Our PGA Championship DraftKings picks for Southern Hills as we give our top plays, big fades and build a lineup for the PGA DFS slate.
The best golfers in the world are in Tulsa, OK this week at Southern Hills Country Club for the second major of the year, the 2022 PGA Championship. There’s no Phil Mickelson to defend his title amid his personal trials and off-course controversy but, for our purposes, that shouldn’t matter too much as he wouldn’t make the cut for our DraftKings picks as we try to build a winning PGA DFS lineup.
Let’s be honest, we haven’t really been knocking it out of the park here when it comes to our DFS picks. What better time to turn it around than at a major championship, though?
The one thing about a major, the PGA Championship or otherwise, is that the pricing can be soft for some really talented players. That means you’re going to feel great about your lineup, but so is literally everyone else with the way things are set up. Subsequently, you have to be extra diligent in making your picks and getting the right guys in your lineup.
So with that in mind, we’re once again going through our top plays and fades from each pricing tier (in addition to potential other considerations to play) before building a lineup for this week. To Southern Hills we go!
DraftKings picks for PGA Championship PGA DFS lineups: Top Plays
$10,000: Rory McIlroy ($10,000) – I’m banging the drum for Rory this week like nobody’s business. He’s been elite from tee-to-green this year, the best in the field to be exact. On top of that, he’s been literally the best around-the-green player on the PGA Tour as well. After two straight Top 5 finishes and showing real signs, I think he wins the PGA Championship, so he’s obviously going to be my play for the $10K range. Also Consider: Jon Rahm ($11,200), Justin Thomas ($10,700)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JpFbXVqtjo?feature=oembed
$9,000: Hideki Matsuyama ($9,200) – My hope is that this will be a bit of a pivot from guys like Hovland, Spieth, Cantlay and DJ in this range and I love the play. Matsuyama seems to have fully shaken off the injury bug and is playing terrific golf right now. He’s an unbelievable ball-striker who thrives in tough conditions in addition to being a player who is severely underrated around the greens. Also Consider: Viktor Hovland ($9,900), Jordan Spieth ($9,600), Patrick Cantlay ($9,100), Brooks Koepka ($9,000)
$8,000: Shane Lowry ($8,700) – Based on how he’s played this year, it’s hard to believe Lowry is this price. He’s been a top-five ball-striker in this field and has tremendous touch around the greens. Oh yeah, he’s also not finished worse than T24 worldwide since November, a stretch that includes three Top 3 finishes as well. The value here is too juicy to look away from. Also Consider: Will Zalatoris ($8,900), Joaquin Niemann ($8,500), Tyrrell Hatton ($8,100), Max Homa ($8,100)
$7,000: Matt Fitzpatrick ($7,900) – Outside of a shocking missed cut at the RBC Heritage, Fitzpatrick has been playing the best golf of his career this year with four Top 10 finishes since the turn of the calendar and a T14 at The Masters. His win equity is low seeing as how he’s not done it yet on the PGA Tour. With that said, he’s a high floor, relatively high ceiling play every week at this point and I love him at this price. Also Consider: Cameron Young ($7,600), Keegan Bradley ($7,500), Gary Woodland ($7,300), Russell Henley ($7,200), Harold Varner III ($7,000),
$6,000: Chris Kirk ($6,900) – Understanding that Kirk doesn’t have a strong record at majors, his play indicates that he simply shouldn’t be in the $6K range. Though he’s tailed off a bit lately, he’s been a great ball-striker tee-to-green this season and the putting has been the issue. With that said, bent grass greens should aid him there and I like him to both make the cut and potentially surprise some people this week. Also Consider: Davis Riley ($6,800), Mito Pereira ($6,700), Sam Horsfield ($6,700), Harry Higgs ($6,500), Anirban Lahiri ($6,500), J.J. Spaun ($6,400), Adam Hadwin ($6,300)
DraftKings picks for PGA Championship PGA DFS lineups: Top Fades
$10,000: Collin Morikawa ($10,400) – I’m 100 percent going out on a limb here knowing full well that it could come back to bite me. When I look at the $10K range, though, everyone else has a higher floor in my opinion while all have winning upside. Because of that, I’m trying to mitigate any risk in this range, meaning I’m taking Morikawa out of the equation. Of course, given how the DFS picks have been going, that probably means he’s going to win.
$9,000: Dustin Johnson ($9,500) – Fresh off of his wedding, we haven’t seen enough signs from DJ to believe that he’s going to succeed this week. He was T12 at The Masters but hasn’t finished inside the Top 35 in the other three of his last four tournaments. The putter has been a problem but he’s also just not been dialed-in from tee to green. Therefore, the rich $9K range just leaves Johnson out in the cold from where I’m sitting.
$8,000: Louis Oosthuizen ($8,000) – Don’t bank on Louis Oosthuizen because of his majors performance last year. He’s rusty with very few tournaments under his belt this season and hasn’t been healthy, most recently withdrawing from The Masters. He has just one finish inside the Top 25 in 2022 and hasn’t played well with his irons, which is crucial to succeed at Southern Hills. He’s the most confident fade for me this week, bar none.
$7,000: Patrick Reed ($7,200) – Because of the emphasis being placed on short game and around-the-green play, you might be tempted to look at Reed. Don’t. Just don’t. Every other facet of his game this year has been lackluster and it’s going to take a complete performance to compete here. He’s not in the form to make any kind of real noise at a major championship.
PGA Championship: Best DraftKings golf lineup
- Rory McIlroy ($10,000)
- Hideki Matsuyama ($9,200)
- Shane Lowry ($8,700)
- Matt Fitzpatrick ($7,900)
- Russell Henley ($7,200)
- Chris Kirk ($6,900)
Considering that I was able to get five of my top plays into this lineup, I’m feeling great about where we’re at, especially with the ability to pivot away from a few guys that might be too popular for my liking in tournament contests.
As for Russell Henley, the lone outlier in terms of not being a top play, he’s been popping up on leaderboards throughout the year and has consistently made his bones with his approach play and the ability to scramble a bit around the greens. I love his floor and upside, so he rounds out this lineup quite nicely.