The American Express 2021 | PGA Tour
Grab your shades, trim your mullets, and pull on your throwback satin baseball jackets cause Longshot SZN has kicked in the door this week. The PGA Tour has landed in La Quinta, CA for The American Express. Let’s get you set to see some green screens on DraftKings this weekend.Â
What's up golf addicts! AC here, checking in week to week to provide a quick recap of the latest Tour Junkies podcast. I won't cover all of the picks and insight (you need to listen to the show) but I'll give you a few.
Na na na na, hey hey hey hey, hope you got paid. Congrats to all the Kevin Na backers last week. Mr. Walk It In was on fire during the Sony Open and fed young stud, Joaquin Niemann, his second straight runner-up finish.
This week we are back on the mainland and kick off the California swing. The Amex will look quite a bit different this week however, as the usual pro-am has been ditched due to the Covid-19 pandemic, along with the third course in the rotation. La Quinta CC is out with the field splitting the first two rounds between the Pete Dye PGA West Stadium course and the Jack Nicklaus Tournament course before returning to the Stadium course on the weekend.
The 2020 champ, Andrew Landry, is back to defend his title with what looked to be a solid field joining him. Unfortunately, world #2, John Rahm, has withdrawn but the likes of Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, and Sungjae Im will keep the fire lit. A full field of 156 has gathered with the top 65 and ties playing on the weekend.
PGA WEST Course(s) Preview
Though we only get shotlink data from one of the courses (Stadium), Jack Nicklaus designs tend to feature similar layouts. Jack’s Tournament course plays as a par 72, just under 7,200 yards. The Stadium course is a bit shorter by about 30 yards and is also a par 72. Both courses are pretty easy compared to the scoring average but Jack’s course is slightly easier than Pete’s.
Both legendary architects force players to put their balls in the right spot or suffer the consequences which usually means water, sand, trees, or rough. With La Quinta CC no longer in the mix it is unlikely that the score gets up to Patrick Reed’s record of -28 when he won in 2015. Hell, even Andrew Landry got to -26 last year. Conditions are expected to be decent with a softer course to kick off the week so -20 should be good for the win.
Driving accuracy and greens in regulation are lower than average at the Stadium course which means fairways gained and approach will be key this week. Mix in some tee to green and ball striking specialists with a healthy portion of opportunities gained. A dash of birdies or better, a sprinkle of par 5 scoring, and a pinch of par 3 scoring should finish off the recipe.
The Picks & Fades
Each week we will give you a play and a fade from each DraftKings salary range.Â
$9k+:Â
DB: Play - Patrick Cantlay | Fade - Matt Wolff
Pat: Play - Patrick Reed | Fade - Patrick Cantlay
AC: Play - Russell Henley, Sungjae Im, Brooks Koepka | Fade - Kevin Na
$8k:
DB: Play - Adam Long | Fade - Cam Champ
Pat: Play - Sam Burns | Fade - Adam Hadwin
AC: Play - Si Woo Kim, Sam Burns | Fade - Adam Hadwin
$7k:
DB: Play - Sepp Straka | Fade - Joel Dahmen
Pat: Play - Emiliano Grillo | Fade - Alex Noren
AC: Play - Cam Davis, Sepp Straka, James Hahn | Fade - Lucas Glover
$6k:Â
DB: Play - Scott Stallings, Martin Laird, Mark Hubbard
Pat: Play - Kramer Hickok, Nate Lashley
AC: Play - Doug Ghim, Will Gordon, Luke List
OUT: DJ Trahan, Branden Grace, Ryan Brehm, John Rahm, KJ Choi, HV3, Sebastien Munoz, Brendon Todd,
IN: Michael Gellerman, Rafael Campos, John Senden, Brandon Hagy, Ben Martin, Tim Wilkinson, Chris Baker, Ben Taylor, Fabian Gomez, Scott Stallings, Matt Jones
Field of 156; No Monday Qualifier
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