strategy – Golfing Agency

2023 Sony Open DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy golf picks, PGA lineups, advice, strategy

detlef32 — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 19:01:31 +0000

The PGA DFS player pool will be stocked with talented golfers for the 2023 Sony Open, which gets underway on Thursday, Jan. 12. Major champions Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and Keegan Bradley headline the Sony Open 2023 field, and they’ll certainly be among the top daily Fantasy golf picks this week. Matsuyama is the defending champion of this event, Spieth is coming off a T-13 finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Bradley currently sits atop the FedExCup standings. However, daily Fantasy golf players will have to decide if they can be trusted when setting their PGA DFS strategy for the 2023 Sony Open. Before you lock in your PGA DFS picks for the 2023 Sony Open, you’ll want to see the latest daily Fantasy golf picks, advice and player pool from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.

McClure is a DFS pro with over $2 million in career winnings, and he’s been red-hot on his PGA Tour picks this season. McClure is also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every tournament 10,000 times, taking factors like statistical trends, past results and current form into account. This allows him to find the best PGA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They’re a must-see for any PGA DFS player.

Last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, McClure included Jon Rahm among his top PGA DFS picks on FanDuel and DraftKings. The result: Rahm finished on top of the leaderboard, securing his eighth PGA Tour title after shooting 27-under par. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable weekend.

In addition, McClure’s model is up over $9,500 on its best bets since June 2020, nailing tournament after tournament. This same model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now, McClure has set his sights on the 2023 Sony Open and revealed his optimal PGA DFS advice, strategy and player pool. Head to SportsLine now to see his top daily Fantasy golf picks for the Sony Open 2023.

Top 2023 Sony Open PGA DFS picks

One of McClure’s top PGA DFS picks for the 2023 Sony Open is J.T. Poston at $7,700 on DraftKings and $9,300 on FanDuel. Poston is coming off a respectable showing at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, securing a T-21 finish in Hawaii.

Poston has now finished inside the top-25 in eight of his last 11 starts on the PGA Tour. He’s been able to consistently find himself in the mix thanks to his impeccable accuracy. Poston currently ranks 20th in greens in regulation percentage (73.89%) and 29th in driving accuracy percentage (66.20%), so confidently lock him in your PGA DFS lineups and look for a big return this week at the 2023 Sony Open.

McClure’s optimal PGA DFS strategy also includes rostering Sungjae Im at $10,300 on DraftKings and $11,800 on FanDuel.

Im certainly has the game to finish near the top of the leaderboard this week. The 24-year-old has missed the cut just once in his last 11 starts on the PGA Tour, and he’s proven he can contend with the best players in the world. He secured a runner-up finish at the Tour Championship last season and he continues to be one of the most accurate players off the tee. In fact, Im ranks inside the top-25 in strokes gained: tee-to-green (1.079), strokes gained: off-the-tee (.824) and driving accuracy percentage (66.96%), all of which makes him an extremely valuable PGA DFS asset. See who else to back right here.

How to set 2023 Sony Open DFS lineups

McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who’s primed to play extremely well, giving you a huge return on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel. Picks like these could be the difference between winning your PGA DFS contests or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.

So what are the top PGA DFS picks for the 2023 Sony Open? And which undervalued golfer is a must-roster? Visit SportsLine now to see the complete PGA DFS player pool for FanDuel and DraftKings, all from the expert who’s made over $2 million in daily Fantasy sports, and find out.

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7 Key Tips to Create a Winning Golf Scramble Strategy

detlef32 — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 04:32:38 +0000

Golf scrambles are fun. They give you a way to play golf with friends and enjoy your time on the course without the same stress as you would find when playing your own ball the entire way.

As great as the golf scramble can be from the perspective of fun and games, there is also a bit of strategy involved.

If you want to win your next scramble tournament, here are the tips I have used to bring home quite a few golf scramble trophies through the years!

Background: The Rules of a Golf Scramble Tournament

The basic scramble is most commonly played; however, there are times when you may have a shamble, Texas Scramble, or even a Florida Scramble as your format of choice during a tournament. Here is what you need to know about the rules of a golf scramble tournament.

