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Fantasy Golf: Memorial Tournament Draftkings First Round Showdown

By Hans Geevers

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 06: Tony Finau of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the first hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 06, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 06: Tony Finau of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the first hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 06, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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Fantasy golf fans will be happy to hear that Draftkings has a large number of first round showdown contests for this week’s Memorial Tournament! Let’s take a look at the showdown slate from a DFS perspective!

Before I discuss my fantasy golf/Draftkings player selections I wanted to clearly emphasize that this article is focused on the first round showdown contest. The single round showdown contest offered by Draftkings is vastly different with regard to scoring than the traditional classic contest.

For those readers that are not aware, the classic contest offered by Draftkings focuses on an entire golf tournament. In direct contrast to the classic contest, the showdown contest is focused on only one round.

If you have additional questions regarding the single round showdown contest I highly recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

Here are my fantasy golf player selections for the first round showdown contest!

Justin Thomas $10,200

The current third ranked golfer in the official world golf rankings has six top ten finishes on the PGA Tour since beginning of 2020, including a win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Thomas is currently ranked third in actual scoring average (68.33), third in birdie average (4.81), and second in par five scoring average (4.43) on the PGA Tour.

Daniel Berger $8,800

Berger has played three events since the beginning of March. In the three tournaments just mentioned, Berger has three top four finishes, including a win at the Charles Schwab Challenge last month. He also currently ranks sixth in actual scoring average (68.64) on the PGA Tour.

Tony Finau $8,300

The 30 year old American has five top 23 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a second place result at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. Finau is currently ranked 20th in birdie average (4.26), tenth in strokes gained off the tee (1.278), eighth in strokes gained around the green (.497), and 20th in actual scoring average (69.43) on the PGA Tour.

Additionally, I like the way that Finau has been playing in the first round of golf tournaments recently. In his last four first rounds played on the PGA Tour, Finau’s average first round score is 67.75.

Harris English $7,400

English currently ranks fourth in first round scoring average (68.38) on the PGA Tour. He also finished 17th at the RBC Heritage last month.

Keegan Bradley $7,000

Bradley finished a very average 39th in the Workday Charity Open last week. You maybe asking yourself why I am backing a guy in this showdown contest that just finished 39th the previous week. Let me provide some specifics as to why.

Yes, Bradley’s overall tournament result last week was far from great. However, if you look closer at his statistics for the week you will find some bright spots. Upon completion of the four days of tournament play at the Workday Charity Open last week Bradley ranked fifth in the field in GIR (greens in regulation-75%).

I also like the fact that Bradley has not shot a first round score over 69 since March. Keegan arrives on the first round showdown slate at the low price of only $7,000. I think Bradley has a real chance to be in the top five at the end of the first round. For me, Bradley presents outstanding value at such a low price point.

Henrik Norlander $6,500

He finished 12th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic three weeks ago. Norlander has also put together a few outstanding first round scores this season. To be more specific, Norlander fired a first round 67 at the RSM Classic in November and he shot a first round 66 at the Puerto Rico Open in February. In my opinion, Norlander presents nice upside at such a low Draftkings price.

As always, good luck!

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