DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: The Presidents Cup Cash and GPP Strategy

THE PRESIDENTS CUP

Location: Medinah, Ill.
Course: Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3
Yardage: 7,548
Par: 70
2024 Champion: United States

Tournament Preview

The Presidents Cup has tried and tried. It really has. But no matter the effort extended by everyone associated with the biennial competition, it's just not the Ryder Cup. It doesn't have the history, it doesn't have the drama and, perhaps more than anything else, it doesn't have the fierce animosity that we Americans seem to need. There's never been an Ian Poulter or a Sergio Garcia or even a Rory McIlroy on the International team. You know, guys who get under your skin. Not only are the Internationals collectively lesser golfers, they are all nice guys. Of course, if they had golfers who could smush in the faces of Americans every two years, as Poulter and Garcia did, Americans would learn to hate them real fast.

Who didn't like the gentlemanly Ernie Els, the greatest International player of them all? And now look at them. The unquestioned leader is the universally liked Adam Scott. There's Hideki Matsuyama and Min Woo Lee and Corey Conners and Si Woo Kim. Everyone loves Si Woo. Even International captain Geoff Ogilvy of Australia seems like a great guy, mate. Oh, Tom Kim puffed his chest and got a bit feisty two years ago, but who was he kidding? (The U.S. team, however, has a few guys generally hated, sometimes even by Americans: Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark and, to an extent, Justin Thomas.)

The 16th playing of the Presidents Cup is not supposed to be close. The American side was -420 at the DraftKings Sportsbook on Monday while the Internationals were +460. The U.S. holds a 13-1-1 career advantage all-time. There have been 46 sessions since 2005 and the Americans have led after 42 of them, according to The Athletic's Justin Ray. Ouch.

But if there's one thing that could keep the matches close -- which they rarely are, especially when played in the United States -- it's Ogilvy's connection to Medinah.

The 1928 Tom Bendelow design used to be a top course that played host to the world's biggest tournaments -- PGA Championships and U.S. Opens and even a Ryder Cup (the famed "Miracle at Medinah" won by Europe in 2012). And then time and golf technology caught up with it, punctuated in 2019 when Thomas shot a course-record 61 en route to winning the BMW Championship at the embarrassing score of 25-under, three better than Cantlay. A couple of years later, the club commissioned what it called a "full-scale renovation." Who did the $23.5 million overhaul? None other than Ogilvy's design firm. Nobody knows the current course better than him. Ogilvy's firm remade Medinah to model a Melbourne Sand Belt course, according to a review in Golf Digest.

More from Golf Digest:
"A massive number of trees were taken down to broaden playing corridors and reshape fairways. Bunkers increased and expanded, reverting to a rough and irregular style that would have been recognizable in the 1920s. Greens were enlarged and infused with meaningful internal contours. Holes five and six were shifted left to abut an out-of-bounds fence, recalling old courses from the U.K. Two of the par 3s that played directly over Lake Kadijah were eliminated. And most significantly, the last six holes were replaced and rerouted with new ones, including the drivable par-4 16th playing diagonally across the lake and the par-3 17th crossing back the opposite direction. It adds up to a head-spinning change of direction for Medinah."

Medinah has always been long and still is, even longer considering it's now a par-70 with only two par-5s. Both of them come in the first six holes. Three of the par-3s exceed 200 yards. Eight of the par-4s are more than 450 yards, with two of them over 500.

This is the third time DraftKings has had games for the Presidents Cup.

The format is five sessions from Thursday through Sunday encompassing 30 total points. They'll begin with five four-ball matches (best ball) on Thursday and continue with five foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday. They'll play four of each format on Saturday and conclude with 12 singles matches on Sunday.

All lineups must be set up in Captains Mode, same as is done for the Ryder Cup. While there will be the traditional six-man lineups with a $50,000 salary cap, we must pick a team "captain." It is far from a ceremonial decision. Your lineup captain will accrue 1 1/2 times the points he would have under ordinary circumstances, but he will cost 1 1/2 times his designated price. For example, Scheffler is the top guy at $12,000 but would cost you a whopping $18,000 as your captain, almost 40 percent of your budget. Scheffler has the best chance of playing all five sessions for the Americans -- that matters a lot -- but we're still not sure it's worth it. Scheffler will at least partly be at the whim of his partner for four of the five sessions.

