DraftKings preview: Rocket Mortgage Classic

The PGA TOUR turns to the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, a par 72 measuring 7,370 yards with poa annua-bentgrass greens in Detroit, Michigan this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st] STRATEGY With just a few weeks until the FedExCup (FEC) playoffs begin, golfers like defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay ($10,700), plus Will Zalatoris ($10,400), Tony Finau ($10,600), Cameron Young ($10,100) and Adam Scott ($9,300) are making their way to Detroit Golf Club to either bolster their points, or pick up some much needed ones. The scorecard will have the full complement of par 5s and par 3s along with an even balance of par 4s ranging from 372 yards (No. 8) to 461 yards (No. 6). Past winners in the field include Cameron Davis ($9,700) and Nate Lashley ($6,800). Detroit Golf Club features two courses (North and South), and the tournament will feature 17 holes from the North and one from the South (third hole). The golfers should play this as a typical Donald Ross design with precise approach shots into contoured greens while navigating tree-lined fairways. In the past the course has yielded higher-than-average returns in driving distance; greens in regulation and fairways hit, meaning players should need to score at an impressive rate. Last season the course was gettable, ranking as the fourth easiest in scoring relative to par with the sixth-most eagles and third-most birdies on TOUR. The course will have 87 bunkers with just one water hazard that will only come into play on one hole, much different than last week. Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, putting and birdies or better gained should be the key statistics we should focus on when building our lineups. The guys should be able to score on the par 5s, but we should also focus on those who play short par 4s particularly well with four under 400 yards on the scorecard. Ross courses highlight those who hit it well into the back-to-front pitched greens, but those who struggle must be solid around the greens that feature runoff areas. Over the last few years, the winning daily fantasy golf lineups have all used the entire $50,000 salary. Also, only two of the 18 (six golfers per lineup, over three years) total golfers were above $10,000, and 22% (4) were at $6,900 and below. Don’t be too cautious about rostering high-sentiment golfers this week. More than half of the golfers in the winning lineups were in the double digits for ownership. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Cameron Young ($10,100) Bryson DeChambeau was rostered in 27.7% of lineups the year he won (2020) and was in the winning Fantasy Golf Millionaire lineup. Young is fourth in the field in driving distance and first in birdie or better gained over the past two dozen rounds. He also possesses one of the best putters on TOUR when he’s hot. Runner-up finishes at The Open Championship, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Genesis Invitational this season prove Young is on the precipice of victory. His ownership may be the highest in the field with how well he sets up at Detroit Golf Club, but he’s too good to pass up. Maverick McNealy ($8,800) There are good and bad outliers, and McNealy’s final two holes on Sunday last week fall into the bad bucket. A bogey-quadruple bogey finish erased four birdies through seven holes on his inward-nine. McNealy totaled 15 birdies and two eagles last week, but he couldn’t stay away from hitting it into hazards. He’s played a lot of golf over the previous two months, so fatigue may be a factor. Still, he sets up nicely and tends to play solid golf in this part of the TOUR schedule. We should also be heading back to Davis Riley ($8,600) this week. Nothing materialized last week, even though he was coming in with great form. Like Young, Davis has been trending all season, and it’s only a matter of time before he wins. Mark Hubbard ($8,000) A WD last week may keep people from rostering Hubbard as much as they should this week. Ranking 21st in birdies or better gained, fifth in approach and fifth in putting over the last 12 rounds is what you want in a golfer who doesn’t hit it a mile off the tee. He’s made six straight cuts and has finishes of third at the Barbasol Championship, 13th at the John Deere Classic, 15th at the Honda Classic and 16th at the Fortinet Championship. He’ll be my favorite daily fantasy golf sleeper this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. 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