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PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the RBC Heritage

By Landon Silinsky @landonjake24
Apr 12, 2023

The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.

One week after The Master’s we have another loaded field event on tap, as Harbour Town Golf Links hosts the RBC Heritage. This is another one of the PGA TOUR’s designated events, so we have 27 of the top 30 in the world in attendance. The course is a 7,100-yard par 71 featuring Bermuda grass greens.

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

If you missed it, we added two new 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 Core Picks

Xander Schauffele ($9,300 DraftKings)

This is a ridiculous price here on the No. 6 player in the world. Especially after coming off his T10 at Augusta last week. Schauffele gained 6.62 strokes with his irons, which ranked second to only Brooks Koepka. Finding value at the top of the board is always imperative in loaded fields like this one, and it would shock zero people if Schauffele contended this week, despite sitting almost $2,000 less than Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler.

He hasn’t played this event since 2020 and has yet to have any real success here, but he’s a way more established player now, and there’s no reason why he should not play well. Schauffele will likely draw quite a bit of ownership this week in all formats, but in cash it’s really hard to get away from.

Sungjae Im ($8,600 DraftKings)

The $8,000 range on DraftKings this week is absolutely loaded with guys who can legit win this event, starting with Im here at a laughable $8,600. He had one of the quieter T16 finishes at Augusta that you’re ever going to find last week, and he did it behind the strength of his irons. Im gained over four strokes on approach for the tournament, which ranked him 10th in the field. Dating back over his past 24 rounds, he ranks seventh in this field in SG: Total.

He’s simply too cheap for both his floor and ceiling this week and is coming off back-to-back top-21 finishes at Harbour Town.

Matt FItzpatrick ($8,400 DraftKings)

Fitzpatrick looked completely healthy last week after battling a neck injury for the better part of the last three months. He gained 8.02 strokes ball-striking, ranking fifth behind only Rahm, Scheffler, Kopeka, and Cantlay. Fitz also posted his first top-10 finish since the Sentry Tournament of Champions back in January.

His strength is not usually his approach play, so to see him strike it so well with his irons last week bodes very well for his prospects here at Harbour Town. Speaking of Harbour Town, Fitz has a strong history here, with a T4 in 2021 and two other T14s since 2018. Health was the only thing holding him back of late, and now that we see him back to himself, this $8,400 price tag is a layup.

Shane Lowry ($8,300 DraftKings)

Lowry is another one who is underpriced, especially after the way he hit it last week at the Masters. The former Open Champion gained over four strokes off-the-tee and an additional 1.09 with his irons en route to his T16 finish. He’s rounding into form just in time for one of his favorite events on the PGA TOUR schedule. Dating back to 2019, Lowry has gone T3, MC, T9, T3 at Harbour Town and has made five of six cuts overall at the RBC.

The last time we were at a Lowry course was at the Honda Classic, and guess what? He finished T5. There is no need to overthink the spot here, as both recent form and course history are on a collision course. You could make the case Lowry could be $9,000, but we can roster him for just $8,300.

Tyrrell Hatton ($8,200 DraftKings)

As you can see, the theme this week is rostering good golfers at really strong price tags. Add Hatton to that last, as he’s coming off a respectable T34 at the Masters, a course where he’s never really had success in his career. Harbour Town has been a bit kinder to the Englishman in the past, having made four of five cuts, including a T3 in 2020.

Prior to Augusta, Hatton had been rolling, ranking third in this field in SG: Ball-Striking, 10th from tee-to-green, and sixth in SG: Total over his past 24 rounds. The loaded field has suppressed his price, and we need to take advantage of that.

PGA DFS Value Picks

Matt Kuchar ($7,700 DraftKings)

Kuchar has had somewhat of a renaissance season after a horrendous 2022. The 44-year-old has already had three top-10 finishes on the year, including his last time out at the Valero, where he finished T3. He’s been an absolute mainstay at this event for the last decade, having played Harbour Town every year since 2014. During that stretch, Kuchar has failed to miss a cut while posting a win, three top-fives, and a top 10.

He’s coming in rested after not playing the Masters and looked incredible in Texas, gaining over 7.5 strokes with his irons.

At just $7,700, Kuchar is one of the biggest bargains on the slate.

Chris Kirk ($7,500 DraftKings)

Kirk just keeps on rolling. He finished T23 at Augusta last week on the heels of his T10 at Valero. He struggled a bit off-the-tee last week but gained strokes everywhere else. Kirk is more of a short course guy, anyway, and should do a much better job finding the fairway this week at a much shorter Harbour Town track.

His history at this event has been a mixed bag, but he did finish T7 in 2021 and is now playing some of the best golf of his career.

At $7,500, he fits almost any build and is an elite value option in all formats.

Vivid Picks has an intriguing pick’em with Chris Kirk vs. Nick Taylor this week. Promo code LABS gets you a $200 deposit match.

Denny McCarthy ($7,200 DraftKings)

McCarthy has played really well so far this season, and especially of late with back-to-back top 20s at THE PLAYERS and Valero. In this stretch, he ranks 15th in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green and 20th in SG: Total. All we are really looking for from his is a made cut, something he’s done in 12-of-15 starts this season and three of four times at this course.

The ironic thing is that McCarthy’s putter has been cold of late while he’s been dialed in with his ball-striking. If he finds his usual elite putting stroke this week, he’s got really big upside for just $7,200

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