The PGA Tour shifts to San Antonio, Texas for one of the most difficult tournaments of the year in the Valero Texas Open this week. There will be $6.2 million up for grabs in prize money at the event but the pros aren’t the only enthusiasts with the opportunity to make some serious cash this week as DraftKings players will have the opportunity to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash prizes. That includes the PGA $250K Birdie with a chance to win $250,000 with just a $3 entry. Here is a look at the optimal lineup for this week’s DraftKings PGA tournaments.
Jimmy Walker, $11,200
Walker absolutely dominated when he won this event last year and will look to pick up from where he left off as essentially a home favorite this week. Walker enters this week in fine form after a top-30 finish at The Masters two weeks ago and a pair of top-20 finishes at Doral and the Shell Houston Open so it’s hard to make a case against him as the obvious choice to build around. The betting favorite for this week’s Valero Texas Open won here last year and tied for third at this course back in 2010. Don’t let his experience price tag scare you away as the one golfer that should be a lock in every single DraftKings lineup.
Branden Grace, $10,900
Grace is coming off his first-career PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage last week and will look to keep on rolling with another strong performance at TPC San Antonio this week. Grace has been on fire so far in 2016 and he seems poised to take another step forward at this event after registering a top-30 finish here last year. Walker and Grace are the two most expensive options on the board but considering there are some strong sleeper option at the other end of the spectrum we have no problem locking them in as an excellent tandem to build around this week.
Ryan Palmer, $8,500
Palmer has made the cut in each of his last 10 PGA Tour events and is in line for a bounce back performance after he struggled at last weeks’ RBC Heritage. He has made four straight cuts at TPC San Antonio and he finished tied for sixth here a year ago after another top-15 finish at this event back in 2013. Palmer isn’t as hot of a commodity as Walker or Grace but that fact that he is available at nearly $3K less than Walker and that makes him an easy pick for our DraftKings lineups.
Will MacKenzie, $6,800
Mackenzie has shown a steady improvement throughout the year as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery and his price tag makes him worth taking a chance on this weekend. Mackenzie has made six straight cuts and he registered a pair of top-20 finishes at the Puerto Rice Open and the Houston Open before struggling a bit at last week’s RBC Heritage. Mackenzie’s runner-up finish to Steven Bowditch at this event in 2014 solidifies the case for him as a strong sleeper option this week.
Justin Leonard, $6,300
Leonard is a three-time Texas Open champion and he has made the cut every year at this event except for 2015. We expect him to bounce back with a strong performance this week based on both his experience and his recent form overall. Leonard registered a pair of top 20’s at the Northern Trust Open and the Valspar Championship so he enters this week with some momentum as a strong low-risk play that allows us to spend more money at the top of our lineup.
Hudson Swafford, $6,200
With the remaining $6.3K left over for our final entrant it only makes sense to take a gamble on Swafford. He is coming off two missed cuts but he ranks ninth on the PGA Tour in driving distance and that should help him out as he looks to bounce back this week. His strokes gained should help give him an edge this week and we are betting on him to make the cut and help us balance out our lineup as our deep sleeper pick for the Valero Texas Open.
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