This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.
PUERTO RICO OPEN
Tournament Details
Purse: $3m
Winners Share: $540,000
FedEx Cup Points: 300 to the Winner
Location: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Course: Coco Beach Resort and Golf Club
Yardage: 7,506
Par: 72
Defending Champion: Alex Cejka
Tournament Preview
The Tour's second event of the weekend seems to be one of the most unpredictable of the year. With seven different winners in it's eight year existence, only two defending champions have ever managed top-20 finishes. With the top 66 players all competing in the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship, the Puerto Rico Open gives second-tier players a tremendous chance at their first Tour victory. The course formerly known as Trump International Puerto Rico is relatively flat, but water can come in to play for as many as 13 holes. It's a course that saw the average score sit at 72.57 last year, largely due to high winds. Weather could come into play again, as there is at least a 40 percent chance of rain during all four days of the tournament, with winds sitting in the 15-20 mph range.
Keys to Winning at Coco Beach
Greens in regulation
Driving distance
Driving accuracy
Past Champions
2015 - Alex Cejka
2014 - Chesson Hadley
2013 - Scott Brown
2012 - George McNeill
2011 - Michael Bradley
2010 - Derek Lamely
2009 - Michael Bradley
2008 - Greg Kraft
Champions Profile
Despite a relative lack of success for past winners, course history, along with recent play, seemingly provide the only real rhyme or reason for picking winners in a diverse field. Only seven players from the World Golf Rankings top 100 are in the field, a number that could change with No. 67 Ian Poulter being the top alternate for match play in Austin, further suggesting this is a wide open field. If ever there's a tournament where owners should trust their gut, it starts Thursday. The field is so wide open that the winning odds aren't even worth reporting, as Graham DeLaet and Scott Brown share the top odds at 16:1.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
Tier 1 Values
Graham DeLaet - $11,000
Scott Brown - $10,900
Boo Weekley - $9,900
Tier 2 Values
Chesson Hadley - $9,800
Dean Burmester - $9,400
Tony Finau - $9,200
Jonathan Byrd - $9,000
Tier 3 Values
Derek Fathauer - $7,800
Jhonattan Vegas - $7,400
Brendon de Jonge - $7,300
Morgan Hoffman - $7,200
Long-Shot Values
Chris Stroud - $7,100
Nick Taylor - $6,700
Thomas Aiken - $6,500
MY PICKS THIS WEEK
Low-Risk Cash Game Lineup ($50k Salary Cap)
Scott Brown - $10,900
Jonathan Byrd - $9,000
Derek Fathauer - $7,800
Jhonattan Vegas - $7,400
Brendon de Jonge - $7,300
Chris Stroud - $7,100
In all honesty, I feel like this could make for a nice tournament lineup as well, as my salary cap allocation may not be the safest. But in a tournament this unpredictable, I like the floor and ceiling of this team. Brown owns three top-10s in four appearances while Byrd has three top-16 finishes in his three appearances. De Jonge, despite his recent struggles, is another course horse with four top-15s in five tries, while Stroud fits that bill as well with two top-20s and a T27 in four five tries. Vegas and Fathauer are the wild cards in a lineup that seemingly shouldn't have wild cards. A lack of experience worries me, but I loved the way Fathauer putted last week and a triple bogey is all that took him out of a T6 finish at Bay Hill.
Higher-Risk Tournament Lineup ($50k Salary Cap)
Graham DeLaet - $11,000
Dean Burmester - $9,400
Jon Curran - $8,400
Sam Saunders - $7,900
Nick Taylor - $6,700
Thomas Aiken - $6,500
There's little doubt that this team possesses high upside, high bust potential. DeLaet as a favorite feels right, but paying that salary for Burmester, who is making his PGA Tour debut, just doesn't sit well. The flip side is that the lineup fits the bill for an unpredictable weekend. Curran lost in last year's playoff and earned a T24 the year before, while three first-timers round out the lineup relatively cheaply.