Traditional Scramble

In a traditional scramble, every player tees off. After the tee shots, the best is selected, and all players hit their shots from this location. This process is continued until you get the ball in the hole. The great thing about a traditional scramble is that you won’t need to play your ball if you hit a bad shot.

Texas Scramble or Shamble

The Texas Scramble or Shamble is where all golfers tee off, and the best shot is selected. From this point, all players will then play their own ball all the way into the hole. With this format, you play a bit more of your golf ball than you do with the Traditional Scramble format.

Florida Scramble

With a Florida Scramble, all golfers tee off, the best shot is selected, and then only three players hit their second shots. After these three shots are hit, the better one is chosen, and the player who hits that shot has to sit out. The process is then continued until the ball is in the hole.

7 Tips for a Winning Golf Scramble Strategy

Winning a golf scramble is a lot of fun. It’s a great way to play with a group of people that all have different handicaps but still get to be competitive together. When you play in a scramble, it’s all about being a great team player.

Don’t get overly worried about your own game; see what you can do to help out your team. Even the highest handicap players often have a chance in the scramble format to save the day and make their score count for the team.

1. Determine an Order

The first thing I recommend doing is establishing an order of play. You must decide who is going to go first on every hole. I like to keep the order the same throughout the entire round of golf.

Most of the time, the best way to do the order is to have the highest handicapped golfers tee off first. When high handicappers tee off and have a good shot, it eases some pressure from the lower handicap golfers.

These lower handicap golfers can now swing freely and get as much power as they can. Once a drive is in the fairway, you will have no trouble working to get some extra distance. If that doesn’t go well and the drive ends up in a bunker or the rough, you still have a straight shot to choose from.

2. Best Putter Putts Last

In addition to making sure that the best hitter goes last off the tee, make sure that the best putter goes last. When you are the best putter, your chance of making the putt is the highest.

If everyone else misses, the last player to go will have watched those three putts and can determine which way they want to play the break. When the best putter goes, there should also be one putt that is a tap-in so that they can go to the hole at full speed and really try to make it.

When playing in a scramble, you can go low, but golfers need to make some fairly long putts, and the good news is that even higher handicappers can do that from time to time.

3. Don’t Always Choose The Shortest Shot

The ball that is closest to the hole is not always the best shot. Take a look at where the pin is on the green and decide which one makes the most sense to play. If the pin is on the left side of the green, you will want to choose an approach shot from the right.

In addition, if one shot is in the rough, play the one from the fairway. Be smart about the shot you are choosing; making up for five or ten yards is not a big deal. Distance is not always the most critical thing in a scramble.

4. Don’t Always Choose The Closest Putt

When your group makes it to the putting green, you have to choose a putt that is most makeable. If you have a 10 foot putt down the hill or a 12 foot putt up the hill, the 12 foot putt is often the better choice.

Be really smart about which putts you decide to use, and make sure that it is a shot that several players in the group feel confident about making. Look at the slope, angles, and grain to determine your most significant percentage of making the putt.

The putting green is where you can earn the most strokes back after a bad hole. Take your time and be selective about your angles.

5. Alternate The Club Hit Off The Tee

One of the biggest mistakes that I have seen players make through the years is trying to have all golfers on the scramble team hit a driver off the par 4’s and par 5s. As long as you have some players in the group that can generate good clubhead speed, you can hit a 3 wood or even a utility iron at times to get a great shot in play.

This is especially important to consider when golfers are playing from different tees. If one of the golfers in the group plays from a shorter tee, let them get a shot in the fairway for you.

On par 3 holes, you will also want to have players alternate the clubs that they are hitting. Pay close attention to the yardage that your playing partners can hit their shots. If somebody can hit the ball 150 with their 7 iron, make sure you base your club selection off of that.

6. Check for The Minimum Number of Drives

Although some four-person scrambles have no extra rules or regulations, there are times when you will find a minimum number of drives is required. This minimum number of drives from each player can become a real issue if you ignore it early on in the game.

It’s usually easy to get two drives from the lowest handicap player, but from the highest handicap player, it can be a bit of a problem.

