DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: Travelers Championship

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 our course primer and daily fantasy golf projections, and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands.

Key Stats

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

High-Salaried Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Price: $11,400 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +1200) - The defending champion tops the salary list on DraftKings this week. He was among those who succumbed to Torrey Pines on Sunday with a final round 74 that saw him fall to 19th on the week, but we know Johnson is not one to ruminate on a disappointing finish. He can get right this week in his title defense at a course he clearly took to that typically is not on his schedule the week after the U.S. Open. He ranks 6th in birdies or better gained, 7th in greens in regulation (GIRs) gained, and 16th in strokes gained: approach. He checks the boxes on par 4s, ranking sixth overall and seventh on par 4s between 350 and 450 yards.

Patrick Cantlay ($10,400 | +1700) - Cantlay likewise aces the par 4s, ranking first overall and second on the short ones. He's 10th in greens in regulation gained, 18th in birdies or better gained, 20th in good drives gained, and 30th in strokes gained: approach. Cantlay set the course record at TPC River Highlands back in 2011 with a second-round 60 as an amateur, ultimately finishing T24. He missed the cut in 2012 and 2014, but over the past three years has three straight top 15 finishes. Coming off a win at the Memorial and his best career finish at the U.S. Open (T15), Cantlay would be close to a lock if it wasn't for...

Paul Casey ($9,900 | +1600) - Casey also wrapped up his best career U.S. Open finish with a T7 at Torrey Pines. Since 2015 he has four top-five finishes at the Travelers, with just three rounds in that span where he failed to break 70. One of those rounds likely cost him a trophy, with a Sunday 72 the worst final round score of any golfer in the top 40 in 2018. He was so far ahead that he still finished in a tie for second, but a T5 the following year and four rounds in the 60s last year leave little doubt that he truly loves it here. A ballstriker's paradise fits him like a glove, and he ranks 5th in GIRs gained, 6th in both good drives gained and strokes gained: approach, 8th on short par 4s, and 22nd in birdies or better gained.

Mid-Salaried Options

Tony Finau ($9,200 | +2900) - DraftKings is daring us with Kevin Streelman ($9,400 | +3200) and his elite course history, but we can't pass up Finau at $200 cheaper if it looks like Streelman will be more popular. Streelman was runner up here last year and won in 2014, and he has four straight top 20s including a T15 at the South Course. But Finau is in another stratosphere from a talent standpoint, and we can expect a bounce back from a top-level golfer who rarely misses the cut in consecutive events. He's the best golfer in this range and likely will be one of the two or three least rostered golfers of the nine between $8,600 and $9,500.

Abraham Ancer ($9,100 | +3200) - Even a missed cut last week won't sour the public on Ancer, who gained 5.2 strokes on approach at Torrey but lost 2.1 strokes or more in all three of the off the tee, around the greens, and putting buckets. He had posted five straight top 20s before that dud, and a shorter course for a straight hitter like Ancer is just the ticket. He ranks 2nd in good drives gained and on par 4s, 9th in strokes gained: approach, 11th in GIRs gained, and 20th in birdies or better gained.

Bubba Watson ($8,900 | +3700) - The beneficiary of Casey's 2018 final round was Watson, who fired a 62 to come from eight strokes back and win the Travelers for the third time. Throw in two other top fives and Watson's high-end results are the best of the bunch, and which by the way typically followed a no-show at the U.S. Open the week prior. He briefly sniffed the top of the leaderboard at Torrey before fading all the way to 50th with weekend rounds of 77 and 76. All that means is he has TPC River Highlands right where he wants it.

Charley Hoffman ($8,600 | +4400) - Hoffman had been on fire before cooling off with a pair of 57th place finishes at the Memorial and the U.S. Open. Back to a favorite of his, where he posted six finishes of T26 or better between 2012 and 2018 (he skipped in 2015). Hoffman is 1st in strokes gained: approach, 2nd in birdies or better gained, 13th in GIRs gained, and 19th in good drives gained. He leads the field in strokes gained on par 4s between 350 and 450 yards, and he is 14th overall on par 4s.

Low-Salaried Options

Keegan Bradley ($7,900 | +6500) - Bradley never misses a home game, and he made the cut every year since 2011 before missing last year. In that span he had four top 25s, topped off with an 8th in 2017 and a runner up in 2019. He missed the cut his last time out at Muirfield Village and failed to qualify for the U.S. Open, but so far this season he's been quite good. The MC at the Memorial ended a nine-event made cut streak that saw just one finish outside the top 30. Bradley ranks 1st in good drives gained, 3rd in strokes gained: approach, 6th in GIRs gained, 24th on par 4s, and 30th in birdies or better gained.

Sam Burns ($7,700 | +7000) - Burns ranks 1st in birdies or better gained, 11th in strokes gained: approach, 25th on par 4s, and 27th in GIRs gained. He made the cut and improved in his first two trips to Hartford, finishing 43rd in 2019 and 24th last year in a loaded field. Burns is one of several standouts in the mid-and low-priced golfers this week that will make roster construction extremely important. A roster that includes Burns, Ancer, and Hoffman is probably too chalky to succeed in large-field tournaments on DraftKings, but each is a rock-solid raw play as a cog in just about any lineup.

Aaron Wise ($7,400 | +8500) - With some popular golfers clustered in the low $7k range, Wise could be the key pivot in a lineup to differentiate at a similar price point. He is 3rd in GIRs gained, 27th in good drives gained, 29th in strokes gained: approach, and 31st in birdies or better gained. He finished just 46th last year, but that was largely thanks to a strong field and friendly conditions. Wise all shot four rounds under par last year in the midst of a disappointing season. He's actually in good form now, with recent finishes of 9th, 17th, 55th, and 9th leading in.

Emiliano Grillo ($7,300 | +9500) - Grillo has one of the best statistical cases in the field, as he ranks 1st in GIRs gained, 2nd on par 4s, 5th in approach, 10th in good drives gained, and 12th in birdies or better gained. He was 19th in 2018 but blew up each of the past two years. He lost 4.9 strokes putting last year and 6.6 strokes around the green in 2019. He'll never be above average on and around the greens, but the ballstriking is there week in and week out, and over his last six events he's gained 6.1 or more strokes on approaches four times.

Bargain Basement

Chase Seiffert ($6,700 | +25000) - Seiffert is not quite talented enough to compete with the big boys on Tour consistently, but he is straight off the tee and can score on the par 4s. He ranks 21st on par 4s overall and 25th on par 4s between 350 - 450 yards long. He was 35th last time out at the Palmetto Championship, and he struck it well enough to gain 5.0 strokes on approaches.

Roger Sloan ($6,500 | +36000) - Sloan is once again our bargain play, with a 52nd place finish at the Palmetto disappointing but with encouraging opening and closing rounds of 67 and 68. He ranks 12th on short par 4s (29th overall), and he's 18th in GIRs gained.

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.