DraftKings preview: Hero World Challenge

The PGA TOUR travels to Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospital for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. This week’s field consists of a) players making their season debut such as Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff and Webb Simpson; and b) players making the trip from last week’s Safeway Open, such as past champions Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau. TPC Summerlin will play as a par 71, measure 7,255 yards and offer bentgrass greens. The course played as the 12th easiest in scoring relative to par on the PGA TOUR last season and 11th the year previous. Yet windy conditions can also make this a difficult test. The course layout does not have many trees nor any defense against the elements, so make sure you check the weather reports closer to the opening round Thursday. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the field In 2018, the Shriners recorded the seventh most birdies and sixth most eagles on TOUR; a lot of the scoring was produced on the back-nine par 5s, recording 62.2% of total eagles made throughout the tournament and 45% of the birdies made on the back-nine over the same timeframe. The course has eight par 4s under 450 yards, two of which are under 400 yards. In 2019, four of the top-5 finishers ranked inside the top-5 in par 4 efficiency on holes measuring between 400-450 yards and back in 2018, nine of the top-10 finishers gained strokes in the aforementioned statistical category. Other key statistics we should focus on when building lineups will again be Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green combined with Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Of those who finished inside the top-10 at TPC Summerlin last season, eight gained strokes off the tee as well as with their irons. TOP VALUES Webb Simpson ($10,200) Simpson didn’t finish last season on a positive note, losing strokes Off-the-tee in all three tournaments during the FedExCup Playoffs, but his form leading up to the Playoffs was great, finishing second at the Wyndham Championship and ranking fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Webb loves the Wyndham Championship and has always played well there, but he also has an affinity for TPC Summerlin, winning back in 2013 and ranking fifth in Strokes Gained: Total since 2015. Over the last six tournaments, Simpson ranks 15th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, 29th in birdie or better gained and ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting on bent greens over the last 50 rounds. Scottie Scheffler ($8,800) Scheffler has been playing solid to start the season, ranking 11th in both Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee over his last three tournaments. Birdies need to be made at TPC Summerlin and Scheffler ranks second in greens in regulation percentage as well as in birdie average so far this season. Scheffler has also done well ranking 11th in par 4 efficiency on holes measuring from 400-450 yards over the last three tournaments. J.T. Poston ($8,300) Poston recorded his first win at the Wyndham Championship last season and a few tournaments later (as well as his first tournament of the season), recorded a top-15 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He’s found something positive with his putter, gaining strokes in his last seven straight tournaments, but it’s his ball-striking to get excited about. Over his six tournaments he ranks 20th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, fourth in par 5 scoring average and third in birdie or better gained. Lanto Griffin ($7,200) Griffin’s current form has been great with no worse than a 17th place over his last three tournaments and gaining an average of 5.7 strokes in putting over the same timeframe. It’s a risky proposition to “chase� solid production because it could easily regress, especially with a golfer who is putting well; Griffin’s meteoric success on the greens could go back to his average of gaining 1.7 strokes over his last 10 tournaments, but momentum and confidence is just as important as the quantifiable data we use every week. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. Writer’s bio: “I’m a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.�

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Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the TOUR Championship gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. East Lake Golf Club just outside Atlanta plays 7,362 yards to Par-70. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. I included all players who were owned by 20 percent or more. Warm and humid conditions made for excellent scoring conditions. The greens are in perfect shape and there was barely any wind to move the flags. Déjà vu For the second FedExCup Playoff event running Tiger Woods put his name on the top of the leaderboard with the co-low round of the day. He matched Rory McIlroy’s 62 at Aronimink at the BMW Championship and this week his 65 was joint best. After bogeying No. 1 the two-time FedExCup Playoffs champion played his final 17 holes in six-under and capped it off with a 27-foot eagle at the last. The next step is backing this round up tomorrow before I start getting excited. Co-Leader Rickie Fowler rebound from an oblique injury by firing a trio of 65’s over the first three rounds of the BMW Championship last time out. He’s added another 65 after six birdies against one bogey today. His flat stick gained checked in at No. 2 in Strokes-Gained: Putting and he was T2 in GIR (16 of 18). People’s Choice There was no surprise this week that gamers loaded up on the brand-new OWGR No. 1 Justin Rose. After clinching the top spot in the world after losing in a playoff at Aronimink, gamers were quick to jump on the fact that he’s collected top-10 checks in his last five visits to East Lake. He led the field in Strokes-Gained: Off-the-Tee, Tee-to-Green and GIR. Right on schedule! Wrist, Reward? Justin Thomas has never finished worse than T6 in two trips in the last two years but he was healthy in both of those events. A slight wrist issue was taped and bandaged today and a bogey-bogey start had gamers (read: me) running for the Kleenex. He turned in one-over 36 before storming home in 31. Whew. Now, let’s see how it reacts in Round 2. No. 1 Struggles With three wins on the season including two in the FedExCup Playoffs, it’s hardly a stretch that Bryson DeChambeau ended up on the second-most rosters this week. The 25-year old matches the average winning age over the last three years but the front nine won the first battle in Round 1. Going out in 39 dug a nice hole but a clean card with three birdies on the back righted the ship. He’s just six back with three rounds to play so he’s hardly out of it. New Faces Not only is Tommy Fleetwood playing in the TOUR Championship for the first time but he was paired with Woods in the first round. The Englishman circled five birdies but squared four bogeys to check in T12. He hit 14 of 18 GIR but could only get up-and-down once. He leads all of the debutants after one round. … Francesco Molinari didn’t break par but he wasn’t in the black either as he carded 70 in his first loop around East Lake. … Rookie Aaron Wise squared five bogeys but also circled five birdies as he looks to join Xander Schauffele as the only rookie to win at East Lake. He’s also T17 and just five back. Defender Nobody has ever won back-to-back TOUR Championships and nobody has ever defended any event during the FedExCup Championships so the deck is stacked against both Thomas and defending champion Xander Schauffele. These young bucks don’t seem too concerned about history other than making their own as Schauffele did last year. It’s obvious that this course fits his eye as he carded another round in the red with 68 (T8) to get it started in Round 1. Study Hall Round 1 played under-par at 69.3 with 20 of 30 rounds under-par. … As expected, there will be bogeys and nobody turned in a clean card. … Keegan Bradley couldn’t conjure the magic he provided at Aronimink as his card consisted of 15 pars and three bogeys (T28). … If the FedExCup Playoffs ended today, Rose would be the champion. This would mark the fifth time in the last six editions that No. 2 entering the final week would win the title. We’ll see how that washes out in 54 holes!

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