This article is part of our Golf Draft Kit series.
RotoWire held its annual staff golf league auction Sunday with maybe the most balanced draft in its 20-year history. For those of you who have a golf auction and bid a fixed budget on your golfers, these results can hopefully be a guide for your league.
The RotoWire staff golf league auction took place on Jan. 5. Our rules base winners on total earnings in PGA Tournaments from the Sony Open to the final FedExCup event (we skipped the Tournament of Champions and also didn't use the fall portion of the 2019-20 wrap-around schedule), excluding those PGA Tour events held the same week as the World Golf Championship tournaments and the British Open. We also use only a fraction of the final FedEx championship event money since it's massive relative to the other tournaments.
Our format also includes bonus points for the four majors. As a result, some European players may be ranked higher than your league. If a European golfer plays in just the four majors and WGC tournaments, he'll still have a lot of value in our league. Our league had 14 members, a budget of $100 per team and each team starts five golfers per week with a total roster of nine golfers. The league has been around since 2000.
Rather than one golfer seen dominating the major events and tour, our league was divided on the top players. After some years where the top golfer would go for $70 or more, the auction hasn't been as
RotoWire held its annual staff golf league auction Sunday with maybe the most balanced draft in its 20-year history. For those of you who have a golf auction and bid a fixed budget on your golfers, these results can hopefully be a guide for your league.
The RotoWire staff golf league auction took place on Jan. 5. Our rules base winners on total earnings in PGA Tournaments from the Sony Open to the final FedExCup event (we skipped the Tournament of Champions and also didn't use the fall portion of the 2019-20 wrap-around schedule), excluding those PGA Tour events held the same week as the World Golf Championship tournaments and the British Open. We also use only a fraction of the final FedEx championship event money since it's massive relative to the other tournaments.
Our format also includes bonus points for the four majors. As a result, some European players may be ranked higher than your league. If a European golfer plays in just the four majors and WGC tournaments, he'll still have a lot of value in our league. Our league had 14 members, a budget of $100 per team and each team starts five golfers per week with a total roster of nine golfers. The league has been around since 2000.
Rather than one golfer seen dominating the major events and tour, our league was divided on the top players. After some years where the top golfer would go for $70 or more, the auction hasn't been as top heavy the past two years with the money more spread out. The 2018 auction had three players going for over $60 (Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson) and eight players over $40. In 2019 our league didn't think the top golfers would dominate as much paying $470 for the top ten players compared to $504 in 2018. In 2020, five players went $50 or more with $465 paid for the top ten golfers.
The 2020 auction had Justin Thomas as the top golfer at $64. Though his placement may have been a product of auction dynamics. Our league typically comes out firing on the first players, but uncharacteristically sat on our hands. The first golfer, Brooks Koepka, may have been a bargain at $56 as he tops many cheatsheets. Dustin Johnson was the most expensive golfer in our league in 2019 at $60 with Justin Thomas at $57.
I had a strategy to take Rory McIlroy since he's in his prime, seems a good candidate to win a major and was relatively cheaper than the top names. He played more in the U.S. last year and that should continue in 2020. However, I likely paid too much at $20 for European start Matthew Fitzpatrick, who is set to regularly play on the PGA Tour for the first time.
Among some notable prices in our auction included Tiger Woods at just $24. Despite his win at Augusta last year, our league viewed him worth just $4 more than last year when he went for $20.
Notable sleepers who went for more than most expert rankings (aside from Matthew Fitzpatrick) included Viktor Hovland ($26), Joaquin Niemann ($22), Collin Morikawa ($20) and Matthew Wolff ($20).
I thought Jason Day at $21 was a great buy as he's a nice bounce-back candidate. I regretted instantly I dropped out of the bidding as I had the budget. Everyone seems skeptical that Matt Kuchar can repeat his surprise comeback season, so he went for $18 - which could be a value. Ian Poulter at $2 seemed to cheap for this format given the bonus for doing well at the big events.
While these dollar values may not exactly fit your league's rules, this should be a good benchmark for your draft preparation.
