The PGA tour is officially back! It has been three months since the Players Championship was canceled after one round due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the tour will be making its return without fans. While it won’t be the same without fans, it will be great to have another sport added to the fold as things slowly start to turn back to normal. The tour’s return will be happening in Fort Worth, Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge. This tournament has a solid field featuring Rory Mcilroy, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, and Brooks Koepka. So after this long layoff, which golfer’s present the best value for this week? Let’s break it down!
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Rory Mcilroy 1X
With odds circumstances like this, choosing the player who has been by far the most consistent and productive in the world is the best thing to do. Rory has finished in the top five in his last eight appearances on the tour with two wins mixed in there. He has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the last 12 tournaments with the only one being at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship back in September where he finished 26th. No golfer comes close to this level of consistent play and that makes Rory as safe of a pick as anyone even at 1X. Even though this will be Rory’s first time ever golfing at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, I think he is going to be ready to go this week and provide great value as he always does.
Kevin Na 1.35X
Kevin Na has had an up and down start to the 2020 season. In seven appearances on the tour, he has missed the cut twice, finished 36th and 32nd but also finished 17th, 14th, and 9th. As the 30th ranked player in the world, there is definitely potential for Na to pop and this feels like the tournament where that is going to happen. Na has enjoyed great recent success at Fort Worth as he finished first last year and 4th in 2018. In addition to that, Na finished 10th in 2015, 13th in 2012, 9th in 2009, and 7th in 2007. Na only missed the cut once and that was in 2014.
In the three events in which Na performed well so far this year, he averaged 79.6 fantasy points per event. When you factor in his 1.35X multiplier, the average goes up to 107.46 fantasy points per event. Given the recent success, Na has had at Fort Worth, selecting him for your lineup this week has a chance to be a grand slam pick.
Tony Finau 1.2X
Finau had two disappointing performances before the pandemic canceled the tour. At the Genesis Open, he finished 51st and he missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. However, given the time off, I believe Finau is poised to return to the golfer he was to start 2020. In his first three tournaments of 2020, he finished 14th at The American Express Open, 6th at the Farmers Insurance Open, and 2nd at the Waste Management Open. The 16th ranked player in the world is more like this player than the one who showed up in the last two tournaments.
Finau has a solid resume at Fort Worth as he finished in 2nd last year, 29th in 2017, 34th in 2016, and 19th in 2015. The potential is all there for Finau to have another great tournament this week and with a multiplier of 1.2X, he is a solid pick for your lineup.
Jordan Spieth 1.3X
It was only 3-4 years ago where it felt like Jordan Spieth was going to be the next big thing for golf. Quite a bit has changed since then as he has not won a tournament since winning the British Open back in July of 2017. Right now he is on as bad of a stretch as he’s been on in the last 3-4 years as he has only finished better than 43rd once in the last eight tournaments. This has dropped his world golf ranking down to 56th. However, with the natural talent he has and his success at Fort Worth, he has a good chance to bring some value at 1.3X.
Speith in his last seven tournaments at the Colonial Country Club has finished 8th, 32nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 14th, and 7th. Given his 8th place finish just being last year, it shows that Speith still has the talent in him to compete with anyone in this field. Also, the one time he finished above 43rd this year was when he came in 9th at Pebble Beach. With his multiplier at 1.3X, I think Spieth provides great value this week.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
