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PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the PGA Championship on DraftKings

By Alex Hunter @Hunta512
May 14, 2024

Next on the schedule is the season’s second major, the PGA Championship, which will be played at Valhalla Golf Club (par 71, 7,609 yards, bentgrass greens) in Louisville, Kentucky. This course has hosted three PGA Championships, most recently in 2014, when Rory McIlroy won at -15. Valhalla was designed by Jack Nicklaus and will play 115 yards longer than it did a decade ago. This is a full field of 156 golfers, and there will be an expanded cut, with the top-70 and ties advancing following the first 36 holes.

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.

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 cliff 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

Note: FantasyLabs has partnered with Betsperts Golf and the Rabbit Hole! Sign up for the biggest database of golf stats available on the internet and get 25% off a yearly sub with our link!

Unless otherwise noted, all Strokes Gained metrics referenced in this article come via the Rabbit Hole.

Tool Highlights

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DraftKings $10,000+ Range

Scottie Scheffler ($13,200) – Scheffler will compete at the PGA Championship after missing last week due to the birth of his son and is absolutely worth paying up for. The 27-year-old is in the midst of one of the greatest runs in the history of golf, winning in four of his last five starts, with that outlier being a runner-up finish at Houston Open, in which Scheffler missed a putt on the final hole to force a playoff. The former Texas Longhorn is the No.1 player in the world and is going to hold that spot for a long time, with Scheffler boasting nearly double the number of OWGR points as McIlroy, who ranks second in the world. Scheffler has finished T3 in his last two trips to Muirfield Village – which is another Nicklaus’ design – and he should dominate at Valhalla, which is a course where elite drivers will have an advantage. Scheffler leads the PGA TOUR in SG: Off-The-Tee this season, and McIlroy led the field in this metric when he won the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Brooks Koepka ($10,800) – If taking the gamble of fading Scheffler, building around Koepka has a ton of merit. The defending champion of this major has been truly incredible at this event, with three wins and one runner-up finish in his last six starts at PGA Championships. Coming off a two-shot victory at the LIV Golf Singapore event – which was his second straight top-10 finish on the circuit – Koepka should contend for his fourth Wanamaker Trophy this weekend and is slightly too cheap for his outright odds. While Koepka carries the third best odds to win this event on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +1400, he is the fifth-most expensive golfer for DFS purposes.

DraftKings $9,000 Range

Byrson DeChambeau ($9,600) – With Valhalla being a lengthy par 71, DeChambeau is a great target for this major. The bomber leads the LIV Golf league in driving distance this season, and his irons have also been strong, with DeChambeau ranking ninth greens in regulation percentage. The former major champion has produced four top-12 finishes in seven starts on the LIV circuit this season, and he also finished T6th at the Masters last month. Additionally, DeChambeau has finished T4th in two of his last three starts at the PGA Championship.

Cameron Young ($9,000) – Young is always a strong choice at majors and is great spend at this price point. Including a T3 at the 2022 PGA Championship, the 27-year-old has provided a top-10 finish in five of his last eight starts at a major. This season, Young has carded four top-10 finishes, and he ranks seventh in total driving, setting him up nicely for a driver-heavy track like Valhalla.

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

DraftKings $8,000 Range

Tommy Fleetwood ($8,700) – Ignore that Fleetwood missed the cut at Valhalla in 2014 and trust the Englishman this week. Fleetwood only missed that cut by one stroke and returns to the Nicklaus design this week a far better player as the No.11 ranked golfer in the world, which is 84 spots higher than when he faced Valhalla in 2014. Most notably with a T3 at the Masters, Fleetwood has recorded three top-10 finishes in nine starts this season, and he has finished T5th and T18th at the last two PGA Championships. Notably, Fleetwood’s $8,700 salary is a huge $800 drop from last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, which might not be a major, but it is one of the PGA TOUR’s Signature Events that hosts all of the tour’s best players.

Tyrell Hatton ($8,200) – Hatton has been very consistent since joining LIV, finishing top 25 in all seven of his starts this season. The Englishman is coming off a season-best T5 finish at the LIV Golf Singapore event and finished T9th at the Masters last month, which marked his best finish at Augusta National and his sixth consecutive finish of T34th or better at a major championship. Hatton ranks 18^th in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s histories on Nicklaus’ designs – via the Betsperts Rabbit Hole – and is an outstanding value play.

DraftKings $7,000 Range

Si Woo Kim ($7,700) – Kim shouldn’t be priced under $8,000 and is a tremendous option this week. The 28-year-old hasn’t missed a cut in 13 starts this season, and 11 of these finishes have been top-30 results. Ranking top 25 in SG: Tee-To-Green, SG: Off-The-Tee and SG: Approach this season, Kim is playing arguably the best golf of his career and has top-20 upside at Valhalla.

Sepp Straka ($7,500) – Straka arrives at Valhalla in stellar form, finishing T16, T5, and T8 in his last three starts. During all three of these finishes, the 31-year-old gained strokes in every major category expect in SG: Around-The-Green. Straka is a previous winner at PGA National – which has seen three renovations under Nicklaus this millennium – and he finished T7th at last year’s PGA Championship, which is one of his three finishes of T16 or better in his last four starts at a major. Evident from these results, Straka knows how to rise to the occasion when competing in the strongest fields, and he is just too cheap for his upside.

Russell Henley ($7,300) – Henley is a cash-game staple at this low salary. The veteran has advanced to the weekend at seven of the last eight PGA Championships and is coming off a T10 at the Wells Fargo Championship. This marked Henley’s fifth top-12 finish this season, and he has only missed one cut in 11 starts this year. Henley missed the cut by one stroke at Valhalla in 2014, but this should be taken with a grain of salt. The 35-year-old is now the No.17 ranked golfer in the world, which is 42 spots higher than when he teed it up at Valhalla a decade ago. Henley by no means should be this cheap and is a strong investment for a top-30 finish this weekend.

DraftKings $6,000 and Below Range

Denny McCarthy ($6,300) – McCarthy is an elite punt play this week. The 31-year-old has never missed a cut at the PGA Championship in four starts and is on the heels of a T6 at the Wells Fargo Championship. McCarthy has now made six cuts in a row (with a pair of top-10 finishes during this stretch), and he ranks top-25 in SG: Tee-To-Green, SG: Approach and SG: Putting when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds using the Rabbit Hole. McCarthy is simply mispriced, and this is clear when we compare DFS pricing to odds to win the PGA Championship. On the DraftKings Sportsbook, McCarthy carries +1100 odds to win this major, which are the same odds as Shane Lowry, who costs significantly more for DFS at $8,400.

Taylor Pendrith ($6,000) – Pendrith finished T29th in his PGA Championship debut last season and brings even better upside this week. The Canadian has been outstanding as of late, finishing T11th, 1^st, and T10th in his last three solo starts. This impressive run of golf has vaulted Pendrith up 52 spots in the world golf rankings to a career-best No.54, and he is a great match for Valhalla, with this par 71 home to bentgrass greens. Via the Rabbit Hole, Pendrith ranks 21^st in total strokes gained when we analyze this field’s last 50 rounds at courses that present bentgrass greens.