Matt Jones's Articles

Scottie Scheffler has opened up a commanding five-stroke lead as we head into the second round of the Tour Championship. The leaderboard behind Scheffler is bunched up, with a dozen other golfers at 6-under or better. Those scores include the starting strokes for this format, though, and that’s not exactly what we’re interested in. Matt […]

We’ve reached the finale of the PGA Tour season as the last 30 golfers standing tee off for the Tour Championship Thursday. East Lake is a par-70 course that plays right around 7,300 yards. It’s right outside of Atlanta. I can guarantee with absolute certainty that there won’t be any wave advantage because, well, there […]

We have a tie at the top of the leaderboard for the FedEx St. Jude Championship with one round in the books. Si Woo Kim and JJ Spaun came out firing on Thursday with 8-under rounds. There were 16 other golfers that shot 5-under or better, so there were plenty of scoring opportunities to be […]

The PGA Tour playoffs are officially here. The tour tees off at TPC Southwind on Thursday to get the race for the FedEx Cup underway. TPC Southwind a mid-length Par 70.  It doesn’t appear that there will be much of a weather advantage for the first round. There’s a chance of a passing shower and […]

The first round is on the books over on the LIV Tour. Henrik Stenson and Patrick Reed sit atop the leaderboard after opening round 64s. They sit two strokes clear of Phachara Khongwatmai and the rest of the field thru 18 holes.  With no waves given the smaller field, there’s no weather advantages to be […]

We had a nice day to start things off at the Rocket Mortgage. The morning wave played about 1.25 strokes easier than the afternoon wave and Michael Thompson carded a 6-under for the second-best round of the day. As far as weather concerns go, things look a bit more equitable on Friday.  Tony Finau took […]

The PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic tees off Thursday. We’re used to plenty of scoring at this track with tournament-winning scores at 18-under or better in all three years of this course hosting. If the forecast below holds up, there will be a wave advantage for your round 1 showdown contests.    I’d personally exclude […]

The first round is in the books at St. Andrews and we have some shocking names towards the top of the leaderboard. Guys like Robert Dinwiddie and Barclay Brown (yes, those are both real names) are in the Top 5 heading into Friday’s second round.    We’re looking at another tame weather day for the […]

The 150th Open Championship is set to tee off, and there are plenty of solid prize pools available for DFS showdown contests Thursday. With first-round showdown contests, we’re always going to rely on our baseline projections. You can find our projections within the optimizer to build your lineups and manage your exposures.    Before we get […]

TPC River Highlands showed about as much teeth as a minor league hockey player on Thursday. There were nine golfers that carded a 5-under or better, including  8-under performances from Rory McIlroy and JT Poston.      With no weather to speak of, we can go ahead and just play the best plays. Easy game!  […]

We love a nice four-day sweat with weeklong PGA DFS contests like we get this week for the Travelers Championship. The only thing better, though, is the instant gratification of the showdown sweat.   We don’t have many issues to speak of with the weather. The gusts will calm down slightly as the day goes […]

Tony Finau and Rory McIlroy are tied for the lead two strokes ahead of a quartet at T3. The afternoon wave had an easier go at the course today. It was worth about 0.37 strokes/round.  That isn’t adjusted for skill, though, so it was likely a bit closer than that.    It appears that there […]

Wyndham Clark will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend over an interesting quintet. On the one hand, you have Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick. Two high pedigree golfers. On the other hand, you have Alex Smalley, Keith Mitchell, and Jim Knous.      The wind largely looks like a non-issue tomorrow. There are some […]

We’re heading into the final round with three rounds of data to take a lot at how the course has been playing thus far.  We can make any adjustments we find necessary if we find it playing much differently compared to our pre-tournament thoughts.     The leaders will get some of the heaviest winds […]

The PGA Tour is turning its attention to Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament. It’s a long par 72 measuring over 7,500 yards. The course features 68 bunkers and there are a whopping 13 holes where water comes into play.   Our goal in this piece here is to highlight […]

We came into today with a logjam towards the top of the leaderboard. Scottie Scheffler, as has been the trademark of 2022, decided to pull away from the field a bit in Round 3. He only managed a 2-under round but it was good enough to separate himself from the field by two strokes.    […]