Since there are only 24 guys in the competition, let's just list them all right here, with the regular salary price and Captain's price.

Golfer                                         Salary        Captain Mode 
Scottie Scheffler                   $12,000        $18,000
Russell Henley                      $10,000        $15,000
Sam Burns                            $9,800          $14,700
Xander Schauffele               $9,400          $14,100
Si Woo Kim                            $9,000          $13,500    
Patrick Cantlay                     $8,800          $13,200
Hideki Matsuyama              $8,600          $12,900
Cameron Young                  $8,400           $12,600
Adam Scott                          $8,000           $12,000
Collin Morikawa                  $7,800           $11,700
Wyndham Clark                  $7,200           $10,800
Tom Kim                               $6,800           $10,100
Justin Thomas                      $6,400           $9,600
Min Woo Lee                        $6,000           $9,000
Sungjae Im                           $5,800           $8,700
Chris Gotterup                    $5,600           $8,400
Ryan Fox                              $5,400           $8,100
Corey Conners                    $5,200           $7,800
Jackson Koivun                    $5,000           $7,500
Nick Taylor                           $4,800           $7,200
Christiaan Bezuidenhout   $4,600          $6,900
Jacob Bridgeman                 $4,400          $6,600
Ryo Hisatsune                      $4,200          $6,300
Nico Echavarria                   $4,000          $6,000

As you can see, the prices are heavily weighted toward the Americans, which is understandable considering their collective higher world rankings. The top four guys and seven of the top 10 on the DK board are American, while six of the eight at the bottom are Internationals. (At the DK Sportsbook, the top SEVEN guys to finish with most points for the week are all Americans.)

It goes without saying that you should not lock in a lineup until seeing who the two-man teams are for Thursday and who will be playing against whom. It's not a lot of data, bit at least it's something. We'll know that on Wednesday. Don't forget that only 10 golfers on each side will play on Thursday. Besides picking the best golfers, the ones who play the most sessions will offer a strong advantage.

We don't have a good indication into Snedeker or Ogilvy's thinking on pairings. Practice rounds are set for Tuesday and Wednesday, but even that might not tip the captains' hands.

DK scoring will break down like this: +3 points for holes won, +0.75 for holes halved, -0.75 points for holes lost, +1.6 points for holes not played, +5 points for matches won and +2 points for matches halved. Also: +5 points for a streak of three consecutive holes won in a match (maximum one per round) and a +7.5-point bonus for no holes lost in a match.

Some final lineup/scoring notes: In foursomes and fourball, both golfers on the same team will receive the same score, no matter who is making birdies, bogeys, etc. And you ARE allowed to pick both partners among your six guys, which might be a very sound strategy if you think they will do well and play a lot. But, if you want to pick just one guy from an expected two-man team, PICK THE CHEAPER GUY. You can even pick six Americans (or Internationals) if you can fit them into the salary cap. Lastly, remember that some guys may play all five sessions and others maybe only two or three.

Something to watch for: Historically, the U.S. has dominated in foursomes but the Internationals have been closer in singles and very close in four-ball.

Medinah factoids: The club has played host to three U.S. Opens -- won by Carey Middlecoff in 1949, Lou Graham in 1975 and Hale Irwin in 1990. There have been two PGA Championships there, in 1999 and 2006, both won by Tiger Woods. Gary Player won the 1988 U.S. Senior Open there. Most recently the 2012 Ryder was contested at Medinah. It's now known as the "Miracle at Medinah." Europe retained the Cup with a 14.5-13.5 win. Trailing 10-6 heading in the 12 Sunday singles, Europe captured 8.5 points in perhaps the most stunning comeback in Ryder Cup history.

Key Stats to Winning at Medinah

Note - The most important indicators every week in stroke play are current form and course history. "Key stats" follow in importance. There are other variables in match play, such as team chemistry.

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee/Driving distance
• Ball striking/Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Approaches from 175-200 yards
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Par 4 efficiency 450-500 yards (eight holes)

Past Champions

2024 - United States, 18 1/2-11 1/2 (Royal Montreal Golf Club, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
2022 - United States, 17 1/2-12 1/2 (Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, N.C.)
2019 - United States, 16-14 (Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia)
2017 - United States, 19-11 (Liberty National Golf Club, New Jersey)
2015 - United States, 15 1/2-14 1/2 (Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, South Korea)
2013 - United States, 18 1/2-15 1/2 (Muirfield Village, Ohio)
2011 - United States, 19-15 (Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia)
2009 - United States, 19 1/2-14 1/2 (Harding Park Golf Club, San Francisco)
2007 - United States, 19 1/2-14 1/2 (Royal Montreal Golf Club, Canada)
2005 - United States, 18 1/2-15 1/2 (Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Virginia)

Champion's Profile

Let's start out by saying the obvious: This isn't a normal week, so many other things matter. Like pressure. Plus a lot of these guys have been idle for weeks.

