Slate Breakdown | The Fortinet Championship
Welcome to the fall swing. For those who love the PGA TOUR, no matter who's playing in the event, the early series of tournaments over the next two months is your calling card. This year, even more so than in years past, we can expect very few stars to be competing each week with the new format of the PGA TOUR.
With the top 50 being assured their status for the 2023-2024 season, those players have no FedEx Cup incentive to play in these events. So, before we dive into the Fortinet Championship breakdown, let's go over the fall schedule that makes up the fall swing and where DraftKings Reignmaker PGA TOUR contests will be offered.
- Fortinet Championship -- Sept. 14-17
- Ryder Cup- Sept. 25-28
- Sanderson Farms Championship -- Oct. 5-8
- Shriners Children's Open -- Oct. 12-15
- Zozo Championship -- Oct. 19-22
- World Wide Technology Championship -- Nov. 2-5
- Butterfield Bermuda Championship -- Nov. 9-12
- RSM Classic -- Nov. 16-19
- Hero World Challenge- DEC 5-8
The two bolded events have very limited fields, with fewer than 25 golfers to choose from in the player pool. However, the 20 or so golfers teeing it up are likely to be among the best in the world. So, there will still be at least two more events this season where cards for golfers like Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm (and more) will be usable. The other seven events, however, will have very similar fields to this week’s Fortinet Championship field, which we will dive into now!
The Tournament
Commencing the fall season as it has for years, this tournament traditionally draws a mix of established PGA TOUR professionals and emerging talents. This year's expected field reflects this diversity. However, it's worth noting that some of these emerging talents likely don't have Reignmakers cards at this time, so we won't delve too deeply into their prospects.
The Course
The TPC Silverado North Course, designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., is the host of the Fortinet Championship, formerly known as the Safeway Open, in Napa, California. This picturesque par-72 course is nestled in the heart of Wine Country and offers a challenging layout with tree-lined fairways and undulating terrain. With yardage that typically measures around 7,100 to 7,200 yards depending on the course setup, the course challenges professional golfers with a mix of narrow fairways, strategically placed bunkers, and tricky Bermuda grass greens.
- Driving Accuracy: 46.8%
- Greens In Regulation: 66%
The Slate
All Fall swing events will have a $175,000 prize pool broken out across the five Tiers. The top prize for this week's event is $5,000 at the ELITE and REIGNMAKER tiers.
The Golfers
A full field this week will visit Napa, with over 140 golfers set to compete. For the Reignmaker side, we've got roughly 115, led by two-time defending champion, Max Homa. Other recognizable names making the trip include Justin Thomas, who looks to continue his solid play over the last few events and take momentum into the Ryder Cup in a few weeks. Thomas was given a bit of a free pass onto that team after his worst season on tour since his rookie year, failing to make the playoffs. It was quite a shock to everybody in the golf world, but given that he was about an inch away from making the playoffs after playing very well at the Wyndham Championship, I'm not ready to throw JT to the Wolves quite yet. Other recognizable names include Sahith Theegala, Cam Davis, and Steven Jaeger.
Check out these golfers and more on the new Player Profile page by clicking here.
Three-Ball: 3 DraftKings Reignmakers PGA TOUR Targets
Before we get to our trio of targets, it's important to note that those looking for the most utility over the next two weeks from their PGA cards would have to be adding either Max Homa or Justin Thomas at this point. They're the only two golfers who will tee it up this week and also participate in Rome in two weeks at the Ryder Cup. Furthermore, given the fact that there are only going to 18 of the 24 golfers competing in that tournament for your Reignmaker lineups, missing three from each side, including Jordan Spieth and Ludvig Aberg, their utility is even higher, especially if payout structures remain the same.
The following three golfers should be good additions to strengthen lineups this week.
Justin Suh
One of the only golfers in the field to have teed it up over the last month, here this week in Napa is Justin Suh. He made the trip over to Switzerland for the Omega European Masters tournament and had a very typical showing, coming in the top 25 while outscoring his finishing position in terms of DFS points scored, and should use that momentum to improve his history at this event.
Beau Hossler
Growing in popularity in the Rainmakers community is the Texan Beau Hossler, who was part of the Q&A chat with a PGA Tour pro hosted in the DraftKings Discord channel a few weeks ago. Hossler has not quite lived up to his full potential, given his decorated amateur career, but his solid history at this event and good form to end the season are all reasons to add him to your portfolio this week.
Eric Cole
Probably one of the best stories of the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season was now Rookie of the Year, Eric Cole. Cole, a decorated minor league golf tour pro, finally got his break on the PGA TOUR and took full advantage of it. He ended up coming in 43rd in the final FedEx Cup standings and will have full exempt status for this season. It's no surprise to see him teeing it up this week, as he played in almost every event he could last season, participating in more events than any other PGA TOUR player.
