Our PGA Newsletter is Fan-Manned by Golf Expert and LineStarApp volunteer CoachSzustak. Hope you enjoy it! 

PGA National Champions - Course Info ⛳️

Welcome to the Seventh edition of the Drive. Our goal here is to help you break down the upcoming PGA event. This is the Honda Classic with the cut coming after 36 holes.. This tournament is played at PGA National Champions Course. PGA National is a tough course where wind can definitely play a factor, it measures in at 7140 yds and plays to a par 70 for this event. Wind is going to be a factor this week. All four days of the tournament are calling for stiff winds (11-16 mph). I foresee a large portion of this field consistently leaving the driver in the bag attempting to play this course from the fairway.

Keys To The Course 🔑

Looking at players who finished in the top 5 over recent history at PGA events played at the current course(s) and which common stats contributed to those top 5 players doing well.

Top 3 Stats For This Tournament:

1. Scrambling

2. Greens In Regulation

3. Putting Average

1. Justin Thomas

2. Brian Gay

3. Brandt Snedeker

4. Scott Stallings

5. Vaughn Taylor

6. Troy Merritt

7. Alexander Noren

8. Chesson Hadley

9. Gary Woodland

10. Patton Kizzire

Studs 🔥

Studs: Last week Studs 3/3 making the cut.

1. Rickie Fowler (12.3k FD/11.7k DK): Rickie has a house in the area, he is familiar with this course. Even though he is 5/7 in cuts at this event, he has won here and finished in the top 10 a couple of times. He is accurate off the tee and won’t beat himself at this event, as always he is the Vegas favorite making him one of my studs in play.

2. Sergio Garcia (11.9k FD/ 10.5k DK): I don’t have a lot of data to pull from him as he is making his 2018 debut stateside, but event/course history are solid. He is 6/6 in this event, with an average finish of 13th over his last 4 trips here. I look for that to continue as he ramps his game up for a title defense at Augusta.

3. Justin Thomas (12.1k FD/11.3k DK): Let me start by saying he was so close to being in the avoid section, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. This is a gut play that is not back by the numbers. His history is less than ideal here as he is 0/2 at this event. However they say you have to go out on a limb b/c that is where the fruit is. He is currently putting better than in previous years and having his caddie back on the bag will help. I like the others more, but JT is in play for me this week. 

Mid-Price Value Plays 💰

Bargain Barrel 🍀

1. Sam Saunders (8.4k FD/7.1k DK): Not sure how he is still priced so low, but until it changes I’ll use him. Over the last month he is #13 in driving acc and #3 in putting. He is 2/2 at this event so nothing is going to scare me off of him this week.

2. Nick Watney (8.5k FD/7.2k DK): 3/3 at this course. He is #16 in the field in GIR, but 112 in field in putting. He is a guy that will birdie 2 and bogey the next 2, risk/reward play I’ll gamble.

3. Troy Merritt (7.7k FD/6.8k DK): This is the bottom of the barrel play in which I only suggest for GPP purposes. His salary will provide you opportunity to get top heavy. He provides the same risk as Watney, I look for 3-4 birdies a day and if he can limit the mistakes and sneak in the cut will pay off BIG for our lineups. It comes down to how much you want to gamble.  

Avoids 🚫

It would not be a complete article if I didn’t tell you who I am avoiding. I like to go through and take guys out of the pool that I really don’t like THIS WEEK. Here are my 2 for this week.

Let’s make it a point to try and get into the chat room this week, we have a great resource there that isn’t getting used as much as it should. If you have any question head on over and ask either me or the room in general. We are all in the same community and I am rooting for us all. I love when I see the LineStar users win, I love it more when I hear about it.

I hope you find some value in this article and as always, MAY YOUR LINEUPS BE LIVE AND SCREENS BE GREEN!  

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