DFS Dish: Fortinet Championship

The PGA Tour is back in action this week for the Fortinet Championship.

The event has historically kicked off the new season but this year it will be lifting the lid on the inaugural FedEx Fall series.

For DFS gamers, it’s always a top priority to break down the course and see what golfers might take a liking to it.

For Silverado Resort’s North Course, we know it’s a short course with relatively easy scoring. The fairways are tight but there is not an extreme penalty for missing those fairways. More importantly, comfort on poa annua greens is a huge positive while performing well out West in general has been a good marker to future success at the event.

West Coast Warriors

When the Tour heads out West, they are greeted with friendly weather and usually bentgrass or poa annua greens.

This week, they’ll see poa annua putting surfaces, and comfort on that bumpy weed should not be overlooked.

Here are the top performers in adjusted strokes gained per round when playing in the West region, over the last two years:

Max Homa
Justin Thomas
Taylor Montgomery
Sahith Theegala
Lanto Griffin
Alex Noren
Martin Laird
J.J. Spaun
Andrew Putnam
Brendon Todd
Matt Kuchar
Davis Thompson
S.H. Kim
Luke List
Beau Hossler

We can also look at performance versus baseline to see who shows the largest increase in performance compared to their typical scores:

Garrick Higgo
Davis Thompson
Martin Laird
Robby Shelton
S.H. Kim
Luke List
Kevin Tway
Taylor Montgomery
Harry Hall
Sam Stevens
Max Homa
Zach Johnson
Sahith Theegala
Tano Goya
Greyson Sigg

Overlap List: Names that show up on both lists include Max Homa, Taylor Montgomery, Sahith Theegala, Martin Laird, Davis Thompson, S.H. Kim, and Luke List.

Freerollin’ with Sahith

Theegala surely hoped to be using this event as a tune-up for his Ryder Cup debut but his 2023 campaign wasn’t as electric as his rookie year. Sure, he bagged seven top 10s but he’s gone 11 straight events without one of those top-10 finishes. Whilenot as strong as his rookie season, Theegala still managed to secure his status for the 2024 Signature events. So, this event becomes a bit of a freeroll for Theegala who can play stress-free without worrying about his stauts or anything of that nature. Perhaps that weight off his shoulder will be just what he needs to finally cross the line.

Montgomery to find his form?

The Vegas native was a star in the Fall last year. He opened his rookie season with top-15 finishes in eight of nine events played. He’s slowed his pace drastically with no top 15s in his last 16 stroke-play events. His playoff run ended in Memphis so he’s had an entire month to recharge the batteries and reset for another big Autumn run. Montgomery is known for his elite putting skills and the best putting performance of his career so far came at Silverado Resort, gaining a massive 11.2 strokes with the flat stick last year on his way toward a third-place finish.