DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: Procore Championship Cash and GPP Strategy

PROCORE CHAMPIONSHIP

Purse: $6M
Winner's Share: $1.08M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the winner
Location: Napa, Calif.
Course: Silverado Resort & Spa (North)
Yardage: 7,138
Par: 72
2024 champion: Patton Kizzire

Tournament Preview

No, it's not January. No, you haven't been asleep for four months. Many of the biggest names in golf are playing this week. But, this isn't the season-opening Sentry tournament in Hawaii, which traditionally is the next time we see such a gathering of big names after the TOUR Championship in late August.

To be sure, no need to adjust your clocks, or your calendars.

Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and others have descended upon Northern California in mid-September for a very special reason. And, no, it's not to boost Johnny Miller's Procore Championship, though that certainly will be one of the unintended consequences.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team, taking a page from their European counterparts, will use the first event of the fall season as a tuneup for the 45th Ryder Cup matches in two weeks at Bethpage Black in New York. It was two years ago that all 12 members of Team Europe played in the BMW PGA Championship in England a fortnight before the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy. You know, while the whole U.S. team took weeks off. You know, the Ryder Cup where the U.S. got waxed.

And so Miller, who for years tried to lure Tiger Woods to his tournament to make it the jewel of the fall season but never succeeded, now gets the best fall season event ever. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley coordinated things to keep his team in playing shape two weeks after most were last seen at the TOUR Championship, though curiously and perhaps ominously, Xander Schauffele decided not to show. Even LIV's Bryson DeChambeau, who is ineligible to play on the PGA Tour, has arrived to bond with the team at dinners, etc. Bradley is also not playing but in attendance.

It will be interesting to see what Bradley does here. He doesn't control player pairings this week, but if he wanted certain players to play together, we're sure his request would be accommodated. On the other hand, that might tip his hand to Euro captain Luke Donald. (No, it's not match play, but walking 36 with someone certainly could go a long way toward team chemistry.)

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As for the European team, 11 of the 12 will be at this week's BMW PGA at Wentworth, with only Sepp Straka not playing. Even Donald is the loaded field -- stronger than even the Procore -- with the best LIV golfers also playing.

While the Ryder Cup team will be the headliners this week on both sides of the Atlantic, the fall season is vitally important for the PGA Tour's rank-and-file players. And now more than ever.

Anyone who missed the 70-man playoffs will be fighting for the 30 spots remaining in the top-100 in the point standings to keep full playing privileges for next season. The Procore kicks off a seven-tournament fall season officially called FedEx Cup Fall, and it goes through the RSM Classic just before Thanksgiving.

If 100 sounds a little light, it is. Traditionally, 125 players got Tour cards each season. But as the rich get richer on the PGA Tour, and thus wield more power, somebody has to get poorer. So, 25 full-time jobs have been converted into part-time work scrambling to get into 2026 fields. (Conditional status will be awarded to players ranked Nos. 101-150, whereas it used to be 126-150.)

Points already earned in 2025 will stay with the golfers and most will keep accruing them though the fall. The only ones who won't are the top-50 who made the BMW Championship, because they've already done all they can do, securing their cards and getting spots in every Signature Event next season.

However, for the little subset of tweeners who stand from No. 51 to No. 70 in points, there's still a lot to play for in the fall. The top 10 players in the fall standings not already in top-50 -- the Aon Next 10 -- will get into two early 2026 Signature Events at Pebble Beach and Riviera.

The biggest names outside the top 50 are Jordan Spieth (No. 54), Wyndham Clark (No. 56), Min Woo Lee (No. 57), Tony Finau (No. 66), Adam Scott (No. 90) and Tom Kim (No. 94).

The biggest names outside the top 100 are Billy Horschel (No. 102), 2021 and '22 Procore winner Max Homa (No. 111), Matt Kuchar (No. 127), Adam Hadwin (No. 136) and 2023 Procore champion Sahith Theegala (No. 147). It's important to note that being outside the top-100 doesn't mean you lose your card. Horschel, Homa and Theegala all are recent Tour winners and thus are exempt at least through 2026. Kuchar and Hadwin, however, have no such safety net.

So who is here, other than the 10 Ryder Cuppers?

Actually, a lot of other notable guys. Maverick McNealy, perhaps still stinging from his Ryder Cup snub, is in the field, as is Akshay Bhatia, Homa, Kim, Theegala, Kuchar, Hadwin and Luke Clanton, who is already exempt through next season via the PGA Tour University standings.

Five of the sponsor invites caught our attention:

• Ethan Fang, the 2025 British Amateur champion heading into his junior season at Oklahoma State and part of the just-victorious U.S. Walker Cup team.
• Justin Hastings, who won the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship, played in three majors and has now turned pro.
• Gunner Wiebe, a 36-year-old journeyman American playing on the DP World Tour.
• 16-year-old Floridian Miles Russell, who finished 20th in a Korn Ferry Tour event, played in the ISCO Championship, is No. 1 in the American junior rankings and No. 15 in the world amateur rankings.
• Tyler Watts, a 17-year-old Alabaman who not only is ranked sixth among U.S. juniors and 38th in the world amateur rankings.