Make sure that you are working on this process right from the start of your round. Lets’ say the first hole results in a shot by the highest handicap golfer that is in the middle of the fairway but about three yards back from the lowest handicap golfer.

This is the time to check one off the list for the high handicapper.

If you wait until the end of the round, you will get stuck with these requirements and be forced to use a shot from a specific player. I have seen groups come down to the 18th hole, and the only shot they can even take from the tee box is the one outstanding player who has not fulfilled their drive quote.

This is a mistake.

Get those drives crossed off early, and then play the rest of the round, focusing on locking in those birdies and eagles.

7. The Pace of Play Can Be Different

The pace of play during a scramble can be a little different. You may feel like there is a lot of running around and motion, picking up golf balls and getting them to the best spot. Then once you get to that spot, it feels like a lot of waiting.

Prepare yourself for the scramble to be a slightly different pace of play.

Most of the time, things should move faster than they do when everyone plays their own ball, but plenty of beginner golfers play in scrambles and slow things down. Just be mindful that this will be different than a standard round, and you will have a lot more fun and a much better chance of winning your scramble event.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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What is a Lay Up in Golf? (Plus Expert Tips on This Strategy)

detlef32 — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 23:05:41 +0000

In the last 3 months, I have completely overhauled my strategy on the golf course. Contradicting my views as a youngster, I now take a conservative approach and opt for safety over glory. My latest scores show the improvement, and it inspired me to compile a guide on what is a lay up in golf and how you can master the art.

I will take you through the best strategy for a layup shot and share some expert tips that have helped my golf game. After going through this post, you will know how to effectively execute these shots, avoiding water hazards, bunkers, or thick rough.

Those satisfied with their lay up game should read about other golf terms. Learn about scrambling in our detailed guide.

What is a Lay Up in Golf?

In simple terms, a lay up is a golf term that refers to a shorter shot. This is most common on par 5s, where you are close enough to reach the green in two shots.

However, instead of pulling out your fairway wood, you take a short iron or wedge and play to a safe point on the fairway. This puts you in a position to attack the flag on your third shot and give yourself a birdie putt. A lay up shot is effectively designed to help you avoid trouble for more consistent results.

Golf, like stock trading, is a game of high risk-high reward. If you do not lay up, you could get your ball onto the green in 2 and have an eagle putt. However, if you execute poorly, you could card walk away with a double-bogey.

Is The Lay Up an Effective Strategy?

A lay up is an effective strategy as long as you are a consistent putter. My challenge has always been my long game, which forced me to dial my short game skills. Without it, I would never have lowered my handicap.

As a result, I am comfortable and confident with a wedge and putter in hand. I know that I can get the ball to a particular location on the green to give myself the best chance of draining the putt. The worst-case scenario is that I record a 2-putt and walk off the green with a par.

Conversely, not laying up presents the potential for great rewards. This approach makes sense for PGA Tour Players who need to capitalize on par 5’s to gain strokes on the field.

You may also find a golfer going for the green on a par 4 tee shot. Landing the ball within 35-feet of the cup gives a player of any skill level an excellent opportunity at a 2-putt birdie. However, a mishit could produce a wayward shot and a double bogey. That is why I prefer lay-ups.

Golf Tec argues that a lay-up is a poor strategy for amateur golfers. Nick Clearwater, their VP of Instruction, presents stats showcasing the average proximity that professionals and amateurs leave their ball from the hole from specific yardage.

He further highlights the percentage of putts made from specific yardage on the PGA Tour. This shows the average golfer would struggle to sink one-putts and miss birdie opportunities.

While I respect their data, my experience has been different. It has boosted my accuracy and led to lower scores. I would not change my lay up approach for all the coffee beans in Guatemala.

When Should You Lay Up While Golfing?

There are two occasions where you should lay up. Off the tee and on approach on long par 4s and 5s. The mission on tee shots is to avoid landing in a fairway bunker, running stream, or hazard. On the contrary, you lay up on approach shots to avoid water hazards or tightly guarded greens.

5 Experts Share Their Tips on The Lay Up Shot

Pick Out Your Landing Zone – Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan touches on the importance of picking out a landing zone. Before you swing, identify a specific target to set you up for an easier subsequent shot. You need to position your ball optimally for a direct line to the flag.

