PGA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer: Genesis Scottish Open (2023)

The 2023 Genesis Scottish Open is set to get underway from Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. This will be the fifth consecutive event hosted at Renaissance, which has ceded a variety of winning scorecards, with Xander Schauffele attempting to defend his title, going just -7-under-par to defeat Kurt Kitayama by a stroke one year ago.

The field is loaded with eight of the world’s top ten golfers, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, along with Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, and Rickie Fowler to name a few. From a DFS perspective, we’re landing quite a bit of value in the lower salary brackets, which usually tends to be the difference between cashing a contest and losing all return on investment. Plenty of blue-chip prospects abound as well, with some players getting overlooked, creating value even in the higher salary brackets.

Renaissance Club will be explored in-depth shortly, but it’s safe to say that this course is won with ball striking. That means sharp, precise irons that reward players with looks at par breakers and par savers, depending on the lie and the particular hole. Putting is always an advantage, but avoiding the deep walled sand traps, tall fescue, and coastal Scottish winds will be the most obvious hazards to overcome. Winning scorecards have bounced around quite a bit at this venue since it began hosting the Genesis Scottish Open in 2019, with Schauffele only reaching -7-under-par for his title in 2022. Australia’s Min Woo Lee scorched the course with -18-under-par in 2021, preceded by Englishman Aaron Rai, who won at -11-under-par in 2020, and Austrian Bernd Weisberger, who scored the lowest here at -22-under-par back in 2019.

Before we find out which players to target during DFS lineup construction on DraftKings and FanDuel, let’s briefly recap previous winners, a few relevant betting stats, and dive into the Renaissance Club course overview to get a better framework for understanding how players will succeed, or fail, on this links course. There are only a handful of events left in the PGA Tour’s regular season, so in a co-sanctioned event alongside 75 players from Europe’s DP World Tour, expect the irons and putters to be dialed in as players jockey to improve their standing in the OWGR and FedExCup rankings. As always, best of luck, and let’s cash these DFS contests at the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open!

2023 Genesis Scottish Open DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer

Previous Winners

2022 – Xander Schauffele (-7)
2021 – Min Woo Lee (-18)
2020 – Aaron Rai (-11)
2019 – Bernd Weisberger (-22)
2018 – Brandon Stone (-20)

Relevant Betting Stats

Strokes Gained Approaching the Green
Total Driving
Total Putting
Scrambling
Hole Proximity
Sand Save percentage
Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green

Course Overview

Played as a par 70, Renaissance Club opened in 2007, designed by Tom Doak. While it’s a relatively new course, it integrated the links style course that is a staple of British golf. Most trees were removed during the initial design, however, Doak and team left a few trees for strategic purposes, as most fairways are doglegged with the signature deep bunker traps with intimidating walls to overcome errant tee shots and approach shots. It runs under 7,300 yards and features three par 3s and three par 5s, despite being a par 70 course.

The rough stands at only two and a half inches, but the tall fescue will create challenging lies in certain areas. The biggest hazard to overcome will be the coastal winds, which was intentional based on the location and design of Doak’s Renaissance Club course. However, in recent years, we’ve seen calm conditions translate to super low scorecards. Fescue greens will only run 11-11.5 feet via the Stimpmeter, which is up to two feet slower than the bentgrass surfaces we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on the PGA Tour. The surface area of the greens is bigger than normal, which tends to downplay the importance of greens in regulation, favoring hole proximity instead. However, scrambling and GIR remain key skills to generate par breakers and bounce back efforts, especially with windy, wet conditions forecast for much of the tournament.

Recommended Plays: DraftKings

DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000

Tommy Fleetwood: $9,400
After logging a T4 finish at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open, expect Tommy Fleetwood to be dialed in seeking another strong finish to earn his first career outright win on the PGA Tour. While the 32-year-old Englishman has won six times on the DP World Tour, who will have 75 players competing in this field, Fleetwood fell short of his first PGA win against Nick Taylor during a four-hole playoff loss at the RBC Canadian Open a few weeks ago.

Fleetwood has all the metrics to indicate he’s fit for this course, ranking seventh in total strokes gained, including seventh tee-to-green, seventh around the green, and 29th putting. Plus, Fleetwood is ranked second in birdie or better percentage when going for greens, along with 19th scrambling. He’s built to win at a links course like Renaissance, so don’t miss out on his ability to deliver a high floor with a high ceiling. Plug Fleetwood into lineups at a relatively good value on DraftKings.

