You would be surprised as to how many players cannot recite the rules from memory.  These are individuals who literally couldn’t explain detailed DraftKings scoring, but I’m certain could rock out to some garbage Proclaimers song with their windows down screaming they’d walk 500 miles.  If you don’t know the rules, how are you going to win?

The focus is always finishing position, and while it is nice to have the winner in your lineups…it isn’t the absolute way to guarantee a victory in a multi-entry tournament.  Don’t get me wrong finishing position is very important.  Who wouldn’t want an additional 14 pts for a player who only costs 6.5K and finishes in 5^th place?  But the finishing position is going to correlate highly with the scoring, but not always.

Scoring is the most important aspect for DraftKings.  The premium within its own rules makes it a priority to seek out those that can get birdie or better.  We have seen this before.  Someone like Finau or Mickelson end up becoming top 5 in DK scoring, but barely crack the top 20 in place at a particular tournament.  The reason is that the penalty for a bogey is so minimal.

Think of it this way.  Let’s assume that two golfers are playing a par-72.  If one golfer plays steady enough to score 14 pars, 2 birdies and 2 bogeys we get a DraftKings score of 12 points for the round.  The second golfer takes risks.  Loves going for the green in 2 on par-5’s.  He shoots a score of 72 but does it with 12 pars, 1 Eagle, 2 birdies and 3 bogeys.  While both players will be in the exact same position in the standings the second player dominated the other with a DraftKings score of 18.5 points for the round.

The point being is that you want to attack this upside for most slates simply because scoring is at a premium.  On top of that you could always have someone with that type of upside go on a bridie streak which will give you an additional 3 points as well.

Therefore, playing safe in a tournament isn’t the way to go.  We talk about the 6K Monsters and Guarantee’s on the Cutline, and the point is to get those golfers who have that upside to crush the course.  We are taking a risk rostering a player of that caliber.  Yet, the rationale is to take the utmost advantage of DraftKings scoring and how minimal the penalty for a bogey is.

Of course, if a player is terrible that weekend it is going to reflect in your lineups come Sunday.  Yet, these principles can be applied for the weekend slates and even showdowns.  Look for the players that have that scorer’s mentality and love to play dangerously and sometimes off the cuff.