DraftKings Picks for The Olympics 2021

The PGA Tour takes a week off while the best athletes in the world land in Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics. That may not be the case for the men’s golf event but 60 players from various countries in the world will compete for gold at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan. Let's get you set to see some green screens on DraftKings this weekend.

What's up golf addicts! AC here, checking in week to week to provide a quick preview of the upcoming PGA Tour event. I’ll give you the lowdown on the course, the players, some key stats, and our favorite DraftKings picks for the week.

Last week we got another taste of Longshot SZN as Cameron Champ went off as high as 150-1 to claim his third PGA Tour title at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. We had some looks with Cameron Tringale holding the 54-hole lead but a triple bogey late in the final round had us settling for a Top 20. Mito Periera was solid again in just his fifth start booking a second straight top 10. Periera is included in just a handful of guys heading to right Tokyo to compete for their country.

With Covid still a big problem in the world it is no surprise that the field for the men’s Olympic golf tournament is weaker than it should be. Many like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay, and Louis Oosthuzien declined the opportunity while world #1 Jon Rahm and world #6 Bryson DeChambeau were forced to WD because of positive Covid tests. We will still get to see three of the top five as Collin Morikawa tops the DraftKings pricing at $11,200, followed by Justin Thomas at 10,900 and Xander Schauffele at 10,700. Homegrown favorite Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Paul Casey, Abraham Ancer, Joaquin Niemann, and Sungjae Im round out the $9k range and above.

Though the majority of the field will never have seen the course, Matsuyama is very familiar having won the 2009 Japan Junior and the 2010 Asia-Pacific Amateur at Kasumigaseki which got him into his first start at The Masters. Deki would become the first Japanese player to win a men’s golf major at Augusta National, 10 years later.

Kasumigaseki Country Club Course Breakdown

The East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan will host the Men’s and Women’s Olympic golf competition over the next couple of weeks. Originally opened in 1929, the over 7,400 yard par 71 underwent a redesign in 2016 by Tom and Logan Fazio which modified the fairways, greens, and bunkers.

The course has a very straight forward, tree-lined classic look which was maintained when Fazio Design renovated the course. Undulation was added to the fairways and greens, tees were pushed back, and bunkers were made larger and deeper. The greens themselves were also restructured from a two-pin system to a normal one-pin which makes them look rather massive compared to tour average.

The course is very soft having received a ton of water over the last year and more rain over the week as storms approach the area will keep things lush. The fairways are quite wide with not much rough to speak of. Korai zoysiagrass can be found on the tees and fairways with Noshiba zoysia found in the rough. Players generally love zoysia as the ball sits up very nicely. The putting surfaces feature pure Creeping bentgrass.

We expect the field to tear the course up for the most part. Fire up the ball striking stats along with scoring stats like Fantasy National’s oops gained and birdie or better %. With the fairways and greens being so large, strokes gained off the tee and approach will be key. Driving distance should be a big advantage while driving accuracy shouldn’t be as penal. Putting on Bentgrass will be important and recent form should show that as many of the latest stops on the PGA have been Bentgrass greens.

The course itself is laid out rather unique with long par 3s, potentially drivable par 4s, four par 4s close and over 500 yards, and three par 5s likely not reachable by most of the players in the field. Weather may be tricky as well with not much wind in the forecast but the potential of some coastal systems moving inland.

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The Picks & Fades

Each week I will give you my plays and a fade from each DraftKings salary range.

$9k+:

DB: Play - Niemann, Matsuyama | Fade - Patrick Reed

Pat: Play - Rory McIlroy | Fade - Joaquin Niemann

AC: Play - Xander Schauffele, Joaquin Niemann, Sungjae Im | Fade - Patrick Reed

Over the last year, Xander has 17 top 20s with 10 of those top 10 or better and all of them have come in tough fields. Over the last three months, X is 10th in birdie or better %, 8th in ball striking, 6th in DK scoring, and 4th in driving distance. He’s got a solid flatstick as well. Niemann has been playing some solid golf as well and is very motivated to capture a medal for his home country of Chile. Being top 10 is opps gained, birdies, driving distance, putting and DK scoring also helps. Though the stats are still great, Sungjae has some well documented significance in the event with mandatory military service looming. There were some struggles with the ball striking that has been improving as of late but the short game has been rather solid. The fade of Reed is pretty common for me but having got into the event last minute with all of the isolating and testing then dropping into the event within hours of your tee time having never seeing the course.. No thanks.

$8k:

DB: Play - Fleetwood | Fade - Garrick Higgo

Pat: Play - Cam Smith | Fade - Guido Migliozzi

AC: Play - Corey Conners, Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Fade - Thomas Pieters

As a Canadian Corey Conners was definitely going to be on this list but also being one of the best ball strikers in the world is another great reason. A good week with the putter will have Conners in contention for a medal. Two of my favorite players in the same range makes things pretty easy. If you put Conners and CBez together they would likely be the best golfer on the planet. Despite not being the longest, CBez is very solid on long par 4s and 5s and the approach game is also solid. He definitely has one of the best short games out there. Since DB and I have bet between Noren and Pieters, it’s only right he also be my fade. Pieters really lacks experience in tough fields and big moments and even on the Euro tour there isn’t much impressive.

$7k:

DB: Play - Si Woo Kim, Detry | Fade - Antoine Rozner

Pat: Play - Jazz Janewattananond | Fade - Carlos Ortiz

AC: Play - Antoine Rozner, Mito Perriera | Fade - Thomas Detry

Primarily a rather fresh Euro Tour grinder, Rozner is starting to rise the ranks and is gaining more starts on the PGA tour. Rozner had a T18 at the Memorial and has carried some great ball striking along the way. Pretty solid all around player playing in a big spot having a couple majors now under his belt. This will be the fourth straight week riding Mito and it's been pretty great. Getting better every week with back to back top 10s his last two starts and now gets to play alongside friend and fellow countryman Joaquin Niemann i expect the young Chilean to take his form across and return some big value. Detry has two T2s sandwiched between a bunch of MCs but really hasn’t amounted to anything in strong fields. Looking at the Euro tour stats, Detry is 39th in strokes gained total and 62nd in approach.

$6k:

DB: Play - Norlander, Lahiri, Straka

Pat: Play - Henrik Norlander, Rory Sabbatini, Sepp Straka

AC: Play - Henrik Norlander, Sepp Straka, Fabrizio Zanotti

Norlander will likely be super chalk but has a lot of birdie potential and ball striking ability. The putter can be decent as well and is riding some solid form. I like to play Sepp any chance I can get and if we can get him in a no cut event on Bentgrass, sign me up. Sepp has the distance and the prowess to pile up birdies. Zanotti definitely won’t jump off the page but does have a few decent results this year on the Euro Tour but what I’m looking at is his top 10 ranking in approach. The putting and driving isn't great but we know putting can catch fire and the width of this course should help him off the tee.

THE INS & OUTS

John Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were the only WDs to come recently with Jorge Campillo and Patrick Reed replacing them. The field has been capped at 60 players with no cut.