 Major number two of the season is coming up as a PGA tour heads to Rochester, New York for this week's PGA championship It is an Oak Hill Country Club. We're gonna break down What you need to know about that course the field this week and more to get you ready for your DFS lineups over on Fandall.com welcome on into the heat check fantasy podcast powered by Number fire that's right here on the Fandall podcast network and number fire calm My name is Jim Sonis. I am a senior writer and analyst for a number fire Join here as always by branding gandula. You can find him on Twitter at gandula 13 He is the senior managing editor of number fire comm Brandon the PGA championship is coming up You're wearing a PGA championship hat. So you were in the proper mood. How you doing today? Yeah, and credit to Jim for clocking the hat knowing what it was Definitely did not ask you beforehand what it was. Yeah I was trying to make you look cool in front of all your friends. Yeah, but I know and what matters is if I know All my internet friends assembled here like wow Jim's Jim pin pointed that that was a PGA championship hat. He's a genius. He's a role model We adore him. That's what would have tipped them over the scales as opposed to this moron has no idea what he's talking about That would have been the full flip for me, you know, was that moment? Well, I mean, I was trying to give you credit. So Why would you ever do that? Was Jason day your win-pick last week for the show sure. Well, that's buddy Miserable come on. So you are now up by how much over me in the win-pick Let me in the win-pick section. Yeah in terms of outright wins or units. No, the the units I'm up 27 and a half units. Ah Boogie, okay, so I need to claw myself out of a whole I'm in that I'm in the black 27 and a half units Oh, and I'm not okay So I need to make up a lot of ground over the next couple of weeks The problem is looking at this field specifically We got a lot of a lot of studs and it's gonna be hard to overcome those studs So I don't think I'll be able to make up that gap in one week It's going to be a multi-week effort because we've got John Robb Scottie Scheffler's co-favorites Roy McElroy's 13 to 1 Zanders at a short number justifiably a lot of big names in this field So our job today is to dissect all those big names outline Which ones we want to focus on talk about some roster construction and get you ready for this week's PGA championship But first a reminder to make sure you're subscribed to the number fire daily fantasy podcast Wherever you get your podcast not only this PGA podcast every weekday here in audio version over there We also have our MLB DFS podcast the solo shot over there and USC for the big events as well All in the number fire daily fantasy podcast needs to go search for that wherever you get your podcasts hit subscribe And if you like what you hear leave us a rating and review but we're not podcast a five star rating We appreciate those of you who have done so already and also if you want to get your PGA DFS knowledge put it up to the test Check out Fandall calm in their mega eagle contest Which is currently live test your knowledge of the PGA tour by putting together a six-person lineup While staying under the salary cap and use Fandall's live scoring feature follow along as you compete for a share of $350,000 with first place taking home a cool 100k for just a $9 entry fee whether it's household names like John Rom and Justin Thomas or lesser known golfers such as let me scroll the player pool here and Minowali is pretty well known. Does that count? I don't know. Let's go in. Why is he will Kim 85? Let's go in Minowali and Adam Spencer. Are those justifiable as like lesser known names through this week? Can I do that? Is that okay? I mean, yeah, I think Golfs one of those like sports especially where There is a cavern between like what some people consider no names and what are actually no names because if you I mean if you like pull People off the street They'd know Rory they'd know Brooks Kepka They probably know Justin Thomas by this point. They'd know superstar cousin shameless power But like does the person on the street in the mall something like that? Oh No, they shouldn't Adrian Maronk. I'm gonna make him my The lesser known guy Adrian Maronk. That's our lesser known guy for the week And Jordan Spieth, but there's like a lot of names that I don't think people would know And then if you implied that like Sam Burns was not a household name people it's got is nobody's talking about I know who Sam Burns is Adrian Maronk has been very good to me in three balls recently So therefore we are best friends and people should know him Adrian lesser known names such as Adrian Maronk teeing off on Thursday Plenty of options to fill out a lot if you compete for at first place Thursday will be here before you know it So submit your last day on Fandall eligibility Restricts is apply go to Fandall.com or download the Fandall after more details They do put names in there for me to read but that would be way too easy and way too streamlined and we're gonna rebel Let's outline the PGA champion is an Oak Hill Country Club the east course It is 73 to 94 yards and a par 70 this course last hosted the PGA championship 10 years ago 2013 it was in 2003 before that but it has undergone a major renovation since 2013 So even that data might not be super relevant There are 156 golfers in the field for this week the top 70 plus ties make the cut after the first two rounds not top 65 top 70 for this week in the PGA championship Brandon has mentioned have not seen this course in quite some time at least On the PGA tour I may have driven by it at some point regional recently. I don't know who can say anyway What should we know about Oak Hill Country Club when it comes to our DFS lineups? So it's a par 70 just under 7400 yards according to the GC SAA That is a pretty long par 70 as a result and that is noteworthy and Something else that jumps out to me is the average green size. It's the average green size is listed as 4,500 square feet The average average green size on the PGA tour is around 6,000 square feet It's a number I cite quite a lot But that means these are small greens some of the smallest that we see pretty much on any setup Across the PGA tour as a whole So length small greens that that alone is going to imply scores that are Not super low put it that way The past two winning scores at this course in 2013 and in 2003 for the PGA 10 under and 4 under with cut lines of plus 3 and minus 1 into those years respectively. So You know, we don't have struggling data to go off of but we do have some overall course characteristics and what that says is distance off the T's a plus Great iron play almost a must because the greens are smaller and then from there with smaller greens There's there tends to be statistically a higher level of importance on strokes gained around the green for obvious reasons Less likely that you're going to be hitting greens and so you're gonna have to get up and down So those three things they're driving irons wedges Those are the big three in terms of the strokes gained T to green areas And then of course, we're gonna need golfers to be making pots. So it's an all-around test and Frankly if I can get to a major and see a path for just Needing everything then I'm fine with it because that's typically what I want to see. I don't want to be looking at like Well, this this player is great with, you know approaches from 150 to 175 you know That that definitely can be something that is the case But sometimes you see really weird splits between like someone from 125 to 150 and then 150 to 170 125 and you're like is he just Bad from like an extra 30 yards or is it just sort of some variances that that he had more of those approach shots on difficult courses without all those adjustments those numbers are You know find it best. I used to cite them a lot more than