DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: Truist Championship Cash and GPP Strategy

This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.

TRUIST CHAMPIONSHIP

Purse: $20M
Winner's Share: $3.6M
FedEx Cup Points: 700 to the Winner
Location: Flourtown, Penn.
Course: The Philadelphia Cricket Club (Wissahickon Course)
Yardage: 7,119
Par: 70
2024 champion: Rory McIlroy

Tournament Preview

Scottie Scheffler finally won last week, firing back at Rory McIlroy, who has won three big titles already this season to close the gap on the No. 1 player in the world. Their duel the rest of the season could be the defining storyline of 2025 on the PGA Tour.

But it will have to wait a week.

Scheffler will not be winning for a second straight week, that much we can tell you. After winning the Byron Nelson, he is skipping the final tuneup for the next week's PGA Championship, just as he did last year.

That means McIlroy will be the overwhelming favorite, going off at the Scheffler-like odds of +450. But his DFS price is far from Scheffler-esque, at a mere $12,000. Hmmm ...

The Truist is the new title sponsor of the Wells Fargo signature event, and it has signed on for seven years. But the usual tournament home of Quail Hollow will not be in play, for that's where the golfers will be next week for the PGA Championship. Instead, a track that's new to the PGA Tour universe will be in play, and the Wissahickon course at Philadelphia Cricket Club could not be more different from Quail Hollow. It's a short Northeast track at a mere 7,100ish yards, about 500 yards shorter than Quail Hollow.

Wissahickon is a 1922 A.W. Tillinghast design with a 2013 Keith Foster restoration. It played host to the 2016 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship and it's been on some top-100 course lists.

The track has only two par-5s and they are both short, about 550 yards. Of the four par-3s, two exceed 200 yards but one is a baby-short 122. Of the four par-4s, only three are LONGER than 450 yards, so there are many short holes here. Two are under 400 yards but not really drivable since the shortest one is 365.

So what will make this course hard?

It won't be trees. Foster removed hundreds of trees during his renovation, according to the club's website. He also "reclaimed" original greens and bunkers, "including the famed "Great Hazard" that must be carried on the par-5 seventh." There are six bunkers surrounding the green on the 546-yard 5th, one of the two par-5s on the course.

The fairways are not especially narrow, averaging 32 feet wide, according to the Golf Course Superintendents' (GCSAA) fact sheet.

So, again, what will make this course hard?

Well, there is rough, specifically tall fescue, up around three inches. The real trouble will come in the form of bunkers and the green complexes. There are 118 bunkers, more than any other course on Tour. They are strategically placed in fairways and around the greens, as mentioned with the six ringing the 5th green.

While the fairways are wide, landing the ball in the proper spot is important, to get the best angles coming into all the trouble on and around the green.

There are no collars -- none, according to the GCSAA. It's fairway, then green. The green complexes tend to go back to front, with undulations and runoffs. They are bentgrass and are medium size, averaging around 5,800 square feet and running a speedy 11-12 on the Stimpmeter.

Okay, back to McIlroy. He has won the Wells Fargo four times, but all were at Quail Hollow, which is good info for next week.

This week, McIlroy will be joined in the 72-man, no-cut field by almost every eligible golfer in the top-50 OWGR. Besides Scheffler, Billy Horschel and Tom Kim are sitting out. McIlroy's main antagonists will be Xander Schauffele, still looking for his first win of the season; Collin Morikawa, making a caddie change for the first time since turning pro and also looking to end a winless stretch; and Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg, both of whom have won this year.

As for the sponsor's invites, it's a case of "round up the usual suspects": Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland. And also Keith Mitchell.

As for the weather, rain is in the forecast later Thursday and Friday. And Friday could be on the chillier side, with temperatures not reaching the upper-60s. But with such a small field, there won't be a huge advantage to a certain tee time. By the weekend, the rain will be gone and it should be a great two rounds for scoring, especially in the softer conditions.

Historical Philadelphia Cricket Club factoids: Wissahickon was Tillinghast's home course and his ashes were spread in Wissahickon Creek that crosses the 18th green, at his request. ... Also, the club has two other courses and is the only one in the United States with three courses built in different centuries. One was built in the 1800s and another much more recently in the 2000s. 

Key Stats to Winning at Wissahickon

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
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green
• Sand Saves
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Par-4 efficiency 400-450 yards

Past Champions

2024 - Rory McIlroy (Quail Hollow)
2023 - Wyndham Clark (Quail Hollow)
2022 - Max Homa (TPC Avenel)
2021 - Rory McIlroy (Quail Hollow)
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Max Homa (Quail Hollow)
2018 - Jason Day (Quail Hollow)
2017 - Brian Harman (Eagle Point GC)
2016 - James Hahn (Quail Hollow)
2015 - Rory McIlroy (Quail Hollow)

Champion's Profile

Length won't matter much this week, and driver will often be left in the bag. But getting the ball in the right place in the fairway will matter, and approach play will be more important than usual with so much trouble lurking around the greens.

