DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Rocket Mortgage Classic

Daily fantasy golf requires a new approach for each and every event.

The course and field change week after week, making no two contests alike. That means you need to refine your approach for each PGA Tour event to try to find golfers who are primed to excel for your daily fantasy golf lineups.

Each week, we have a course primer, and our daily fantasy golf projections and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.

Key Stats

Let's get to the picks. For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the course primer.

Stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds, unless otherwise noted.

High-Priced Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Price $12,000 | Win Odds 6/1) - Johnson rarely finds a course he doesn't like, and this new venue in Detroit should be a get-right spot for the world number 2. While his last two finishes would be fine for just about any pro golfer (T35 at the U.S. Open and T20 at the RBC Canadian Open), that just doesn't cut it for DJ. The problem last time out was the short stick, as he lost 6.1 strokes putting at the U.S. Open. Even regression to his average will signal a return to the top of the leaderboard, as the ballstriking has been on point all year. He is first in strokes gained: tee to green, second in strokes gained: approach and strokes gained: par 5s, and third in birdies or better gained.

Rickie Fowler ($11,200 | 11) - While not quite as reliable as Johnson, Fowler is one of the most consistent players on Tour. His missed cut at the Charles Schwab Invitational was his lone MC in over a year, and he is one of the most greedy scorers on easy courses. If you think Detroit Golf Club is going to play on the friendly side, note that Fowler has the most total strokes gained in this field in his last 50 rounds classified as "Easy" by Fantasy National. He is 6th in birdies or better gained, 8th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 16th in approach.

Hideki Matsuyama ($10,200 | 12) - Matsuyama has the same win odds as defending U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland but comes at a $700 discount on DraftKings. Woodland is obviously on everyone's mind after his win, but Hideki offers arguably a higher floor with no finishes worse than 33rd place in his last 12 events. He rates out slightly better in the stats than Woodland, as he is 1st in strokes gained: approach, 2nd in strokes gained: tee to green, 2nd in birdies or better gained, and 12th on par 5s.

Mid-Priced Options

Billy Horschel ($9,000 | 30) - The top tier guys monopolize the premiere statistical cases this week, and all of the above mentioned golfers will draw ownership in stars and scrubs builds. Predicting ownership is always tricky, but you can pinpoint a few guys (mostly covered below) that many DFS players will pair with their stud. Starting with Horschel creates a unique roster construction. Horschel is unspectacular in the key stats, ranking 30th in approach, 35th tee to green, 70th in birdies or better gained, and 96th on par 5s. But he is 15th in total strokes gained over his last 50 rounds and can play his way out of trouble with his all-around game. If he has a week where everything clicks, he'll find himself near the top of the leaderboard.

Sungjae Im ($8,800 | 35) - Im is 5th in both birdies or better gained and strokes gained: par 5s, and he comes in 17th in strokes gained: tee to green. He has gained strokes with the putter each of the last two weeks and booked solid finishes, and he finds similar poa annua/bent surfaces here that he should be able to tame. He was a beast on the Web.com Tour (now delightfully known as the Korn Ferry Tour) last year, and easier courses should be right in his wheelhouse.

Rory Sabbatini ($8,500 | 45) - Sabbatini has found something in his game over the last few months, and while not eye-popping at $8,500, his stats are still solid -- 9th in birdies or better gained, 19th on par 5s, and 21st tee to green. He was T43 at the U.S. Open despite losing 2.5 strokes putting, and he hadn't finished outside the top 40 in his last 10 events prior to that, including three top 10s. Sabbatini has gained at least 4.6 strokes tee to green in all but one event over the last three months.

