We’ve got another strong, post-major field set to tee it up this week in Cromwell, CT, for the Travelers Championship. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leads the pack alongside other big names like Rory McIlroy and former tournament champion Jordan Spieth.
DraftKings has recognized the big field and rolled out their now-standard $20 Pitch + Putt with $250,000 to first place. We will target that top prize with this article as we look for contrarian ways to build a top lineup this week for the Travelers.
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 about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.
Now, let’s get into the plays for the week.
High-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Sam Burns $10,400
It appears there are two clear ways to get different at the top of the field as both Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns are going to be overlooked for other choices this week. I’ll prefer to take the savings and course history by dropping down to Burns, but you can never go wrong taking an under-owned Scottie Scheffler either.
Burns was in the mix over the weekend at the U.S. Open before a tough final round sent him down for a finish outside of the top 25. I am not going to let 18 holes take away from the overall body of work he has put together in recent tournaments, especially as his course fit and improving course history come into play this week at TPC River Highlands.
Burns has improved his finish each year he has played this event with a T13 coming last year, and his combination of form and course history makes for a great play, especially with ownership that could dip into the single digits by Thursday.
He is being squeezed by Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay around him, but you could certainly argue he has just as much stability and winning upside as either of those two guys this week.
Editor’s note: Justin Thomas has withdrawn with a back injury.
Sungjae Im $9,700
A lot of people have trouble going back to chalk that burned them the week before, especially with a $2,100 price increase on top of it, but that is what I’m going to do with Sungjae Im. He was big-time chalk last week at the U.S. Open and missed the cut by a single shot, taking down many potential 6/6 lineups with him.
It was disappointing for me as well, but it doesn’t change the fit or my overall view of his game. He really struggled on approach in the opening round and found it back quickly on Day 2, though he just couldn’t score enough to get to the weekend.
I’ll look to take the leverage of around 10% ownership on a player that can win this tournament and will be a good fit with anyone you want to use to start your lineups at the very top.
Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Brian Harman $8,600
I was interested to see where ownership would fall on Brian Harman this week. He has fantastic course history, which usually draws in the masses, but we aren’t used to paying this kind of price for Harman in 2022 in a fairly solid field. It seems most will be looking for the shiny new toys in this range as they gather towards Davis Riley, Aaron Wise, and Mito Pereira, which will leave me with some depressed ownership of a more known commodity at this course.
I’ll be happy to take that leverage as I think Harman knows this is one of those few courses left on TOUR where he can really compete as it suits his game. I’m not worried about his birdie-free weekend at the U.S. Open, and he has shown an ability to perform well following majors, which lines up well for a nice week from the former Georgia Bulldog.
Marc Leishman $8,400
Marc Leishman is going to be a favorite play for me this week. I look for him to really build off of a nice T14 finish at the U.S. Open, where he put his game together over the weekend to finish off that result. Leishman is another player that seems to be a great fit at this course, and that showed with his 3rd place at this tournament in 2021.
This is a course that mitigates his biggest weakness off the tee and will allow him to dial in with the iron play that he had, gaining nearly two strokes on the elite field over the weekend at The Country Club.
Value PGA DFS Picks
K.H. Lee $7,600
I’m going to pivot away from the Brendan Steele ownership in this range solely based on that ownership. He makes a ton of sense overall with great form and strong course history, but as we saw last week with Sungjae in the same range, we can find leverage by avoiding the chalk.
I’ll instead go down to K.H. Lee, who, despite his 73rd place here in 2021, was actually in a T6 position going into the final round. He had put together three rounds in the 60s before he shot a baffling 80 on Sunday to drop all the way down to the bottom of the field.
We know he is a player that can win on this level, and despite his finish, he clearly has an affinity for this TPC course. I’ll take my chances on a guy that may have a higher ceiling than Steele, and he’s trending to have half the ownership.
Aaron Rai $7,400
I’d argue that Aaron Rai is mispriced for his form and the strength of this field in this price range. Rai is coming in after gaining over seven shots on the field at the RBC Canadian Open where he finished 13th. That result made it four straight cuts made for the Englishman who provides a nice floor but a high enough ceiling to help us win a GPP this week.
I was a bit surprised to see him getting overlooked from an ownership perspective, though I will happily take it in large fields and would really consider him a strong play in smaller field contests too.
Sleeper PGA DFS Picks
Lucas Glover $6,800
One of the best players in the approach metrics I am looking for his week is Lucas Glover? I was just as surprised as I’m sure you are reading this, but I’ll take the chance in a range that we are searching for reasons to dip this low. For the record, I’ll look to avoid this range entirely when I can, though Glover will fit in as a nice piece for me when I do get into this price level this week.
Chris Gotterup $6,400
Yes, Chris Gotterup, again. The kid is talented, and that is clear if you watched him as he made it through the weekend at the U.S. Open. There isn’t a ton of upside in my eyes in this range other than just throwing darts and hoping that something hits this week, so I’ll lean on the talented player who is underpriced due to inexperience rather than game.
He, like Glover, is not someone to fall in love with as you won’t need much to get over the field here, and you don’t want to have anyone in this range messing up too many of your top combinations up the board.