I do now. I basically keep things simple So for me one thing that I'm just really looking at is all around play the one characteristic that has jumped out in terms of what the players have been saying and this is something we talked about on uncovering the spread earlier, but That they said the rough was comprised of like thicker blades of grass Then what they typically see and so it could be harder to get out of the the rough you might have more bad lies just due to you know, the club head getting caught something like that and Again, I just want to caution that We hear that a lot at these major setups at courses that we don't see always they you know They want them to play tough almost always PGA championships play Pretty difficult. I know that's the US GA thing for the US Open that you know And they've come out and said that they don't necessarily want winning scores to be even par but you know we think of the US Open as the course or sorry that the major where it's it's extra tough, but that's also basically applies to the PGA we've had five under six under thirteen under eight under is the past four winning scores at PGA championship so basically it could get tough and that could put an emphasis on hitting fairways and avoiding the rough But I often just as easily find that to be overplayed as like a storyline leading in and then You know, it's not necessarily what matters I think you could probably put a little bit more emphasis on Driving accuracy, but at that rate why not just use stroking it off the tee. It's a much better stat So for me, that's one of my key stats I'm looking for stroke skeined total Kind of putting that one at the top stroke skin approach stroke skin off the tee I still want birdie or better rate for golfers who you know can actually score whenever there are opportunities to do so and stroke skin putting for the week. Yeah, I think that the going back to the driving discussion obviously it is a long course and length can be encapsulated by Stroking off the tee from a large perspective because it's harder to gain strokes for not, you know Going pretty far off the tee But then you also do get that element of accuracy in there when necessary So I think that that's why Even if it's a even though it's a long course stroking off the tee is going to be the better route versus looking for Just distance selling up for bombers and then the event like this where it is very tough We want those good all-around golfers. We want guys who can Excel in various conditions that to me just kind of pushes me more towards Stroking off the tee is being the key stat when you're talking about the green sizes where they're smaller greens Is that all to the way you view putting it all? Obviously it means we should emphasize approach a lot, but does that make putting Deemphasize at all or is it still equally important? I guess it kind of can't equally be important if we're waiting up approach. Anyway, you know what I mean Does it it is an emphasis does it alter the way you view putting it all knowing the greens are smaller? so in theory that means that there should be a Fewer lag putt opportunities like massive lag putt opportunities and There definitely is something to that. I have a spreadsheet that I don't always have pulled up So I'm trying to vamp through that as I pull up The importance of putting at smaller Greens, okay, that's the baseline and let me see if this does check out where putting is a little bit less important It's about the same overall In terms of courses with with smaller green sizes But I it is something that I do think there's a little bit of merit to sure, but not every so like not every bad putter Is it bad lag putter and not every good lag putter is like a good overall putter? so a Name that I kind of like this week is calling more a cow a and part of why I can talk myself into that is that he Shouldn't have too many long putts but You know, it's it's it's I think I'm more likely To factor in lag putting on courses with really large greens Because that's like its own skill to be able to putt from like sure a hundred feet as opposed to having You know just a handful of shorter first putts. So Statistically it doesn't really bear out and again I'm more likely to sort of do it the inverse where I would factor it in more at those linksy courses with with really large greens Okay So the key takeaways here small greens meaning approach is vital for this week as always and overall play and Including overall play off the tee gonna win out for this week at least for us with this course not having hosted at APG tour event Since 2013 we can't go through course history because why bother so instead You want to look at form in majors because it is tough courses tough fields I think that matters in a lot of different ways. So you dug into golfers who have done well recent majors What did you find who excelled in those situations? Yeah Unsurprisingly Major winners have played well at recent majors John Rom has played well at recent majors Scotty Schaeffler as well but so I have I have majors from the start of 2021 factored in So it's not just the past few PGA's it's not any specific weight on anything but digging back in to all the majors since the start of 2021 and then using my method of round-by-round stroke skeined Changes For golfers over the field. I have Scotty Schaeffler number one at a 2.23 of Course one a masters in that span 10th at the the recent masters 21st at the 2022 open championship second at the US Open In 2022 John Rom is just behind him in a 2.31 One the masters, of course one a US Open in that span So it's but they're the two big dogs this week You're gonna have to pick a favorite same win odds on Fandalsports book 750 For each of them rom $100 more in terms of Fandals salary Not a whole lot separates them aside from basically the putting So it is what it is. I prefer Rom. We'll talk about that more as we go along Collin more cowa, of course plays well at majors He's at a 2.18. So he's the only other golfer in this span according to this method With at least two stroke skeined average Per round Jordan speed though next up very very interesting profile for speed But he's he seems to be far from 100% this week. He's also in really good form currently, but if he was not hurt he would be someone I had a lot of interest in but You know, you can talk yourself into getting some leverage by playing Jordan speed Because people won't play him as much, but I don't really think it's it's the right play as a primary play Rory McElroy, we know his major history pretty well. It's always advertised quite a bit He's at a 1.93. Sam Burns has played well Can more consistently Especially recently at majors. He's at a 1.9 Cameron young Three top 10s in his past four majors Zander four straight top 15s And then Matt Fitzpatrick rounding things out here on this list at a 1.73 We know he won the US Open was fifth at the PGA last year 21st at the Open 10th at the Masters a name that's probably gonna go overlooked because he's been kind of going through some back injuries of his own But it definitely is interesting with Anytime we get to a major the best players tend to separate not all of the best players are on that list, but That's a major for you And I think that's the key thing is not just the individual names on this list But the fact that the biggest names are all on this list or not all on this list But all this list is littered with big names and what that says to me is that it justifies the search for good all around well-rounded golfers who can go 72 holes without losing ground to without you know Bombing basically against this level of competition So I think that's kind of a key takeaway even more so than the major performance Now I wanted to ask you about the flip side of this because there are some key guys who will probably be discussing at some point during the show Today who are not on that list specifically. I think the big