Jason Kokrak ($8,300 | 50) - Either the wheels are coming off or Kokrak is due for an over correction. He had his worst putting event in at least the last five years at the Travelers Championship, and it only took him two rounds to do it. He lost 7.5 strokes putting, and his second worst putting performance was just a few weeks back at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he lost 7.2 strokes on the greens. We can't just throw out months of incredible ball striking over a few shoddy putting performances, and it isn't difficult to imagine that if he'd just made the cut last week he could have been the highest priced guy in this range. He is 3rd in approach, 5th tee to green, and 12th in birdies or better gained.

Low Priced Options

Charles Howell ($7,800 | 55) - Howell thrives in easy scoring, as he has the sixth most strokes gained over his last 50 rounds in "Easy" conditions. He is ninth overall so if the course plays harder he can still hang. He had his best stuff to start the year on poa, and with three missed cuts in his last five events he is marred in one of his worst stretches in recent memory. His all-around game is too solid for that trend to continue much longer. Despite the poor finishes, he is still 22nd in strokes gained: tee to green.

Luke List ($7,700 | 80) - As soon as you plug in Dustin Johnson, DraftKings kindly informs you that you have just $7,600 average salary for the remaining five golfers. So expect this to be a very popular range as many DFS players will pair DJ with at least a couple guys around this price. List could be the surprise sneaky play here as everyone flocks to Byeong-Hun An, Nick Watney, and others. He is 6th in strokes gained: par 5s, 10th in birdies or better gained, and 19th in strokes gained: tee to green. He has missed two straight cuts and lost strokes tee to green in both, the first time he's lost in consecutive events in almost two years. The bounce back is coming.

Sung Kang ($7,600 | 90) - Kang has arguably the best statistical case in this range, as he ranks 9th on par 5s, 14th in birdies or better gained, 15th tee to green, and 17th on approach. He's trending in the wrong direction with a missed cut at the Memorial and MDF / 78th at the Travelers last week, but Kang's been solid all season and with a heavy schedule has only had one stretch of three consecutive poor events. If he'd played the full four rounds and come in something like 35th last week he'd likely be chalk at this price. He fits well and should fly under the radar this week given the bad lead-in form.

Vaughn Taylor ($7,600 | 80) - Taylor is the inverse of Kang. Unspectacular stats (16th birdies or better gained, 25th in approach, and 45th on par 5s) that look much better in the more recent portion of the sample. He's 9th in birdies or better gained, 15th in approach, and 17th on par 5s over just his last 12 rounds. Taylor finished solo fourth at the Travelers, his third top 20 in his last five events.

Corey Conners ($7,300 | 100) - Conners, an elite ballstriker with a win to his name this year, somehow falls behind inconsistent old guys and unproven youngsters in both DraftKings price and win odds. His best finish since his win at the Valero Texas Open was just a T31 at Colonial, but popping up with a great finish is kind of his thing. That makes him a terrific tournament play at $7,300 this week. The only three times he's finished better than 20th in the last year he finished inside the top 3. When Conners pops he goes all the way to the top, and in each of those three top 3s -- Sanderson Farms, Sony Open, and of course Valero -- the winner cracked 20 under par. At this course he can definitely push for that number, as he ranks sixth in strokes gained: tee to green and seventh in strokes gained: approach.

Bargain Basement

Hank Lebioda ($6,900 | 175) - Lebioda may well have the best stats below $7k, as he is 8th in birdies or better gained, 11th on par 5s, 19th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 36th in strokes gained: approach. He shot 65 on Friday at the Travelers and was very much in the mix before a Saturday 74 knocked him out of contention. Coupled with a T14 finish at the RBC Canadian Open, he's played just one poor round in his last two events. He has also missed just one cut in his last eight events.

Bronson Burgoon ($6,700 | 250) - When the weather gets hot and the fields get weak, it's Burgoon season. Starting with this event last year (albeit at a different course), Burgoon ripped off three solid events and finished T6, T30, and T2 at the National, the Greenbrier Classic, and the John Deere Classic, respectively. He popped up on the leaderboard early at the Travelers before fading over the weekend, and if he's starting to click this is the right time to get on him.

Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.