| Golfer | Auction $ | Fantasy Team |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Thomas | 64 | Greg Vara |
| Brooks Koepka | 56 | James Smith |
| Xander Schauffele | 54 | Joe Sheehan |
| Rory McIlroy | 51 | Peter Schoenke |
| Jon Rahm | 50 | Len Hochberg |
| Dustin Johnson | 48 | Justin Green |
| Patrick Cantlay | 42 | Jeff Erickson |
| Tony Finau | 34 | Tim Schuler |
| Webb Simpson | 33 | Scott Pianowski |
| Rickie Fowler | 33 | Scott Jenstad |
| Justin Rose | 30 | Scott Pianowski |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 30 | Scott Jenstad |
| Sungjae Im | 29 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Viktor Hovland | 26 | Jeff Erickson |
| Patrick Reed | 26 | Josh Ross |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 26 | Tim Schuler |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 26 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Jordan Spieth | 26 | Justin Green |
| Tiger Woods | 24 | Greg Vara |
| Joaquin Niemann | 22 | James Smith |
| Gary Woodland | 22 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Marc Leishman | 22 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Adam Scott | 22 | Tim Schuler |
| Jason Day | 21 | Josh Ross |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | 20 | Peter Schoenke |
| Collin Morikawa | 20 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Matthew Wolff | 20 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Brandt Snedeker | 18 | Joe Sheehan |
| Matt Kuchar | 18 | Jeff Ritter |
| Paul Casey | 18 | Jeff Ritter |
| Kevin Kisner | 18 | Jeff Ritter |
| Abraham Ancer | 18 | Len Hochberg |
| Byeong-Hun An | 16 | Josh Ross |
| Billy Horschel | 14 | Len Hochberg |
| Corey Conners | 13 | Jeff Erickson |
| Cameron Smith | 13 | Josh Ross |
| Francesco Molinari | 13 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Chez Reavie | 13 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Charles Howell III | 12 | Peter Schoenke |
| Bubba Watson | 12 | James Smith |
| Kevin Na | 12 | Jeff Ritter |
| Scottie Scheffler | 12 | Jeff Ritter |
| Matt Wallace | 12 | Scott Jenstad |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 11 | Jeff Erickson |
| Phil Mickelson | 9 | Scott Pianowski |
| Andrew Putnam | 9 | Scott Pianowski |
| Si Woo Kim | 9 | Scott Pianowski |
| Russell Henley | 9 | Joe Sheehan |
| Alex Noren | 8 | Josh Ross |
| C.T. Pan | 8 | Justin Green |
| Keith Mitchell | 7 | Peter Schoenke |
| Doc Redman | 7 | Josh Ross |
| Ryan Palmer | 7 | Jeff Ritter |
| Wyndham Clark | 7 | Jeff Ritter |
| Lucas Bjerregaard | 7 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Rafa Cabrera Bello | 7 | Scott Jenstad |
| Daniel Berger | 6 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Henrik Stenson | 6 | Joe Sheehan |
| Emiliano Grillo | 6 | Jeff Ritter |
| Scott Piercy | 6 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Adam Hadwin | 6 | Justin Green |
| Jason Kokrak | 5 | Peter Schoenke |
| Keegan Bradley | 5 | Josh Ross |
| Ryan Moore | 5 | Scott Pianowski |
| Joel Dahmen | 5 | Joe Sheehan |
| J.J. Spaun | 5 | Tim Schuler |
| Cameron Champ | 5 | Len Hochberg |
| Aaron Wise | 5 | Scott Jenstad |
| Shane Lowry | 4 | Jeff Erickson |
| Brian Harman | 4 | Greg Vara |
| Brendon Todd | 4 | James Smith |
| Luke List | 4 | Tim Schuler |
| J.T. Poston | 4 | Len Hochberg |
| Danny Willett | 4 | Scott Jenstad |
| Russell Knox | 4 | Scott Jenstad |
| Patton Kizzire | 4 | Justin Green |
| Kevin Tway | 3 | Greg Vara |
| Dylan Frittelli | 3 | Josh Ross |
| Beau Hossler | 3 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Talor Gooch | 3 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Harold Varner III | 3 | Joe Sheehan |
| Kyle Stanley | 3 | Tim Schuler |
| Xinjun Zhang | 3 | Len Hochberg |
| Erik van Rooyen | 3 | Len Hochberg |
| Chesson Hadley | 3 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Sung Kang | 3 | Scott Jenstad |
| Sergio Garcia | 3 | Justin Green |
| J.B. Holmes | 3 | Justin Green |
| Lucas Glover | 2 | Peter Schoenke |
| Zach Johnson | 2 | James Smith |
| Kevin Streelman | 2 | Scott Pianowski |
| Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 2 | Scott Pianowski |
| Max Homa | 2 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Jim Furyk | 2 | Kevin O'Brien |
| Sepp Straka | 2 | Joe Sheehan |
| Kevin Chappell | 2 | Jeff Ritter |
| Rory Sabbatini | 2 | Tim Schuler |
| Ian Poulter | 2 | Tim Schuler |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 2 | Tim Schuler |
| Nate Lashley | 2 | Len Hochberg |
| Branden Grace | 2 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Danny Lee | 2 | Scott Jenstad |
| Doug Ghim | 1 | Peter Schoenke |
| Grayson Murray | 1 | Peter Schoenke |
| Vaughn Taylor | 1 | Peter Schoenke |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 1 | Jeff Erickson |
| Bud Cauley | 1 | Jeff Erickson |
| Justin Harding | 1 | Jeff Erickson |
| Hank Lebioda | 1 | Jeff Erickson |
| Mackenzie Hughes | 1 | Greg Vara |
| Brendan Steele | 1 | Greg Vara |
| Harris English | 1 | Greg Vara |
| Graeme McDowell | 1 | Greg Vara |
| Adam Long | 1 | Greg Vara |
| Kristoffer Ventura | 1 | James Smith |
| Tyler Duncan | 1 | James Smith |
| Pat Perez | 1 | James Smith |
| Shugo Imahira | 1 | James Smith |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 1 | Josh Ross |
| Troy Merritt | 1 | Scott Pianowski |
| Tom Lewis | 1 | Joe Sheehan |
| Robert Streb | 1 | Joe Sheehan |
| Sebastian Munoz | 1 | Len Hochberg |
| Charley Hoffman | 1 | Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin |
| Adam Schenk | 1 | Justin Green |
| Andrew Landry | 1 | Justin Green |
Here are the participants:
Greg Vara - RotoWire golf writer
Len Hochberg - RotoWire golf writer
Kevin O'Brien - RotoWire golf editor
Jeff Ritter - Sports Illustrated golf writer
Jeff Erickson - RotoWire senior editor
Peter Schoenke - RotoWire president (and worst real golfer in league)
Tim Schuler - RotoWire COO (and he league's best actual golfer)
Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! fantasy writer (and league's defending champ)
Joe Sheehan - baseball scribe of the Joe Sheehan newsletter and elsewhere
Scott Jenstad - RotoWire baseball writer and high-stakes champ
Mike Regan/Daryl Shevin - friend and former RotoWire staff contributor, respectively
Josh Ross - former RotoWire staff contributor
Justin Green - former RotoWire staff contributor
James Smith - former RotoWire staff contributor
