Betting and DFS Top 15: Rocket Mortgage Classic (2024)
Overview
After the last couple of weeks evaluating the top players in the world it is back to the nitty-gritty work of evaluating the guys in the background. People that were value picks last week are this week’s front runners. Players that have struggled all year might become top value picks. It is difficult to discern who will step up in a weak field, but myself and the Oracle will try our best.
Will try to update based on withdrawals and new adds to field.
The Oracle Model’s Top 15
Akshay Bhatia (DFS Salary: $9,800 | Outright Winner: +2200 | Top 10 Finish: +240)
Davis Thompson (DFS Salary: $8,300 | Outright Winner: +3500 | Top 10 Finish: +360)
Maverick McNealy (DFS Salary: $8,900 | Outright Winner: +2800 | Top 10 Finish: +300)
Will Zalatoris (DFS Salary: $9,200 | Outright Winner: +3000 | Top 10 Finish: +350)
Keith Mitchell (DFS Salary: $8,500 | Outright Winner: +3000 | Top 10 Finish: +330)
Aaron Rai (DFS Salary: $8,800 | Outright Winner: +3000 | Top 10 Finish: +300)
Alex Noren (DFS Salary: $10,200 | Outright Winner: +2800 | Top 10 Finish: +300)
Aaron Baddeley (DFS Salary: $5,300 | Outright Winner: +35000 | Top 10 Finish: +2200)
Peter Malnati (DFS Salary: $6,100 | Outright Winner: +20000 | Top 10 Finish: +1600)
Doug Ghim (DFS Salary: $6,900 | Outright Winner: +9000 | Top 10 Finish: +750)
Min Woo Lee (DFS Salary: $10,500 | Outright Winner: +2000 | Top 10 Finish: +230)
Matt Kuchar (DFS Salary: $6,100 | Outright Winner: +25000 | Top 10 Finish: +1600)
Kevin Dougherty (DFS Salary: $5,500 | Outright Winner: +30000 | Top 10 Finish: +2200)
Andrew Novak (DFS Salary: $6,700 | Outright Winner: +11000 | Top 10 Finish: +900)
Mark Hubbard (DFS Salary: $7,700 | Outright Winner: +7000 | Top 10 Finish: +600)
Current Form Top 5
Tom Kim (DFS Salary: $11,000 | Outright Winner: +1200 | Top 10 Finish: +160)
Davis Thompson (DFS Salary: $8,300 | Outright Winner: +3500 | Top 10 Finish: +360)
Maverick McNealy (DFS Salary: $8,900 | Outright Winner: +2800 | Top 10 Finish: +300)
Aaron Rai (DFS Salary: $8,800 | Outright Winner: +3000 | Top 10 Finish: +300)
Matt Wallace (DFS Salary: $7,400 | Outright Winner: +5000 | Top 10 Finish: +500)
Front-Runners
The front runners this week are typically a little cheaper than at the moment. No Tom Kim or Cameron Young in the Oracle Model. It feels like both are storming their way into this one with Kim being the current form champ and Young shooting a sub-60 round just days ago, but the Oracle is calling for the fade route. Here’s a look at some of the higher salaried guys the Oracle has circled:
Akshay Bhatia (Oracle Rank: 1 | Current Form: 27 | Salary: $9,800)
Bhatia has been excellent his past three tournaments with three top-25 finishes including a tied-5th place finish last week. He only appears in the Scoring Average top-10 for the key stats, and is putting is a close 16th place in the field. But his current form is good enough to get him solid looks to bury this week. I like Bhatia to continue his hot form, so get ready for the fade folks.
Maverick McNealy (Oracle Rank: 3 | Current Form: 3 | Salary: $8,900)
As mentioned in the key stats page, Maverick McNealy is becoming a favorite of mine. I don’t know if it is because his name is Maverick, or if it is the fact I stared at his name at the top of the SG: Putting page a heck of a lot while gathering the data. Unconscious bias or something. But, being sub-$9000, a solid current form, and an excellent short game, McNealy is looking at a strong chance to build his fandom.
Min Woo Lee (Oracle Rank: 11 | Current Form: 8 | Salary: $10,500)
Min Woo Lee is probably listed here because he hits absolute bombs off the tee. His short game and putting is middle of the pack for the field, and his approach game needs to be a whole lot better. To be honest, at that high of a salary, I am looking at the more middle-management salaried guys like McNealy, Zalatoris, Mitchell, and/or Rai. However, his current form might be intriguing to you with four top-25 finishes in his last five and the missed one being a 26th place finish.
Value Picks
If you are a value pick in this tournament, it likely means your season is not going according to plan. Luckily for us drafters, we probably do not need to draft as many with less higher salaried options. But, we all know these picks can make or a break a DFS week. So, hopefully we can identify the right support player. I discussed Aaron Baddeley in the key stats page so here are some other guys:
Peter Malnati (Oracle Rank: 9 | Current Form: 102 | Salary: $6,100)
Malnati feels like someone to avoid as a true value pick. Nothing in his current form suggests he is trending towards a good tournament. The one positive would be his decent short game and putting ability. But, nowhere near any top-25 finishes in his last five. If you blindly follow the Oracle and like a cheap player all the power to you but I am not going with Malnati this week in my main lineup.
Doug Ghim (Oracle Rank: 10 | Current Form: 37 | Salary: $6,900)
Ghim intuitively makes a little bit more sense, given he is a little bit closer to some strong finishes (still no top-25 finishes in the last five). His game has been pretty good all-around outside of his putting which needs to improve. He is not my top value pick but worth a shot.
Andrew Novak (Oracle Rank: 14 | Current Form: 18 | Salary: $6,700)
Novak to me is looking like the top value pick for the week. His most recent finish was T14 at the RBC Canadian Open. His off the tee form is pretty good. He hasn’t been perfect, which no one near this price is, with a weak approach and putting game recently. So, I am definitely taking a risk labeling him the top value pick but I just think the time away combined with the positive form he left in should be the lead up to a solid week.
Kevin Dougherty (Oracle Rank: 13 | Current Form: 94 | Salary: $5,500)
Dougherty, like Baddeley, is a sub-$6,000 salaried player. He really is someone only to look at if you want to stack your lineup with high salary players. Four missed cuts in his last five, and the only positive thing going for him is his off the tee ability. Long-shot for sure.
