This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession
Bradenton, Florida
The Concession Golf Club - Par 72 - 7,474 yards
Field - 73 entrants
Purse - $10.5M
The Preview
An eruption of euphoria accompanied bargain-bin special Max Homa's hometown win in dramatic playoff fashion at Riviera this past week, as a handful of memorably-absurd shots down the stretch preceded a trophy handoff from his golf hero, Tiger Woods. Moods have since turned somber upon the news of Woods' accident, but he thankfully avoided the worst-case scenario, even as he now faces a tough road to recovery from multiple leg injuries.
Many of Woods' closest friends on Tour have posted tributes after traveling across the country for the WGC-Workday Championship's transition from Mexico's Club de Golf Chapultepec to The Concession Golf Club, as the Florida Swing begins early this season due to the pandemic.
The great unknowns of the alternate site aspect dismantle course history arguments, so per usual it'll be important to target quality ball-strikers with solid recent form. Favorable weather conditions throughout the week project to tame obstacles at The Concession.
Recent Champions
2020 - Patrick Reed (Club de Golf Chapultepec)
2019 - Dustin Johnson (Club de Golf Chapultepec)
2018 - Phil Mickelson (Club de Golf Chapultepec)
2017 - Dustin Johnson (Club de Golf Chapultepec)
2016 - Adam Scott (Doral Golf Resort)
2015 - Dustin Johnson (Doral Golf Resort)
2014 - Patrick Reed (Doral Golf Resort)
2013 - Tiger Woods (Doral Golf Resort)
2012 - Justin Rose (Doral Golf Resort)
2011 - Nick Watney (Doral Golf Resort)
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
Driving distance
Birdie or better percentage
SG: Putting (Bermuda)
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Dustin Johnson - $48
The six-time WGC champion heads to The Concession Golf Club as the clear-cut betting favorite despite playing his final 36 holes at Riviera in a collective 1-over-par and tying for eighth, essentially his C-game. Johnson still gained north of four strokes on his approach shots en route to a ranking of sixth in SG: Tee-to-Green at the Genesis Invitational, but he's now lost strokes putting in back-to-back measured starts for the first time since the first week of August last summer. As the best player in the field by a considerable margin, DJ is well worth the $48 expenditure given the intrigue of inflated risk tolerance in the lower salary ranges due to the absence of a cut.
Jon Rahm - $45
Rahm fired a 5-under 66 in Round 4 of the Genesis Invitational this past weekend to post a backdoor top-5, marking his fifth finish of T7 or better in six showings since a T2 at the ZOZO Championship during the fall series. The Spaniard led the field in GIR percentage at Riviera and gained over five strokes on his approaches, ultimately averaging four birdies per round despite an underwhelming Thursday effort.
Daniel Berger - $40
Berger, who grew up on bermuda and played his collegiate golf at Florida State, is rested after skipping the Genesis Invitational on the heels of his win at Pebble Beach, where he gained a season-high 4.6 strokes on his approach shots. The former Seminole is seventh in birdie or better percentage this season, but he's also flashed signs of short-game improvements, ranking 15th in SG: Putting and 37th in scrambling. Berger has gained at least 2.3 strokes with the flat stick in three straight starts.
Glue Guys
Tony Finau - $38
Finau fired the best final-round score by two shots at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday to force a playoff with Max Homa at 12-under-par, but the former bogeyed the par-3 14th in extra holes to notch his third consecutive runner-up finish and prolong his infamous victory drought. Nonetheless, Finau ranks third in SG: Approach and fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green over his last 12 rounds, and his season-long 27.2 par-breaker percentage is elite.
Scottie Scheffler - $29
Rebounding from back-to-back missed cuts at The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open, Scheffler ranks seventh in SG: Total over his last eight rounds on the way to finishes of T20-T7 at Riviera and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. This might be the only time all year you'll be able to take advantage of a sub-$30 salary for the former Longhorn. Scheffler tied for 33rd at the 2015 NCAA Men's Championships hosted by The Concession Golf Club, and he's currently top-20 on Tour in both SG: Off-the-Tee and birdie average.
Bargain Bin
Cameron Smith - $26
Gaining 8.8 combined strokes on his approach shots and around the greens at Riviera last week, Smith recorded his third top-4 result of the season while climbing to 18th in the FedExCup Standings. The Aussie paces the WGC-Workday field in SG: Around-the-Green over his last 12 rounds, and he's 16th in SG: Off-the-Tee during that span as well.
Will Zalatoris - $20
It's only February, and Zalatoris has basically locked up Rookie of the Year honors for the 2020-21 campaign with nearly $1.4M in official earnings and seven top-20s in 10 starts since a T6 at the U.S. Open in late September. The Wake Forest product ranks ninth in SG: Approach, 13th in SG: Tee-to-Green, 17th in driving distance and 17th in par-5 scoring, and he also gained nearly five strokes putting en route to a T15 finish last week. A rapid ascension to his current OWGR position of No. 48 makes Zalatoris' minimum $20 salary -- the same as Trevor Simsby and JC Ritchie -- even more bizarre.
Lanto Griffin - $20
Griffin has leaned on a hot putter in 2021, averaging 3.5 strokes gained on the greens per event in five starts dating to the Tournament of Champions. He's also top-15 in SG: Approach over his past 24 rounds. He managed to finish T26-T7 at the Genesis Invitational and the Farmers Insurance Open despite losing a collective five strokes around the greens, so the potential for positive regression with his wedge play is an additional boost to upside at The Concession.
