PGA PrizePicks for the CJ Cup

PrizePicks offers a different way to play fantasy sports than simply building a lineup of different golfers on a salary. There are different categories of props and matchups, which are not often offered anywhere else.

PrizePicks has birdie matchups, fairways hit, greens in regulation, score and occasionally scoring on set holes on the course. These props are set up for single-round action allowing you to adjust as you go and get more information as the tournament progresses. Occasionally, such as for majors, PrizePicks will offer “holes played,” which basically picks golfers to make or miss the cut, in which case the props will take place over the first two rounds.

If you have never played on Prize Picks or want more background, I highly suggest reading this article by FTN’s Tyler Loechner on how it works. It’s a great breakdown of how the site works.

Now, let’s get into the picks for this week.

CJ Cup Round 1 Picks

Viktor Hovland Over Cam Davis (BoB Matchup)

Hovland looked strong to start the year last week, as he secured his first top-five finish of the season in his first tournament appearance. Now he takes on the Congaree Golf Club, which should play right into the hands of elite ballstrikers live Hovland. Over the last year, Hovland is fifth in this field in BoB% and his long-term Strokes Gained profile proves him to be one of the best ballstrikers in the field, ranking 3rd over the last two years. He has seen a slight decline over his last 6 months, but last week during his strong performance we had no Stroke Gained data so that is likely not telling the full story. The turnaround seems imminent for one of the world’s best young golfers.

Rory McIlroy Over 4.5 Birdies or Better

A course that benefits long hitters off-the-tee? Of course the first place I looked was at Rory. We haven’t seen much from this course, but it did play host to the Palmetto Championship last year, and while the field was not necessarily star-studded, we did have the winning score finish at -11. However, it is a par 71 with three par 5s and one short par 4 that could potentially be driveable for Rory, so if he takes advantage of those holes like he should, over 4.5 BoB should be well within reason. 

Matt Fitzpatrick Over Kevin Kisner (BoB Matchup)

I love Kis, but this course is going to require distance that he simply does not have, and we all know Fitzpatrick has gone above and beyond and creating distance for himself over the last year or so.