one Patrick Cantlay Was not there Justin Thomas was not there Tony Fina not met up for group as well Does that worry you if guys have not had great recent showings and majors or could it just be variants given? We're looking at an inherently small sample. Yeah, it's a small sample And I don't know Something I hear a lot for majors is like I don't want to I don't want to have interest in this person till they show it to me in majors and I don't think that's necessarily the right way to go about it It does feel like there's a level of comfort in just targeting golfers who Have already been showing it, but I don't think you need to eliminate golfers necessarily by You know not having Consecutive top tens entering a major or anything like that right the names you threw out there were Cantlay JT Tony Finaw So JT is it a 1.2 2 in this span? That's good. Cantlay 0.93 not as good, but not terrible Fina 1.15 like among the Among the golfers with salaries of 10,000 or higher in majors since the start of 2021 One of them has a negative strokes gained average in majors and that's max homa He's at a point zero a negative point zero eight. So he's basically just average And he's getting a lot better with his overall game I think that it is something that we talk about quite a bit With majors and who plays well in majors I think it's definitely overblown and I would say nobody in the 10,000 major hire Should be bumped out due to major performance Okay, so the more important thing as always is current form So let's talk about that now and talk about golfers who are Stroking at the moment and no shock here the top two guys are scottie cheffler. I know sorry. I said stroking it again. My gosh calm down uh scottie cheffler and john rom headlining things here We'll use this in the section to talk about how to handle those two this week We'll have rory in there too despite the fact he is not in that that tier in In large part because he's not in that tier is why it's worth discussing. So which golfers have been Golfing well brandon across the past couple months But that's a hard time now I'm sure you will and I won't and it won't actually be on purpose, but you'll say it. Um Yeah, so over the past three months, which is the sample that we like to use and again all this data comes from data golf's query table, which You know if you're getting into golf for like a major something you should check out. It's really helpful uh, but starting starting off is scottie cheffler at a two point eight zero true strokes game. So it's field adjusted Over the past three months at seven events for him He's gaining 2.8 strokes per round He's gaining 2.85 strokes t-degree per round Which means he is putting at a slight negative. Um Thanks to the pga tours Uh redesigned website. I have trouble Digging up the putting splits that I like to to use to figure out putting regression But what I can say is that from the money range of five to ten feet, which is it it's like the perfect balance of Guys should be able to make these pots. Uh, they're gonna get a good sample of pots from that range He's below average on tour this season. Um in terms of putting from that range. So I don't necessarily think it's just a matter of Flipping the switch what I'd be surprised the scottie cheffler putts well this week. No Do I think that it's screaming in my face that like, oh, he's he's bound to break through Also, no for that reason. I prefer john rom Who's at a 2.77 strokes game per round over the past three months to me? He's the best overall player in the world um, he's looking for his third major, but he's also Frankly, if not the best putter one of the best putters that we have on the planet um It feels like and it feels like he's gonna make Those clutch putts down the stretch in a major. So For me rom is the best play of the week then we get to jump down to patrick cantlay at a 2.57 He's been 14th at the masters third at the rbc heritage 21st at the wells fargo recently And again, he's someone that people knock all the time for his major history and it was a lot worse Lately, it's not so bad. Uh, and he's got three straight top 15s at majors Uh, his buddy zander schroff lay 2.33. He's next up four straight top 15s at majors He leads this field and strokes and approach over the past 50 rounds. Absolutely love that for zander I think he's a great play from a dfs standpoint And so long as he's at least 15 to one or so Uh, a great bet. He's been been he's been back down. We'll talk about him in the upcoming section there. Tony phenel um 2.17 so we're getting phenel zander cantlay who for me are just bucketed together is like A lot better than people tend to give them credit for due to like the the wins or whatever But uh, he's just really good. The major form is still strong Even though it's not as great as it has been He's been more like top 20 range with his majors Uh, which is kind of where he's been in his overall form Before breaking through in mexico jason days of 2.07 jordan spieth 2.03 again He's hurt. I don't know exactly how healthy he is. He had to withdraw From his last tournament before it started. So Like there's risk he cares about too. So I don't think it was like a A nothing burger that he withdrew there. Yeah, so that is what it is there. Russell Henley is at a 2.02 Which is sick. Uh t 19 of the players t 4th the masters T 19 of the rbc heritage knows a great iron player and he's accurate off the t And then the other name above a 2 is cameron young who is pretty strong Uh with his majors. He's someone we talked about in that major form I think cameron young is of the perfect example of why Dfs for majors is great Because I prefer calling more cow. I prefer vicar hovland But if I got like, you know, if I got the sense that they were going to be the mega shock, which they're not I can go to cameron young. He's a great player cameron is probably different. I'll be down. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we always want Yeah, so Um, if you want good form, uh, and some of these recent weeks, we've had like two names above a 1.0 in terms of recent stroke Uh, we've got what like eight eight names here at a 2.0 or better. Um, that's just what majors are and that's why You really got to uh be selective with who you are targeting when it comes to majors and I think the Important thing here is we want to get we can feel more balanced if we differ without being dumb However, I don't think I really want to pass up cheffler and rom I don't think their salaries are high enough to justify that cheffler salary is 12 000 flat rom 12 once let's talk about those two guys right now You said you prefer rom because the putting is more stable and stuff like that I want to give the cheffler counter and then I want you to tell me why it's dumb Um, the counter would be if you look at the past three months cheffler 2.80 rom 2.77 in true stroke scheme that time the past six months It is rom at 3.04 cheffler at 3.02 That accounts for putting so with rom gaining a lot on the greens cheffler being almost exactly neutral in that time over the past six months rom has a slight edge so Are we double counting if we favor rom because he's a good putter Or are we ignoring how amazing cheffler's ball striking has been if we say oh, rom's a better putter I'll go him because that's my concern is I don't want to double count putting which is already factored into that number We're citing uh, it's not it's not double counting so much as Taking an all-around game and the fact that putting is really important Uh, I've done research on it. Uh, you know And you know, I'll say I'm I've I've been guilty of discounting the importance or predictability of putting It is tricky week to week round around uh putt to putt to anticipate putting But the thing that we always talk about when it comes to samples is looking at larger samples And the larger sample for cheffler even with a putter is that it's not as good. Um It's like