Fantasy Golf: Draftkings Selections for the Northern Trust

It’s finally here! This week, The Northern Trust will start the FedEx Cup playoffs from New Jersey! Draftkings will offer a large number of contests for the DFS community.

This tournament is obviously stacked with most of the elite golfers on the planet. Daily fantasy golf players will certainly be challenged as they construct player pools for DraftKings contests this week.

The top 125 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings are eligible to play this week’s Northern Trust. However, three of the 125 players will not be in the field. The three eligible players that are not in the field are the following: Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, and Sam Burns.

It should be noted that the Northern Trust will have the standard top 70 and ties rule to make the cut after two rounds. However, unlike other regular events on the PGA tour, we will have no dreaded MDF (made cut did not finish) results for the Northern Trust.

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For those that are not aware, essentially, the MDF is a secondary cut that sometimes comes into play at other regular events on the PGA Tour after three rounds. That won’t occur here. If your DraftKings golfer makes the cut on Friday, he is assured of playing all four rounds.

Let’s take a quick look at the golf course that the field will be presented this week.

The 2019 Northern Trust will occur at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. This course is a par 71 that measures approximately 7,370 yards. The course features three par 5 holes that are reachable for the golfer that can hit the ball long and straight.

This track also features bentgrass greens. Upon doing my research for this event, I found it interesting that Webb Simpson was previously quoted as saying that the undulating greens at Liberty National Golf Club, “remind me of a Donald Ross design.” That is something I will certainly keep in mind as I evaluate golfers for my DraftKings lineups.

You won’t find a great deal of course history to evaluate this week. The reason is that the Northern Trust is an event that rotates to different courses each year. However, the Northern Trust was played at Liberty National Golf Club in 2013 and 2009.

The statistics I am focusing on this week are driving accuracy, GIR (greens in regulation), strokes gained off the tee, and birdie or better percentage.

Let’s shift our focus to my picks for this week. Here are my DraftKings Selections for the 2019 Northern Trust.

Jon Rahm (10,400)

I personally think that Jon Rahm is often overlooked by many golf fans, etc. due to the other great golfers on the PGA Tour. Frankly, it is a mistake to look past him. He is an elite player.

In my opinion, the 24-year-old Spaniard is an outstanding talent that will eventually win big tournaments on the PGA Tour. In fact, I think that his first high-quality win in the United States may occur this week.

Let me explain why I am backing Mr. Rahm to win this week. For one, Rahm is a player that likes to shoot low scores. I think he will have an opportunity to do just that this week at Liberty National.

I reviewed the current forecast and observed that the course should receive some rain on Wednesday. I think that will lead to receptive greens to start the tournament. Additionally, although the course is on the water and is vulnerable to wind, no heavy wind is expected all week.

Also, although this course is not a traditional coastal track, it is on the water. Rahm always seems to perform well on courses such as this one. I can point to his recent win at the 2019 Irish Open as evidence to that fact.

Let’s take a look at Rahm’s last five tournaments (PGA and European Tour events). His finishes in his last five tournaments are: third, second, first (Irish Open), 11th, and seventh.

For statistics, I love the fact that Rahm is currently fifth on the PGA Tour in birdie or better percentage and fourth in strokes gained off the tee.

Webb Simpson (9,400)

Simpson is simply playing some outstanding golf lately. I backed him at last week’s Wyndham Championship and he almost delivered a victory, finishing in second place.

What was just as impressive as Simpson’s runner up result was some of his tournament statistics at the Wyndham. Webb led the Wyndham field in driving accuracy (83.9%) and was fourth in the field in overall birdies (23) made.

Let’s take a look at Webb’s most recent results on the PGA Tour. Simpson’s last five tournament results are as follows. Second,16th, 30th, second, second. That is correct. Not a clerical error. Simpson has three runner-up finishes in his last five tournaments!

I think Simpson’s recent success continues this week. In my opinion, he has the potential to get it done this week and earn his first win in 2019.

It has to be said that, in my opinion, Simpson’s Draftkings price of only $9,400 is an absolute bargain considering his recent outstanding play on the PGA Tour.

If you are looking for lower-priced golfers to complete your Draftkings lineups, I like the following players to make the cut and possibly top 25:

Jason Kokrak (7,400)

Kokrak has seven top 20 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2019. Jason finished runner up at the 2019 Valspar Championship. More recently, he finished sixth at the Wyndham Championship last week.

Scott Piercy (7,300)

He is known as one of the best pure ball strikers on the PGA Tour. I think that will suit him well at Liberty National Golf Club. He finished third at the RBC Heritage in April and second at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May.

Brian Harmon (7,200)

Harman has three top-ten finishes in his last six events on the PGA Tour. He finished strong at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday firing a final round 66 to finish the event in sixth place.

Sepp Straka (6,600)

Straka’s game appears to be getting hot at the correct time. He has three top 15 finishes in his last six events on the PGA Tour. If he can get his putter warm, Sepp Straka has the potential to surprise some people this week.

Next. THE NORTHERN TRUST 2019: Power ranking the top ten at Liberty National. dark

As always, good luck! Enjoy the 2019 Northern Trust!

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DraftKings fantasy golf picks for 2019 Northern Trust

By Hans Geevers | Aug 6, 2019