The final official event of the 2024 PGA TOUR season will take place this week at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and there are numerous storylines to track coming into what is always a great week of golf. Several big names are back in action, led by defending champion Ludvig Aberg, who is returning from knee surgery.
The event will be the players’ final chance to earn their way into the top 125 in the FedExCup Fall standings and secure their full-time status on the PGA TOUR for next season. It’s also the final week for players to secure their spot in the Aon Next 10. Players ranked from No. 51 to No. 60 at the end of the FedExCup Fall will earn their way into two early-season 2025 Signature Events – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Many players near the bubble for both cut-offs are teeing it up this week, looking to play their way into a better status for next season.
Led by Aberg, there are 10 players teeing it up this week in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Aberg, Davis Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, and J.T. Poston are the top six in the salary structure. Poston is also one of several recent winners teeing it up along with Nico Echavarria, Kevin Yu, Matt McCarty, Patton Kizzire, and Rafael Campos. While it isn’t exactly a Signature Event in terms of field strength, it is the best we’ve had since the FedExCup playoffs ended.
The course awaiting the players will be hosting this event for the 14th straight season since its founding as the McGladrey Classic. Beginning in 2015, the tournament has used two courses at Sea Island Resort, the Seaside Course and the Plantation Course, for the first two rounds before finishing with the final two rounds taking place at the Seaside Course. The Plantation Course is a par 72 and typically plays lower relative to par, while the Seaside Course is a par 70 where the water is in play on 13 of the 18 holes.
At Seaside, Strokes Gained: Putting (on Bermuda greens) and Strokes Gained: Approach are key metrics to watch while players who play well in windy conditions also typically finish high on the leaderboard. The course is relatively short and easy scoring most years, although players with varied skillsets have hoisted the trophy over the last several seasons. Since it has been such a regular stop, we also have plenty of course history to consider in our selections this week.
The focus of this post is strong GPP options who have lower ownership projections than their potential performance. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.
All Strokes Gained metrics referenced are from the Rabbit Hole.
Usually, I rely heavily on the Stroked Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean into players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week-to-week than a hot putter.
Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.
No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.
As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.
Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.
Editors note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.
High-Priced PGA DFS Picks
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Unless otherwise noted, all Strokes Gained metrics referenced in this article come via the Rabbit Hole.
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Maverick McNealy $9,100
The ownership for the top options in the field is so ultra-concentrated that I’m passing up the top tier of options for my GPP lineups this week and going with multiple options from the next level down. McNealy is only $9,100 and brings the highest SimLeverage of all options over $9,000.
McNealy had to withdraw from the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP due to illness, but other than that has been on a nice run to finish the season for McNealy. Aside from that event, he has finished in the top 20 in bad of his last four tournaments. He surged to a T17 last week with seven final-round birdies as his putter got going.
In the last six months, McNealy ranks third in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and also ranks in the top 10 in Total Strokes Gained. Historically, McNealy is a very good putter on Bermuda greens like these and excels in these scoring conditions.
McNealy has made the cut in two of his three trips to The RSM Classic, including last season, when he finished T58.
He’s still in search of his first PGA TOUR victory, but the 29-year-old from California has 11 top-25s and five top-10s on the season. He started the season on a Major Medical Extension but seems to be fully past his shoulder injury and in line to secure his PGA TOUR card for next season. In fact, he starts the week at No. 52 in the FedExCup Fall and can secure entry into the first two Signature Events next season.
Eric Cole $8,700
Cole has the fifth-highest SimLeverage in the field this week and the highest of any player with a salary over $8,500. He has the sixth-highest Perfect% in the field, but his ownership projection is barely over 10%.
Since Cole is one of the shorter hitters on the PGA TOUR, it makes sense that his course is well-suited to his skill set. He has had success in both of his past appearances at Sea Island, including a T3 at this event last year when he finished behind just Aberg and Mackenzie Hughes ($8,800).
While he’s had an up-and-down season, he has totaled five top 10s and 12 top 25s. He finished T16 at the Sanderson Farms Championship earlier this fall before missing the cut at the Shriners. However, he looked good in his last event, finishing in the top 10 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.
Over his last 36 rounds, Cole ranks 15th in the field in Total Strokes Gained, 13 in Strokes Gained: Approach, and seventh in Strokes Gained: Around-The-Green. Even though he’s typically better on bentgrass than Bermuda greens, his past success here shows he can make it work with the flat stick in this environment.
Unlike McNealy, Cole has already locked up his PGA TOUR status for next season by finishing 50th in the FedExCup race that ended in August, so he’s just looking to get that his PGA TOUR win.
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Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Austin Eckroat $8,500
Eckroat already has one win during the FedExCup Fall claiming the victory two weeks ago at the World Wide Technology Championship. He has the sixth-highest SimLeverage in the field and the second-highest of any player with a salary of at least $8,500, behind only Cole. His ownership projection is even lower, though, at under 5%.
