DFS GPP Pivot Plays | AT&T Byron Nelson 2022
The Pivot Point series focuses on finding the players that will give you the ownership leverage to take down the biggest GPP contests!
Results from the Wells Fargo Pivot Point
Abraham Ancer ($10,400) | T56
Sergio Garcia ($8,700) | T21
Lanto Griffin ($7,600) | T6
Another quality week for The Pivot Point! Two top-20s (well, 21) and a choker in Abraham Ancer. Boys were looking pretty heading into the weekend, until the Sexy Mexy finished his event with 42 straight birdie-less holes. That's right, he birdied the 12th hole Friday afternoon, and did not have another circle for the rest of the event. Pretty impressive, if we're being honest.
Griffin has been rolling the past two weeks, with two top-15s in a row heading into another week where he should garner some more ownership (or I might have featured him again), so he may be taking a short Pivot Point hiatus.
Sergio, if nothing else, provided us with some grade-A content when he (correctly) argued with the lost ball timer guy, and virtually announced his departure from the PGA Tour. Eh, who's going to miss him anyway? Not I, but he performed well for The Pivot Point and that is ALL that matters.
DraftKings GPP Pivot Plays for the AT&T Byron Nelson 2022
Jordan Spieth ($10,100) | ~13.8%
Finally, we have reached a Jordan Spieth week. Check my bio at the bottom of the page if you are unsure of why that's important. All (and I mean a lot) bias aside, Jordan is a great play this week. The 14ish% ownership is a bit higher than I would like for this type of article, but the $9k and above range is littered with guys flirting with, and above, 20% ownership. None of those guys have been better tee to green than Spieth has over his last two events. Actually nobody on the planet has been better tee to green than Spieth has over his last two events.
He is coming off a win, which is not someone I generally like playing, but if recent memory has served, that hasn't affected Scottie Scheffler; and we've seen Jordan win in bunches before. At the RBC Heritage, Spieth won while losing 2.5 strokes to the field on the greens. That's the only time in his career he has won losing strokes on the green. In fact, it's only the second time he has finished in the top-4 while losing strokes on the greens (in 47 career top-4 finishes). That's extremely promising to me.
He's back in Texas. He's back on bent greens, which are statistically his best putting surface. His strange pre-shot routine is paying off, and he's able to put some focus back into working on his putting. If he can simply get back to a "0" putter, let alone the freakishly historic putter he once was, we can see him string together some wins really quickly. That started a few weeks ago at Harbour Town, and I think Jordan Spieth wins this week, too.
Si Woo Kim ($7,800) | ~6%
Si Woo has been hovering. Not really contending, but playing better than his scores have suggested. One of the big things we've been hearing about this golf course is that it should be a birdie-fest. KH Lee won last year with a score of -25, and it appears it could be right around that same number again. We know Si Woo is comfortable in these types of events as two of his three wins have been in events where he exceeded 20-under par.
In three straight events, he has gained strokes to the field off the tee, on approach, and around the greens. He just hasn't been putting. Bent grass is historically his best putting surface, and I believe the ceiling is just too high to sleep on a 6% Si Woo Kim. He has more upside, and more win equity than everyone in this price range, outside of maybe Marc Leishman (who I also like, just not as much as Si Woo). Maybe you're not into Jordan Spieth, and want to eat some chalk up top with JT, or a $9k pair; Si Woo is a perfect option in the middle of your lineup to differentiate yourself.
Matthias Schwab ($7,100) | ~3%
I really wanted to include CT Pan in this article, but 9% is too high for a pivot point in the low $7ks, so we'll shift to my second favorite play of the range: Matthias Schwab. He's not going to grade out well in most models, which will deter people, but let's dig deeper, shall we?
Up until the Wells Fargo a week ago, Schwab had gained on approach in eight straight events. I think that will play a huge part in this week's event, as it sounds like the fairways are a mile wide, and off the tee numbers may be a bit neutralized. I'm willing to throw out most stats from last week as the conditions were much, much different than what we're expecting this week.
The biggest issue in Schwab's game lately has been off the tee play. But, as I just mentioned, I don't think that's going to be a huge deal this week. Just get it somewhere in the short grass, and let your irons go to work. He's 24th in this field in strokes gained ball striking (off the tee + approach) on courses over 7,400 yards. Length isn't a problem. He's 6th in this field in strokes gained on par-5's in the last 36 rounds. Big deal, as this course has four very gettable par-5's that you need to take advantage of. He's 32nd in this field in opportunities gained, which will help since we'll need birdies in bunches this week.
Schwab is notoriously a below average putter, losing strokes over his career on all surfaces, except poa. However, he's gained over 6 strokes combined over his last three events, including 3.5 strokes a week ago. Hot putter? On top of the quality iron play? I believe Schwab is staring at a top-10 this week.