kind of just average and one thing that really bothered me with cheffler With his really hot stretch was that he was putting extremely well And now he's become more of a sort of baseline putter And yes, if you factor in if your model accounts for the fact that Stroke skiing off the tee is the easiest stat to predict week to week because like distance doesn't change a lot Iron play is pretty predictable as well Uh, but not nearly as much as off the tee Uh, if your model or the way that you view things is like well, we know his floor from ball striking is high So is john roms And john rom is frankly one of the putters who you know, if he's in a final like a final pairing And there's something to this like You feel like he's gonna make everything And I don't really feel that with scottie cheffler. So it's basically razor thin And at that rate give me rom who is still phenomenal tee to green So over the past 50 rounds he is second in the field in tee to green now in fairness to the cheffler There's a pretty big gap between cheffler and rom tee to green over the past 50 rounds But we're getting the second best tee to green golfer who's also a top 20 putter in that span. So I'm not I'm not saying I have no interest in cheffler I think that he's probably gonna be a little bit more overlooked than he deserves to be because people tend to People tend to bail on golfers quickly. It seems like he's still been good Despite the fact that he's not putting well. So I have nothing against cheffler But from a process standpoint for me, it's rom By a pretty decent margin Is the margin decent enough where if you got the vibe that rom would be the more popular guy between the two where you would go rom Now I should caveat this by saying that Adventure right now cheffler does have more tags than rom So as of now rom would be less popular If hypothetically by wednesday night, we get to read that no rom will be the guy Is the gap large enough where you would stick with rom or would you consider scottie as a pivot at that point? I mean, it's close enough where I play cheffler. I'm not gonna be angry if I have to play scottie cheffler That's not what this is. Um, it's just if you're saying I gotta pick one and why It's rom because he is the second best tee to green golfer in the field and he's a great putter long term Yeah, okay, so That's why brandon is going rom over cheffler. I do think there is I think the gap's closer than he does personally and I'm okay letting sentiment dictate where I go because I don't see a huge gap between those two personally Um, cheffler has been good despite having the poor potting and that's so then but then for you if we if we think cheffler is More popular or it's basically a coin flip and they're about the same Are you going rom at that rate because he's better or are you going cheffler because it's that close and you like Would rather play cheffler straight up I don't I don't know to what extent Yeah, because I would have assumed rom would be more popular than cheffler in terms of like the sentiment Are you coming at it from the other way? So if you told me that like So like for a cash game I would go rom because of the putting Um That's basically what I'm The way that I answered was like who am I playing in my main lineup? But for a tournament, I think because the ball striking isn't better And because it's not like cheffler was like hideous on the greens. He just hasn't been positive. He's been neutral I'd rather go for the guy who can go scorched earth tea to green and go a cheffler In that situation So tournament cheffler cash game rom if I'm ignoring sentiment Okay, that makes sense Even if you disagree We're allowed to disagree and again I think we agree on this like it's it's not to the point where I'm not I don't like scottie cheffler If if anything the conversation is like is rory in that tier and I would say no Okay, let's have that rory conversation then too because he Had some time off obviously, uh, but he flew his coach out to america or for this event I'd actually don't know where his coach lives. I don't Have that level of detail Distance, even if it's not the end all be all is still important For this week and rory has plenty of distance Last time we saw him was the wells fargo championship. His ball striking there was gross When he finished 47th Is that that concerning enough where you don't even consider rory as a pivot away from those two Is the gap big enough where even if sentiment skews heavily towards them, which it will Would you not view rory as a pivot? Uh, he's not close enough. I don't think and at that rate I'd rather take more savings Yeah, I think bruce kapka is really interesting this week because it's brooks at a major and Apparently he has that ability still Yeah Now that he's not as hobbled as he was at the tail end of his pga tour career um Probably not there with like jt in terms of like okay. I'm pivoting away from rom and or cheffler Uh Probably not going to rory. I think I'd probably go brooks Over jt and then like once I get into like can't land zander in the low 11 000s I don't really think they count his pivots right so It's weird to say that I have more interest than like going to brooks than rory That seems wrong Um, I think it is wrong. Yeah, like so so like we talk all the time about like not letting Any sort of biases or like super small samples trickle in and it's how how well brooks played at augusta and how iffy rory's been lately and then my brain is like disregard the larger sample here and so I still I would I still I'm still saying that I don't really want to pivot to rory Right away from rom and cheffler But I guess I'm just lower on him than than I thought I tell you right now that rory macaroy wins on sunday. How surprised are you? Kind of mildly at least How surprised are you brooks kept the wins? My instinct is to say less surprised. Yeah, I mean that that's Legitimately asking not trying to needle you like I think that's like I think that's fair It's not fair to rory to say that like he doesn't ever play well at tough setups, but when I see rory struggling It's when things seem to be tough. Yeah, and this is all this can all go into like the biases we have of watching Certain golfers play more golf shots. Like if if you want to put on feature groups Week to week pga tour you see the good and the bad from golfers if you just watch highlights You're gonna see only good stuff from the golfers. So like all this is factored in but I do think that At this particular like setup It's gonna be kind of tough. Yeah relative to par and I Like this with the small greens. I don't necessarily love rory's Short game. He can be pretty dreadful He was terrible with his around the green play at the masters and the players The putting is like he's kind of figuring out the putter With with this putter change. I think there are too many too many question marks to to view him as a As a pivot away from rom basically the way that i'm viewing this is like shuffler is a viable pivot away from rom I don't think rory is Okay, I think that makes sense now. Let's talk about what the bookmakers are saying for this week based on the odds of fan dual sports but we got john rom And scottie sheffler as a co-favorites both plus 750 as of right now rory is 13 to 1 Then there's a dip down to zander shawflay on an island at 17 to 1 patrick can't lay 20 to 1 with brooks kepka and tony fiena 21 Dustin johnson. We have not I don't think mentioned him as of yet. He is 24 to 1 We got justin thomas and jason day at 29 to 1 and then a gaggle of golfers at 32 to 1 Those guys are cameron young cameron smith victor havin and mapitz patrick with collin moore kawa Rounding at the top group. He is 34 to 1 now brandon typically will discuss the betting odds We would want to talk roster construction. I think that's a fair thing here We are to talk that briefly with the cheffler and rom discussion But I want to use these as a way