This tournament in the heart of Napa Valley wine country was long known as the Safeway, then the Fortinet and now the Procore, which is a California-based provider of construction management software. This is Procore's second year. Last year, they didn't come on board till about six weeks before the tournament. The purse was reduced from $8.4 million to $6 million, and that's where it'll stay this year. (Imagine the look on Patrick Cantlay's face when he saw the purse was a mere $6M.)

Silverado North is a 1966 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design with a 2011 Miller renovation. It is very short. Only one of the 10 par-4s are over 450 yards, and then barely at 458 (No. 9). But the course is heavily tree-lined with narrow fairways. Even if you miss the fairway, the rough is a manageable 2.5 inches. There are multiple doglegs, though that hasn't deterred the biggest hitters from freely letting fly. Still, hitting the fairways matters here. In the past, there has been a lower percentage of driving accuracy, which leads to fewer greens in regulation, which ramps up the emphasis on scrambling.

This is the 12th time that Silverado has been the host course. There were substantial changes made two years ago, including the course routing. Theegala won at 21-under and Patton Kizzire almost matched that last year while winning by five at 20-under. Most years before that, the winner was in the upper teens. But both Theegala and Kizzire were lights-out on the greens.

Previously, putting hasd not been paramount in determining a winner, notably because most of the golfers have found the going tough on the poa/bentgrass surfaces. The greens are medium size, averaging 5,400 square feet. There aren't many bunkers, just 53, though many of them are deep. Water comes into play on only two holes.

Since last year's tournament, 15 yards were added at the 15th hole, now at 572 yards. The fairway was widened there, and on No. 13, a short par-4 at 375 yards.

As for the weather, it should be a comfortable week. High temperatures will be around 80 with almost no chance of rain. The wind will be moderate, reaching double-digit mph.

Ryder Cup Related Factoid I: Two years ago at the BMW PGA Championship in England, seven of the 12 European Ryder Cup players finished in the top 10. None of them won -- that was Ryan Fox. But they not only avoided getting rusty, they collectively played great. They all made the cut -- even Donald.

Ryder Cup Related Factoid II: Three of the U.S. vice captains are in the field -- Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Gary Woodland.

Key Stats to Winning at Silverado

The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee/Driving accuracy
• Strokes Gained: Approach/Greens in regulation/Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
• Approaches from 125-150 yards

Past Champions

2024 - Patton Kizzire
2023 - Sahith Theegala
2022 - Max Homa
2021 - Max Homa
2020 - Stewart Cink
2019 - Cameron Champ
2018 - Kevin Tway
2017 - Brendan Steele
2016 - Brendan Steele
2015 - Emiliano Grillo

Champion's Profile

What we've mostly seen in all the years at Silverado is that ball-strikers excel here, beginning way back with Grillo and Steele. They were great from tee to green but challenged on the greens.

That changed a bit two years ago. Theegala ranked second in the field in SG: Putting and Kizzire ranked first.

Theegala was his typical wayward self off the tee but parlayed a fantastic short game, ranking third in the field in SG: Around-the-Green. Kizzire was sixth in Around-the-Green but also very good in other areas, which explains how you win by five shots.

This course more than most requires a blend of skillsets, with no one metric standing out as mandatory. Well-balanced golfers should do well here.

It's always a little challenging, since golfers have been idle for at least two weeks and maybe five or more for some others.

The winning score has been between 15- and 21-under every year.

The over/under on the winning score on golfodds.com was set at 266.5, 17.5 under par, a little lower than the winning score the past two years.

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

This annually is one of the outlier weeks of the season and this year there's an added layer. Some of the golfers have been idle for at least two weeks and most for five or more. Further, while we always factor in course history, never before has this field been so strong, so guys who have done well in the past now face 10 star golfers they normally didn't have to contend with. On the other hand, what will we see from the Ryder Cuppers? None of them would be here if not for the competition in two weeks. How much will they try to win or how much will they just try to stay sharp and mesh with their teammates?

$10,00 and up

Scottie Scheffler - $14,400 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +200) 
Despite everything we wrote just above, Scheffler is here so that means he will try to win. He will always try to win. And he is by far the best golfer in the field, with a whopping $4,200 disparity between him and No. 2 Thomas, a chasm never before seen in all the years of writing this article. As always, the challenge with picking Scheffler is fitting five other guys that give you a chance to win your game under the salary cap. If this sways you at all, the Tour said in its pre-tournament notes that Scheffler has never won in his first start at an event. This is his first start at the Procore.

Russell Henley - $10,000 (+1600) 
You could start your lineup with Thomas or Henley and have an extra $4,200 or $4,400 for the rest of your lineup. Henley is a far better choice on course with narrow fairways. He's coming off a shared runner-up (tied with Scheffler) and the TOUR Championship and hasn't finished outside the top-20 since missing the cut at the PGA in May.

