Northern Trust 2017

This week, the PGA Tour action is going to be coming from the Northern Trust. Although it’s not a huge tournament, there are some big names entered in this event. That means that there will be a lot of people playing daily fantasy golf, and that means that you’ll need to put together a strong team of your own if you want to be competitive in whatever league you’re playing in. If you’re going to be playing at DraftKings, be sure to look over the analysis below so that you have an edge over your competition. If you play at another site, this analysis will still help, but be sure to look at salaries and value before you make a decision on your roster.

Jordan Spieth: Spieth is definitely the biggest name in this field. After winning the Open Championship, there were a lot of hopes that he would be unstoppable in his next tournaments, but he finished a disappointing T28 at the PGA Championship. Spieth is definitely top ten material in this field, but only if he is at the same level that he’s been at. His salary of $11,200 is pretty big, but it is justified if you foresee him making the top five. He has made 15 of 18 cuts this season, has 8 top ten finishes, and 3 wins. When Spieth is on, he’s unstoppable. If you’re going to draft him, you need to be confident that he’s on.

Hideki Matsuyama: Matsuyama is the top ranked golfer in this field with a salary of $11,500. He has an average stroke count per round of 69.8, has made 15 of 16 cuts, and has placed in the top ten on 6 different occasions. Matsuyama is playing unbelievably well right now, but his price tag may have finally disqualified him from being a good value play, at least on DraftKings. He has finished in the top 15 in his last five tournaments. If he keeps this momentum up, he’s a great pick, but that’s a very tough thing to do. He could do great here, but there’s a bit too much risk for our liking.

Henrik Stenson: Stenson might be the best value out of all of the top tier golfers entered in this tournament. That’s pretty surprising considering that his price tag is a bit higher than normal thanks to his win at Wyndham last weekend. He has a stroke per round average of 69.7, has made 13 out of 18 cuts this season, and has finished in the top ten 7 times. Stenson picked up his first win last weekend, but his fantasy numbers are consistently high. He has averaged 68.4 points per tournament, which is low compared to golfers like Spieth, Matsuyama, and Rickie Fowler, but that’s mainly because of a few missed cuts early on in the season. This slump appears to be over, making Stenson a strong value in this field.

Rickie Fowler: Fowler is ranked number two in this field with a salary of $11,300. He’s made 16 out of 18 cuts this season, which is the best percentage of any golfer ranked in the top ten other than Matsuyama and Paul Casey. Fowler’s stroke count is a little high at 70.0, but he’s been playing phenomenally well from a fantasy perspective with an average of 80.8 points per tournament this season. Fowler’s also made the top ten 10 times, for an impressive top ten rate of 56 percent. The downside is he’s expensive. However, he’s been more consistent than Spieth and he’s a better value than Matsuyama. Of these three, Fowler is the best pick.

Paul Casey: Casey is our top value pick in the entire field, even better than Stenson. He’s made 15 of 16 cuts, has 4 top tens, but 0 wins. His stroke count of 70.1 is unimpressive, but he is averaging 70.6 fantasy points per round and has a salary of just $9,000. He’s a strong second or third pick, depending on your roster.