2020 Memorial Tournament DFS Plays: Cash Plays, Tournament Fliers & Fades
Previous PGA Tour Event Winners & DraftKings Salary
- Workday Charity Open: Collin Morikawa ($9,200)
- Rocket Mortgage Classic: Bryson DeChambeau ($11,700)
- Travelers Championship: Dustin Johnson ($9,400)
- RBC Heritage: Webb Simpson ($9,000)
- Charles Schwab Challenge: Daniel Berger ($7,700)
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Workday Charity Open Cash Plays
Justin Thomas ($10,900 DK, $11,900 FD)
Thomas was my pick to win it all last week and boy, did he let one slip away.
Up three strokes on Collin Morikawa with three holes to go, Thomas bogeyed 16 and 17. Morikawa went on to force a playoff that lasted three holes.
Despite last week’s breakdown, he continues to post terrific numbers in nearly every major scoring category with top-fives in birdie average, scoring average, sand save percentage, and strokes gained (SG) tee-to-green. As evidenced last week, he’s also top 10 in SG: approach, one of the top metrics used to project performance at Muirfield.
Patrick Cantlay ($10,600 DK, $11,700 FD)
Cantlay finished in seventh place last week and we get a $800 discount on DraftKings? Sign me up!
He won the Memorial last year and has had lots of success at Muirfield with two top-five finishes in the past two years, and a 35th place finish in 2017.
His game is perfectly suited for the course, evidenced by both recent success as well as ranking fifth in SG: approach and seventh in SG: tee-to-green.
Last week I wrote that both Thomas and Cantlay are two of the safest plays you can find for this week. Based on Thomas’ overall performance (not what we saw on the final three holes) as well as Cantlay’s remarkable consistency on the very same course, you’d be hard pressed to not think they make for outstanding plays once again.
Daniel Berger ($8,700 DK, $10,200 FD)
When it comes to recent form, the only person that can be in the same conversation with Bryson DeChambeau is Daniel Berger. He does not have anything under a top-nine finish in his last five tournaments.
Even the worst part of his game, SG: approach is still top-40. According to Fantasy National, Berger ranks second in their model just behind DeChambeau, at a $2,400 SAVINGS!
Sepp Straka ($7,000 DK, $8,500 FD)
Straka, like the golfers above, is in terrific form, having finished eighth at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and 14th last week here at Muirfield.
He’s also an outstanding final day player, evidenced by Jason Sobel of The Action Network below.
Straka will be playing in his sixth consecutive tournament which concerns me if he starts to hit a bit of fatigue, but this is still after three months off and in the midst of some of his best golf of his career. At a very reasonable price tag, going to Straka in cash allows us to spend up for guys like Thomas and Cantlay.
Chez Reavie ($6,700 DK, $8,300 FD)
Reavie would have been a great play for Muirfield purely on his SG: approach, as well as SG: around-the-green where he ranks top-40 in both. However, over his last 24 rounds, he’s been brilliant around the green, moving up to top 11.
Then there’s recent form, where Reavie has vastly improved over his last three events: 74th at the RBC Heritage, 46th at the Travelers Championship, and 17th last week on this course for the Workday Charity Open.
It’s never a guarantee a player will make the cut, especially at this price range, but he’s absolutely trending in the right direction with a game that suits Muirfield Village awfully well.
The Memorial Tournament Plays
Jon Rahm ($9,300 DK, $11,400 FD)
Rahm was a fade for me last week at a price tag over $10K on DraftKings. He had been above average, but to spend in that price range in a weaker field just didn’t make sense for cash. Now, his price point is the lowest it’s been this year and he’s coming off a T27 finish at Muirfield a week ago. Rahm finished with a 64 on Sunday, the lowest round on the course for that day with 10 birdies. I’ll buy on him starting to put it together with limited ownership.
Per FantasyLabs, Rahm’s ownership numbers across the major tournaments has decreased to its lowest number of the year: an average of 10.6%.
Xander Schauffele ($9,200 DK, $10,800 FD)
Schauffele is seventh in his last 50 rounds in strokes gained: total, as well as top 11 in both tee-to-green and ball striking. After a 64th place finish at the RBC Heritage, he’s gone top 20 at the Travelers and 14th at the Workday Charity Open last week. I have a little concern with his approach around the green (102nd ranked over his last 24 rounds), but his putter has been top-15. With all the big names available this week, I’m expecting sub-12% ownership.
Sungjae Im ($8,200 DK, $9,500 FD)
At one point earlier this season, the golf community was talking about Im the same way we were mentioning DeChambeau, Morikawa and Berger. He has six top 10 finishes on the Tour in 2020 including a win at the Honda Classic and is third in FedEx Cup scoring.
The 22-year old is incredibly streaky, and went from -1 on the final day to a +5 final score at Muirfield. His triple-bogeyed at the sixth hole and then just collapsed with four more bogeys on the back nine by the time he was fully out of contention. Now that he knows the course, I expect far better approaches and putts from Im which have been his achilles heel over the last several weeks, despite making three straight cuts. He is as high-upside and high risk of a play as you can get.
Joel Dahmen ($7,100 DK, $8,300 FD)
If I loved Joel Dahmen last week at this course, I still feel compelled to play him again after a complete disaster last week.
In all seriousness, how can we not look at what happened as a complete and total anomaly based on his recent performance?
Via PGATour.com
Dahmen went from ranking fourth in SG: tee-to-green and 7th in SG: approach to 20th and 18th in just two days! Take the discount and give him another shot in tournaments.
Troy Merritt ($6,700 DK, $8,100 FD)
Merritt finished 17th at the Memorial last season and is coming off 22nd last week in the Workday. He’s made the cut four consecutive weeks and has been excellent over the last weeks with his short game and putting; ranking 22nd and 17th respectively. As we saw down the stretch last week, putting matters at this course and that’s not a concern for Merritt, especially as of late.
Workday Charity Open Fades
Bryson DeChambeau ($11,200 DK, $12,000 FD)
This is purely a price point play with Bryson being the most expensive golfer on the slate, as well as likely the most heavily owned golfer on the slate. I’m not going to argue with the results he’s put out, considering he hasn’t finished less than top 10 since early February at the Waste Management Open.
However, if I’m choosing between DeChambeau or, for example, Justin Thomas, I saw the results play out on this very same course from Thomas just a few days ago, whereas DeChambeau is coming back after a week off celebrating a win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Fading DeChambeau can always come back to bite you, but in this case, it's a play I have to make.