The revamped Medinah is still long but far more open. Instead of trees lining fairways, there are now more strategic bunkers in place, some of them quite large. The greens are now bigger, too, allowing officials to have more flexibility with pin placements.

Medinah will give an edge to the longer hitters, but match play always comes down to who can make more putts. 

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

Sam Burns - $9,800/$14,700 (Odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook to be the Presidents Cup's top point scorer across all four days: +1150)
If you don't want to dip to the bottom, you'll have to avoid the top. Scheffler and Henley (who played together a bit two years ago) are the top two guys. Burns is third. He collected 3.5 points in four matches two years ago, and he halved his singles match against Tom Kim. Burns now has plenty of experience in international competitions and is maybe the best putter of all 24 guys. The wide fairways will help him.

Si Woo Kim - $9,000/$13,500 (+1475)
Kim is the top International guy on the DK board and rightfully so. He had a stellar season and is maybe the best player tee-to-green in the entire tournament. There's a chance he plays five matches but almost surely four. He'll have to be paired with good putters. Kim played a foursomes match with Byeong Hun An two years ago and they took down the top U.S. pairing of Scheffler and Henley. And then Kim won with Tom Kim at fourballs over Clark and Keegan Bradley.

Patrick Cantlay - $8,800/$13,200 (+1000)
Yeah, the Internationals will hate Cantlay and maybe you will, too. But there's a reason he's on the team and also has the sixth highest price in DFS and is third at the Sportsbook for top scorer -- he's dang good at this. Cantlay went 4-1 two years ago. He was paired twice with longtime partner Schauffele and twice with Burns. The one loss came with Schauffele. Cantlay also won his singles match, though it was not a heavy lift against Taylor Pendrith (now an assistant captain).

Adam Scott - $8,000/$12,200 (+1700)
For the Internationals to have a chance, their big guns will have to shine. They will be counting heavily on Scott, the unquestioned locker-room leader of the team (and surely a future captain). He played five matches two years ago but won only two. He'll need to do better. The Sportsbook places him as the Internationals' No. 2 guy to lead in points. Scott is coming off a shared runner-up last week at the loaded BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Collin Morikawa - $7,800/$11,700 (+2200)
From our vantage point, Morikawa might be the guy with the most bang for his price (it's either him or the next guy on our list). He had a vastly underrated season that was derailed by his back injury at THE PLAYERS Championship. Not only is Morikawa elite off the tee and in the fairway, his putting was greatly improved this season. He went 4-1 two years ago, paired with Sahith Theegala, Scheffler and Burns, and then took down Scott in singles.

Justin Thomas - $6,400/$9,600 (+2500)
Yeah, you may not think Thomas deserves to be here. But he is, and Snedeker will lean on him. It wasn't the best year for Thomas -- he didn't reach the Tour Championship. But he is the most fiery American and he surely will be even more fired up after being bypassed two years ago (he did play Ryder Cup last year). Thomas also will be helped by the wide Medinah fairways.

Min Woo Lee - $6,000/$9,000 (+2700)
Lee is longest hitter in this tournament. He ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in driving distance this season, just ahead of Chris Gotterup. Like Thomas, he also will be aided by the wider Medinah fairways. Lee has come a long way since his Presidents Cup debut two years ago, when he played only two matches and earned just a half-point, via a singles halve against Clark. If the Internationals have any chance, Lee will need to play more -- and better.

Jacob Bridgeman - $4,400/$6,600 (+2700)
We're not sure how often Bridgeman will play in his professional team competition debut. Winning the Biltmore Championship Asheville on Sunday can only help. He's the No. 1 putter on Tour this season and he could pick off a point or two playing alongside one of the veteran Americans. And Bridgeman could easily take down one of the lesser Internationals in Sunday singles.

Tuning up the DraftKings lineups for the Presidents Cup? Load them into RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.