After an exciting finish to the PGA Championship, we’re heading back to Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge. Last week, we were faced with a new track (and therefore a lack of data) but we have no such issue this week. Colonial Country Club has hosted this event since 1946 so we have a pretty […]

Mito Pereira has a commanding three-stroke lead as we head into the final round on Sunday.      Behind him, there’s a trio of golfers within four strokes of the lead. The ball is firmly in Pereira’s court. I’m going to continue my format from the Round 2 article and give you a few cores […]

The first round of play is wrapping up with Rory McIlroy on top after his 5-under opening round. Lucas Herbert could potentially tie or overtake him for the first-round lead if he finishes his last three holes in 2-under or better. We’re going to take a look at strokes gained in a couple of ways […]

The PGA Championship tees off Thursday. With a course we’ve never seen before, it can be daunting trying to analyze what to expect. However, if we lean on the volatility of these golfers, we can find some high ceilings and see how everything shakes out come Sunday.    As we work our way through the […]

A quick look at the top of the leaderboard will show you that this tournament is still very much up for grabs. Sebastian Munoz sits at 21-under heading into the final round with Jordan Spieth just a stroke behind. After him, you have names like Joaquin Niemann, Justin Thomas, and Scottie Scheffler all within five […]

After 18 holes, this looked like a runaway victory for Sebastian Munoz. But as we’ve come to learn, they play 72 holes for a reason. Munoz lost strokes on approach while Ryan Palmer and David Skinns took that opening to pull into a three-way tie for the lead. There are 19 total golfers at 10-under […]

We’re back at it again this week for the AT&T Byron Nelson. We’re a week out from the next PGA major of the year, and guys are looking to get their game into form for next week. It’s pretty normal to see a few random ejections in weeks like this so we should be targeting […]

After a tumultuous day, we have Keegan Bradley with a two-stroke 54-hole lead. Bradley and Max Homa will be in the final group at 8-under and 6-under, respectively. There are only three other golfers within five strokes of the lead. Finding ways to get golfers into your lineup from that group should be important given […]

In completely normal and expected news, Jason Day is leading a professional golf tournament in the year 2022. The Australian has slipped outside the Top 125 golfers in the world and is coming into this tourney with a string of three straight missed cuts. So, a first-round lead is exactly what we all were anticipating. […]

The field’s first look at the course provided plenty of birdie opportunities on Thursday. Exactly 20 golfers shot five-under or better, including six golfers tied for the first-round lead at 7-under.  Jon Rahm Brendon Todd Trey Mullinax Kurt Kitayama Jonathan Byrd Bryson Nimmer     In these birdie-fest type contests, it’s easy to fall in […]

After a week off for the team event, the volatility report is back for the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open. We have a new course, a weak field, and a whole bunch of questions heading into this week. That typically means that people want to get into their comfort zone and go with “safe” golfers. We’re […]

Harold Varner had the round of the day and holds the 54-hole lead. It feels like months since we’ve had a crowded leaderboard at the top heading into Sunday. That means that rostership might not be quite as concentrated as we’ve seen in recent weeks with the leaders.      I’m looking at golfers between […]

As we head into the weekend, Patrick Cantlay is clear of the field by two strokes at the RBC Heritage. There are 21 other golfers within five strokes of the lead, though, and there’s plenty of golf left to be played. Robert Streb is the closest chaser, just two strokes back of Cantlay.      […]

We’re turning the page after an exciting Masters Tournament and moving to the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. As things stand, we should have an exciting field barring any last-minute WDs.    As we work our way through the beginning of the season, this piece will change, but it will always highlight the […]

Scottie Scheffler is trying to make the final 36 holes a mere formality on the way to his first green jacket. He’s now clear of the field by a handful of strokes thanks to a stellar round today. Scheffler went 4-under on the back nine to extend his lead heading into the weekend. There’s a […]

The DFS Volatility Report, much like the Masters, is a tradition unlike any other.  As we work our way through the beginning of the season, this piece will change, but it will always highlight the volatility of the golfers in a given field for that week. The reason for that is we are targeting outsized […]