With the countdown on to the start of the 2023 PGA Championship on Thursday, we already have our expert betting guide and a roundup of all the best sleepers, value bets, and long-shots to win the 105th Wanamaker Cup. But today we will focus on a different form of golf-related money-maker ahead of the second major of the year: DFS. We will build an optimal DraftKings lineup — selecting six of our favorite picks to perform well at Oak Hill Country Club — and explain our reasoning behind each pick.
As always, one of the most difficult tasks with building a DFS lineup for a major is deciding between the odds-on favorites. In this case, we know we want either OWGR No. 1 and 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm ($11,400) or world No. 2 and 2022 Masters champ Scottie Scheffler ($11,200). We also find it hard to stay away from 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas ($9.400). But like always, it's our sleepers and under-the-radar value picks who will make or break our chances at daily fantasy success this weekend.
MORE 2023 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Expert betting picks | Ranking the top 30 golfers in the field
Let's reveal our full squad, explaining our reasoning behind each pick, and provide a couple other players we like around the same price range of each selection. Here's our 2023 PGA Championship DraftKings lineup — good luck, enjoy, and go make some DFS cash!
PGA Championship 2023 DraftKings Picks
Scottie Scheffler ($11,200)
As much as we love Rahm, we had to go with Scheffler as the foundation to our PGA Championship build. The world's No. 2-ranked golfer has a pair of wins this season, including the PLAYERS Championship in March. He also has six finishes of T5 or better and nine top-10 finishes overall. But we like the Texan to pull down his second career major for more reasons than just track record. We also love Scheffler for the Oak Hill East Course, which seems perfectly tailored for the 26-year-old former No. 1.
Scheffler possesses all the attributes needed to perform well at this deceivingly-long par-70, which was restored in 2019 and has not hosted a major since the 2013 PGA Championship. During the makeover, a ton of trees were removed in order to open up the playing areas, benefiting the longer and more accurate drivers. The hazards remain, including water on half the holes, deep bunkers that shield the fairways and greens, and long, thick patches of rough.
Nobody has a better combination of off-the-tee power and accuracy than Scheffler. His SG:OTT sits first in the PGA, and he ranks third overall in total driving. But the 2022 Masters champion also has tremendous approach and around-the-green skills, and he leads the TOUR with a 74.42 greens-in-regulation percentage. As if that wasn't enough, he also scrambles with the best of them, and excels on par-4s. With the plethora of hazards found at Oak Hill — not to mention the 12 par-4s — we can't imagine a better pick than Scheffler at $11,200.
Another golfer in this price range worth drafting: Naturally, the only other golfer we would recommend at this price range is Jon Rahm ($11,400), who has been on top of the world (literally) this calendar year.
Tony Finau ($9,500)
We spent a long time going back and forth between Finau and 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, who was priced $100 cheaper. But ultimately, we landed on Big Ton' because he has enjoyed a better 2023 season and because a ton of casuals will pick Thomas just because he won this major last year. Unlike the Masters at Augusta, this major takes place at a new course each year — and East Course is a great opportunity for Finau to showcase his diverse skill set.
Finau has two wins, four top-10 finishes, and a top-25 finish in 11 of his 14 tournaments this season. He has dazzled with his TOUR-leading approach game (1.108 SG:APP), and he has enjoyed the third-best tee-to-green stats (1.822 SG:OTT). He's also 14th in total driving, 17th in green-in-regulation percentage, and 21st in sand-save percentage. All of these attributes will come in handy in a big way at Oak Hill.
Another golfer in this price range worth targeting: Of course we like Justin Thomas ($9.400), a two-time Wanamaker Cup winner, to utilize his strong approach, around-the-green, and driving strength. We also like Jason Day ($8,900) coming off a big win at the AT&T Byron Nelson and a red-hot Patrick Cantlay ($9,700) to make some serious noise.
Adam Scott ($7,800)
Scott has a very strong iron, he's super solid in his approaches beyond 200 yards, and he sand-saves with the best of them when he gets into trouble. He's a birdie machine when he's in the zone, as we saw last week when he opened and closed the Byron Nelson with nine-under 63s and finished T5 at the Wells Fargo Championship a week prior. We're riding Scott's momentum and hoping he takes Oak Hill by storm this weekend.
Keegan Bradley ($7,700)
We will never count out a dynamic player with a diverse skill set like Bradley, who won the PGA Championship as a rookie back in 2011. The 36-year-old has many elite traits, including standing out amongst PGA's best in driving efficiency, approach game from 125-150 feet, and scrambling from the fringe. He might not be one of the five best in the world, but the best in the world would probably rank him among the guys they would prefer not to compete against in a playoff to decide a major. The Vermont native has a calm, cool confidence about him, and we wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him shock the field and emerge with his second career PGA Championship title this weekend.
Another golfer in this price range worth consideration: While Justin Rose ($7,700) hasn't started a tourney in well over a month, he averaged over 75 DraftKings points over his past two events (RBC Heritage and the Masters). Like Bradley and Scott, Rose is about as solid a golfer as you'll ever find at this price.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,200)
Bezuidenhout has showcased a range of different talents this season, including accurate driving, strong putting and scrambling, and the 27th-best average on par-4s in the TOUR. He's a bit of a sleeper, but he showed us in the final two rounds of the Byron Nelson — where he carded consecutive five-under 66s — that he can hang with the best of them on a tough course. The South African will celebrate his 29th birthday on Thursday, the same say the major tees off, making for a great storyline. He has placed T28 or better in four straight stroke-play starts on the TOUR, and he's a superb value play at $7,200.
Other solid investments in this price range: Keith Mitchell ($7,100) has been as solid as sleepers come this season, averaging 67.4 DraftKings points and exceeding 90 three times since mid-January. He's an off-the-tee maestro with power and accuracy that lends itself to the East Course well. He flies under the radar, but Mitchell could easily put together a top-25 finish this weekend. Also don't sleep on Bryson DeChambeau ($7,400) just because he's a LIV guy. He's still one of the best in the world when he's on.
Andrew Putnam ($6,400)
A back injury forced Putnam to withdraw from the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago after shooting an opening-round 65. The result: we're getting a big-time discount on a golfer who has posted 63.5-plus DraftKings points in four of the past five tournaments he finished. Putnam possesses a unique combination of driving accuracy, strong approach game, and fantastic scrambling ability, so we like him as a high-risk, high-reward pick with top-20 upside.
Another deep sleeper in this price range worth a flyer: Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen ($6,500) has been rolling as of late, launching up to seventh in the Race to Dubai standings and 84th in the OWGR. He has made each of his last nine cuts, including a win at the Thailand Classic and six top-20 finishes. Olesen stands out as one of the few in this weekend's field that played at Oak Hill when the PGA was held there 10 years ago. He ended that tournament at T40, a finish we would love at this price point.
