This Thursday at 8:00pm EST Fantasy Expert Michael Rathburn will host a 1-hour “Ask Me Anything” live chat on his YouTube channel. Got a DFS question? Need advice? Use the hashtag #LineStarLiveChat to submit your questions. Follow LineStar Twitter for more info!

As always, props to @N1TRO on another great PGA newsletter! 👏

Get down to the LineStar PGA Chat for the lowdown from experts.

Congratulations to last week's freeroll winners!

• 1st: benb78 : 643 pts

• 2nd: jpc0757: 636.5 pts

• 3rd: jdamico0013: 629 pts

Please DM us @LineStarApp with your winning lineup to claim your prize!

We'll be hosting a weekly PGA freeroll on DraftKings so remember to join!

Here is a link for this week's LineStar freeroll!

• 1st place: $10 via PayPal

• 2nd-3rd place: Your choice of one-month LineStar Premium subscription, t-shirt or mug

The 2018 WGC Bridgestone Invitational Preview ⛳️

Welcome back to another issue of the LineStar Weekly Drive! This past week, we saw the planet’s #1 golfer prove why he holds that title. Dustin Johnson took his missed cut at The Open in stride and hunkered down to win The Canadian Open by three strokes with a score of 23-under par. Now we are quickly approaching the final three Tour events before playoffs begin and this week includes a loaded field consisting of every golfer ranked inside the top 50 in the world.

The WGC Bridgestone Invitational opens up once again at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Firestone CC is hosting this event for the final time this year after being home to the WGC Bridgestone Invitational every year since 1962. Players will tee off on the South Course, one of three courses at Firestone CC, and arguably the toughest. It’s a par 70 set-up that stretches a daunting 7,400 yards and includes a Par 5, 16th hole that extends 667 yards. Despite the length of the course, we have seen all types of golfers succeed here -- whether they be your bombers or more traditional ‘grindy’ course managers. Fairways here are tree-lined and quite narrow, so guys will need to be accurate off the tee to avoid the longer rough. The greens run fast, are heavily protected by bunkers and, though they are pretty large, the false fronts and edges result in them playing much smaller than they appear. There are seven Par 4's that stretch 450-500 yards, so long iron accuracy will be vital to success.

With this week being an invitational, it’s important to remember that the field size is less than half of a normal event with just 73 golfers and no cut. So, barring any withdrawals or disqualifications, every player will get a chance to play all four rounds. To me personally, I believe this profiles as more of a GPP week in terms of DFS contest selection. As such, I’ll be leaving out the cash and GPP star ratings I have been giving players in past newsletters strictly due to this type of event. From a strategy standpoint, with the field being so small, if you want to make sure you have a better shot at having unique lineups, it’d be a sharp decision to leave some salary on the table. I’d also recommend spending a lighter amount of your bankroll this week in comparison to other weeks when there is a larger field to choose from and a better edge to be gained.

With all of that being said, let’s look at the weather and key stats I’m putting focus on and my picks for this week!

Weather ⛅️

I’ll keep this segment fairly short and sweet because we’re not necessarily worrying as much about the weather this week considering there will be no cut. There could be a small edge to be had through the first two rounds if weather favored one wave of golfers over the other, but everyone is getting in four rounds of golf regardless, so it’s not a major focus. Right now, there’s not a whole lot to worry about through the first two rounds anyway. Sustained winds look to stay pretty low (3-7 mph) and gusts should hardly hit double digits. It’ll be cloudy for much of Thursday and Friday with the chance of some quick showers both days.

Not much to look into here, but as always, check closer to Thursday morning when folks are getting ready to actually tee off.

Top 5 Stats to Consider 📊

1. Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: App) w/ emphasis on Long Iron Accuracy

2. Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) + Driving Accuracy

3. Par 4 Average

4. Greens in Regulation (GIR)

5. Birdie or Better % (BoB%)

High Priced Targets

Rory McIlroy ($11,300 DK | $12,100 FD)

I’m looking quite a bit at course history this week, as Tiger Woods is the only person to ever win here in his first trip. Enter Rory McIlroy who, in seven tries, has five top 10 finishes at Firestone CC including a win in 2014 and a 5th place finish last year. He comes in with great form after a T2 finish at The Open and carries the second best odds in the field at 12:1. What I love about Rory is his strength off the tee, averaging 317.7 yards/drive and overall is 10th in the field in SG:OTT. His long iron play is also enticing; he’s 11th in Proximity 175-200 yards and 10th in Prox. 200+ yards. Where he doesn’t necessarily shine is driving accuracy (52nd in field) and GIR (50th in field). But he’s one of the best scramblers in the world, so I feel pretty confident he can save a lot of pars on greens he doesn’t hit in regulation. Really, it’s just a worry about him finding fairways. But with the way he is playing lately, I’m considering him a top tournament option and a nice pivot off of the sure-to-be much chalkier Dustin Johnson at the top.

