Fantasy Golf: The PGA Championship Preview

Instead of heading up to Aronimink Golf Club for the all expense paid junket to which I was invited, I will be heading southwest to my favorite city in America to presumably witness the graduation of my middle child a/k/a the one most like me but with poorer judgment and slower punch avoidance skills. Hopefully this last year of schooling has taught him the valuable less that, if you're going to run your mouth, you better be ready to move it out of harms way when you hit the other guy's trigger. 

The last time the PGA Championship coincided with one of my kids graduating from college was in 2024 when I woke-up late in New Orleans on May 17th to literally164 new text messages. As one person on the thread observed, "I looked at my phone and thought we had gone to war." It took the better part of a groggy hour to get through them all and piece together the fact that, while I was sleeping one off, the number one player in the world had been arrested on his way to the course by the most naive cop in Louisville. 

By the time I caught up, I think the whole process had run its course as Scottie, his lawyer and certainly a few well connected Kentucky fat cats redefined the term "swift justice" so he didn't miss his tee time. Shit, someone had already come up with the idea for the teardrop tattoo before I had my first cup of coffee.

The other notable story that week was the fact that I picked Xander Schauffele to win which he did and it kicked-off an epic blaze to glory for the rest of the season (at least that's how I remember it). Let's see if we can douse this dumpster fire and repeat history. 

GOLF ANALYSIS

The recent run of major winners is getting a little ridiculous as ten of the last eleven have more than one and are all Hall of Fame caliber players (Rory McIlroy, Scheffler, Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka . . . J.J. Spaun is the outlier). The closest historical equivalent is probably 1971-74 when Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino won eleven out of sixteen so, adjusted for the inflation of talent, we as golf fans are currently breathing some pretty rare air. Especially when you consider that Scheffler, DeChambeau and McIlroy have also combined for five runner-ups during that stretch.

So with that in mind, I'm dispensing with my urge to pick a heartwarming first-time winner like Tommy Fleetwood or Rickie Fowler and giving a slight nod to the #4 player in the world over the #3 player in the world. Crazy to think that at this time last year, Matt Fitzpatrick had dropped to #85 and now he's one of the favorites to take down his second major. And his brother is in the field which just makes the whole thing cooler and gives him a slight edge over Cameron Young who I do not believe has a brother in the field. 

Speaking of Alex Fitzpatrick, he has been on a worldwide tear lately with five consecutive top tens including wins in Gurugram and New Orleans which I'm pretty sure is the first time those two cities have been mentioned in the same sentence. He also just finished 4th at Quail Hollow so his odds to finish top ten (+780) and top twenty (+325) are mighty attractive. 

I'm not abandoning my feel good stories altogether as Fleetwood and Fowler are both strong top ten picks, however, they both radiate a bit of that Lee Westwood vibe that makes you question whether even they believe they can do it. What separates them from Westwood is that they haven't evolved into complete assholes and so far this has been the year of the good guy so that should work in their favor. 

And finally we need a LIV guy not named Patrick Reed and hey look here comes Brooks Koepka coming off of a T12 at the Masters and getting ready to play a major on an old school East Coast golf course. Clearly they suit his style with wins at Bethpage, Shinnecock and Oak Hill. Also, he's worked this whole LIV situation masterfully and you know he'd love nothing more than to formally announce his return to the PGA Tour by winning his sixth major which would tie him with Rory, Nick Faldo and of course, Phil Mickelson. The post tournament smirk when that question is asked would be inevitable.     

Place	Player	Odds
Winner	Matt Fitzpatrick	+2300
Top 5	Brooks Koepka	+620
Top 10	Rickie Fowler	+415
Top 10	Patrick Reed	+490
Top 20	Alex Fitzpatrick	+325

One and Done Pick: Matt Fitzpatrick 

Welcome to the Double Major
Club Fitzy. (I really just wanted
an excuse to call him "Fitzy"). 

Other Guy I'd Pick: Brooks Koepka

Sleeper Pick: Alex Fitzpatrick

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Cameron Young	$10,200
Matt Fitzpatrick	$10,000
Tommy Fleetwood	$9,700
Brooks Koepka	$9,300
Patrick Reed	$9,000
Sepp Straka	$8,000
Si Woo Kim	$7,900
Rickie Fowler	$7,400
Harris English	$7,200
Alex Fitzpatrick	$5,900

Email the Fantasy Golf Report here.