$9,000-$9,900

Sam Burns - $9,700 (+2000) 
Burns played his way on to the Ryder Cup team with a very late surge, tying for seventh at the BMW Championship and for fourth at the TOUR Championship. Without that, he quite possibly could've been beaten out by McNealy or maybe even Bradley. Burns has missed only three cuts all year and they came in a row in March and April. He is a far more consistent player than ever before, even though he hasn't won in a few years. Burns is ranked first on Tour in SG: Putting.

Ben Griffin - $9,400 (+2500) 
Griffin was the workaholic among the Tour's top players and he very well could've been here even without the Ryder Cup considerations. He's made a whopping 28 starts already in 2025. He's finished top-12 in his past four starts, including all three playoff events. Looking back to well-balanced players mentioned above in the Champion's Profile, Griffin fits the bill to a tee. He's ranked top-60 in every strokes-gained metric this season.

J.J. Spaun - $9,200 (+2200) 
Spaun is in the fortunate position of having played this tournament a lot and a lot more than just about any other top player. That's because he wasn't a top player until this year and needed to paly the Procore. This will be his 10th straight year at Silverado. Even when he was a struggling player, he often played well here, finishing T9, T11 and T11 in the past five years.

$8,000-$8,900

Harris English - $8,900 (+2500) 
English has played this tournament with regularity. While he missed the cut last year, he tied for ninth the two previous editions. He has not missed a cut since March. He not only won the Farmers at Torrey Pines, he was runner-up in two majors, the PGA and Open Championship. He also was top-15 in the last two playoff events. Remember, English made the Ryder Cup team as an automatic selection. While not as balanced as Griffin, English did finish in the upper half of every SG category.

Akshay Bhatia - $8,700 (+3500) 
Bhatia did not have a strong season -- he really wasn't a consideration for the Ryder Cup team -- but he did finish strong. In the three playoff events, he was T6-T26-T13. He's ranked 11th on Tour in SG: Approach and is one of the best on Tour playing short par-4s.

Jackson Koivun - $8,500 (+5000) 
Koivun is a 20-year-old amateur who could've been mentioned above with Fang and Hastings. Except he's not in on a sponsor's invite. He finished top-10 (T5) at the Wyndham to earn automatic entry into the next event after the playoffs. He also was T6 at the ISCO and T11 at the John Deere before that. Koivun is entering his sophomore season at Auburn; he was runner-up in the NCAA Division I men's golf championships and was the first golfer to win all four major collegiate awards in one season.

Matt McCarty - $8,200 (+8000)  
McCarty didn't make the playoffs but as a winner last fall in Utah in one of his first starts as a PGA Tour member, he's safe with his card for this season. Still, he made a furious playoff push in the second half of the season -- T4 at the Canadian Open, T19 at the Rocket, T22 at the Scottish Open and T8 at the Wyndham. McCarty is a very short hitter who won't be at such a disadvantage this week. He's ranked top-25 on Tour in SG: Putting.

$7,000-$7,900

Mark Hubbard - $7,900 (+7500) 
Hubbard did not make the playoffs. It came down to the wire for him, and even with a tie for third at the Wyndham, he fell short. He's missed only one cut since April, and that came at the U.S. Open. Hubbard gain strokes in every strokes-gained category except Around-the-Green, where he's barely under water at -0.088. Hubbard is a regular visitor to Napa and has finished top-20 in four of the past six seasons.

Victor Perez - $7,500 (+10000)  
Perez has missed six cuts in 2025 but only one since May. It's a little surprising he couldn't muster more high finishes -- just six top-25s and one top-10 -- because his stats tell another story. He's ranked top-50 on Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green, Putting and Total, top-20 in Approach and third in greens in regulation. His wedge play around the green has been terrible, but not enough to counter all the other good stats.

Mackenzie Hughes - $7,300 (+10000)  
Hughes is one of those tweeners mentioned above, finishing between51st and 70th in the point standings (65th). So his card is safe. But he's not in any Signature Events just yet. Hughes did not have many high finishers, but as a short hitter of the tee, his superior wedge play and often good putting can carry him on shorter tracks.

$6,000-$6,900

David Lipsky - $6,900 (+15000) 
Lipsky is another guy who made a late playoff push, with twin T3s at the John Deere and 3M Open. He's a short hitter who otherwise is outstanding tee-to-green, ranked 36th on Tour in both SG: Approach and Around-the-Green. Lipsky is made all four of his Procore cuts, with a T22 in his debut and solo runner-up here last year. That's his best finish on Tour.

Justin Hastings - $6,500 (+40000) 
Hastings got into three majors and two other events in 2025, making the cut in two of them -- Mexico and US. Opens. So he's gotten enough exposure to tournaments and top players that he should be much more comfortable by now. In just a small sample size, he showed his skill on the greens and actually would be ranked second on the entire Tour if he had enough starts. He largely held his own in other parts of his game, too.

Perusing Len's picks for the Procore Championship? See how they look in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.