Tiger Woods ($10,800 DK | $11,300 FD)

If you’re looking at course history strongly this week, Tiger is far and away the best “can’t miss” option. Now, he hasn’t played here since 2013 (withdrew in 2014) but he also won that year. It’s somewhat fitting that he makes his return to Firestone CC in his comeback season on the last year that the WGC Bridgestone is set to be played here. He’s won at Firestone CC a total of eight times, with five victories on the South Course which will be played this week. It’s no secret that his form is looking up after a T6 at The Open a couple weeks ago and a T4 at the Quicken Loans National prior to that. Where he shines is his approach game. He’s 2nd in SG: App including 12th in Prox. 175-200 yards and 13th in Prox. 200+ yards. I have no doubt we’ll see Tiger make some amazing second and third shots this week. Unfortunately, with the good comes some bad -- with the length this course presents, Tiger will not be able to avoid using the driver. He’s been… not great off the tee to say the least. He’s 53rd in SG: OTT and 55th in Driving Accuracy. If he’s not hitting fairways, things could go south for him very quickly. If you’re playing cash this week, I’d probably avoid him there for that reason alone but otherwise his odds have climbed to 12:1 alongside Rory and Rose, and there’s certainly a lot of people who believe this could be his week to finally win. I’m buying into it, but from a DFS perspective, I also realize the risk.

Rickie Fowler ($10,00 DK | $11,300 FD)

Rickie has been rock solid at Firestone recently. In the past four years he has four consecutive top 10 finishes. Prior to his T28 at The Open two weeks ago, he had five consecutive top 20 finishes across his five worldwide events and, of course, showed his ability to excel in strong fields with his 2nd place finish at The Masters earlier in the year. Stat-wise, Rickie is 7th in Par 4 Average, 14th in BoB%, is both fairly long and accurate (31st in driving distance and 18th in driving accuracy), and is another guy with solid long irons (17th Prox. 175-200 yards, 9th Prox. 200+ yards). No reason to expect anything but a strong showing from Fowler this week and he comes in at a 20:1 favorite.

Mid-Range Targets

Before I talk about these guys, I will say that this range is absolutely loaded and will likely be where the most important decisions must be made. As noted earlier, I will be focusing in depth on guys I believe will make nice tournament plays. Further down in the “Quick Hits” section I will mention the more obvious/chalkier guys that should still warrant some exposure.

Jon Rahm ($9,600 DK | $10,900 FD)

I’m not expecting a ton of people to be on Rahm this week considering his last two PGA events have been on big stages in the form of Majors where he failed to make the cut in both The Open Championship and The U.S. Open. But we don’t have to sweat Rahm making the cut this week and he still brings elite upside at a discounted price. In between those two majors, he had back to back finishes of T4 and T5 on the EURO Tour. In a week we are guaranteed four full rounds of Rahm-bo, he brings top end scoring upside to the table. He’s 2nd in BoB% and 5th in Par 4 Average. He’s a bomber that excels off the tee ranking 2nd in SG: OTT. Now, his iron game isn’t where you want it to be, ranking 48th in SG: App but he still manages to hit a lot of greens in regulation, ranking 9th there. I believe this is a good “get right” week for Rahm, who is the #5 ranked golfer in the world for a reason, and I like his 25:1 odds.

Francesco Molinari ($9,400 DK | $11,200 FD)

I could just post Moli’s worldwide tournament logs here and let that speak for itself but I’ll delve into it a bit more than that. In five of his past six events across the PGA and EURO Tours, Molinari has either won (three times) or finished second (twice) with a T25 at the U.S. Open in between. There’s no question he is the hottest golfer on the planet right now and he’s rocketed up to being ranked #6 in the world. He doesn’t have major success at Firestone but I’m willing to overlook that due to the insane form. Molinari is 4th in SG: OTT, 11th in SG: App, 10th in GIR, and is just a tee to green machine (2nd in SG: T2G). Obviously he has to cool down some time but until then, you simply have to consider him every week. He’s sporting 25:1 odds and is going to be paired with World #1 Dustin Johnson through the first two rounds. I think he’ll be very motivated to go toe-to-toe with the best the game has to offer.

Bubba Watson ($8,500 DK | $10,000 FD)

You’ll rarely see me write up Bubba, partly because he can simply be an erratic inconsistent golfer and in other part because the dude just strikes me as a total headcase and I’ve heard some not so endearing stories about the guy. But I’m highlighting Bubba this week because, when it comes to “no cut events,” he just seems to excel and I don’t expect many people to roster him this week, especially coming off back-to-back missed cuts over the past couple weeks at The Canadian Open and The Open Championship. However, since 2011 in 26 no cut events, Bubba has finished T25 or better 20 times, which includes 11 top 10's, four runner-ups and one victory. He comes in 12th in my overall stat rankings largely due to his 3rd SG: OTT ranking and he is 8th in GIR. He’s another bomber who could find trouble if he’s not hitting fairways pretty consistently, but I’m liking him a lot for GPPs and expect single digit ownership percentages.

