Underdog PGA Best Ball: Overview and Strategy
Underdog is back for the third year of its season-long PGA Best Ball contest with "The Scramble" -- a $10 contest with a $50,000 prize for first place. They also have "The Little Scramble" with a $3 buy-in and $2,000 to first, "The Pat Mayo Open" with a $25 buy-in and $5,000 to first and "The Big Scramble with a $50 buy-in and $40,000 up top.
Scoring: Albatross 20 points, Eagles 10, Birdies 4, Pars 1.1, Bogeys -1.2, Double Bogeys -3, Triple Bogey or worse -7, Bogey free round 3, Consecutive birdies 1, Consecutive bogeys -1. 1st place 20 points, 2nd place 18, 3rd place 16, 4th place 14, 5th place 12, 6th place 10, 7th place 8, 8th place 7, 9th place 6, 10th place 5, 11th-15th 4, 16th-20th 3, 21st-25 2.
Draft: Six teams, 12 rounds, serpentine/snake draft format
A quick analysis of the scoring shows that birdies and eagles are rewarded much more than dropped shots are penalized, so we're giving a boost to players that are capable of posting birdies in bunches over the consistent golfers that make a lot of pars and avoid bogeys. That's also in line with the best-ball format in general of targeting players with higher ceilings.
Another key thing to note is that unlike a lot of season-long golf contests that determine standings based on total money won, that is not the case here. That devalues all the LIV players to being undraftable, as we can't afford to take up a roster spot on someone that's only going to play four tournaments, regardless of how well they may perform in those events.
If you played in the contest last year, note that Underdog increased the roster size up from 10 golfers last year to 12. That gives us more flexibility in making sure we have at least six golfers expected to play in every event. Scoring for finishing position was also added. The contest is also starting a week later, as The Sentry was cancelled due to a drought in Maui making Kapalua unplayable.
With all that in mind, let's take a deeper dive into the format.
Underdog PGA Best Ball Format
Round 1 (Jan. 15 - Mar. 1)
Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Signature Event), WM Phoenix Open, Genesis Invitational (Signature Event), Cognizant Classic
Round 2 (Mar. 5 - Apr. 19)
Arnold Palmer Invitational (Signature Event), THE PLAYERS Championship (Flagship Event), Valspar Championship, Texas Children's Houston Open, Valero Texas Open, Masters Tournament (Major Championship), RBC Heritage (Signature Event)
Round 3 (Apr. 30 - June 7)
Miami Championship (Signature Event), Truist Championship (Signature Event), PGA Championship (Major Championship), The CJ CUP Byron Nelson, Charles Schwab Challenge, The Memorial Tournament (Signature Event)
Round 4 (June 11 - July 19)
RBC Canadian Open, U.S. Open (Major Championship), Travelers Championship (Signature Event), John Deere Classic, Genesis Scottish Open, The Open Championship (Major Championship)
Underdog Best Ball Rankings
Full rankings dedicated strictly to the format can be accessed by RotoWire community members on our 2026 Fantasy Underdog Golf Cheat Sheet page. They can easily be exported over to Underdog.
Here is a sneak peek at our top 10:
Projecting Schedules
Our full breakdown can be accessed by RotoWire community members on our 2026 Fantasy Golf Schedule Breakdown page.
Below you can see our highest projected scorers, with a projection for each tournament. You can also sort to show who we have projected for the most points for each round of the tournament, as well as each event.
As I've touched on previously, a key part to this contest is having players that are going to play a lot of tournaments over simply identifying who the best golfers are. If you go to a golfer's player page, you can scroll down and see what events we expect players to participate in. The top 50 players in the 2025 FedExCup Standings are qualified for all eight Signature Events and we'd expect most of them to play all of them, although some of the elite players may choose to skip one during the spring in which there's a five-week stretch where all events are either majors or Signature Events. Nos. 51-60 in the standings are qualified for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational Signature Events, with other players also eligible to qualify via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5. This link on the PGA Tour's website does a great job showing you who is qualified for the Signature Events and each major championship. One of the keys is finding players that are qualified for the Signature Events and will also play a decent amount of the non-Signature Events.
Players to Target
Nick Taylor
ADP: 19.4
Similarly to Poston, Taylor falls into that group of players that aren't in the elite tier but are qualified for all of the Signature Events. We expect him to play six of the non-Signature Events and 18-of-26 overall. That puts him as our 10th highest projected golfer for this contest and a valuable player to have if you're able to make it to the finals, where we expect him to play all but one of six tournaments. Also like Poston, Taylor gained shots in every strokes gained category, notably ranking 32nd in SG: Total and 28th on approach.