to judge sentiment and judge the market Because if a golfer is longer betting odds that implies they're not getting bet Which implies they're probably not going to get a lot of You know big buzz for dfs either So when you look at the betting markets right now, are there any golfers you think may go overlooked? This week that could be good dfs plays. If so, who stands out to you in that regard Oh, I wasn't not 100 prepared for that question. Even if it wasn't the notes. I did not read it So who I think could go overlooked Based on having longer win odds And does this mean that I also like them or just that They're probably consider them as a pivot Like jt's the name that jumps out most, but I'm not particularly interested in him. Okay. I am a bit in him So, I mean you mean the reigning pga champion yeah I don't think he's going to catch a lot of popularity if you compare his salary with other daily fantasy sites His salary in a band was a lot higher, which means he's probably a bad investment but that also means he's probably not going to catch any popularity and jt The ball striking recently has been good on the whole It's been the short game that has not been great specifically the putter because he's been fine chipping But he still had some like okay weeks of the putter So the putting is not abysmal The around the green play is good and the ball striking has started to show some spikes once again Jt's salary is 11.5. That's pretty high I think I can get there along with Rahman chef or and I think that the high salary for jt means he's very very unlikely to be popular in dfs So that's why I think he actually is someone I'm going to pivot to this week And I don't think that would be dumb necessarily What's the main thing keeping you from being enthused about jt? Salaries higher than zanders And can't lays and finals zander might be the most popular golfer of the field this week He seems to be up there every major Yeah Um, he's he's really under salaried. Yeah, I think so like for a cash game use zander That's just as easy as it is. That's where I am with it. Um Yeah, jt like He's got two pga's to his name Um I don't know. I feel like with all these like designated events and majors We say a lot of the same stuff, but is jt a bad play? No, is he a great play? No is he A very viable play all things considered in almost any circumstance Yeah, so give me zander 9 10 times out of 10 sure over jt But if someone wants to play justin thomas, I see nothing here to say no but There's a lot of other names in that range that I would rather play than justin thomas and again He's right in that middle range where it's I like there's three or four names right below him. I prefer And he's also a big step down from ramen shuffler Yeah, I think that's the main reason against him I think that for a single entry lineup where he's probably not going to catch much popularity He's at least interesting and someone I want at least touch on now I think let's talk about zander here 11-1 His betting odds very short at 17 to 1 which means for matching of betting odds to salaries zander shuffler He's probably going to be zander chocolate this week. So Obviously, we both like zander for cash gates prefer him there And I think we'll both like him for tournaments too if you're looking for a pivot in under salary tier I think it's a guy You mentioned uncovering the spread today as being a good bet calling more cow. More cow is salary is not low There with zander shuffler his betting odds are a lot longer Which means more cow is probably not going to catch much interest at all I think that more a cow could wind up being good pivot too at 10-8 Do you agree with that or is more a cow or more so a guy you like for betting than for dfs? I do like them more for betting because the win odds just There's basically a like a huge drop off after phenel at 21. He shortened Can't lay shortened zander shortened So if you look at the the salary pull on fandal and you go down to tony phenel at 10-9 Everyone there aside from jt is 21 or shorter And then You get to call him more cow in terms of fandal salary. I'm going down the list call more cow at victor hovlin Cameron young jordan spieth max homa matt fits patrick sung jm cam smith All of those guys are in the 30s with their betting odds So it's it's a clear line of demarcation between phenel and more cow from not from a salary standpoint Because it's a hundred dollars there, but from a betting odds standpoint huge different Differentiation in that in that regard and I think that whole 10,000 range aside from dustin johnson who's 24 to 1 You're getting all those guys in the 30 to 1 range. Nobody specifically is probably going to like catch a bunch of popularity there But yeah for more cow specifically In the event that the rough is really like damning to be in He's going to hit a lot of fairways If he's hitting fairways and other guys are missing some extra fairways And he's able to use his elite because if you look at more cow is profile right now The irons are there Uh with him it's just a matter of whether he can Putt at a decent level and whenever he does he can You know kind of what you would do to a sheffler where he can go nuclear tea to green, right? And then if he's putting well, you know, that's what has gotten calling more cala Two majors already. So I think more cala is great. I think hoblin's interesting Uh cam young also interesting So it's just with all these extra names. It's another reason why i'm just a bit lower on like a jt and a rory I feel like they're too too far from raman sheffler But not far enough above these other some of these other names for the salary the salary savings that we can get And I think part of the reason why salary savings are so attractive is that you have two guys Around 10 000 with super short betting odds and you know I think you could talk yourself into pretty easily and it's harder to get back up there for your third golfer if you go rom plus jt so if you go john rom plus zander schoffley you have 9200 left per golfer that means it's pretty easy to get back up to dustin johnson and jason day So from a roster construction perspective bramner, are you trying to get back up there to the DJ day range for your third golfer or are you content? Being super top heavy or do you just want to let go more balanced? What's your approach as far as roster construction for this week? Yeah, I'd like to get back up, but I don't know if dj's it um, sure He won the most recent live event in tulsa He also won another one in september in boston I don't know what all that means We can try our best to figure out like how important that is um He was t48 at the masters with good ball striking, but really bad short game So I don't know uh, the question then becomes who in that range. We also like other than other than day It could just be like Just a yeah, like i'm fine. Just having a lot of jason day. I know it's never got a lot before But you know usually in majors the approach has been A bunch of guys in this range get like three guys in this range. Yeah Uh, one one may be stud maybe one in like the Even start with like a zander or if you want like a jt or or brooks or something like that And then get like three names in in this range I think with the separation of rom and cheffler above the rest And like with zander and cantlay and like their own sort of tier It makes the the low 10 000 and upper 9 000 range less appealing in a major than it usually is So who in this range do we really love? Like I'll start with 10 5 spieth hurt Not really interested. It's like a primary play max homa Don't hate it, but we know his major history's not ideal And I think you can maybe do a little bit better statistically than homa. That's patrick. Maybe not 100% Um, he's just kind of always going through some stuff right now. I do like sung jm camp smith dust and johnson. We don't know What their true form ever is sam burns Sure Uh day we love