January promises star-studded fields across Hawaii and California

Putting a bow on the West Coast Swing, the TOUR makes its way to Scottsdale, Arizona, for this week’s WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course. The course will play to par-71, measuring 7,261 yards and contested on Bermuda greens. Currently, the field is 15% less than what we’ve seen in recent weeks. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green is still the priority, but Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee measures almost the same as approach in average strokes gained per round by former winners. On paper, the course doesn’t lean toward golfers who hit it far, especially not as much as Torrey Pines a couple of weeks ago, but this could be a contrarian strategy for lineup construction this week. Distance hitters like Tony Finau (+3500, $8,900), Gary Woodland (+10000, $7,300), and Bubba Watson (+4000, $9,000) routinely play well here, with the latter two winning this tournament. Bubba’s admitted to hitting drivers a lot here in the past, with the rough not being penal. Like Bubba, longer hitters have the advantage of hitting shorter irons into these fast greens. The course sits over 1,500 feet above sea level, which could be another reason we see the average driving distance 12 yards higher (293 yards) than the TOUR average. Also, consider golfers trending well in Par 4 efficiency between 450 and 500 yards and Par 5 efficiency this week. All the par 5s are reachable in two and need to be taken advantage of this week, with three of the last four winners ranking inside the top 11 in Par 5 efficiency in the years they won. Conversely, and maybe just as important, is driving accuracy with 70 bunkers and three water hazards. Golfers like Abraham Ancer (+5500, $7,900), who ranks top 10 in fairways gained over the previous 24 rounds, could fare well with accuracy this week like 2020 champion Webb Simpson (+3500, $8,600), who ranked third in fairways gained en route to his victory. The WM Phoenix Open has proven challenging to win as a 54-hole leader — only two out of the past 12 golfers have held on to win when leading after Round 3 — and six of the previous nine winners have come from two or more strokes back to earn the victory. Brooks Koepka (+3000, $9,400) was five shots behind Jordan Spieth (+1600, $9,900) and Xander Schauffele (+2000, $9,700) heading into the final round last year. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Justin Thomas (+1000 to Win, $11,000 on DraftKings) Those looking to chase the elite should consider Thomas, who’s finished 13-3-3 in his previous three starts in Phoenix. His ball-striking is elite, ranking 21st in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and third in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green over the past 24 rounds. It’s all about putting with Thomas, and two of his top-20 putting performances on TOUR have been at TPC Scottsdale. It’s been 16 weeks since Thomas’ last win on TOUR, his longest drought since 2018. That streak could come to an end this week. Scottie Scheffler (+2200 to Win, $9,100 on DraftKings) Successful finishes preceding the WM Phoenix Open haven’t been a prerequisite, but it never hurts. Looking deeper into his stats, Scheffler ranks top five in Par-5 efficiency and Greens in Regulation Gained over the previous 24 rounds and was top three in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green at Torrey Pines. A top-25 finish at The American Express and a top-20 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open is a good start for Scheffler, but he’s looking for his first win and it could easily be this week. Aaron Wise (+6500 to Win, $7,100 on DraftKings) Just missing the cut during his season debut at the Farmers Insurance, Wise comes into Phoenix well suited for a solid finish. Recently, few have been better than him on desert locales, finishing eighth at the 2021 Shriner’s Childrens Open (TPC Summerlin) and fifth at the CJ Cup (Summit Club). His putting looks good, gaining strokes on the greens in five-straight measured events heading into this week. Wise also looks solid on the par 5s, ranking 11th in Par-5 efficiency and fifth in eagles gained over his past 24 rounds. He also had one of the best Fall swings of anyone not named Talor Gooch (+5000, $7,800), finishing no worse than 26th in five starts across October and November last year. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K 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). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Eligibility restrictions apply. 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For most of Sunday it looked like Hudson Swafford was poised for a runaway victory at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Instead he had to make a nervy 8-foot par saver to notch his second career PGA TOUR victory after he battled back from a back-nine double bogey. "My caddie, Kyle, and I, we were talking. I thought the putt might go a little right, he said it might go a little left. He just said, “Man, just hit a solid putt. You’ve hit a lot of them, just hit one more solid putt,'" said Swafford of his par save on 18. "I hit a great one." RELATED: Final leaderboard | What's in Swafford's bag? Swafford, at one point, had a four-shot lead. He was 5-under through nine holes and looked to be cruising. But a six on the par-4 13th brought Swafford back to the field. He made another bogey on the par-4 15th. Swafford, who won The American Express in 2017 for his maiden TOUR victory, stuffed a 6-iron to kick-in distance on the par-3 17th - a shot he said was similar to what he did three years ago on the 17th hole in Palm Desert. "I was just envisioning my shot at 17 on PGA West when I stepped up on the 17th green," Swafford said. "(My caddie) said, ‘You know, this is just a three-quarter 6-iron, you’ve been hitting your 6-iron great all day, all week, just hit one more. It’s a 190, just do it,' and I hit a beauty, then solid putt and went right in." After he left his birdie putt short on the 72nd hole he seemed to take a little extra time over his par attempt. Swafford went all week without three-putting and he wasn't going to notch his first three-putt of the week on the 72nd hole. "I don’t even know which side of the hole it went in on, I just know it was going in," said Swafford. He finished at 18-under par, the third straight winner at Corales Puntacana to finish with that score. Tyler McCumber finished runner-up at 17-under while Mackenzie Hughes, who finished T2 at Corales Puntacana last season, finished third. Swafford's back-nine battle wasn't the only thing he had battled to get back to the PGA TOUR winner circle, as he had just two starts left on his Major Medical this week. He missed time in 2018-19 after he had surgery in July of 2019 to remove a bone in his right foot. He said he realized something was amiss when halfway through a tournament he'd feel miserable while walking. "And that's what I do for a living is walk," Swafford said. "Ended up finding out I had a broken bone in the bottom of my foot that it had to be removed. They took it out. The bone was dead. I felt like I had just gotten confidence back and then that setback was there. "It’s been a struggle." Still, Swafford credits his wife Katherine for his ability to return to the PGA TOUR winner's circle. He and Katherine are now parents for the first time (James Hudson Swafford Jr. was born in December 2018). "Being a father is the best thing in the world to me. Wouldn’t want it any other way. My wife and I, we are blessed," said Swafford. "(My wife and I) come down here to the Dominican and actually kind of take a vacation with a little golf involved. It’s been an excellent week. We can’t wait to see him next week." And when they see him, Swafford can tell his son he is a PGA TOUR winner once again.

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