One last little slice of paradise awaits golf fans before the new year brings a new season. The Hero World Challenge is an exclusive event with only 18 golfers invited to Albany Golf Club in The Bahamas. The In-Between Media (IBT) golf team is scorching hot and wants to send everyone into the holiday season with an extra jingle in their pockets, courtesy of the PGA DFS platforms.
The headliner for this week is certainly the return of Tiger Woods to the field. He has won this event five times, albeit not since it moved to The Bahamas. Whether a mere token appearance or a full-fledged announcement of the new era of his golfing career, it sure is a blessing to witness the man tee it up again.
This event is four rounds, with no cut. With only 18 golfers in the field, it will be incumbent upon the PGA DFS lineup architect to simply play their best plays, regardless of remaining salary under the cap.
PGA DFS: RSM Classic 2023
Course Breakdown
Albany Golf Course
- Par 72
- 7,414 Yards
- Bermuda Greens
Albany Golf Course in New Providence, Bahamas, is a resort-style course of medium length. Scoring here is quite easy, especially if the sea breezes don’t get too blustery. Temperatures will hold steady in the low 80s, so the weather is very unlikely to be anything less than spectacular.
The fairways are ample, but the one unique quality is the layout. There are five par-5 and five par-3 holes, respectively, one more than is customary on courses in the U.S. Some length off the tee is preferable, though not required. The main desirable trait is the ability to convert on a high percentage of the bounty of scoring chances that will present themselves over the 72 holes.
Stats to Build Around:
- Shots Gained Approach
- Par 5 Scoring
- Birdie-or-Better Rate
- Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
- Strokes Gained: Around the Green
PGA DFS Strategy
Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS). Duplicate lineups in DFS play are all but inevitable in an 18-man field, so your only focus should be on playing the best plays. As long as you can build a lineup with six golfers under the salary cap, the remaining amount is irrelevant.
For example, my favorite lineup leaves $1,200 on the table, while another leaves $300. Rostership percentages also don’t really matter, and I’ve seen pretty balanced exposure from multiple sites anyway. My usual player pool for a full-field event is around 35-40 players, but this week will be about 10 of the 18. This mostly means I will stick to single-entry and three-entry max tournaments because I’m about that action and don’t want to miss a chance to play the game I love.
RSM Classic 2023 PGA DFS Plays
(Prices courtesy of DraftKings)
High-Tier Plays ($9,000 & Above)
- Scottie Scheffler ($10,700)
- Collin Morikawa ($10,000)
High-Tier Fades ($9,000 & Above)
- Viktor Hovland ($10,800)
- Max Homa ($10,100)
- Matt Fitzpatrick ($9,200)
Mid-Tier Plays ($7,600-$8,900)
- Cameron Young ($8,700)
- Rickie Fowler ($8,000)
- Tony Finau ($7,600)
Mid-Tier Fades ($7,600-$8,900)
- Justin Thomas ($8,400)
Low-Tier Plays ($7,500 & Below)
- Sam Burns ($7,100)
- Will Zalatoris ($6,600)
- Jason Day ($6,500)
- Tiger Woods ($6,100)
- Lucas Glover ($6,000)
Low-Tier Fades ($7,500 & Below)
- Jordan Spieth ($7,400)
- Wyndham Clark ($7,300)
- Justin Rose ($6,900)
- Keegan Bradley ($6,800)
- Sepp Straka ($6,700)
- Brian Harman ($6,400)
Good luck this week! Thanks for checking out my PGA DFS picks for the Hero World Challenge, and be sure to check us out live every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on the 19th Hole Live!
*Photo Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel – USA TODAY Sports*