we're a jason day podcast now tom kim hedecki tearo hatton walkie neiman like Who in that range are you excited to play other than jason day hatton? But he's 97 so it's not like I need to like bend over backwards to use him, right? patrick reed 96 no Saitha gala 96 tear gooch winning all the live events 95 like now these names are really names that I'm clamoring to play Right, so just and I I think that's why I feel really well I feel the hesitation to using robin cheffler because they're robin cheffler But I think the other reason why I feel the hesitation either because No, sorry Although that's not totally 89 75 left outrageous, um Hey, maybe I like I like xander a lot. I think that's part of it too. Um, and I like day a lot. So I think that like Chakasaurus rex here if I'm just going like the way I want to go it'd be One of romer cheffler plus xander plus day 89 67 left if the guy is rom. I think that's the way I want to build this week Yeah That's kind of there are also two guys in the mid 8000 range. I like a lot which helps so Yeah, I think that I think the like the Mid and even low ish 8000 range is is somewhat viable uh this week and The low 9000 range has a couple names I like So it's not necessarily that I need to get up into the mid like 96 97 range When I have some names at like 92 that I like so I think we're kind of on the same page here with russia construction Less balanced than a typical major which is okay. Um, I think that's the way to go for this week Which golfers odds have shifted most notably of late? I know odds for the pga championship have been up for a decade, but just a most notable movement recently um With my spread or where'd my notes she go? I was hidden. Like I said, I got it. I got it. I got a ton of things open Maybe this is why we shouldn't have 30 tabs brandon So then you ask me about x y or z and I don't have it pulled up then what? Then open it I mean there's still a delay because we had a delay for you to find your note sheets Like there's a delay, you know, what's what who cares why all right? Then every I'm just going to start off with nothing open and then every time you ask me something I'll just uh, you know I need a minute Need a minute here But it would have been seamless if I did not type in to the address bar because usually, you know, you just in google chrome you can type in the title of the The page and then jump to that tab I typed in covering the spread. So you got me all mixed up I was like, where where is it that I close it? But this is not covering the spread anymore. Um So golfer's is lots of shifted I just pulled since from monday morning to tuesday. I don't think like Things over the past six months is going to be relevant for this week But zander shawflay big one from 24 to 17 on fandalsports book from again like monday morning into tuesday morning patrick antley 21 to 20 small but noteworthy Tony phenol 29 to 21 again, it's like the triumvirate for me of golfers I like a lot more than most people but i'm not alone in that this week apparently ricky fowler 75 to 55 got my puma hodion for for rick This week taylor gooch 90 to 80 gary woodland 160 to 90 and justin rose 120 to 100 Those I think are the most notable names that have shortened You alluded to gooch. He has a couple wins in the live tour as we alluded to we don't really know What the value that is But as we saw with kepka With can smith guys like that like we could saw them being pretty good form when they came over From the live tour to the masters gooch's salary is pretty low So it's not the same opportunity costs as like a brooks or can smith this week What's your thoughts on taylor gooch on fandal with a salary of search gooch 95 It's fine so he won Back to back live events to round out april and then was 36th In tulsa and I think glee westwood with drew So he was 36 out of 47 Yeah, he went 68 71 67 I was waiting for the score there for the full like three seconds So like look I don't think the live tour from a talent standpoint is very far off from like some pg tour events necessarily But it's a matter of We don't know how he won And we don't know what caused him to be 34th He might he like he could have led that field In strokes in putting Both weeks that he won and then has just been masking bad t degree in play I'm assuming not cuscooch. That's not really his game, but we don't know Uh, when he was at the masters he was t 34, which isn't bad putted. Well had good irons. Um He's not necessarily someone who gains a ton of distance Which is helpful. He also doesn't necessarily gain a ton of strokes off the t or sorry. Sorry Doesn't like gain a bunch of fairways. So he doesn't necessarily gain a ton of strokes off the t historically so I don't know like a 36th out of 47 is not particularly appealing But it's one event But it's one event right, so Anyone who wants to play him. I think there's merit But for me, I'd rather see more from other golfers and maybe what we learn is these guys show Up once again in a major and then we just got to take them seriously I'm not saying that I'm avoiding all of the live guys um That's not the case again. I Have some interest in brooks and I would have more if his salary wasn't Uh, basically brooks in a major salary this week, right? So I think gooch is is somewhat interesting but he'll probably It seems like he might be a little bit more Popular for anyone who Because his name was kind of all over the place He won back to back But that could be that could be wrong and then the big reason why I won't be as high on gooch is that You have guys who we know how they've scored well and they've scored well on the pga tour ricky fowler 92 you mentioned his odds of shorting quite a bit windham clark also Won an event but it was on the pga tour and it designated feel recently Both those guys are lower salary than gooch. So that to me is why I'm not super super itchy to get to gooch. Uh itchy gooch. What could go wrong? He's really stroking it. We're just gonna lump them all in here together. Uh, which golfers odds have lengthened since monday Uh, justin thomas 24 to 29 adjacent days surprisingly 28 to 29 victor hovland 29 to 32 jordan speed 32 to 36 hadeki matsuyama 46 to 55 and then a pair From 75 to 90 with tom kim and sahith fagala And in day lengthening doesn't bother me I'm guessing they shortened him to cut off people who were trying to bet him after the wind So that I don't think that that annoys me too much. Uh, which lower salary golfers have odds to stand out to you? This list is pretty bleak. Um If we want golfers with win odds better than 100 to 1 in this range Uh, sorry in this range being 9000 or lower, which is where I always tend to make it Uh with adam scott who 75 to 1 And gary wildland at 90 to 1 those guys are 9,000 and 8900 respectively So they're not glaring. Um Russell henley and ceo kim are 120 in the mid 8000 range. I like both of those names. There's actually my two player picks in the value range, which is which is cool fully uh And then five names, I think it's five Yeah, five names at 160. So We're getting Four names better than 160 to 1 in the value tier Harris english phil mickelson Mito perrera taylor moore and cameron davis davis's salary is 7700 and taylor moores is 8000 For what that's worth to you. Yeah, mita was a guy. I was on for the masters. Uh, that was Not ideal. Um, he didn't do great there primarily with the short game Ball striking was really good But since then the live tour nothing really poppin too much So I liked mito there probably not going to be as enthusiastic about him this week But in large part because I do like similar to you both Russell henley and ceo kim in the mid 8000 range Weather for this week It actually looks like we might get a bit of a wind discrepancy between the waves The windiest section looks like it'll be friday morning Wind speeds decrease as the day goes along there Rain odds increase friday afternoon too, but there'll be