The 2015 Senior PLAYERS Championship played here had an 81-man field and was won by Bernhard Langer -- okay, that doesn't help us much. He won a lot then. He ranked 10th in driving distance, 27th in accuracy, led the field in greens in regulation, was T4 in scrambling and third in putting average. He won at 19-under (65-65-67-68) but was six clear of Kirk Triplett in second and nine clear of third. Basically, a runaway. Langer finished 43 shots ahead of Wayne Levi, the last-place finisher. Yes, definitely a runaway.

Expect the course to play harder than it did for the seniors a decade ago.

But Golfodds.com puts the over/under for the winning score at 260.5 -- 19.5 under par. That's basically Langer's winning score.

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

$10,000 and up

Rory McIlroy - $12,000 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +450) 
If there's one trouble spot in McIlroy's game, it's driving accuracy. He's ranked 162nd on Tour. But with the course so short, he'll be able to club way down and get the ball where it needs to go -- just like he did in winning at Pebble Beach earlier this season. With no Scheffler in the field, this price is almost a steal. Heck, Scheffler is priced in the $13,000s almost every time out.

Justin Thomas - $10,000 (+1800) 
Like McIlroy, Thomas' big miss this season has been getting the ball in the fairway. That shouldn't be an issue, with all the golfers being able to club down. Thomas did just that in winning at Harbour Town a few weeks back. He has been putting great and, over his past 24 rounds, he's been killing the short par-4s and playing great out of the sand.

$9,000-$9,900

Russell Henley - $9,400 (+3000) 
Five top-10s in nine starts -- is that good? Henley bounced back from a missed cut at the Masters to tie for eighth at the RBC Heritage. His biggest shortcoming is driving distance, something that won't be in play this week. Henley is ranked top-20 on Tour in every strokes-gained category but Off-the-Tee.

Tommy Fleetwood - $9,300 (+2500) 
Fleetwood is one of the best at getting the ball in the fairway and is also a top-10 approach player this season. He has seven top-25s in eight starts this season, two of them doubling as top-10s. One of them came at the last signature event on a short course when Fleetwood tied for seventh at Harbour Town.

$8,000-$8,900

Corey Conners - $8,800 (+3000) 
No one will position the ball in the fairway better than Conners. And now that he's putting better than he ever has before, he's able to take advantage of that. If you can handle the greens at Augusta National, where Conners finished T8, you can handle Wissahickon.

Shane Lowry - $8,500 (+3500) 
Lowry has top-10s this season at a long course (Bay Hill) and a short course (Pebble Beach). His game translates to just about any course setup. He's been spectacular on approach -- ranked 11th on Tour -- and even better tee to green -- ranked fourth.

$7,000-$7,900

Brian Harman - $7,500 (+7000) 
When April began, Harman had zero top-10s. Now he has two. He won the Valero and tied for third at Harbour Town. He's great at getting the ball in the fairway, he's always been a very good putter and lately he's been crushing the short par-4s.

Akshay Bhatia - $7,100 (+7000) 
This price stood out as being a little light and therefore a good value. Bhatia is very short off the tee. That won't be an issue this week. He's also very accurate. Despite starting well back in the fairway, he's ranked 27th on Tour in SG: Approach. He's also 13th in Putting.

Michael Kim - $7,000 (+6000) 
Kim is not a great putter. He's merely average. But he's been doing everything else well above average. He's top-25 on Tour in SG: Approach, Around-the-Green and Tee-to-Green. Kim's most recent results have not been as good as earlier in the season. But he played and incredible 13 times in 15 weeks, and getting gassed would be understandable. He arrives here this week having taken two weeks off.

$6,000-$6,900

Tom Hoge - $6,700 (+11000) 
Hoge is on a roll (sorry, we'll show ourselves out). Seriously, in his past four starts, he's had two top-5s and two top-20s, completely reversing a slow start to the season. Hoge has always been great with his irons -- he's ranked 12th in SG: Approach. But now he's been putting maybe better than he ever has before, currently ranked 51st.

Nick Taylor - 6,500 (+12000) 
Taylor is another guy who's very short off the tee. And yet he's ranked 20th on Tour in SG: Approach. And 12th in greens in regulation. Taylor has always done his best work on shorter tracks. He's won at Pebble, the WMPO, the Sony and his native Canadian Open.

Brian Campbell - $6,000 (+25000) 
As we always say in these limited-field, no-cut events, feel free to take a big swing or two. You're guaranteed four rounds. Campbell is priced as low as you can go, and that's probably where he deserves to be in this field. He is ranked 185th on Tour in driving distance, and that just puts him at such a disadvantage. But not this week. He's ranked top-10 on Tour in fairways hit and SG: Around-the-Green. He's top-50 in Approach. Really, you don't even need a high finish out of Campbell to justify his price.

Agree with these recommendations? See how they stack up alongside other golfers in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.