Cash Lineup Review: Genesis Scottish Open

Our Adam Levitan devised a tried-and-true method for reviewing his NFL DFS cash lineups every week. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My goal here is simply to apply Adam’s structure to PGA DFS cash lineups.

To steal directly from Adam, I play around 50-75% of my action each week in “cash games.” Cash games refer to any contest in which roughly 50% of the field gets paid out, such as head-to-heads, double-ups, or 50/50s. 

Each week, I’ll review my cash-game lineup in this space. Sometimes I’ll lose, but hopefully I’ll win more often. Either way, I’ll post it here and give you my thought process. For more on PGA cash-game strategy, see my How to Beat PGA DFS Cash Games article.

The PGA Tour headed to the UK this week to partner with the DP World Tour for the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. As this was an event hosted by both the PGA Tour and the DPWT, LIV players who had status on the DPWT were also eligible to compete. Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and others all participated, making the field one of the strongest we’ve seen all season in a no-cut, full-field event.

Reviewing my Cash Lineup Review from last year’s Scottish Open,  I really liked the specific approach I took (shout-out to me). To summarize:

1. Weather is especially impactful in coastal, links golf. We were projecting a significant wave split in favor of the PM/AM wave, where there was the potential for Friday morning to have the only calm conditions of the week. Last year, I was only willing to play golfers in a single wave; this year, I wasn’t going to completely rule out the AM/PM wave, but I wanted to strongly favor it. Although our projections already have wind impacts fully baked into each golfer’s range of outcomes, I’m willing to double-count wind impacts in cash games, as I’m much more concerned with floor outcomes than ceiling cases.
2. Links golf emphasizes different skill sets than typical PGA Tour courses, and numerous American professionals have commented on the importance of experience when it comes to success on links. Once again, our projections already accounted for each golfer’s history on links, but I was willing to double-count for floor purposes.
3. A large portion of the field was from the DPWT. I only considered PGA Tour players for cash purposes, as I wanted to ensure I was playing golfers who are comfortable competing against the best in the world weekly.
4. I always prioritize ball striking in cash games because it can minimize volatility. I prioritized it yet again this week, but I was more open to playing golfers who can be a little erratic off the tee. As McKinley pointed out in his Course Preview column, it’s difficult to lose your ball off the tee at The Renaissance Club.

Altogether, I wanted to be especially picky this week, considering even more factors than I would for a normal PGA Tour slate. And because the field was so strong, I had plenty of options to choose from.

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