This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.
THE LEGACY CLASSIC
Purse: $43,800
Winner's Share: $7,500
Location: Phoenix
Course: The Legacy Golf Resort
Yardage: 6,802
Par: 71
Tournament Preview
We are down to the last Golden State Tour event on the 2020 calendar. But fear not, DFS golf fans, the affiliated Outlaw Tour has added three more 54-hole tournaments on May 19, May 26 and June 1, so there will still be more DraftKings golf contests to play before PGA action resumes.
There is also an unaffiliated event, the fourth annual DFCU Scottsdale AZ Open, scheduled to begin May 12, and that actually features some of the bigger names we've seen since PGA Tour play was halted. Joel Dahmen, Kevin Streelman and Nate Lashley, for example, will be in the 156-man field with a $125,000 purse, $20,000 of which will go to the winner. Small potatoes, comparatively, but huge compared to what these Mini Tours have been paying out. Dahmen won this event in 2017, but it remains to be seen if DraftKings will offer contests for it.
To the matter t hand, this week's Legacy Classic is a 54-hole event that begins Monday and includes a cut from the full field of 75 after two rounds. In recent weeks, we'd seen some more notable golfers trickle into Mini Tour tournaments, but not this time. The top golfer in the OWGR is Korn Ferry player Dylan Wu. The No. 304-ranked golfer played the past two weeks, so we could classify him as "in form." But the top guy on the board is KK Limbhasut, last week's winner who notched podium finishes the past three weeks. In all, there are 12 golfers in the field who have any OWGR points -- and by any, we're talking at least 0.01.
The Legacy Golf Resort should be an incredibly easy course, even by Mini-Tour standards. The GST website lists the slope at a mere 128 with a rating of 72.1, which makes sense for a course barely 6,800 yards. There are only nine holes more than 400 yards. So there should be lots of birdies – and even lots of eagles – this week.
As we've mentioned the past few weeks, there is a core group of golfers who have been playing fairly regularly in Arizona the past few months, and they should be the focus during lineup construction. Of course, they are mostly the higher-price guys, so you will have to venture out in the hinterlands to complete your lineup. The GST website offers a stats page, and you should concentrate on the counting stats rather than averages. A guy with a low scoring average may have only a half dozen rounds of data. Stats such as top-10s and total birdies are better indicators of who is playing well over an extended period. The stats for the Outlaw Tour are not included on the GST site as far as we can tell, but there is quite a bit of cross-over, so definitely also head over there for more information.
Weather-wise, it's Phoenix, it's already hot. We're talking temperatures in the 100s all three days.
Key Stats to Winning at Legacy Golf Resort
• Total birdies
• Total eagles
• Par breakers
• Top 10s
Champion's Profile
The winner, and probably a lot of other guys, will go low -- really low. For some golfers who have played on the Korn Ferry or Mackenzie Tours, you check stats from earlier this year or last year to see where they stood in greens in regulation and putting average, among other core stats. One of the Mini-Tour regulars should rise to the very top this week. Remember, this is a Showdown format all the way through.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 Values
KK Limbhasut - (Winning odds at golfodds.com: 5-1)
It's hard to argue with a guy who has finished 1-3-2 the past three weeks -- last week on the Golden State Tour and the two prior weeks on the Outlaw Tour. And in that runner-up, Limbhasut finished behind only PGA veteran Alex Cejka.
Dylan Wu - (11-2)
The most accomplished golfer in the field, in terms of the OWGR, Wu played the past two weeks following a long break. He's finished fifth and sixth, showing that he's on top of his game. Wu is currently fifth in the Korn Ferry standings, so he's the real deal.
Jeremy Paul - (12-1)
Paul finished T5 last week, giving him 10 top-10s in 10 starts this season, which by our calculations is pretty good. The two websites say he's 3-for-3 on the Golden State Tour and 7-for-7 on the Outlaw Tour. Paul is ranked 1,349th in the OWGR from his time on the Mackenzie Tour, which is one of the best rankings in the field.
Tier 2 Values
Yannik Paul - (14-1)
Paul tied for 28th last week, ending a string of very high finishes in the desert. The week before he was runner-up, and the week before that, he was solo fourth. Paul has played in Canada the past two years, with seven top-25s in 2019. He's ranked 1,955 in the OWGR.
Kyler Dunkle - (25-1)
Dunkle hasn't played on the Mini Tours in more than a month, since tying for 13th in an Outlaw event that ended April 1. Before that, he was 5-for-5 in Golden State top-20s, two of them doubling as top-10s. The American-born Dunkle had some legit success in Canada last year, finishing second in one event and fifth in another. He's ranked 1,109 in the OWGR.
Michael Weaver - (40-1)
The 29-year-old former Cal star is back following an extended break. He had GST success earlier this season, with two top-10s and another top-12. He also had a pair of top-10s on the Latinoamerica Tour last year and another in 2018. We didn't check PGA major participation for every golfer in the field, but Weaver could be the only golfer to have played in a major -- not only one, but two. He missed the cut at the 2013 Masters won by Adam Scott but finished 64th at the 2013 U.S. Open won by Justin Rose. Weaver was an amateur, but he still qualified. He earned his way into those events by finishing runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Amateur.
Tier 3 Values
Daniel Hudson - (60-1)
The American, who played a number of times in Canada the past two years, tied for ninth in last week's GST event. Hudson also had a couple of top-15s on the Outlaw Tour in April.
Sam Gillis - (100-1)
Behind Wu, Gillis is the No. 2 guy in the field in terms of world-ranking points. He's ranked 862nd and played mostly on the Asian Development Tour last year, with four top-10s, including a runner-up that temporarily pushed his ranking in the 500s. So why is he so affordable? Gillis has not played on either of the Arizona Mini Tours in 2020, and this appears to be his first competitive event since February.
Sean Carlon - (250-1)
The American hasn't played the GST Tour in months. But he teed it up once in November, once in December and once in January, finishing with a pair of top-10s. Plus, he's only 23 and should be able to withstand the heat.
Long-Shot Values
Caleb Ramirez - (200-1)
The former Ohio State Buckeye turned pro after his 2018-19 senior season. Ramirez has played in five combined events on the two Arizona Mini Tours, though none since March. Still, he put together a pair of top-10s and another top-15.
Ryan Wallen - (200-1)
The former University of Wyoming Cowboy played in March on the Outlaw Tour and tied for 16th. He also appeared in a Korn Ferry Tour event last year but missed the cut.
Peter Badawy - (500-1)
The American has played twice in the desert. He missed the cut in March but made it last week, tying for 32nd. For some reason, Badawy has a player page on the PGA's website, but as far as we can tell it's completely blank.