Jordan Spieth: $9,300
I’m staying in the $9,000 salary range on DraftKings to recommend Jordan Spieth as the next quality piece to our lineups. The 29-year-old Texas native logged a T10 finish at this event in 2022, with wildly different results in each round. While it hasn’t been his best year on the PGA Tour, Spieth has spent close to a month off to rehab his wrist, while practicing for this specific event ahead of the fourth major at Royal Liverpool during the Open Championship next week.

He’s missed three cuts in his last five events, but he did manage a T5 at the Memorial Tournament, against a field that was particularly loaded due to its designated event status. Spieth is a high-risk, high-reward player most weeks, but I feel confident in his upside during his return to Renaissance Club. After all, he’s ranked inside the top 50 for every strokes gained metric, excluding putting, where he’s 70th. Spieth is ranked 11th in bounce back, 39th in par breakers, and 21st in scoring average this season. Make sure to roster Spieth as much as you can during your lineup builds on DraftKings.

Aaron Rai: $7,800
2020 Genesis Scottish Open winner, Aaron Rai, returns to attempt another run at an outright victory. The 28-year-old Englishman is familiar with links courses, plus he’s one of the purest ball strikers on the PGA Tour this season. Rai has generated 18-22 birdies in each of his previous three events played, which is a great sign of his consistency and ability to finish on the greens. He’s ranked 24th strokes gained tee-to-green, 36th approaching the green, and 33rd total driving.

His putter is a liability, but Rai’s ability to find greens in regulation at a 69.5 percent rate keeps him near the top of most leaderboards. Despite having a below-average putter, Rai is ranked 11th in total birdies (328) this season, while also ranking 27th in bounce back percentage. His scoring dips in the final round, but we’ve seen two T10 finishes in his last three events, including a T3, so Rai is heating up at the perfect time. Treat him as a high-floor salary-saving prospect with the upside to cash contests in this cheap $7,000 salary range.

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Recommended Plays: FanDuel

FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000

Xander Schauffele: $11,800
It’s hard to argue against Xander Schauffele’s consistency. The Californian has logged five consecutive T25 finishes, including two T10s, entering this event as the defending champion. We don’t have to worry about Schauffele missing the cut, which is nice, but he also buries birdies, logging 19-25 of them in three of his past five events played. Schauffele is another player with strong irons and putting ability, ranking sixth in total strokes gained, including 11th tee-to-green, fourth approaching the green, and sixth putting.

He’s a solid driver, hits over 68 percent of greens in regulation, and is also 41st in scrambling. Any time a player has the fifth lowest scoring at this point in the PGA season, combined with 4.25 birdies per round, we must prioritize inserting them into our lineups. Such is the case for Schauffele, who is worth every penny of his $11,800 salary on FanDuel.

Matt Fitzpatrick: $10,800
I’m consistently targeting British golfers who grew up playing on links courses like Renaissance Club. After all, we saw Matt Fitzpatrick log a T6 finish here a year ago, shaking off a +1 opening round with a -4-under-par scorecard in the second round. Yes, he leveled out towards the end, but the 28-year-old Englishman already has an outright win at the RBC Heritage a couple of months ago.

In addition, Fitzpatrick ranks inside the top 25 for strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting, while ranking 17th in scrambling. His putter can get hot quickly, while his irons tend to remain sharp throughout most tournaments. We’re paying up to get Fitzpatrick on FanDuel at $10,800, but it will be well worth the investment once he secures his fifth T10 finish of the season come Sunday afternoon.

Keith Mitchell: $8,600
I’ll go on the record saying I’m not the biggest Keith Mitchell believer, however, he’s equipped to go on a run with a strong putter and good irons. The 31-year-old American has four T10 finishes this season and logged a T36 finish at Renaissance Club in 2022, overcoming two +3 rounds with a final -4-under-par round to climb the leaderboard. It hasn’t been the best year for Mitchell in terms of finishes on the PGA Tour, falling outside the top 25 in four of his previous five events, but he does some things well enough to consider being plugged in as a salary-saver in FanDuel lineups.

Mitchell ranks fifth strokes gained off-the-tee, second in total driving, and 23rd going for the green. His putting is fine, ranked 43rd in total putting and top-50 in birdie or better conversion rate. He’s collected 16-21 birdies in each of his previous events, including at the U.S. Open, so Mitchell’s game is stronger than his recent finishes indicate. We’re taking a chance here, but I’m a believer in Mitchell’s fit at a tough links course this week, expecting a T25 finish to build upon his strong final round at Renaissance a year ago.

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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.