For the last event before the Open Championship, the Genesis Scottish Open will be played at the Renaissance Club (par 70, 7,237 yards, fescue greens) in North Berwick, Scotland. This marks the sixth straight year this course has hosted this tournament, and this is the third year in a row the Genesis Scottish Open will be co-sanctioned between the PGA TOUR and DP World TOUR. In other words, this field of 156 players will be basically split evenly with half the golfers being from the PGA TOUR and half from the DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy (-15) won last year’s Genesis Scottish Open, and there will be a standard top-65 and ties cut after the first 36 holes.
The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.
I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.
My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.
Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
- Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
- Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
- Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
- Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green
Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.
The cliff notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.
And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.
The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.
PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts
Note: FantasyLabs has partnered with Betsperts Golf and the Rabbit Hole! Sign up for the biggest database of golf stats available on the internet and get 25% off a yearly sub with our link!
Unless otherwise noted, all Strokes Gained metrics referenced in this article come via the Rabbit Hole.
Tool Highlights
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DraftKings $10,000+ Range
Rory McIlroy ($11,900) – McIlroy should contend for his second straight Genesis Scottish Open this week and is easy to fit in your lineup with a ton of appealing, cheap plays available. Including a win at the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy has finished inside the top five in three of his past five starts, and he has gained strokes in every major category at five straight events, showing you he doesn’t have a flaw in his game right now. Plus, for the last five starts McIlroy has made prior to a major, he has finished inside the top 10 four times, and he ranks first in 450-500-yard par-4 efficiency when we analyze this field’s last 50 rounds, which bodes extremely well for the Renaissance Club, where five of the 10 par fours fall in this range.
DraftKings $9,000 Range
Tommy Fleetwood ($9,900) – Fleetwood is a stellar spend this week. The Englishman has finished inside the top six in three of his four starts at the Renaissance Club, and he ranks first in Total Strokes Gained when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds at links courses, via the Rabbit Hole. Returning to the Renaissance Club this week with seven top-25 finishes in his last 10 starts, Fleetwood is a safe investment for a top-10 finish.
Tom Kim ($9,500) – Kim is coming off a disappointing missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but a trip to the Renaissance Club is exactly what the doctor ordered. The 22-year-old has finished T3rd and T6th at the last two Genesis Scottish Opens, and Kim ranks second only to McIlroy in Strokes Gained per round at the Renaissance Club, via the Rabbit Hole. Kim had made 10 cuts in a row before the speed bump at the Rocket Mortgage Classic – which is a run that includes a pair of top-five finishes – and he should bounce back with a high finish this weekend.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
DraftKings $8,000 Range
Aaron Rai ($8,300) – Rai won the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in 2020 and he is in a great position to contend at the track again. After finishing runner-up at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Rai kept his foot on the gas and finished T7th at the John Deere Classic last week. The 29-year-old has now produced four top-20 finishes in a row, and his ball striking has been incredible, with Rai ranking seventh in SG: Tee-to-Green and fifth in SG: Approach over his last 24 rounds. Additionally, he ranks third in 450-500-yard par four efficiency during this time, setting him perfectly for the Renaissance Club, where five of the 10 par fours land in this range.
Jordan Spieth ($8,000) – Spieth is a known links specialist and is vastly underpriced at this salary, which is a huge $1,300 decrease from his price tag for last year’s Genesis Scottish Open. Spieth finished T10th at the Renaissance Club two years ago, and he ranks second in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds at links courses, via the Rabbit Hole. Spieth gained strokes with both his irons and putter during his T26 at the John Deere Classic last week – which is his sixth made cut in his last seven starts – and he should effortlessly out-produce this salary if he can carry this momentum over to the Renaissance Club.
DraftKings $7,000 Range
Davis Thompson ($7,900) – Thompson lacks links experience, but he is simply playing too well to be ignored at this affordable salary. The 25-year-old is in the midst of an incredible run of golf and seems to get better each week. In his last three starts, Thompson has finished T9th at the U.S. Open, runner-up at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and then he won the John Deere Classic by four shots last week. Thompson gained strokes in every major category during all three of these starts, and when we compare this field’s last 12 rounds, the blossoming star ranks first in total strokes by nearly 10 strokes. Arguably, no player heads to the Renaissance Club in better form than Thompson, and he is a must-play at this price point.
Robert MacIntyre ($7,800) – MacIntyre loves competing in his home country of Scotland and is a steal at this sub $8K salary. The 27-year-old finished runner-up to McIlroy by one stroke at last year’s Genesis Scottish Open and he has finished T18th or better at three of the last four editions of this event at the Renaissance Club. MacIntyre is on the heels of a missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but he has carded five finishes of T16 or better in his last 10 starts – including his breakthrough win at the Canadian Open – and hasn’t missed two straight cuts since February. MacIntyre especially stands out as a great value when we compare DFS salaries to odds to win the Genesis Scottish Open. On the DraftKings Sportsbook, MacIntrye, and Corey Conners both carry +4000 odds to win this weekend, but MacIntyre notably costs $1,100 less for DFS purposes.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,500) – Bezuidenhout has made 3-of-5 cuts at the Renaissance Club – including a T16 in 2022 – and is having a terrific season on the PGA TOUR, missing only two cuts in 17 starts. Ten of those finishes have impressively been top-25 results, and Bezuidenhout ranks third in SG: Putting and eighth in par-4 efficiency when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds. Similar to MacIntrye, Bezudienhout is another player who presents strong odds to win relative to his DFS salary. On the DraftKings Sportsbook, the South African sports +6000 odds to win the Genesis Scottish Open, which are the same odds as Sahith Theegala, who costs $8,200 for DFS.
Thomas Detry ($7,200) – Detry is one of the only players in this field who has competed in all five of the Scottish Opens played at the Renaissance Club, and not only has the 31-year-old advanced through the cut at all five of these events, he has produced two top-10 finishes at the course, including a runner-up in 2021. Detry’s current form is also exceptional, with him only missing one cut in his last 11 starts and with six of these finishes being top-30 results. Detry checks every box this week and is an easy choice at this price tag.
DraftKings $6,000 and Below Range
Bernd Wiesberger ($6,600) – Wiesberger won the first ever Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club and has never missed a cut at the course in three starts. As for his current form, the Austrian has only missed one cut in 12 starts on the DP World Tour this season, and he has finished T16th or better in three of his past four starts. Wiesberger ranks eighth in stroke average on the DP World Tour this season and is the best sub $7,000 option this week.
Mark Hubbard ($6,500) – Hubbard needs to be included in your cash game player pool at this low salary. While for a weaker field, the veteran was priced up to $8,400 for last week’s John Deere Classic, where Hubbard finished T32nd while gaining strokes in every major category, except around the greens. The 32-year-old has yet to miss a cut in 19 starts this season and Hubbard is notably one of only six players on the PGA TOUR that boasts a perfect record this season. The veteran knows his main job is to advance to the weekend, and Hubbard is criminally underpriced for his chances of making the cut this week despite this being his debut at the Renaissance Club.
