Congratulations to Robert Streb 263 (-19) for winning his second RSM Classic the week prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday in a two-hole playoff over Kevin Kisner. This week we have The Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Golf Club, South of the border in Riviera Maya, Mexico. This will be a full 156 player field, with a 36-hole cut to 65 players plus ties and a strong field amongst the top 10 to 15 PGA Tour competitors. This is the last tournament of the calendar year with the champion receiving an invitation to the Sony Tournament of Champions in January and the Masters, which will be back in April of 2021.
This week at (El Camaleon Golf Club) a resort course that will play to a Par of 71 at 7,039 yards located on the Yucatan Peninsula. The tee, fairway, and rough areas are all bermuda grass and the greens are paspalum. With this being a resort course the rough will only be about an inch and a half long, with greens running at a tempered 11.0 feet on the stimpmeter. Portions of this course meander through several different terrains of tropical jungle, dense mangroves, and oceanfront sandy beaches. El Camaleon GC was designed by Greg Norman, former PGA Tour star, turned Golf Course Architect. This course is not long, but it does have many natural and man-made hazards in play that will require accuracy off of the tee and on approach. The forecast Thursday and Friday are for temperature highs ranging from 77 to 78 degrees, with wind reaching up to 11 miles per hour on Thursday with a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, and on Friday wind up to 5 miles per hour with a 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Over the weekend the wind will be down, only reaching 4 to 5 miles per hour, with rain and thunderstorms being probable at an 80 to 90 percent chance. Playing in inclement weather with soft conditions, should lead to delays, but good scoring.
Brendon Todd ($8,600 DK $10,000 FD) is the 2019 defending champion 264
(-20), over Carlos Ortiz ($8,900 DK $10,300 FD), Adam Long ($7,800 DK $9,500 FD), and Vaughn Taylor ($7,100 DK $8,600 FD) by a single stroke. The (Mayakoba Golf Classic ) has produced champions that are accurate off of the tee and on approach, along with a competitor that wields a hot putter. So, the emphasis on selecting your roster from my perspective is based on the most relevant stats of past victors on this course, which are strokes gained from tee to green, on approach, and on the green. In addition to the stats, I personally evaluate and view players weekly that are covered on television, also considering recent form, tournament history, as well as current momentum and confidence a player exudes especially in the aspects of their game that are most important to win or to have a high finish this week.
DFSExperts will provide two free value picks in the B and C categories that will be competitive to make the cut and quite possibly to be a contender for the win. Then exclusively for DFSExpertsmembers, I will make additional predictions and recommendations to build a roster of six with supporting statistical and trending analysis from each of the A, B, and C, categories. The week prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, at the RSM Classic, I once again provided valuable insights with both free and member picks with both who I picked to have a top 10 finish and would contend for the win in Kevin Kisner 263 (-19) 2nd Place, as well as who I faded in Dylan Frittelli, who missed the cut with a high salary assigned to him, after a strong Masters showing.
This week’s free choices in the B-List are Charles Howell III ($8,100 DK $9,800 FD) who has been trending up in all strokes gained categories in his last five events, has been in good form of late, making six out of his last seven cuts and finished 20th place here last year. The other B-List value is Adam Long ($7,800 DK $9,500 FD) who has been trending up in all ball striking categories, has had top 10 to 30 finishes in recent weeks and finished T-2nd place here last year. My two free C-List selections are Kristoffer Ventura ($6,700 DK $8,100 FD) who has the profile in strokes gained tee to green, on approach, and putting, that could have a breakthrough week. My other C-List free pick is Roger Sloan ($6,700 DK $7,900 FD) who has been gaining strokes in all ball striking stats in his last five events and has been in good form of late. Both competitors are good values at this price, especially if you are looking to stack a few of the top third in the salary rankings and need one or two players to fill out your roster that are capable of making the cut, and quite possibly, finishing in the top 20. Both players profile is well suited for success here, and they both have played in this event, not with great results, but I like what I see in both players confidence level and technique.
