Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: The Genesis Invitational

By now, you've probably dabbled in daily fantasy sports, but if not, don't worry. Now is a great time to start, especially with FanDuel's daily fantasy golf offering.

Golf can be one of the most exciting DFS sports to follow, as tournaments span four days and allow ample time to prepare each week. It's a great balance between time to research and time spent tracking your team.

But whether you're brand new to the PGA or daily fantasy sports in general, we have you covered -- and we have daily fantasy golf projections and lineup building tools, too.

Let's take a look at some golfers to target this week.

Key Stats

Riviera is a course that emphasizes distance over accuracy and also places more of an importance on around-the-green play than the typical PGA Tour course. The greens in regulation rate is around 58%, compared to the average of 66%.

It's basically a good all-around test that generally draws some comparisons to Augusta National, so it's not the worst course to fixate on just good tee-to-green players.

For a more detailed breakdown on the course, check out our course primer from Mike Rodden.

Stats cited below come from FantasyNational and include the past 50 rounds on the PGA Tour unless noted. Ranks are among the field.

Best of the Best

Rory McIlroy (FanDuel Price: $12,200 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +750) - McIlroy leads this field in both strokes gained: off the tee and par 5 scoring, and he's also second in distance. He's finished 20th, 20th, and 4th since 2016 at this event and -- despite a long layoff -- he returned to finish 3rd at the Farmers three weeks back. He's well worth the salary this week. Justin Thomas ($12,000; +1000) and Jon Rahm ($11,900; +1000) are both in the same tier, so it's really a take-your-pick of the top three for me. I'm leaning Rory.

Xander Schauffele ($11,300 | +2200) - Schauffele is just someone I can't quite quit because he fits a course like this so well: 20th in distance, 8th off the tee, 24th in approach, 32nd around the green. His all-around game is just one of the best in the world, and he has finished top-15 in each of his two starts here (9th in 2018 and 15th in 2019).

Hideki Matsuyama ($11,000 | +2900) - Matsuyama already has finished 23rd, 4th, 11th, cut, and 9th over his past five starts at Riviera. He is long enough off the tee (46th) to contend again and is 11th in approach and 7th around the green. The only blemish is putting.

Others to Consider:
Bubba Watson ($11,200 | +2200) - Three wins over the past six years at this course, and the recent form is pristine.
Adam Scott ($10,800 | +2900) - Scott Three top-11 finishes the past four years at Riviera but hasn't played since a late-December win.
Collin Morikawa ($10,100 | +3300) - Doesn't have the length but leads the field in approach and is underpriced.

Mid-Range Options

Paul Casey ($10,000 | +4500) - Casey ejected at Pebble Beach on Sunday, shooting a final-round 81. He'll have to shake that off, but he's ninth in strokes gained: approach over the past 50 rounds, and that's not nothing. Casey also sits 45th in driving distance and has made the cut five straight years at Riviera.

Joaquin Niemann ($9,400 | +9000) - Niemann actually finished 6th at this event back in 2017 and then 44th last year despite only being 21 right now. Niemann's strength is ball-striking, and he's 22nd in distance. While there's a lack of poa putting (23 rounds with poor efficiency) to his name, he has overcome it in the past at this course, and a made cut for $9,400 is never anything to knock.

Corey Conners ($9,100 | +10000) - Conners leads the field in greens in regulation gained and is one of the best total drivers on the PGA Tour. Conners' struggles come in the short game, and that's not something we can overlook entirely, but of all the debutants at Riviera, he has the second-best cut odds (behind Matthew Fitzpatrick ($9,700)) in my projections.

Others to Consider:
Sungjae Im ($9,900 | +5000) - Deep field bumps down Im's price; 7th in birdie rate and a good driver.
Cameron Champ ($9,200 | +5500) - Can launch it (1st in distance) and will always have a win as his ceiling but lacks short game; two missed cuts at Riviera.
Scottie Scheffler ($9,200 | +10000) - Two straight missed cuts and one miss at Riviera but 15th in strokes gained: tee to green.

Low-Priced Picks

Jason Kokrak ($8,900 | +10000) - Kokrak's cut odds of 67.6% are more than 5.0 percentage points higher than anyone else priced below $9,000. Kokrak ranks 10th in strokes gained: off the tee, 31st in strokes gained: approach, and 10th in driving distance. He also has played here eight straight years and has three top-25s in the past four years.

Carlos Ortiz ($8,400 | +20000) - Ortiz is 29th in distance and is actually fourth in poa putting over a 100-round sample (his sample size is 51 rounds). Ortiz has played here in three of the past five years, finishing 20th, 26th, and 9th (last year).

Sebastian Munoz ($8,000 | +17500) - No course form for Munoz is the biggest knock, but he's a balanced golfer who is 49th in strokes gained: tee to green while ranking between 51st and 56th in all three tee-to-green stats. Munoz is 28th in driving distance, as well, and his odds to make the cut are way higher than his price indicates.

Risk/Reward Plays

Erik Van Rooyen ($8,800 | +9000) - Underpriced with good PGA Tour splits; just not golfing his best of late.
Scott Piercy ($8,700 | +15000) - Hot and cold iron player with finishes of 6th and 18th the past two weeks but only one missed cut over the past four years here.
Jhonattan Vegas ($8,200 | +15000) - Can bomb it (5th in distance, 2nd in strokes gained: off the tee) but 15th, cut, cut the past three years at this track.