Low Priced Targets

Kevin Chappell ($7,300 DK | $9,300 FD)

Considering the strength of the field, I don’t think you want to get too cute delving into the really low salaried guys, but at this price point Chappell pops up as a great value. This will be his third trip to Firestone CC, and in his previous two appearances here, he has a 3rd place finish in 2016 and a 13th place finish last year. He also enters this week looking to be in good form after a T6 at The Open two weeks ago. He comes in 28th in my stat rankings as he is strong off the tee (11th SG: OTT) and has a solid approach game (22nd SG: App). I think he has a very good chance to return a top 25 finish this week, which would produce really strong value.

Charley Hoffman ($7,500 DK | $9,100 FD)

Hoffman is one of the better values based on Vegas odds this week. Though he opened the week at 55:1 odds and has since fallen to 66:1 odds, he still brings upside to the table. A major draw towards playing him is his 3rd place finish at Firestone CC last year, and his current form is quite solid after a 29th place finish last week and three top 20 finishes in his three events prior. I wrote him up last week when his was a mid-range target and noted that many of his season long stats don’t pop off the page due to early season struggles, but if you want to ride current form, Hoffman sets up pretty well this week.

Pat Perez ($7,000 DK | $8,600 FD)

This is getting into the furthest end of the spectrum of where I’m willing to take my punts, but Perez comes off as one of the best options this low that has the scoring upside we’ll be looking for this week. He’s coming off a T17 finish two weeks ago at Carnoustie but followed that up with a missed cut on EURO Tour at the Porsche European Open. So there’s some risk here, but on the season, he ranks 12th in BoB% and should be a guy who hits a lot of fairways this week ranking 5th in driving accuracy. This is a long course for someone like Perez who only averages 290.7 yards/drive (54th in field) but I’m banking on him hitting a good amount of greens with solid birdie opportunities - he’s 21st in GIR and 12th in overall proximity on his approach shots. Don’t go too heavy on Perez but even light exposure should result in an edge on the field if he performs well. I expect him to easily be under 5% owned.

Quick Hits - Others to Consider

There are several more options that should be on your radar for this week. I expect many of these guys to be chalky but completely worth including in your player pool.

High Priced

- Justin Rose ($10,700 DK | $12,300 FD) | A sure fire top end play. Five straight top 10 finishes including a win and runner-up. Fade at your own risk!

WARNING: DON'T USE JUSTIN ROSE - HE HAS WITHDRAWN.

- Dustin Johnson ($11,700 DK | $12,700 FD) | I will be underweight on him compared to the field in tournaments but a 7:1 favorite for quite a few reasons.

- Tommy Fleetwood ($9,200 DK | $11,400 FD) | Always in play and a threat to shoot low on any track he faces.

Mid Priced

- Henrik Stenson ($9,000 DK | $11,500 FD) | Better DK value but he’s #1 in my player model. Assuming his elbow issue is behind him, fire him up in all formats with confidence.

- Justin Thomas ($8,800 DK | $11,400 FD) | His DK price is straight disrespectful. He’ll be perhaps the highest owned player there, so I would be careful avoiding him in cash. Major threat to win.

- Zach Johnson ($8,100 DK | $9,800 FD) | Great course history and very good form. Another cash target.

- Tony Finau ($8,000 DK | $10,600 FD) | No course history is somewhat worrying but his game fits this track beautifully.

- Hideki Matsuyama ($8,400 DK | $10,200 FD) | The reigning champ here will almost certainly go overlooked.

- Patrick Cantlay ($8,200 DK | $9,700 FD) | No course history but ranks 11th in my key stats model and is affordable on both sites, FD especially.

Low Priced

- Emiliano Grillo ($7,100 DK | $8,200 FD) | Has burned people twice recently when he was chalk both times. Could be a nice chance to gain some GPP exposure to him.

- Ian Poulter ($7,300 DK | $9,100 FD) | This price is just too low for Poulter on both sites and he’ll likely be one of my primary GPP targets.

- Kyle Stanley ($7,200 DK | $8,500 FD) | Fallen out of form recently but I think he stands a reasonable chance to snag a sneaky top 20 finish.

- Hao-tong Li ($7,000 DK | $8,300 FD) | Low owned GPP target. Ranked 43rd in the world. Has some solid showings on the EURO Tour this year and finished T16 at the U.S. Open.

__________________________________________________________________

Good luck this week, guys!

Don't forget to join in on this week's LineStar Freeroll here!

Feel free to hit me up in the chat @N1TRO if you want a second opinion on any specific golfer approaching this week’s tournament or to just ask about PGA DFS in general! Follow me on Twitter @NitroDFS .

Thanks for reading!

Interested in sponsoring this email?

Please contact [email protected] for more information and sponsorship opportunities.

Have a hot take or play? Feel free to tell us about it: [email protected] we love to hear from you all!