Thereare severalquality picks that are very undervalued throughout the field, but especially in the B-List groupings. This is primarily an A and B-List field this week. When I have laid off on the top salary competitor they have not won and in some weeks actually missed the cut, including Bryson DeChambeau. I have picked the winner in six of the last thirteen weeks and many of my B-List and C-List picks are finishing in the top 5 to 10, including a win for Stewart Cink at the Safeway event, Cameron Smith finishing 2nd place at the Masters, and at least one competitor from these categories finishing in the top 5 every week. Beyond the obvious, pay attention to my free picks, combined with the more in-depth analysis exclusively for DFSExperts members and you could be cashing a three to six figure ticket. Join me on the members side and be enlightened.
A-List DFS Picks for The Mayakoba Golf Classic: 2020
I consider the A-List category this week to be all players on the salary roster to be at or above $8,900 DK $10,300 FD. DFSExperts will add to the obvious statistical analysis, with deeper research and the eyeball test. These details and trends from the entire field are only possible to come from someone that is intimately familiar with competitive golf, that is willing to go beyond the numbers and reaches the depth and breadth of the competitor and person to be out in front of positive results.
Heading the A-List players this week in the DraftKings and FanDuel salary rankings at The Mayakoba Golf Classic are Justin Thomas ($11,400 DK $12,600 FD), Brooks Koepka ($11,000 DK $12,200 FD), Tony Finau ($10,700 DK $11,200 FD), Daniel Berger ($10,400 DK $11,400 FD) and Harris English ($10,100 DK $11,500 FD). All of these competitors are consistently strong throughout the ball striking stats relative to strokes gained, with a good putting week I believe all five have a good chance to win and will finish in the top 10, with Justin Thomas being the odds-on favorite to win. I will lay off of Brendon Todd ($8,600 DK $10,000 FD) this week, even though he is the defending champion here, I feel his broken toe has been slow to heal and has affected his confidence level. While I do think he will make the cut this week, I do not think his salary is justified. Farther down the A-List, I believe Abraham Ancer ($9,900 DK $11,100 FD), Russell Henley ($9,300 DK $10,900 FD), and Carlos Ortiz ($8,900 DK $10,300 FD) are good values based on their recent form, favorable strokes gained strengths, as well as positive past results at this course.
B-List DFS Picks for The Mayakoba Golf Classic: 2020
My B-List grouping ranges in salary from $8,800 down to $6,900 in DK and $10,200 to $8,400 in FD. Patton Kizzire ($8,000 DK $9,800 FD), Scott Piercy ($7,900 DK $9,700 FD), Adam Long ($7,8000 DK $9,500 FD), and John Huh
($7,400 DK $8,900 FD) all have consistent strokes gained tee to green, on approach, with putting, have been in recent good form, and have experience and positive results at The Mayakoba Golf Classic. With a hot putter, all have the potential to have a top 10 to 20 finish. I think there are many good three or four through six roster selections in this B-List grouping. A fade I see in the B-List category is Patrick Rodgers ($7,000 DK $8,400 FD), who has stats that are not as a good a fit at this venue, who has not been consistently making cuts, and has not had any recent success at this venue.
C-List DFS Picks for The Mayakoba Golf Classic: 2020
There are several good values and dark horses that can have some success this week in the C-List category, ranging in salary from $6,000 to $6,900 in DK and $7,000 to $8,400 in FD. Two excellent choices in the C-List category are Adam Schenk ($6,900 DK $8,200 FD), and Kristoffer Ventura ($6,700 DK $8,100 FD). Schenk has been a model of consistency making 10 cuts in a row before missing in Houston and will be a safe bet to make the cut and possibly a top 20 finish here this week. Ventura has the shots gained profile and skill to win here, but is a bit more risky of a play, not having been a model of consistency. No-go’s in the C-List category this week are all players at $6,300 to $6,000 in DK and at $7,400 down the line to $7,000 in FD with just a few exceptions to make the cut, but none are worthy of a GPP roster player.
While these are a few teasers for this week, more in depth analysis and justification for my recommended lineup plays, or don’t play this week, are exclusively available for members of DFSExperts.com. Send us any fodder for the “Wall of Fame” including screenshots. We will put them up on social and proclaim you the DFS champion of the world. Good luck, and Golf On!
