DraftKings Championship Series: Live Updates from the Live Final at THE NORTHERN TRUST

The Fantasy Golf World Championship is in full swing, and throughout the tournament we’ll take you through the results of this prestigious 40-player DFS contest which will produce a $1 million winner by Sunday night. You can click here to see the results of the FGWC in real time, and below you’ll find a more comprehensive overview of what’s going on at the tournament as it unfolds. In addition to that monumental top prize, the winner of this contest will also earn a seat to the DraftKings Championship Series Tournament of Champions, which will be held at the end of the year. Many of the competitors are in attendance to meet and to watch golf, and of course cheer on their lineups as they compete for some large prizes.

To quickly recap how we got here, The FGWC field began with 250 of the world’s best DFS players before being cut down to 100 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and from there it was trimmed down to 40 finalists at the Wyndham Championship. Those 40 final spots consist of 27 unique players, many of whom have traveled to Jersey City, New Jersey to see the action from THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National Golf Course.

You can find the full stories from each of the last two tournaments here:

Fantasy Golf World Championship, First Round: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Recap

Fantasy Golf World Championship, Second Round: Wyndham Championship Recap

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The DraftKings Championship Series is the king of competitions, minting 100 millionaires in the 2021-22 season. For more info on the series and all of the events, visit our DraftKings Championship Series Information page.

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Monday August 23, 5:16 p.m. EST

There’s just a handful of holes to go in THE NORTHERN TRUST, as the leaders are now on the 12th hole of what could end up being a closely contested and highly entertaining final round. The front nine featured a lot of mistakes and underwhelming results from Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Tony Finau, and Erik van Rooyen, and while van Rooyen has continued to fade, Rahm, Smith, and Finau have gotten it going on the back nine. Finau just eagled the par-5 13th to tie Rahm at 18-under, though Rahm is currently looking at a tap-in birdie to move back on top at -19. Smith has a good look at birdie as well which would move him to 17-under, so there’s still a lot that could happen even with just five or six holes to go. As far as the Fantasy Golf World Championship is concerned, Skibasher still seems to have the million dollar prize in the bag, while kidcotti, TheHumanCespedes, and now PetrGibbons are battling for second place. All three of those lineups have Rahm, while none have Finau or Smith, so second through fourth place looks to be coming down to some of the golfers that are lower down on the leaderboard.

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Monday August 23, 3:13 p.m. EST

The first major shakeup of Monday’s final round just occurred, with Cameron Smith making a double-bogey on the 5th hole to fall from first place down to third place, behind Jon Rahm and Tony Finau. Rahm has recovered his status as tournament favorite, but this development hasn’t actually shaken up the Fantasy Golf World Championship too much, at least not at the top. As we’ve mentioned a few times already, Cameron Smith is owned by zero of the FGWC competitors, so his results aren’t going to have a direct impact on anyone’s lineup. Smith’s blow-up hole does indirectly help Rahm, so this would theoretically hurt Skibasher’s chances (he doesn’t have Rahm) but that first place lineup is still holding steady despite the change on THE NORTHERN TRUST leaderboard.

What’s perhaps more remarkable for Skibasher is that one of his six golfers has totally fallen apart in this fourth and final round, as Jordan Spieth is 7-over on the day and was actually as high as 9-over a few holes ago. Spieth has gone straight backwards on the leaderboard, but because of the balanced nature of the lineup, Skibasher still holds a commanding first place lead over TheHumanCespedes and kidcotti. It’s going to take a lot more chaos for the top of the FGWC standings to change, although the second place battle between TheHumanCespedes and kidcotti remains extremely close, with a lot of money at stake there as well.

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Monday August 23, 11:43 a.m. EST

Round 4 of THE NORTHERN TRUST is finally underway, as Sunday’s tee times were pushed back to early Monday morning and then pushed back again by another few hours, setting up a rainy afternoon of golf to decide the tournament. For the Fantasy Golf World Championship, there’s a lot that’s still yet to be decided, although Skibasher remains the frontrunner with an 11.5-point lead and a leg up on most of the field in terms of player holes remaining. TheHumanCespedes, kidcotti, and perhaps a few others still have a fighting chance though, and you can check back here throughout the round for continued analysis as the FGWC final round results unfold.

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Saturday August 21, 5:21 p.m. EST

Saturday at THE NORTHERN TRUST has been an eventful day on the golf course, but perhaps the most notable update is that the 4th and final round has been moved from Sunday to Monday. The Fantasy Golf World Championship will now have an extra day to be decided, as Skibasher, TheHumanCespedes, PetrGibbons, and kidcotti battle for the top prize. Jon Rahm was the clear favorite heading into the day, and was still probably the favorite even after Cameron Smith passed him on the leaderboard, but he’s had an average day (at least through 15 holes) and is currently tied with Smith at 16-under. There are plenty of golfers now in contention, and a big 4th round from someone like Harold Varner III (-15) or Shane Lowry (-13) could shake up the standings in a big way. It does appear as though Skibasher is in prime position, and he’s even managed to extend his lead throughout the afternoon despite not having any of the golfers in the top 5.