J.T. Poston
ADP: 23.8
Of the 26 tournaments in this contest, we project Poston to play in 17 events. That could increase considering he's only qualified for one of the four majors (PGA), and at 58th in the OWGR, he doesn't need much of a climb to get into the others. Entering his 10th season on Tour, Poston's a reliable option having made 22-of-26 cuts while gaining shots in every strokes gained category this past season. We have him projected for the 12th most total points and a great golfer to have for Round 3, where we expect him to play six of the seven tournaments in that stretch.
Michael Thorbjornsen
ADP: 37.1
Thorbjornsen falls into a different category than the previous two, having finished 70th in the FedExCup Standings and isn't automatically qualified into any of the Signature Events. If you're going off strictly total projected points, he doesn't pop off as we only have him into 12 tournaments. However, the 24-year-old played really well in the latter half of the year following a slow start, and I think he'll play his way into a lot of events that he's not currently locked into. A former PGA Tour University winner, Thorbjornsen is one of the longest drivers on Tour and has a high ceiling with the ability to take a major step forward in his second full season as a professional.
Players to Avoid
Sungjae Im
ADP: 10.3
From a volume standpoint, it's easy to have Im ranked inside the top-10 for total points scored throughout the season, but this is an awfully high price to pay for a mediocre golfer. It wasn't that long ago that Im was playing like a top-10 player, but he's fallen off dramatically since. He posted just three top-10s in 2025, none of which came after The Masters, and he ranked second to last on Tour in SG: Approach. I'd much rather use an early pick on one of the elite golfers, and use a mid-round pick on Poston or Taylor who will play a similar schedule.
Sam Stevens
ADP: 16.7
Similar to Im, Stevens projects well based on that he's going to play a lot, but I can't justify taking him over the likes of Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners who typically go right after him. Entering his fourth year on Tour, Stevens hasn't shown the ability to elevate in fields with elite players, so I don't think he's going to help you all that much in Signature Events. He'll play some non-Signature Events, but not at the rate he has in the past.
Max Greyserman
ADP: 30.1
Unlike last year, Greyserman is only guaranteed to play the first two Signature Events of 2026, and he's currently only qualified for one of the four majors. He took a step backwards in his second year on Tour, posting only one top-10 during this contest. The 30-year-old lost strokes off the tee and on approach, putting a lot of pressure on his short game and limiting his consistency. The other issue I have with Greyserman is the cost. He's not nearly as good as the golfers going around him, and we only have him projected to play in 14 events.
Late-Round Targets
Vince Whaley
ADP: 70.0
When it comes to the last couple rounds of drafts, I'm focused on finding the best golfers that are going to play the non-Signature Events. Whaley fits that mold. The seventh-year Tour pro is coming off his best season with three top-5s, two of which came in the fall. I think he has the potential to be similar to Michael Kim last year and get into some Signature Events with strong play early on while still playing the lesser events as well. Whaley has one of the best short games while having above average length and iron play.
Matti Schmid
ADP: 71.6
We have Schmid projected to play in six of the first seven events, so he's a great last round pick to help get you through Round 1 of the tournament. Now entering his fourth year on Tour, he's becoming more accustomed to venues and his combination of length and putting is prone to leading to spike weeks. Schmid had a solid nine top-25s across 27 PGA Tour starts in 2025.
Steven Fisk
ADP: 71.9
A winner in the fall in his rookie campaign, Fisk will play with the freedom of having his card locked up through 2027 as he looks to carry the momentum into next year. The 28-year-old was shaky on the greens, but he stood out by ranking 21st in SG: Tee-to-green. We have him ranked in the top-15 in projected points for Round 1, and he should play all of the non-Signature Events.
Final Tips for 2026 PGA Best Ball Golf Drafts
Rory McIlroy is projected worse than his ADP, but I'm still targeting him. We have him projected for the most amount of points in Round 4 by a significant margin because he's very likely to play the Canadian and Scottish Opens, while a lot of the top guys will skip one, if not both of those events. Aberg is in a similar position, but he could easily play six of the seven events in Round 4. Obviously, you have to get there first. Since neither of these guys will play much in Round 1, you'll need to find players that will offset that. The extra roster spots this year make that a much more attainable task.
When drafting, make sure to keep track of how many golfers you're selecting that are guaranteed to play all of the Signature Events. Once I have six of these golfers, I switch my focus to players that didn't finish 2025 in the top 50 of the FedExCup Standings so that I get an even mix of guys that will play the non-Signature Events.
Happy drafting, and good luck!
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.
