by This week the Tour heads to Trinity Forest for the Byron Nelson. With the PGA Championship next week, we are left with a weak field. The four players with the best odds to win are Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, and Aaron Wise. Enough said.
So this edition of the Nelson is a great opportunity for a player to make a name for himself, much as Aaron Wise did a year ago. With the recent wet conditions in Texas, players will face a softer-than-normal golf course, which should yield low scores and give an advantage to the longest hitters off the tee. Here are some players to consider:
DraftKings
Keith Mitchell $9,100
Mitchell is a great DraftKings play this week for various reasons. He finished third at this event last year. At the Wells Fargo last week, he finished eighth while gaining five strokes off the tee and 4.2 on approach. He has one of the highest birdie rates on Tour, which is great for birdie-dependent DraftKings scoring.
Thomas Pieters $8,300
Pieters is a perfect play for large field tournaments on DraftKings. When his game is on, he can contend with anyone in the world. However, you’re always taking a risk with him, as he is prone to blowups that lead to missed cuts. Pieters last victory came late in 2018 at the World Cup in Australia, at a course (Metropolitan GC in Australia) that shares some traits with Trinity Forest. Pieters’s ability to bomb the ball off the tee should bode well on this week’s softened version of Trinity, which is exactly how Aaron Wise succeeded in 2018.
One-and-Done
Brooks Koepka
If you are down in your standings and still have Koepka available, I would use him this week. Most people in your league that have him left will save him for a major. He is the clear favorite at 6/1 while the next best player is 16/1. This provides a great leverage spot to jump up in the standings in your league.
Marc Leishman
Leishman finished second here last year and would be a valid option this week, especially since I don’t see many other places I would use him this season.
