ESPN predictions on who will win the 2019 PGA Championship

We are thankful this Thanksgiving for golf itself. As the pandemic drags on, the National Golf Foundation reported that September alone saw a 26% jump in rounds played year-over-year, with every state in the continental United States reporting an increase. Through the end of September, year-to-date rounds were up 8.7%, which the NGF called, "A startling turnaround following a disastrous start to the spring." Golf is getting us outside, keeping us safe, and keeping us (relatively) sane. Here are eight other things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 1. The resilience of the PGA TOUR It had been 91 days of no TOUR events when the best players in the world flew to Fort Worth, Texas for the start of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 11. Copious COVID tests, no on-site fans, off-the-charts uncertainty. Pro sports were on hold. Nobody knew what to expect. What we got was all kinds of compelling storylines, from Ancer (Abraham, making a run at the Masters before finishing T13) to Zalatoris (Will, accepting Special Temporary Membership). Today we can say that the TOUR has been beset by relatively few positive tests, entertained the masses throughout a hard year, and led the way back for all of professional sports. 2. The courage of Camilo Villegas After 22-month-old daughter Mia died of cancer in late July, Villegas and his wife Maria refocused and renamed their charity Mia's Miracles to help other families coping with childhood cancer in the United States and their native Colombia. Meanwhile, Camilo resumed his career on the PGA TOUR, where he was coming back from a shoulder injury - an injury he now says was a blessing in disguise because it kept him home with his daughter for the little time she had. Villegas shot 64 to share the first-round lead at The RSM Classic last week. He finished T6th. 3. The tears of Dustin Johnson He was as inscrutable as an Easter Island statue at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, when he lost his three-shot lead with a second-hole triple bogey, shot 82, and finished T8. Ditto for the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits two months later, when after grounding his club in a bunker he had to take a crushing two-stroke penalty on the 72nd hole. Johnson didn't crack after taking the 54-hole lead/co-lead but failing to win two other U.S. Opens, or at the PGA Championship in August, where he shot 68 to lose by two to Collin Morikawa (64). But after he'd won the pandemic-delayed Masters, Johnson was so overcome with emotion he couldn't speak in an interview with CBS' Amanda Balionis. This is what came of having grown up banging balls under the lights at the Weed Hill driving range in Columbia, South Carolina, just an hour or so from Augusta National, always dreaming of the Masters. Johnson shrugged and offered an apologetic smile as Balionis waited for him to collect himself in his new 42 long green jacket. A world-beater whose golf game seemed almost inhumanly good as he won the Travelers Championship, THE NORTHERN TRUST, the TOUR Championship, the FedExCup and now the Masters, he had never been so relatable. 4. The sportsmanship of Peter Malnati After coming into the Sanderson Farms Championship ranked 312th in the world and 103rd in the FedExCup, the floppy-hatted Malnati shot a final-round 63, making nearly 140 feet of putts. He answered every reporter's question, plopped down on the Country Club of Jackson grass with his wife Alicia and son Hatcher, and waited to see if it would be enough. Sergio Garcia answered in the negative when he made a kick-in birdie at the 72nd hole nearly two hours later, but a smiling Malnati was among the first to congratulate the winner. No, he hadn't won, but he'd revived his career. His top-10 finish meant a spot in the field at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open the next week, where he would keep it going with a T5 finish. With a T48-place finish at The RSM Classic last week, Malnati is up to 16th in the FedExCup. 5. The pioneering spirit of Bryson DeChambeau He won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three at Detroit Golf Club, and U.S. Open by six after hitting just 41% of the fairways at fearsome Winged Foot in September. "No chance," Rory McIlroy said, when asked if he imagined anyone winning that way. Alas, on a course that seemed much more suited to his newfound power game, DeChambeau came unglued on two of Augusta National's shortest holes - the drivable par-4 third and cupcake par-5 13th - and finished a disappointing T34 at the Masters in November. Either way, bulked-up Bryson was and remains must-see TV. 6. The youth of PGA TOUR Champions Bernhard Langer used to have a stranglehold on the 50-plus circuit, but with the seismic arrivals of Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson, the tour is as competitive as ever. Furyk (The Ally Challenge; PURE Insurance Championship) and Mickelson (Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National; Dominion Energy Charity Classic) even won their first two starts. Now Darren Clarke has gotten in on the action with a win at the TimberTech Championship. 7. The staying power of TPC Sawgrass The PGA TOUR's TPC Network of Clubs and iconic TPC Sawgrass, which started it all, turned 40 in October. It was a good time to remember that TPC courses have hosted more than 400 professional tournaments, with the rent-free venues allowing for bigger purses and charitable donations. On non-tournament weeks, the TPCs are open to recreational players, who can test their games in the same golfing theaters where history has been made. 8. The persistence of the short hitter Dustin Johnson won the FedExCup, but three of the six multiple tournament winners last season were outside the top 100 in driving distance: Collin Morikawa, Brendon Todd and Webb Simpson. Justin Thomas, who along with Johnson and Jon Rahm made up the other three big hitters who cleaned up last season, even admitted to dialing back on distance to hit more fairways. "It just kind of proves yet again that length is not the answer," he said. The game is still open to all.

