There will be $5.9 million on the line for the top golfers in the world when they meet at the Kapalua Resort in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii for this week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which is the opening event of the 2016 PGA Tour calendar. Keep in mind that this event is – as the name suggests – only inclusive of the players that managed to win an event last season.
There will be an opportunity for the fans to make some money as well when it comes to DraftKings contests based on this week’s event. There will be a ton of money up for grabs including a $200K pot in the PGA $200K Birdie contest that begins on Thursday so make sure you log in and build your ideal lineup in order to have a shot at some serious cash. Here is a look at the optimal lineup for this week’s DraftKings PGA contests.
Jordan Spieth, $12,500
The field for this event is absolutely stacked and it only makes sense to start with the best of them in Spieth. The No. 1 ranked golfer in the world is the most expensive player on the board but he has been absolutely dominant since winning the FedEx Cup last season with three-consecutive top-10 finishes and he finished second in his only appearance at this event back in 2014. Spieth will require a good chunk of our available cap space but he is undoubtedly the top superstar available for us to build our lineup around this week. Open up your daily fantasy wallets for Spieth to start off your roster.
Graeme McDowell, $8,500
Spending big on Spieth can only happy if we have a strong cast of options available to us at reasonable prices and McDowell fits the criteria perfectly. G-Mac won the OHL Classic in Mexico back in November and he recorded a solo-third at Sea Island the following week so he has shown some good form of late and when you factor in that he finished third in his previous trip to Kapalua back in 2011 there is every reason to be high on him as a strong bargain option available at under $9K.
Russell Knox, $8,100
Knox has never posted a top-five finish at Kapalua the way that McDowell has but he is certainly on a roll of late after he won the WGC-HSBC and then finished tied for second with McDowell at the OHL Classic. Knox also has a similar price tag to McDowell so while it’s a little risky taking him in his first start at an event we feel comfortable plugging both him and McDowell in as strong bargain options.
Scott Piercy, $7,100
Piercy has twice finished in the top-15 at this event in his career and that’s one of the key factors that draws us to his name. At the same time, we have to make some longer shots fit in with our budget since we’ve got a big price to pay with Spieth in our lineup. Piercy’s experience combined with the fact he started the Fall Series with a pair of top-25 finishes has us thinking he will be a strong sleeper play at just over $7K.
Smylie Kaufman, $7,000
Finding strong value plays with our remaining cap space is absolutely key if we are going to spend big on a superstar like Spieth so the fact that we found two quality options that don’t break the $7K mark is very important. Kaufman picked up a win this Fall at the Shriners in just his second start as a full-time PGA Tour member and made the cut in all five events he played this fall so look for him to be a strong sleeper option for this week.
J.J. Henry, $6,700
Henry surprised everyone when he won the Baracuda Championship last summer and he has plenty of upside after finishing in the top-15 in each of his three previous visits to Kapalua so at just $6.7K he is the perfect option to help us fill out our optimal lineup for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
