Rory McIlroy. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
PGA Championship week is here and so are the best PGA DFS picks to build a winning DraftKings lineup for the week at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
Though it may not have some of the allure of other major championships in golf, the PGA Championship has the distinction of boasting the best field of any major. So as we head to Kiawah and the Ocean Course for the second major in 2021 and we look at the PGA DFS pool on DraftKings, it shouldn’t shock anyone that the slate is absolutely loaded.
With the DraftKings player pool fit to brim with tremendous talents for the 2021 PGA Championship, there are a couple of things that come to light. First, there are great values littered throughout that PGA DFS players should be looking to find. At the same time, if you do spend big, you have to make sure you’re hitching your wagon to the right horse.
At Kiawah this week, it’s going to take an all-around game to compete. This is an exceptionally long course — the longest in major championship history, in fact — so driving distance matters, but it’s just as important to be in good spots off the tee because second shots are so long. In that vein, how players play in longer second-shot proximity is also important, as is play around the green.
So as we take all of this into account, we’re going through every pricing tier on DraftKings for the PGA DFS slate and looking at the quality picks before building a handful of lineups for the 2021 PGA Championship. We start with the favorites and the $10,000+ price range.
PGA Championship DraftKings picks: $10,000 and above
Rory McIlroy ($11,500) – Not only did Rory win the PGA Championship the last time it was at Kiawah (by a wide margin) but he also won the last time he played this season. He’s a golfer who can catch a hot streak and ride it. When you factor in his ability with the driver and the fact that he was hot with the putter at the Wells Fargo, McIlroy makes sense as the top-priced player in the field.
Justin Thomas ($11,300) – Thomas is a threat to win any time he tees it up. The two things his success essentially hinges upon are how he’s hitting the driver and if his putter is cooperating. Considering he’s the second-highest priced player in the field, though, that’s a little bit too much volatility for my liking.
Dustin Johnson ($10,900) – It’s hard to trust Johnson, even if we know the prodigious talent he possesses. He’s not been in great form over the past couple of months and withdrew from the AT&T Byron Nelson last week. Even though this is basically a home game for the 2020 Masters champion, I’m probably fading him in my PGA DFS lineups.
Jon Rahm ($10,500) – Because he hasn’t been winning, some people might be soft on Rahm in their DraftKings lineups this week. However, he’s been finishing well and continues to be an absolute stud off the tee and with his irons and approach shots. But Rahm is a fade for me on DraftKings because his short game has taken a big downturn since the equipment change earlyier this season.
Bryson DeChambeau ($10,200) – When DeChambeau is on, he’s nearly unbeatable with the advantage he has off the tee. And he’s likely to be a popular play in DFS circles this week because of his distance at Kiawah. However, his irons and wedges have been concerningly shaky as of late and it simply doesn’t look to me that he’s in major-winning form.
Jordan Spieth ($10,100) – Spieth has been an absolute monster and, though his sometimes errant driver might deter some people, he’s been in more control of it as of late than we’ve seen in a long, long time. I love the top-10 at the Byron Nelson to get him coming into the PGA Championship and think his magic iron play and short game will put him in contention to win the career grand slam.