PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the TOUR Championship

The Donald Ross-designed East Lake Golf Club (par 70, 7,440 yards, Bermuda greens) in Atlanta, Georgia, is hosting the TOUR Championship, which is the third and final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. East Lake has hosted the TOUR Championship since 2004, and Tommy Fleetwood (-18) is the defending champion after winning by three strokes a year ago. This field features 30 players, and there will be no cut. There is a $40 million purse at stake, and first place will walk away with $10 million.

The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.

I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.

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My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.

Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.

There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
• Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green

Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.

The Cliffs Notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.

And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.

The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.

PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts

DraftKings $10,000 Range

Xander Schauffele ($10,000)

While Scottie Scheffler remains the heavy favorite this week, the world No. 1 revealed this past Sunday following his T12 finish at the BMW Championship that he has been dealing with hand, foot, and mouth disease. Scheffler lost strokes on approach at Bellerive Country Club, and the effects of this illness carrying over to East Lake are a real possibility, so instead of building around Scheffler for cash games, my preference is to take the savings and begin my lineup with Schauffele, who has been incredible at East Lake throughout his career. Schauffele won the TOUR Championship in his first attempt at East Lake in 2017, and he has finished runner-up at this track three times. Schauffele has never finished worse than T7 in eight tries at East Lake, and he easily leads this field in Strokes Gained per round at the par 70. As for his form, Schauffele hasn’t won this season, but he has recorded seven top-10 finishes, two of which have come in his last three starts, including a runner-up finish at last month’s Rocket Classic played at Detroit Golf Club, which, like East Lake, was designed by Ross. Schauffele ranks first in this field in Strokes Gained per round at Ross courses, and he should once again contend at East Lake this week.

Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.

DraftKings $9,000 Range

Wyndham Clark ($9,400)

Clark would have been viable with a $10,000 price tag, and he is one of the best values on the board at $9,400. After finishing T5 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Clark won the BMW Championship by three shots last week, marking his third win of the season, all of which have come in his last 10 starts. Clark gained strokes in every major category in these last two starts, and he has finished inside the top five in six of his past 10 starts. Clark ranks fourth in SG: Total this season, and he has played well at East Lake, finishing eighth and third in his two starts at the venue. Clark has shot under par in all eight of his rounds at East Lake. Traveling to the track while playing the best golf of his career, Clark could win this playoff finale.

DraftKings $8,000 Range

Collin Morikawa ($8,100)

Morikawa has finished inside the top six in 3-of-6 starts at East Lake, including a runner-up two years ago. The two-time major champion shot a career-low 9-under 61 at this venue in 2023, and Morikawa looks ready to make some noise at East Lake again, fresh off a T4 finish at the BMW Championship. Morikawa has finished inside the top 10 seven times in 16 starts this season, and he leads the PGA TOUR in SG: Approach. Furthermore, Morikawa ranks top 30 in SG: Off-the-Tee and par 4 performance, all of which are encouraging signs for East Lake. Over the last three years, two of the winners at this course have finished the event in the top five in SG: Approach, SG: Off-the-Tee, and par 4 performance.

DraftKings $7,000 Range

Chris Gotterup ($7,900)

Gotterup finished T10 in his debut at East Lake last season, including a 7-under 63 in the second round, and he now heads back to the Ross creation 19 spots higher in the world golf rankings at No. 8. Gotterup has won three times this season, which is tied with Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick for the most on the PGA TOUR, and Gotterup just finished T4 at the BMW Championship last week. The Rutgers product has been elite with his driver, ranking 11th in SG: Off-the-Tee; his skills in this department should lead him to a high finish at the lengthy East Lake.

Russell Henley ($7,500)

Henley carded a career-low 9-under 61 in his first round at East Lake last season, en route to a runner-up finish. The Georgia native has finished inside the top five in 3-of-5 starts at the par 70, and he ranks second only to Schauffele in strokes gained per round at East Lake. Henley is less than three months removed from his victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and he has finished T13 or better in 8-of-19 starts this season, most recently with a T12 finish at last week’s BMW Championship. Henley ranks top eight in both par 4 performance and SG: Putting this season, and he is a steal at this $7,500 price tag, which is significantly lower than the $9,600 salary he carried for last year’s TOUR Championship.

DraftKings $6,000 Range

Justin Rose ($6,600)

Rose has had an up-and-down season, but he has finished inside the top 25 eight times and had some great moments. Rose won the Farmers Insurance Open by seven shots in January, finished T3 at the Masters in April, and finished T10 at the U.S. Open in June. At the BMW Championship this past week, Rose finished a solid T22, and he was terrific to finish this playoff event, posting a 4-under 66 on Sunday, which was one stroke shy of the lowest score for the final round. Rose has gained strokes on approach in two straight starts, and he ranks 16th in the category this season. Approach play is crucial at East Lake (four of the last five winners here have finished the tournament top seven in SG: Approach), and Rose has flashed big upside at this track in the past. The Englishman has finished inside the top six in 5-of-11 starts at East Lake, including runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2015. While we can’t expect this type of finish this week, a top-10 finish is within reach for Rose, and he is an awesome value at this low price, which is the cheapest he has ever been on DraftKings for a TOUR Championship.

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Pictured: Xander Schauffele
Photo credit: Imagn