2015 PGA Championship DraftKings Fantasy Picks

3 of 6

Jul 14, 2015; St. Andrews, Fife, GBR; Bubba Watson plays his tee shot at the third during a practice round for the 144th Open Championship at Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Mandatory Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

$9,900-$9,000

Only six golfers in this range and I like half of them. We’ll start off with the most expensive golfer in this group and that is Bubba Watson ($9,900).

I’m kind of surprised that Watson didn’t get up to that five digit range, but not shocked as DraftKings usually reserves only six spots in the five digits and with salaries being released early they had to reserve one of those spots to McIlroy.

More from PGA

So, Watson isn’t in the five digits, but he’s knocking on the door. Watson has been boom-or-bust of late, but that’s not a shock. He wasn’t crazy about Chambers Bay and St. Andrews featured high winds.

Watson loves TPC River Highlands and TPC Old White which is why he won the Travelers Championship and played well at the Greenbrier. Plus, throw in Watson’s 2nd place finish at the RBC Canadian Open as well.

When you put it all together, there isn’t really a secret as to why Watson plays poorly and plays well at certain tournaments. The PGA Championship takes place at Whistling Straits this year and you can look for Watson to be up near the leaderboard this year.

Whistling Straits is long with wide open spaces to roam. So long as the weather stays level (which it looks like it will), Watson should be in contention like he was back in 2010.

It’s interesting that Henrik Stenson ($9,700) isn’t on that elite level anymore. For the first three majors, Stenson was in the five digits, but now he has fallen back a bit as he is the ninth most expensive golfer on here.

That’s actually not a bad deal, Stenson is a pretty decent value pick in this spot. The results haven’t been there, but if he can just put it together for four days, Stenson could finally win.

Louis Oosthuizen ($9,100) is a surprise. I had Oosthuizen projected in the high nines again. There’s really no reason for the discount as Whistling Straits is a course that is links-like in the same vein as Chambers Bay.

So long as Oosthuizen’s bed arrives in Kohler, Wisconsin, I would expect to see Oosthuizen up near the top once again. I would have to think a lot will jump on the bandwagon as well. Especially, if Oosthuizen plays well at Firestone, which he usually does.

I’m not really crazy about Rickie Fowler ($9,800), Phil Mickelson ($9,600), or Sergio Garcia ($9,300). It’s not that they are bad picks, but you can’t take everybody and you have to draw the line somewhere.

Whistling Straits will take a toll on the golfers just like Chambers Bay. For the older golfers like Mickelson, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them wear down as the tournament progresses.

Mickelson is a grinder, but I just don’t see him as a serious threat to contend and win. For what it’s worth, Mickelson has made the cut at the PGA Championship for nineteen straight years. Mickelson finished T-12 at Whistling Straits back in 2010.

Garcia’s game doesn’t really fit here at Whistling Straits. He missed the cut back in 2010 and plus, I just don’t think Garcia will be a serious contender.

Fowler is playing extremely well, but he just doesn’t scream out at me. It might be the fact that for a hundred dollars more I can take Watson or I can pivot down to Stenson.

Would I be surprised to see Fowler in the top ten? Absolutely not. But, again, you have to draw the line somewhere, and for me it’s those three in this group. Fowler is a bit more of a risk

If I had to take just one golfer in this group, I probably would take Watson. It’s kind of funny to say, but Watson is probably the safest bet in this group. I think Watson has the highest floor and ceiling of golfers in this group.

Next: $8,900-$8,000

Home/PGA