BWM Championship: Top PGA DFS Picks, Values, and Sleepers for Large-Field Tournaments on DraftKings

The PGA TOUR playoffs continue this week as the scene changes from Memphis to St. Louis for the second tournament in the three-week postseason. The top 50 players in the FedExCup Points list will take on Bellerive Country Club this week in the BMW Championship, with the top 30 moving on to next week’s TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club just outside Atlanta.

The race for the top 30 always makes this a fun event, and the rotating courses give players a new challenge. This will be the first time since 2008 the event will visit this course, which also hosted the PGA Championship in 2018. The course will play as a long par 70 this week and should be a demanding test, especially emphasizing SG: APP and SG: T2G. The top 50 players will compete in this no-cut event, meaning all players will complete four rounds barring withdrawal or disqualification. For more info on the field, the format, and the course for this week, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.

---

Especially in large-field tournaments, you’ll want to target players with lower ownership projections than their potential performance suggests. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for tournament success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.

Usually, I rely heavily on the Strokes Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week to week than a hot putter.

Since these are tournament picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.

No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for tournament play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.

As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.

Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.

Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.

High-Priced PGA DFS Picks

Sam Burns $10,400

Differentiating your lineup this week with only 50 players in the pool is a little bit tougher, but several players are much higher in our projections with relatively low ownership projections. After getting back into the winner’s circle last week, Scottie Scheffler has the highest ownership projection and is extremely expensive, setting up some potential pay-up leverage behind him. Sam Burns has the highest SimLeverage in the top salary tier over $9,500.

The five-time PGA TOUR winner finished T3 last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, marking his first appearance since his solo third-place finish at The Open Championship in mid-July. He exceeded salary-based expectations in six of his last seven events, including four in a row. He has four straight top-12 finishes and has racked up six top-10 finishes in his 18 PGA TOUR events this season.

Burns leads the field in SG: APP over the last three months, ranks second in Total Strokes Gained and SG:P, and is third in SG: T2G. He hasn’t won since the 2023 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, but he continues to post very high finishes and comes to Bellerive in excellent form.

While it will be his first competitive event at this week’s venue, he has the well-rounded game to contend and fits the statistical profile for this week. He has the fifth-highest Perfect% in the field and the sixth-highest ceiling projection but is barely in the top 10 in ownership projection. If you’re looking to set your tournament lineup apart with a less popular play at the top, Burns is a nice contrarian option with a very high ceiling.

---

Si Woo Kim $9,100

If you don’t pay all the way up for a superstar like Scottie, Si Woo Kim is another great option to consider, just below the most expensive tier in the salary structure. Kim is tied for the most Pro Trends in the field, and he has the highest Leverage and SimLeverage among players priced over $8,500.

Kim finished runner-up last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and he has three top-10 finishes in his last four events. He also finished runner-up earlier this season at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and the Farmers Insurance Open. He has racked up 11 top-10 finishes in his 22 events on the PGA TOUR this season, missing just a single cut all year.

Over the last three months, he ranks fourth in this elite field in SG: T2G and fifth in Total Strokes Gained. If he can get his putter to cooperate with him on the larger-than-average greens at this week’s venue, he could be in for a big week at Bellerive.

He did play the course back in 2018 at the PGA Championship but missed the cut as a 23-year-old. It could help him that he knows the venue a little bit, even though it was in a very different era in his career.

Kim has four PGA TOUR wins in his career, with his win at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2017 as his career highlight. He’ll look to add a playoff victory to his resume this week, and he has been so close in so many recent events that his winning this week would be no surprise.

His salary is tricky to work around given the balance of the other options on the board, and he’s getting much less attention than Ludvig Aberg and Cameron Young, leaving him as a nice pivot play in our projections this week.

Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks