Los Angeles Country Club will be the star of the show this week during the third major championship of the season.
When majors roll around it means tough course setups and the strongest of fields.
With such a strong field, there are plenty of viable options when building DFS rosters. Let’s take a look past performance in similar events to see who rises to the occasion.
Major Motivation
There has been a lot of talk about legacy in recent years and major championships are the biggest piece of that legacy equation.
With so much at stake, these events provide the toughest test, especially from a mental perspective.
Some golfers thrive under tough conditions and increased pressure while others consistently underperform.
Here are the top performers in adjusted strokes gained per round in majors, over the last two years:
Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy
Collin Morikawa
Jon Rahm
Cameron Smith
Matt Fitzpatrick
Jordan Spieth
Viktor Hovland
Xander Schauffele
Brooks Koepka
Shane Lowry
Cameron Young
Tommy Fleetwood
Hideki Matsuyama
Patrick Cantlay
We can also look at performance versus baseline to see who shows the largest increase in performance compared to their typical scores:
Collin Morikawa
Brooks Koepka
Scottie Scheffler
Cameron Young
Jordan Spieth
Shane Lowry
Francesco Molinari
Patrick Reed
Min Woo Lee
Matt Fitzpatrick
Rory McIlroy
Brian Harman
Hideki Matsuyama
Tommy Fleetwood
Viktor Hovland
Overlap List: names that show up on both lists include Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Smith, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood, and Hideki Matsuyama.
Hovland is certainly starting to announce himself as a big-game hunter with top-7 finishes in the last three majors played.
McIlroy putting himself in position
The Ulsterman had a bit of a mid-season slump but rebounded lately with three straight top 10s. He held a 54-hole co-lead at the Memorial and was T2 thru 54 holes last week. He’s still looking to snap his major drought with his last win coming at the 2014 PGA Championship. If he keeps putting himself in the mix, he’ll eventually cross that finish line again.
Morikawa to find his putter back home?
The Los Angeles native ranks 5th in strokes gained tee-to-green this season but just 143rd in putting. The flat stick is the only thing really holding him back from contending this season. On a positive note, three of his four best putting weeks this season have come in the West region. The local comfort may be enough to get that putter warmed up.
