DraftKings Fantasy Golf Tournament Picks: 2021 Tokyo Olympics Golf Top Contrarian DFS Targets and Pivots

60 golfers will compete in this year’s Olympics for golf, and with a field this small, don’t expect the pivots you like to all be single-digit roster percentages on DraftKings come lock.

Looking back to the 2016 Rio Olympics, the golfers who finished inside the top five all had a top-five finish in the last dozen starts heading into the games. The weather conditions could also play a factor, and golfers who have experience playing on this side of the world could also outperform their pre-tournament expectations.

Course history, current form, or your favorite golf tout has pumped up the projected DraftKings ownership for individual golfers throughout the week. This article will look at the projected chalk and pivot in each significant salary range when entering lineups in DraftKings GPPs.

For a full course preview and who I like in the betting market, please refer to DraftKings Preview and the Best Bets articles on DraftKings Playbook. Here are the pivots we should be considering this week on DraftKings.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: INTL GOLF $700K Gold Golfer [$200K to 1st]

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$10,000+ Range

Projected Popular Golfer: Collin Morikawa ($11,200)

Pivot: Rory McIlroy ($10,300)

While we shouldn’t go out of our way to play McIlroy, whose feeling on the Olympics is one of disinterest, he’s still striking the ball well, ranking third in SG: Approach over the previous 24 rounds. Rory’s success at no-cut events has a lot to do with his dominance at East Lake GC in the no-cut TOUR Championship, a course designed by Donald Ross that could play similar to Kasumigaseki. The risk with Rory is if he isn’t in contention early, will he have the motivation to get back in the tournament?

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$8,000 to $10,000 Range

Projected Popular Golfer: Viktor Hovland ($9,900)

Pivot: Joaquin Niemann ($9,200)

Hovland’s an excellent cash-game play this week but shift some of those shares to Niemann in GPPs, who is oozing with pride representing Chile, and has the game to play well here. Sure, Hovland won the BMW Championship before his T12 at the Open Championship, which is why he’s projected to be the highest-rostered golfer per FantasyNational.com. Niemann’s been flirting with the winner’s circle all season, with three runner-up finishes, one of which was a loss in a playoff at the Tournament of Champions (no-cut event, small field). Another playoff loss at The Rocket Mortgage, which came from his first and only bogey of the tournament, shows how close he is to winning. Niemann is coming into this week ranked 12th in ball-striking and seventh in SG: Putting.

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$6,000 to $8,000 Range

Projected Popular Golfer: Jhonattan Vegas ($7,400)

Pivot: Adri Arnaus ($6,600)

Vegas should be rostered in cash-game lineups with how well he’s playing, but he’s a prime fade candidate for GPPs. Yes, he’s first in SG: Off-the-Tee over the previous 24 rounds and ninth in approach, but shift some Vegas shares (or completely fade) in GPPs and go down to Arnaus. The Spaniard has a handful of top finishes on the European Tour (ET) this season and can score, ranking 13th in birdies over 45 rounds on the ET.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: INTL GOLF $700K Gold Golfer [$200K to 1st]

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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.

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