Think About Your Next Shot – KC Lim

Golf industry professional KC Lim explains the importance of preparing for your subsequent shot. For example, if you are 235-yards out, you need to hit your ball to a favorable spot on the fairway to attack the flag. Should your ball end in an unsatisfactory lie, it defeats the purpose of laying up.

That is why precise distance control and accuracy are vital to make your next shot easier.

Take Your Time – Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan offers more wisdom on the topic by insisting that golfers take their time on lay ups. Even though it is a shorter shot, you still need to follow your routine and induce your natural golf swing.

Pick out your landing zone, think about the positioning of your next shot and take it easy. Often amateurs rush these shots and don’t give them the necessary attention.

Play To Your Strengths – Mark Crossfield

It sounds cliche, but Mark Crossfield talks about the importance of doing what works best for you. For example, are you an exceptional mid to short-iron player who can stick the ball close from 120 to 150-yards out? Or do you back yourself more with a pitching or sand wedge?

Those with dialed mid-irons can comfortably lay up and still have a shot at sinking a birdie putt. Conversely, if you do not back your iron play, you may stand more chance with a wedge and putter. Use what works in your favor.

Have a Deadly Short Game – Rick Shiels

In the video below, Shiels discusses the importance of a deadly short game with lay ups. It is your only option to score using this strategy. This is particularly true regarding putting. If you are a dominant force with the flat stick in hand, you can still gain strokes when taking the conservative approach.

Although most amateurs struggle with their short games, you can become proficient in this area with a couple of hours on the chipping and putting green every week.

You can improve your expertise in this department by following our 8 best putting drills to help you make more birdies and card fewer 3-putts.

Use Less Club – Edwin Ncgobo

The final tip comes from my caddie growing up. Edwin was a scratch golfer and the best caddie in town. He always urged me to be safe by taking one club less. He said it was wise to account for any bounce or roll that could propel your ball forward into trouble.

Sadly, I forgot this advice on the 1st hole at my local last week. The opener dog legs to the right and a water hazard sits left. Therefore, I tend to swing a long or mid-iron and hit it to the left side of the fairway.

Since there was wind, I decided to take an additional club, which was a mistake. I struck the ball superbly for a first tee shot, and it went on the intended line. However, the wind died down on my backswing, and as a result, I had too much club.

My advice, in this case, is to always take a club less and rather be safe than sorry. If you strike a lower club cleanly, your ball will end in prime position. However, the slightest over club could send your ball into the trouble you tried to avoid.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.

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Shot Scope adds ‘Shots Plotted’ feature to help golfers develop best scoring strategy

detlef32 — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 10:57:57 +0000

Shot Scope has developed a new feature of its data capture software that further enhances the experience of users of its golf GPS devices.

The new ‘Shots Plotted’ feature enables golfers to see a historical snapshot of where tee shots have finished up and the club that was used, providing the means to create a strategical plan for every hole.

Shot Scope continues to offer new ways in which golfers can analyse their rounds at their home course or one they have played multiple times – creating a visual map of how to play every hole on the course. From where you make birdies, to where you have struggled with bogeys, this new feature allows you to identify the best strategy to play the hole – maximising your chances of a low scoring round.With a new way to visualise performance, users will have the ability to delve into their golf game in as little or as much detail as they want. With a variety of filters available, the tool is there to assist golfers in the way that benefits them the most. Individual club used, end location of the shot, score, and an individual strokes gained benchmark score are some of the filters that can be applied so that golfers can analyse their game through a different lens each time.

“We wanted to provide our users with tour-level statistics that are displayed in a very digestible visual graphic to make the process of learning about your game as easy as it can be,” said Gavin Dear, Shot Scope’s chief commercial officer. “Having a tool that enables golfers to generate a data driven strategy for every hole will act as a personal score saver that players can refer back to during practice or playing. We’re proud to be able to share this with our community of golfers.”

The ‘Shots Plotted’ feature can be used by golfers who own Shot Scope’s PRO LX+ laser/GPS, as well as any of its data tracking V2 and V3 watches via the Shot Scope app.

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