WGC Workday 2021 | PGA Tour

Golf fans are in for a treat this week as we get a double dose of the PGA Tour. The World Golf Championship (WGC) - Workday Championship at The Concession kicks off on Thursday alongside an alternate event, the Puerto Rico Open. 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 my favorite DraftKings picks for the week.

By now, most of the golf world and world in general have been made aware of the shocking news that Tiger Woods was the lone occupant of a single vehicle accident early Tuesday morning just outside of Los Angeles. Woods was on the way to film some celebrity coaching when his vehicle left the road leaving Woods with a shattered ankle and multiple fractures in his legs. We wish Tiger the speediest of recoveries and our thoughts are with him and his family.

Just days before, Woods was handing the Genesis Invitational trophy to hometown champion, Max Homa. Homa out dueled serial second placer, Tony Finau, on the second playoff hole to capture his second tour title. Homa has been a fan favorite for quite some time with his social media presence and the community shared in the win with Longshot SZN Homa tickets cashed all around.

Though there will be a dark cloud over both events this week, play must go on. The best golfers in the world will tee it up at a very special course this week. Much of the top 50-ranked golfers will be in attendance this week including World #1, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, and the defending champion (though played at a different course), Patrick Reed. The field currently sits at 73 with no cut for the WGC events.

Concession Course Preview

During the 1969 Ryder Cup, Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin were dueling all the way to the 18th in an all-square match and an all-square score between the two teams. After blowing a 20-foot putt almost five-feet past the hole, Nicklaus drained the comebacker and before he reached into the hole for his ball, he picked up Jacklin’s marker which lay about 20 inches away. The act of sportsmanship was immortalized on that day and was dubbed ‘The Concession’.

In 2006, the two golfing greats came together to create one of the top courses in the world. Other than the 2015 NCAA Championship which was won by Bryson Dechambeau who is back in the field this week, The Concession has never hosted a major event. The long par 72 spreads out over 7,500 yards into the natural landscapes of Bradenton, Florida. The course features TifSport bermudagrass from tee to green with TifEagle occupying the putting surfaces.

Though the course is quite long, it plays firm and fast. Driving accuracy likely not huge this week as the rough is not penal and kinda scarce but like Nicklaus designs, rewards placement. Irons shots are huge. Biggest factor this week. Some tiny greens that are double cut each day to one-tenth of an inch. Super fast and very hard to hold. Tons of sand too, 73 to be exact, but not tough sand. Balls won’t plug easily. Same sand as about 15 other Nicklaus courses. Same as muirfield. Nicklaus actually brings it in from Ohio. Lots of water on the course as well. There are 13 water hazards with 12 holes having water in play. A Couple short par 4s force layups and placement with a large portion in the 400-450 range. Par 5s likely are not reachable unless bombed, perfect drives.

The Picks & Fades

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

$9k+:

DB: Play - John Rahm | Fade - Bryson Dechambeau

Pat: Play - Justin Thomas | Fade - Dustin Johnson

AC: Play - Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton | Fade - Patrick Reed

The WGC events usually bring out the best in the studs and even with a new course we can still expect the winner to come out of this range. The picks are simple this week. I think JT is starting to get his mental game back after the loss of his grandfather just a few weeks ago. With Tiger in his condition, I think JT will find some extra motivation this week. BK is always on my radar. He just took down the WMPO and was finally able to return home this week to get some much needed pupper cuddles. Strokes gained: home life gets the bump. Finally, Hatton. Hatton is one of the hottest golfers on the planet right now and tamed Arnie’s Bay Hill track just a year ago. It’s hard to find a fade in this range but Reed’s T2G, ball striking, and opps gained stats are the weakest in the bunch and he is a cheater.

$8k:

DB: Play - Sungjae Im | Fade - Tommy Fleetwood

Pat: Play - Matthew Fitzpatrick | Fade - Adam Scott

AC: Play - Sungjae Im, Joaquin Niemann | Fade - Hideki Matsuyama

We are back in Florida and that means fire up the Sungjae trains. Im has had a couple weeks off and we get him back on his favorite surface. Sungjae is near the top in birdies, par 4 scoring, and long par 5s and also tamed Nicklaus’ PGA National course to win the Honda just under a year ago. Much of the same can be said about Niemann. He is an elite ball striker and has the distance off the tee. Deki, Deki, Deki… I hate to fade Deki but his stats are some of the worst in the range and he ranks lowest in DraftKings scoring in the group.

$7k:

DB: Play - Harris English | Fade - Matt Wolff

Pat: Play - Louis Oosthuzien | Fade - Bubba Watson

AC: Play - Justin Rose, Marc Leishman, Billy Horschel | Fade - Sergio Garcia

I think it has been a long time since Justin Rose has been in the $7k range and I’m going to be all over that. His stats as of late don’t jump off the page but he hasn't played on the PGA Tour in a couple months. He did, however, just finish runner-up to DJ in Saudi so the game is there. As for Leishman, well we are finally seeing a spark. He was one of the worst players on tour in 2020 and was an auto-fade for most of the year. He loves bermuda, his history on difficult tracks is decent and he's coming off two top-20s in his last three events including a fourth at the Sony. Billy Ho is to Florida as orange is to well, oranges. Just fade Sergio.

$6k:

DB: Play - Rasmus Hojgaard, Thomas Detry, Erik Van Rooyen

Pat: Play - Lanto Griffin, Bernd Weisberger, Wade Ormsby

AC: Play - Mackenzie Hughes, Lee Westwood, Abraham Ancer

This is a very strange range as DraftKings just decided to basically fire all the Euro tour guys down here. As a fellow Canadian, I’ll start with some Mackenzie Hughes. The man made it to the Tour Championship last season and has a couple top 10s since. If Hughes can wield the hot stick this week he should be able to sneak into the top 20 or maybe better. I like Lee Westwood. The former world #1 still sits in the top 40 and has rallied off a couple top 25s in his last few Euro events. It is a little weird to see Abe Ancer down here. He’s the 28th ranked golfer in the world. He did MC at the Genesis last week but I’ll chalk that up to being stuck in a frozen Texas until hours before the event started in Cali and then being smacked by some wind.

Current field is 73 with no WDs at this point.

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