Following Matthew Fitzpatrick’s win at the RBC Heritage, the PGA TOUR travels to TPC Louisiana (par 72, 7,425 yards, POA Trivialis greens) for the team-based Zurich Classic this week. This tournament has been an annual stop on the PGA TOUR schedule since 1958 and was converted to a team event in 2017. Since 2005, TPC Louisiana has been the home of the Zurich Classic and the duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are the defending champions, winning last year at a tournament-record 29-under-par.
For this untraditional tournament - which is the lone team event on the PGA TOUR schedule, - there will be 80 two-man teams competing at TPC Louisiana, with the first and third rounds being played in best ball format and the second and fourth rounds being played as alternate shot stroke play. Like most PGA TOUR tournaments, there will be a cut following the first two rounds, but only the top-33 and ties will be advancing to the weekend. For DFS, the scoring system remains the same as any week of golf, but it is important to note that each player will accrue the same amount of DKFP as their teammate, so there is no advantage to rostering one teammate over the other.
Just like Harbour Town last week for the RBC Heritage, TPC Louisiana is one of the many Pete Dye designed courses used at the PGA level and this par 72 presents many of the common characteristics of the famous architect, with small greens, 106 bunkers and water in play on eight holes. Per usual with a Dye design, TPC Louisiana is a course that favors accuracy over distance, and targeting golfers who are in compelling form with their irons is a must at this venue. Cantlay and Schauffele both finished top-40 in SG: Approach last season, and before this event became a team-based tournament in 2017, two of the previous four golfers to individually win at TPC Louisiana ranked top-10 in SG: Approach during their victories. As a par 72, there are four par 5’s at TPC Louisiana, and capitalizing on these holes is vital if you want to contend at the Zurich Classic. Of the five golfers to win this event on their own before it was converted to a team tournament in 2017, four finished the event top-10 in par-5 efficiency.
For this week’s field, 10 of the top-25 golfers in the world will be competing at the Zurich Classic, and in their title defense, Cantlay and Schauffele are the betting favorites on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +400.
Below, I dive into three of my favorite sub $7.5K DraftKings value plays for the Zurich Classic.
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Henrik Norlander/Luke List ($7,400) – Norlander has been successful at TPC Louisiana in the past, making three-of-four cuts at the par 72, with all of those finishes being T31 or better. Additionally, Norlander has made four consecutive cuts coming into this week, including two top-25 finishes. List has had an up-and-down season, but still has four top-30 finishes to his name this year and has been striking the ball well, ranking 12th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 31st in SG: Approach over his last 50 rounds.
While this will be their debut as a duo, Norlander and List are one of the most talented pairings in this price range and are worthwhile gamble this week.
Byeong Hun An/S.H. Kim ($7,100) – An is fresh off his best finish of the season with a T6 at the Valero Texas Open, in which he finished the event fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green and sixth in par-5 efficiency. The 31-year-old has now made eight straight cuts, while gaining strokes with his irons at all but one of these tournaments. An will now bring this outstanding form to TPC Louisiana, where he has flashed great upside in the past. An finished runner up at last standard individual Zurich Classic in 2016 and also finished T14 last year with Sungjae Im as his partner.
While Kim on the other hand has never competed at TPC Louisiana before, the 24-year-old is also in encouraging form, as the maker of eight of his past 10 cuts, with three top-20 finishes during this stretch. This duo of An and Kim should effortlessly outproduce this low salary and are an easy choice when you compare DFS pricing to outright odds to win the Zurich Classic. As of Monday, An and Kim carry +3000 odds to win this event on the DraftKings Sportsbook, which are better odds than the pairing of J.J. Spaun and Hayden Buckley, who cost a whopping $2,100 more for DFS.
Seung-Yul Noh/Michael Kim ($6,800) – While this duo missed the cut at last year’s Zurich Classic, Noh and Kim have to be considered at this sub $7K price tag. Noh has made seven of his past nine cuts and is a previous winner at TPC Louisiana, taking home the big check individually in 2014. As for Kim, he has only missed one weekend in his last seven starts with three top-30 finishes during this time. Furthermore, Kim ranks 23rd in SG: Approach when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds and has made four-of-six cuts at TPC Louisiana, two of which came with teammates.
Noh and Kim bring terrific upside relative to their cheap salary and should come with little ownership.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.