as some players stockpile the favorites and round out their team with scrubs. The only downside with the Zimbawean is his lack of high finishes last year. He didn’t earn any podium finishes and yielded just two top 10s. For $7,000 you are paying for the consistency, and also the ability to fire rounds of 62 immediately following a round of 80.