around 15% as of right now in the afternoon friday. So it does seem like Those teeing off earlier thursday slash later friday will have a slight wind advantage So early t times thursday may be the better way to target for this week at least based on the weather as of right now Saturday is rainy with rain odds around 50% the entire day Wind speeds will be right around 11 miles per hour. And then the winds are decently high on sunday too though Rain odds are lower. I think what I would do here is use the wind as a tiebreaker if let's say you like Russell henley and ceo kim Ceo kim has the preferred tea time over henley. You can only use one of them I would just use that as a tiebreaker. I think that's where it's after this week I'm okay factoring it in but I don't want to over factor it in Because it's not a huge huge gap between those two ways would you waste would you wave stack? No I need a bigger discrepancy to do that personally. It's about five miles per hour and aggregate wind speed across two rounds So not a big enough difference for me to be super crazy there Let's go now to our player picks here for the pga championship beginning in the upper tier Brandon, who are you zeroing in on for your studs this week over on fandall? Yeah, so there's basically At the top of a major player pool every answer is correct Even with like rory. I don't think it's the wrong Answer to the question of who you should build around but I think the most correct answer to build around is john rom because You know, yeah, scottie schaeffler's tea degree game is phenomenal But if the putter isn't there and He is not gaining a ton of greens on the field He's going to be just I mean Schaeffler's so good like he's just okay as like he's going to finish 20th or something but Uh for rom He's good at everything and so he can always be in contention and whenever things are on He's the best player in the world and so I have rom As my anchor play for the week two majors looking for a third Three top 15s over his past five pga championships as well so I would love to see him chase For the grand slam Both this year, which is sick to think about Um, but this would give him three out of four pga on top of a us open and a masters Yeah, so rom Definitely, I think the prefer play for cash games again my pitch for schaeffler This would primarily be as a pivot in tournaments if we get the idea that rom will be more popular the pitch for schaeffler is that in the masters he was pretty awful putting Like it was his worst putting event in a very long time He still finished 10th there because the ball striking was so good If we get neutral putting from scottie schaeffler That's not going to win it but like it could it could be top five and If you stumble into a positive putting week, which he's had He's had positive putting recently at the players the genesis and the w of phoenix open He won two of the three events. So if you get positive putting from schaeffler His win odds are pretty high. So that's like the more kawa situation Right, exactly. So that to me says I can be okay with him as a pivot. So to me, I think that schaeffler and rom are in the same tier I think that's if I were to boil everything down. That's how I do it. They're in the same tier prefer rom for cashing So respect putting but I think they're in the same tier and That's why if I think one of them will be more popular. I'm okay pivoting Um, and I think that schaeffler justifies that that approach I hate that we're like dancing around The fact that like we got to pick one like they're both great Take your preference Again, we're we're saying rom's probably the safer play during the putting being there Um But yeah, like they're both great. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Who else you like in the upper register this week? xander At 11 1 I talk about xander all the time. There's a reason for it and I talk about a lot of time at majors because there's reason for it His game is so complete. He is not phenomenal at any one aspect Until the fact that he is first in the field in stroke skiing approach over the past 50 rounds Eventually, he's going to have a big like a bigger win than he's had before I'm not saying it's going to be this week. I'm not saying it's not going to be this week He has everything needed to contend at this course and for that reason xander at 11 1 deserves to be chalky and The floor is high I'm gonna say the word floor in golf rude. Um, hate that word But I also think that xander is a great play. He's also my second player pick So it's not just, you know branded on shuffling. I think he also is justifiable for this week Um, just he's too low salary at 11 1. I don't think that makes a lot of sense. He's been awesome He ranks third in true strokes game the past six months. That's a big sample six month sample He ranks third behind rom and shuffler And that's without picking up a bunch of strokes off the tee Which could mean that he's not super well positioned for this course But his driver was cooking two weeks ago. He had good distance He gained 1.21 off the tee per round in that event Chef shuffler you talked about his major form, but just like overall recently He has five straight top tens four of those were inside the top five He's been forwarding with a breakthrough for a very long time. So I think xander is The cash gameplay after those top guys. I think that honestly for cash games I think your top three are pretty set with it being rom Shuffle a day as we moved out to the mid-range Jason day our top player pick here for both of us. What puts you on jason day at $9,900 this week? Yeah, it's definitely like not like chasing. We've been on day for a while and it paid off last week Um, he's just a really complete player. He was you know, one of the he was top three in tee Degreen and putting entering last week this week. He's seventh in true strokes gained overall 15th T degree in and seventh and putting Just the overall complete game great salary And he might be a little bit popular, but he's not going to be prohibitively chalky because that's not how Golfers at this range work and his salary is pretty easy to get back up to honestly as your third golfer So that's part of why I like day as well. Um Everything you mentioned is why I'm on him too. He's gaining in all four strokes gain categories He's at 0.38 or higher in all four per round Uh Across the past six months per data golf. He's at 0.50 or higher in putting and both ball striking categories So he's been phenomenal. He doesn't lag in either distance or accuracy. So to me I think day great cash gameplay No fear for him for tournaments either I think we just keep on going back to the well until the salary is no longer Super super low at 99. Uh, who else do you like here in the mid-range? Ike Rikki Fowler 92 He's been back for a bit now and in a good way 11th in the field an approach over the past 50 rounds 30th in putting You know, I don't think the driver's going to be a big plus hasn't really been but He's a kind of average in distance and accuracy and that works and uh, he's been top 15 in four straight stroke play events And at that same salary I've been in park, but I think that Fowler is also very attractive I like both these guys Clark is not super accurate, but has plenty of distance He did win an elevated event a few weeks ago even without being accurate off the tee And we've seen him have huge spike weeks of approach as well So I think both these guys great out really well at 92. Um, is Clark in the same tier as Fowler for you or no? Yeah, I think it's close But I I'd prefer Rikki for just sort of a more complete game Also, I'm pretty sure Clark is 75 to 1 which is where he was For a bit last week, which is Pretty pretty nuts Yeah, that's recency though I mean win Win win win win dumb Clark. It's in the name guys. Okay value plays. Who stands out to you there this week? uh, see uh See what came for me um, I guess I'll go