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Saturday August 21, 2:25 p.m. EST

The Fantasy Golf World Championship looks as though it’s become a three-horse race, at least as of Saturday afternoon, as TheHumanCespedes, Skibasher, and kidcotti currently hold the top three spots in the standings. kidcotti had moved up to first place earlier in the day thanks to Paul Casey and Doug Ghim, but there haven’t been many birdies from the other golfers in his lineup since then. First place now belongs to TheHumanCespedes — and one of his five lineups — as he’s benefited from huge rounds by Shane Lowry and Corey Conners. Conners actually was the solo leader for THE NORTHERN TRUST for a brief time, but he’s since been passed by Cameron Smith, who actually doesn’t appear in any of the top lineups, at least for now. The lineup in second place in the FGWC — held by Skibasher — would appear to be the favorite as it has a lot more holes to go then the other top-end lineups. Skibasher doesn’t have any of the five golfers who are above -11, but he does have a full lineup of six golfers still out on the course.

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Saturday August 21, 11:33 a.m. EST

It’s Saturday morning and the field at THE NORTHERN TRUST is down to just 75 golfers, after a tough afternoon for several of the most popular DFS picks at the Fantasy Golf World Championship. Of the 40 lineups in play, just two managed to get all six of their golfers past the cut line, and kidcotti has taken the lead with Jon Rahm leading the way for his lineup. Putting together a lineup that went 6 for 6 was obviously a good result through Friday, but the good fortune has continued into Saturday too with Paul Casey and Doug Ghim already posting a pair of great rounds. Here’s a look at that lineup as it stands:

The other 6 for 6 lineup comes from Skibasher, who actually is in just 15th place with 300 fantasy points. His lineup does have by far the most remaining holes in the contest at 207, however, so there’s still plenty of time for him to make a run and pass some of the 4 out of 6 and 5 out of 6 lineups. Nonetheless, it’s been a tumultuous DFS week with many of these lineups just trying to stay afloat. Below is a breakdown of the highest owned picks from the FGWC:

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Friday August 20, 4:18 p.m. EST

PetrGibbons has taken the FGWC lead as of Friday afternoon, thanks in large part to a late surge from Harold Varner III, who has climbed the leaderboard into a T-3 after going 5-under through his first 15 holes of Round 2. That first place lineup does contain Sergio Garcia and his +1 score, however, and it’s looking like this will be an especially difficult for anyone to achieve a 6 for 6 lineup of golfers making it to the weekend.

The three golfers to watch from earlier in the day have all continued to hang around the cut line, with Paul Casey (47.5% owned) having the most breathing room at -2 with three holes left in his round. Jhonattan Vegas (30% owned) is 1-over on his round through 13 holes which makes him even par for the tournament, and he’ll likely be left out of the weekend if he can’t find a birdie or two over his final few holes. The highly owned golfer who’s in the most trouble though is Tyrell Hatton (37.5% owned), who is also a shot over par in Round 2 and now finds himself at +2 with only two holes to go. With the cut line looking to be somewhere around E or -1, it’s going to take something resembling a miracle for Hatton to make it through to Saturday.

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Friday August 20, 12:04 p.m. EST

As of approximately noon on Friday, Jon Rahm and Tony Finau are tied for first place, both sitting at 10 under par. Rahm and Finau are both moderately owned in the FGWC, with Rahm at 20% and Finau at 17.5%. There isn’t actually a single lineup that has both of the first place golfers, so as it stands, the race for FGWC champion is a battle between Rahm and Finau. First place in the FGWC is currently held by dictator_teddy, who has just a half-point lead over PetrGibbons. dictator_teddy is one of many who will be relying on Paul Casey — this week’s highest owned golfer at 47.5% — who will tee off in about 30 minutes. Casey is set to begin play at -1, a score that currently is contending with the cut line, but he’s not alone as far as cut-sweats go for the popular picks this week. Tyrell Hatton and Jhonattan Vegas are +1 and -1 respectively, and they're both waiting to begin their Friday rounds as well.

If you’re interested in this event, be sure to check back here for more updates as we cover the results of the tournament for the duration of the weekend!

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What’s Next on the Champ Series Calendar

The Fantasy Golf World Championship concludes this weekend, with a live final that will take place at THE NORTHERN TRUST from August 19 to August 22. After that, the next major DraftKings Championship Series event is the Fantasy Baseball World Championship, which will be held on September 10 with a location that is still yet to be announced. There are still seats up for grabs, so don’t miss your chance if you’re still interested in qualifying!

For more info on the series and all of the events, visit our DraftKings Championship Series Information page.

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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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