This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Sentry Tournament of Champions
Kapalua, Maui, HI
Plantation Course at Kapalua - Par 73 - 7,596 yards
Field - 34 entrants
Purse - $6.7M
The Preview
The PGA Tour returns in merry fashion with 34 champions from the 2018-19 campaign teeing it up on Hawaii's Maui island at Kapalua's Plantation Course for the first event of the 2020 calendar year. The Plantation Course is known to hand out very inflated GIR percentages with massive greens spread throughout its par-73 layout, as the winning score this week should flirt right around 25-under-par. Windy conditions might provide somewhat of a defense, but this scorable venue figures to administer a birdie fest. Let's get right into a handful of value picks for Yahoo contests this week.
Recent Champions
2019 - Xander Schauffele
2018 - Dustin Johnson
2017 - Justin Thomas
2016 - Jordan Spieth
2015 - Patrick Reed
2014 - Zach Johnson
2013 - Dustin Johnson
2012 - Steve Stricker
2011 - Jonathan Byrd
2010 - Geoff Ogilvy
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Tee-to-Green
Proximity
Three-putt avoidance
Driving distance
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Jon Rahm - $46
Rahm is on a rampage with results of 2-Win-Win most recently at the Hero World Challenge, DP World Tour Championship and Mutuactivos Open de España, sitting behind only Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy in the Official World Golf Ranking. The Spaniard won the European Tour's 2019 Race to Dubai and has finished top-5 in six of his last eight international starts. This will mark Rahm's third consecutive appearance at the Tournament of Champions, having placed T8-2 the past two years at the venue.
Justin Thomas - $46
The fourth-ranked player in the world has notched a pair of victories at the BMW Championship and the CJ Cup since mid-August, while he leads the field in SG: Tee-to-Green over his last 50 rounds. Thomas is also a past champion at the TOC, having placed solo-third in 2019 at Kapalua as well. Additionally, Thomas has gained an average of 4.2 strokes on approach shots over his last five tourneys, and he ranked second in this metric last season.
Glue Guys
Gary Woodland - $34
Woodland, who's placed T7 or better in three of his last four starts, has not ranked outside of the top-15 on Tour in driving distance since 2012. Such power off the tee allowed Woodland to rank fifth among his peers in birdie average this past season, taking advantage of the lengthier holes as he finished fourth in par-5 scoring average. Woodland also earned runner-up honors at Kapalua in 2019, collecting a four-day total of 22-under-par.
Paul Casey - $34
Casey is a combined 24-under-par in two career appearances at the Plantation Course, but he's now coming off a top-5 performance at the Emirates Australian Open. The Englishman has gained strokes from tee to green nine of 10 measured events dating to his win at the Valspar Championship, ultimately ranking sixth on the PGA Tour in SG: T2G this past season.
Bargain Bin
Collin Morikawa - $21
The 22-year-old has rapidly ascended to a career-best 65th in the OWGR, most recently tying for fifth overseas at the Japan Tour's Dunlop Phoenix on the heels of top-25 at the Zozo Championship. Morikawa has gained strokes approach in all but one of his starts on the PGA Tour dating back to the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational, ranking second in SG: APP among this week's field over his last 24 rounds.
Adam Long - $20
Gaining an average of 2.4 strokes from tee to green over his last five tournaments, Long is riding the momentum from a T2 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic during the fall series where he racked up six birdies per round. He's also tallied five eagles throughout his last six events, further boosting his daily fantasy value this season. Despite his last name, Long isn't a power hitter but he still ranks 51st in SG: Off-the-Tee.