Even before winning in Mexico, Eckroat was putting together a nice surge. He finished in the top 10 at the Wyndham Championship, and the top 20 at the St. Jude Championship before his playoff run came to a close at the BMW Championship. He made the cut at the Shriners in his first start of the fall and then won in Mexico. That victory was his second on the PGA TOUR in 2024 after he also won the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches back in February.
Eckroat had a strong showing last year at The RSM, finishing T8 with four rounds in the 60s. He has fared well on short and very short courses, ranking third in Total Strokes gained over the last 30 rounds in courses that fall into those categories on The Rabbit Hole.
J.J. Spaun $8,400
Spaun has the second-highest SimLeverage and the second-highest ceiling projection in the entire field. The fact that his salary is under $8,500 and his ownership projection is under 10% makes him stand out in just about every way you sort the projections. He matches six Pro Trends and comes in with good form and good course history. Could he be a bust? Sure, but he definitely gives all the right indicators to bring the “boom” and be on the leaderboard this week.
Recently, Spaun has been on a very strong run. He has made the cut in 11 of his last 12 tournaments and exceeded salary-based expectations in every one of those events. The only exception was an early withdrawal from the Sanderson Farms Championship earlier this Fall. Over the last 36 rounds, he ranks second in Total Strokes Gained and in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.
Spaun also has enjoyed his previous appearances at Sea Island. He finished runner-up back in 2017 and also posted top 20s in each of the last three years.
With the fourth-highest Perfect%, Spaun is an absolute steal according to our projections, and he can anchor your lineup from this very affordable salary.
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Value PGA DFS Picks
Matthew McCarty $7,800
McCarty has been one of this fall’s breakthrough stars, and he comes into the final event looking to post another big finish before starting his first full-time season on the PGA TOUR in January.
The 26-year-old won the Black Desert Championship in just his third career PGA TOUR start back in mid-October in very low-scoring conditions. Although he missed the cut the following week at the Shriners Children’s Open, McCarty should still be a good play this week and has the fifth-highest Perfect% in our sims with an ownership projection under 5%.
McCarty won three times over the summer on the Korn Ferry Tour, picking up wins at the Price Cutter Charity Championship, Pinnacle Bank Championship, and the Albertsons Boise Open while also posting six other top 10 finishes in his 25 events on the Korn Ferry Tour. He unanimously won the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year Award and earned his way to full-time status by finishing in the top spot in the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
McCarty will be playing this course for the first time competitively, but he has shown the ability to go low in a hurry and contend immediately on the PGA TOUR. Getting him at such low ownership makes him a very strong leverage play to consider at The RSM.
Nico Echavarria $7,200
Echavarria has also had a memorable fall and has established himself as one of the best golfers on the rise. He has the fourth-highest SimLeverage in the field, with an ownership projection under 5%.
The 30-year-old Columbian got his second career win at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP after a T11 at the Black Desert Championship, and then he followed that up with a t6 at the World Wide Technology Championship and a T29 in Bermuda last week.
Over the last 12 rounds, he leads the entire field in Total Strokes Gained and ranks third in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.
Echavarria missed the cut at his only appearance at Sea Island back in 2022, but he’s in much better form and comes in hot enough to be a strong leverage play at this price in the final event of the year.
He starts the week at No. 59 in the FedExCup Fall standings, so a strong week will get him into the first two Signature Events next season.
Sleeper PGA DFS Picks
Luke List $7,000
If you’re not spending all the way up at the top, you may not have to go extremely cheap and dive into these higher-risk sleepers, but if you do opt to go into this price range, Luke List is a great option with good GPP upside. He has the third-highest SimLeverage of all players $7,000 and under and the fifth-highest Perfect%.
Throughout his career, the Georgia resident has been a streaky producer, and he’s made three straight cuts coming into this event, highlighted by a T16 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.
List has also been very boom-or-bust at Sea Island in the past with five made cuts in seven appearances and three top-20 finishes. His best finish was a T4 back in 2018, and in the last four years, he has alternated missed cuts with top 20s.
If he can hold his recent form, he could contend this week, but he could also miss the cut making him high-risk but also potentially high-reward. It does help that Bermuda is by far his best putting surface, and his short game has been much stronger over his last few events.
Taylor Montgomery $6,400
Montgomery has the second-highest SimLeverage of all players under $7,000 this week, with an ownership projection under 1%. Montgomery has had a down year and begins the week outside the Top 125 but is within shouting distance at No. 137. He’ll need a huge week to earn his PGA TOUR card this week.
He made the cut at the World Wide Technology Championship but withdrew before last week’s tournament in Bermuda. He could have been targeting this event for his big move since he finished T15 and T8 here in the last two years.
Montgomery is known for his putting and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting over the last 36 rounds on Bermuda Greens. His short game has looked pretty solid this Fall, but he’ll need to be accurate off the tee to return value at this bargain salary this week.
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