We made it through the singular worst event on the PGA Tour schedule with last week’s Zurich Classic. Outside of the nostalgia that the Ryder Cup and President Cup bring every couple years, golf is and should be an individual sport. Team event structures aren’t it, especially for us DFS players. This week though, we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming with the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Albeit a weird name, it is a normal golf tournament.
With normal golf returning, so do our PGA DFS core plays.
TPC Craig Ranch is one of the easiest stops on TOUR, with the winning score landing in the -23 to -26 range in the four years it hosted this event. Wide fairways and non-penalizing rough leads to most players pulling driver as much as possible. Approach shots into these greens aren’t highly difficult, so it sets up as an absolute birdie fest. Even with the easier setup, approach play will remain important as always. So I’ll be targeting good iron players, who have a high Birdie or Better percentage for my rosters this week.
Below are the players I’ll be building around as my core plays. If you’d like to build around these players or your own core plays, the lineup generator is the perfect PGA DFS tool. Right now, readers can try it out for a week for just $1 using promo code ‘BERRYMANLG‘.
2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson DFS Core PlaysÂ
Tom Hoge – $9,100
This golf course is an exceptional fit for Tom Hoge. Over the last 24 rounds, Hoge ranks 1st in Strokes Gained: Approach and 3rd in Birdie or Better percentage. That combination is exactly the profile I’m targeting to attack this layout. Over his last eight starts, he has six finishes inside the top 18 including two top-10 finishes. As one of the best iron players in the field, he should be able to set himself up with a tremendous amount of birdie looks to keep pace on the ripe scoring conditions. I’ll have a good amount of Hoge this week.
Keith Mitchell – $8,800
Similar to Hoge, Mitchell possess the combination of hot iron play and strong Birdie or Better percentage that I’m looking for to fill out my rosters this week. Over the last 24 rounds, Mitchell ranks 3rd in approach and 5th in Birdie or Better percentage. He’s also a player that is in good form, with five finishes inside the top 20 over his last seven starts. To boot, the bent grass greens of TPC Craig Ranch play right into Mitchell’s hands as his best statistical putting surface. A lot of signs point to Mitchell having a nice week.
Adam Schenk – $8,500
Schenk has somewhat quietly been playing some really nice golf over the last couple months. Over his last five starts, he has three top-20 finishes in VERY strong fields that include the Masters, Valero, and the PLAYERS. Now he gets the chance to bring his trending game to compete in a much weaker field. He’s gained strokes on approach in four of his last five, and is the 20th-ranked bent grass putter in the field over the last 100 tracked rounds. I like the way Schenk sets up this week.
GPP Flier: Ben Griffin – $7,700
When looking through ownership projections this week, I was pretty surprised to see Griffin in the single digits. He’s coming off four consecutive finishes inside the top 40, two of which were finishes inside the top 17. Over this stretch, he’s gained strokes in every statistical category outside of ‘off the tee’. This is a great setup for him since the course does not favor any particular type of skillset off the tee. Golfers don’t need to be long, or accurate to really compete here as it’s mostly a second shot and putting style course, both of which he excels at.
He’s yet to break through for his first win on TOUR, but he possesses the skillset to compete in a field lacking true star power. At a single-digit ownership projection, he can be a nice differentiator in large field GPP’s this week.
These are a few of the key players who will make up my player pool for 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson DFS lineups. I’ll favor them significantly when I build lineups using the PGA Sims. In addition, don’t forget to take advantage of the odds boosts sportsbooks are offering.