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The PGA TOUR heads to the Sunshine State this week for the first leg of its Florida swing. The venue in play this week is a classic as the players will be visiting PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, a Jack Nicklaus redesign that features “The Bear Trap,” one of the toughest and most famous three-hole stretches in pro golf. The course plays as a par 70, measuring at approximately 7,048 yards, and ranked as the third-toughest venue on the PGA TOUR in 2020-21. We’ll also be switching to Bermuda greens this week, a regular feature of the Florida venues. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st] STRATEGY Those teeing up at The Honda Classic include Sungjae Im ($11,000), who is coming off a T33 finish at the Genesis. He’ll be joined by Louis Oosthuizen ($10,800), Brooks Koepka ($10,100) and Joaquin Niemann ($10,600), who is also coming off a win last week. The field at The Honda Classic maxes out at 144 golfers and will again feature a regular PGA TOUR cutline with the top 65 and ties making it to the weekend. We should expect lower totals though for our DraftKings daily fantasy golf lineups as PGA National typically plays as one of the hardest venues of the year. Last season, the scoring average at PGA National ballooned to 71.9, or +1.904 strokes over par, and we rarely see winners at this event get to double digits in scoring. The greens at PGA National are some of the hardest to hit on the PGA TOUR as we often see green in regulation rates trend 5-10% lower at this event than the PGA TOUR average. Scrambling around PGA National is also difficult, as saving par from off the green typically trends 5% lower than average for the field as well. Good approach games and around the green play are what to focus on this week as power at PGA National is de-emphasized for the most part—perhaps more than any other course on the PGA TOUR. Driver isn’t a club players need to hit regularly and that shows by the fact the average driving distance for this venue often comes in a full 10 yards less than the average Driving Distance on the PGA TOUR. Big hitters can still compete though, and the likes of Gary Woodland ($8,200) and Keith Mitchell ($9,100) are two players in the field this week who are good proof of that. Still, this event has been a friendly home to crafty veterans like Ian Poulter ($7,600) and Matt Jones ($9,000). GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Alex Noren ($9,300 on DraftKings) I mentioned above how this venue truly favors veteran players who can grind out pars with good iron play and around the green work. Alex Noren’s entire game is predicated on just such a formula and he comes into this week just two starts removed from a T6 finish at the Phoenix Open. Noren’s best assets are his around the green play and putting, but his approach game has popped in recent starts too and he gained +3.4 on Approach alone last week, his best week in that metric since exactly a year ago at the 2021 Genesis. Noren also has a history of producing for daily fantasy golf at The Honda Classic as he grabbed a solo third-place at this event back in 2018. His price this week is the most expensive it’s been for a while, but as a player with four top-10s in his last 13 starts, the low $9K-salary isn’t as outlandish as it seems. The weaker field and A+ setup for Noren make him a target in daily fantasy golf on DraftKings. Chris Kirk ($7,500 on DraftKings) You’ll see a trend forming quickly in these picks and that’s experience paired with solid recent form in approach and around the green play. Chris Kirk comes into this event having gained strokes around the green in each of his last eight starts. The American has been a little sluggish with his ball-striking to begin 2022 but he’s gained strokes on Approach in each of his last two starts and was hanging around the top-10 for much of the weekend at the WM Phoenix Open (T14). Kirk has played this event numerous times in the past as well, with this year marking his 11th appearance at PGA National for The Honda Classic. He’s clearly a fan of this setup (or he’d not show up this much) and has finished as high as T12 in 2014. The four-time winner looks underrated at this price on DraftKings, especially with similarly skilled players such as Brian Harman ($8,700) and Mackenzie Hughes ($8,300) priced far above him. Kirk is a good mid-tier value to target this week in daily fantasy golf. Lucas Glover ($7,400 on DraftKings) Almost all of the analysis I laid out above for Kirk can also apply to Glover. The 42-year-old grabbed his first win in over a decade last year at the John Deere Classic and has started 2022 nicely, already landing a top-10 finish at the Sony Open (T6). Glover has excelled at tough venues throughout his career so we shouldn’t be shocked to see that he’s found consistent success around PGA National. Glover has finished T21 or better at this event in four of the last five seasons and ranks 15th in SG: Approach stats over the last 50 rounds. The price on Glover also looks too low as he comes in $100 lower than Kirk, despite having out-performed him this season. Looking above him, we see out-of-form players like Ryan Palmer ($7,900) and Rickie Fowler ($7,600) available at much higher prices. It all makes Glover a great mid-tier target to build around for daily fantasy golf lineups 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. Place your golf bets at DraftKings Sportsbook or by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). 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