After an awesome major championship last week, the PGA TOUR is back in Texas for back-to-back weeks in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The first of the two weeks in Texas will center on TPC Craig Ranch, which will be hosting THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the sixth straight season.
The course has had some renovations over the last few years and is expected to be more difficult this year than in the last few seasons. However, it’s still likely to be a low-scoring, birdie-fest event where players will need to go very low to contend. The champions have all been -23 or better in the last five years, with Scottie Scheffler running away with last year’s tournament and matching the PGA TOUR record at -31. Scottie’s back to defend his title, leading a field full of players looking for good showings to improve their status. For more info on the field, the format, and the challenge at TPC Craig Ranch, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.
Especially in large-field tournaments, you’ll want to make sure to target players who have 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
Si Woo Kim, $9,900
Scottie Scheffler is the clear favorite and a great option to build around. He’s the most expensive he has ever been on DraftKings, but he still makes a great anchor for your lineups in any format, as my colleague Alex Hunter broke down this week. He also has the highest SimLeverage in the field, even though his ownership projection is the highest in the field by a wide margin as well. Rather than rehash Scottie’s greatness again, let’s look at a couple of alternatives with lower ownership projections if you choose to put together a non-Scheffler build.
Si Woo Kim has the second-highest SimLeverage of the options between $9,000 and $10,000 and the second-highest Perfect%, median projections, ceiling projections, and floor projections in the field behind only Scottie. His ownership projection is also the second-highest in the field, but it trails Scheffler’s by a wide margin. While his projections aren’t especially close to Scottie’s, they are higher on a Pts/Sal basis and allow a lot more flexibility across the rest of your roster.
Like Scheffler, Kim lives in the Dallas area and makes this a “home game” each year. He has finished T2, T13, and T15 in the last three years at this event, gaining more Strokes Gained: Approach each year, while his putter slipped a little bit last season.
He gained strokes with this flat stick last week on his way to a T35 at the PGA Championship, which was a nice bounce-back after a T65 at the Truist Championship. Before the Truist, he posted three top-10 finishes in four events, including a solo third at the RBC Heritage and a T4 at the Cadillac Championship, which were both Signature Events.
Kim ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Total Strokes Gained, and Strokes Gained: Approach in the last six months, trailing only Scheffler.
With a strong course history and good form, Kim is the strongest non-Scheffler alternative and can help your lineup stand out and have significantly more salary to spend at other spots.
PIerceson Coody $9,100
Pierceson Coody has a strong positive SimLeverage at just over $9,000 since he has the sixth-highest Perfect% and an ownership projection barely inside the top 15 in the field. Coody has a very high ceiling and big-time upside if he reaches his full potential, but he has been a little inconsistent this season.
While he may be too high risk for “safe” cash lineups, he is a great fit for tournament builds, where his upside is worth the risk as a differentiator. Coody ranks eighth in the entire field in Total Strokes Gained per round over the last six months, 10th in Strokes Gained: Approach, and 12th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.
The former University of Texas standout should be very comfortable on this course, where he made the cut for the first time last year in his four PGA TOUR appearances and finished T25.
He gathered momentum toward the end of the year in 2025 and carried that over into a great start to 2026, posting a T2 at the Farmers Insurance Open as part of his four straight top-20 finishes to open the season. He cooled off and missed a few cuts, including last week’s PGA Championship, but he has also flashed his upside with a T16 at the RBC Heritage and a T24 at the Truist Championship in the last month.
At times, Coody looks on the verge of a breakthrough win, and this course should be a good fit for his tee-to-green skill set. Players typically use their drivers a lot on this course, and that’s a strength of Coody’s game. If his putter cooperates, he could be right in the mix on Sunday, and he’s in so few lineups that he’ll be a key leverage play if he can climb the leaderboard this week.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
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