We had yet another close call last week after 54 holes in Jackson for the Sanderson Farms Championship with DENNY BOY McCARTHY, until a 1-over round on Sunday saw his prospects of victory evaporate. The 72 hole champion ended up being the most expensive play on Draftkings, as SAMMY "THE BULL" BURNS took home the hardware.
For the next two weeks of the Fall Swing, the Tour will head out to the desert flanking SIn City for two Vegas tournaments back to back. The first of which, the Shriners Children's Open, will be played this week at TPC Summerlin as it has for the last decade+. A staple on the circuit, many of the pros have links to this area as their West Coast home base (2x winner Kevin Na, Ryan Moore, Aaron Wise, Cousin Maverick Macnealy, and Scotty P just to name a few...)
Last year it was one of our favorite journeymen, Uncle Marty Laird who reigned victorious (also for the second time). This shouldn't be a surprise considering his history here and general affinity for desert golf, particularly at high altitudes. The course itself is one of the easiest on Tour, playing as a Par 71 with wide fairways, and inviting bentgrass greens.
We get to see some of the top tier contenders return post-Ryder Cup including Brooksy, Scottie Scheff, and Viktor Hovland. There's also a plethora of mid-tier guys down the board coming in scalding hawt form who could take home the turkey. So without further adieu, here are my top value plays below $8,000 on Draftkings...
NOTE: Upon first glance, I LOVE Wolff, Chucky, and EVR just above our pricing threshold. Below $8,000 here are some others to consider:
$7,900-AARON the WISE man-admittedly-I can never get this guy right. Take that with a grain of salt, along with his two MCs here last two tries. Yet, I think there's upside to be had with the Wiseman. Prior to 2019 he had three nice finishes in a row here. He also has had a solid 2021 overall, most recently last week when we saw him lurking near the top of the leaderboard for the majority of the early rounds. For a guy who has called Vegas home (a theme we will pepper this week), we love the Oregon Duck to go on a birdie bonanza this week in the desert, much like he did at his lone tour win, at Trinity Forest for the Byron Nelson a couple seasons ago.
$7,700-MAVERICK McNEALY-next up is a staple on our Fantasy Family Tree, COUSIN MAV. We last saw the wunderkind of Silicon Valley lose on the 18th hole to Mighty Max Homa at the Fortinet in Napa. He actually eagled 18, but it was too little too late as Homa already had surpassed him coming down the stretch. So the redemption narrative is firmly in play. Couple that with the fact Mav and his girlfriend Danielle Kang are based in Nevada, studying under the esteemed (and semi-retired) Uncle Butchie Harmon, I suspect we will see the young buck peeking his head into contention yet again this week.
$7,600-TALOR GOOCH-this one's for you Rob, THE GOOCHMEISTER, from a statistical standpoint, checks all the required boxes this week. Ball-striking, approach, bentgrass putting, it all add up. The WD last week is mildly concerning, but his overall form on bent tracks in the Midwest/West coming in is very appealing. Maybe this is finally the week for the OK kid...
Let's go rapid fire here on out as there are many names to highlight, with similar cases to be made based on their track record here, and/or at correlated desert tracks:
$7K flat-Glover and Moore
Sub-$7K-aka the "Sicko Specials"
Sloan-going to win very soon...
Ghimbo Slice-Vegas baby, Vegas (Johnny Drama voice)
Adam Hadwin-the astute Sundoggie lays out a compelling case for the Canuck, and I must concur.
Scotty P-no brainer here, most Vegas guy there is.
Denny Boy-why stop now?
Watney-he definitely found something and is playing with nothing to lose. Local ties to Uncle Butchie as well.
Stuard & Taylor-likely won't win, but have fired some low ones here in the past and like putting on easy bent (don't we all?)
More to come as the week unfolds. Make sure to follow along on Twitter and Instagram @Blatant_Chief and @BlatantGolf for breaking news and analysis.
BOL!