with Russell Henley first and then you can talk about see what came first, but uh You know Henley Works from an accuracy standpoint. He leads the field and fairways gained over the past 50 rounds according to data golf He's top 40 iron player At his peak. He is better than that with the irons so Like that and he's kind of been showing up a bit more at uh bigger events top five at the masters and You know, he's He's not a great putter But he's top 25 tee to green at 8600 I don't know what else you could really want from a value play profile. I think henley's great at 86 I like him a lot. I think that he's one of the top value plays in this field Definitely okay with him. The other one you mentioned is see who kim He's coming off a runner-up last week, but it's not just that that's kind of putting me on see who kim Super well balanced against in all four categories. He's not a long driver, but still a plus off the tee Get that for 85. So I think henley makes a lot of sense. I'm okay with see who kim I'm okay with having both in the same lineup as well. I think that that is a very fine approach for this week Um, what puts you on see who kim indigenous or also henley? so over the past 50 rounds he is Top 50 in all four strokes gained categories. He's not better than 40th in any of them But that works from an all-around balanced profile You know, he's accurate off the tee coming in off a good finish a see who kim Pretty solid major record as well and so for me kim and henley kind of a coin flip for the most part, but Very very close profiles overall And I think both are great. So I've never came by a tiny bit, but I don't know if I should I think henley's right there too. They're kind of the same. They're very similar honestly in terms of like The fact that they're well rounded and stuff like that neither super long with still gain strokes Now you'd mentioned the idea of pairing john wrong with scottie schaeffler I think that's interesting One route you could take for doing so is by checking out taylor more whose salary is $8,000 more as a guy who has some distance But can also putt, which is a really fun combo He has also gained an approach in five of this past six measured events not bad of this accuracy either So his salary is 8,000, which means you can go with rom and schaeffler without Totally foregoing that mid-range. It does mean you probably can't get to zander but Like you can get jason day in there and I think that's very interesting So I will have a non zero number of lineups where I go with taylor more at 8,000 in order to Janin both rom and schaeffler brandon I want to ask you first of all more specifically. Are you open to him and then be are you open to? taking risks on some $8,000 guys in order to get both rom and schaeffler in there Uh, yeah, I think that's a really interesting way to build this week with both of them because for everyone else or most Mostly everyone else. It's going to be One or the other and I do have You know unsurprisingly Those two at a lot better win odds than the rest of the field. Yeah again, I have Rom at 12.9 schaeffler at 10.5 and then I was the ender at 6.4 Uh, so it's a big drop in that regard and so for me There is merit to playing both and then for taylor more He is an other to consider for me this week. I I do like the profile Good overall t degree Play and the putter is there the iffy part is like the wedge play And he could get into trouble there if he's generous. Yeah, but You know, you're not going to get to play john rom and scotty schaeffler And have no question marks in your lineup. Otherwise, so I think more makes sense. I also like danie mccarthy down there um But yeah, there's It's a pretty good 8,000 range and less of an appealing Mid 9,000 range this week. I think if you gave me like three single entry lineups I might use if you gave me five. I know I'd use one Yeah, this kind of build if you gave me three. I'm at least strongly considering it for the third one Yeah I like that. That's high enough for me to talk about it. Okay Win picks for this week based on the current odds over at fangirl sports book. I have ground to make up So I'll let you go first. Uh, who are your win picks for the pgh championship this week? uh Definitely xander 17 And then it's a kind of a coin flip between rom in color more cala I will go John rom Okay, I was going to take him if he didn't I know I have to make up ground but Value is value So rom plus 750 is your pick along with andre schaeffler at 17 to 1 so Because you cut off rom from me. I did you can pick them Yeah, but I don't want to block you if I need to pick you should pick him and yeah sure sure Um, I could go schaeffler plus 750. I know he's not a value by your model But I could put my money where my mouth is With regards to saying like hey, I think schaeffler is in his tier Just kind of use that as a the way to go there I could go rory who is not a good value by your model either 13 to 1 though for a guy who for a long time was considering the same tier as those three Yeah, it's long off a bit though You like can't lay at 20 to 1 you like more a cow at 34 to 1 It seems kind of cheap to just like Steal those from you though so What I'm going to do whatever you want. I know What I'm going to settle on is golfers who Have not been in the best form recently But have spike weeks in the range of outcomes and have proven they can compete against this kind of field Justin thomas those guys are jesson thomas and rory mackerel thomas is 29 to 1 for a guy Who has had great ball striking recently and has not been like Parable in other departments. I find that pretty interesting You know he has flaws for sure The putter could be better, but I think the ball striking is pretty hard to turn down at a number of 30 29 to 1 If I'm saying that if I'm making that as the rationale, why don't I just take more a cowl? I'll take more a cowl. I changed no more no more rory. I'm gonna go more a cowl 34 to 1 If I'm talking about the ball striking being as good as it is I should just take more a cowl. So Jt 29 more a cowl 34 I guaranteed victory for rory by doing this by pivoting away from it the last second But uh, so if you want to change the rory you can but that's why I'll go with more a cowl and jt It's all right. I got a lot more to gain if if more cowl wins. So I'll stay root for him anyway Okay, so financially you mean? Yeah, fair enough. Okay. So I have more a cowl 34 to 1 jt 29 you had zander shawfully at 17 to 1 And john rom at plus 750 which are both values by your betting model any final thoughts for you branding before your close-up shop for today I'll say it as I say in every designated event and major A lot of different ways to go a lot of names that were a little bit lower on than others You can make a case for virtually anyone at the top of the board And that's sometimes how you gain all the leverage In a uh major week Yep in majors you can be different without being done pretty easily So find ways to do so try to track sentiment if you can find routes to doing so um and I think that use that as kind of your guiding light for it this week That's all that we have here for today on the heat check fantasy podcast But as mentioned a lot of other good stuff over on the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed And they'll be dfs every weekday via the solo shot. We also have USC for select events So make sure you're subscribed to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcast branded If people have questions for you on twitter, where can they find you there? uh At goodwill 13 gd ula 13 and i am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s You can also follow the fan dual podcast network at fan dual podcast Want to thank you all for tuning in for today. Good luck to you with your pga dfs linux for the pga championship Enjoy the gulf. We'll talk to you once again next week. This is about the heat check fantasy podcast powered by number fire