Safeway Open

The third PGA Tour event of the new 2019-2020 season heads to the Napa Valley in California for the Safeway Open. The Silverado Resort and Spa is a short 7,166 yard par 72 course but is a classic course that tests all facets of a golfers game. The fairways are tight and lightly tree-lined with some deep fairway bunkers. The Greens are slowish Poa which is a change from the previous two events this season.  

The field this week is one of the strongest for the Safeway in the events short recent memory, as this event used to start the PGA Season in the past. Top 10 players in Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Francesco Molinari will be in the Napa Valley, along with 12 other players within the top 50 in the world. I'm expecting another ‘Birdie Fest’ this week as this field is the strongest in the course’s history, where -16 has been the average winning score. Note, the field is only 144 golfers this week but the cut is at 65 plus ties.

According to rotogrindes.com this key’s statistics include:

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach

2) Strokes Gained Off the Tee

3) Bogey Avoidance

4) Birdie or Better Percentage

5) Greens in Regulation

For the Fantasy Sites, DraftKings have posted a $250,000 Best Ball with $50,000 to 1st place, while Draftstars has a $5,000 contest for a $15 entry.

For this 'Swing Season' i'm going to be posting suggested lineups and expand on these selections each week. As a disclaimer, I like to play around 3-5 lineups for DFS golf and these teams will be one of them. I’ll keep a tally on whether these made a return over the next couple of months. Hopefully make some pocket money if I want to head to the President’s Cup in Melbourne!

Another cash (although it was minimal) in Draftstars last week at the Sanderson Farms, even though we had two golfers miss the cut. The Korean pair of Sungjae Im and Byeong-Hun-An came through for top 3 finishes and for Im, a loss in the playoff meant we missed on the Tournament Finishing Performance bonus. 

For DraftKings however, she is a tough world when three golfers miss the cut and a fourth has a withdrawal on you. Hopefully we can get on the board at DraftKings this week!

Suggested DraftKings Team 

Draftkings team

Suggested Draftstars Team

Draftstars team

With a few more 'Stars' this week and the salaries now starting to be adjusted to the season, it is now more of a challenge to roster the studs. This week I have a core of five golfers for each site with salary determining the second stud on each site.

My main guy this week is Hideki Matsuyama who finished off last season with a ninth place finish at the Tour Championship. Matsuyama is an approach King and is one of the favourites to win the event. After disappointing a lot of owners last week, I am tipping Corey Conners to bounce back at the Safeway. He only missed the cut on the number and will have low ownership. 8th in the field for Strokes Gained on Approach and 9th in the field for Strokes Gained off the tee. The other three core players are my 'form' golfers. Nate Lashley, Robbie Shelton and Cameron Percy have made exceptional starts to the new season and will be looking to stay hot to gain early FedEx standings points. All three were in contention at either the Greenbrier or the Sanderson Farms and will hopefully keep the momentum going.

I had enough salary to roster Justin Thomas on Draftstars who obviously was leading the FedEx standings into the Tour Championship. Although this is his first tournament of the new season, he is clearly the class of the field. I could not roster Thomas on DraftKings so I have settled on Byeong-Hun-An whose 3rd place finish last week at the Sanderson Farms was an excellent achievement.

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The Daily Fantasy Rankings "Dragon" has scoured the Australian sports betting markets and found some great value picks for this event. Check out his picks for the day below and click on the links to follow his betting plays!

Dragon's Picks Odds Sportsbook
Top Australian Player - Cameron Percy $10.00 Bet now at Sportsbet!
Top 5 - Hideki Matsuyama $4.75 Bet now at BetEasy!
Top 10 - Byeong-Hun-An $4.25 Bet now at Pointsbet!
Top 20 - Corey Conners $3.50 Bet now at Neds!

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