Who the F*ck is Akshay Bhatia and my Top DFS Picks for The Valspar
Happy Mid-March! Can you believe it!? This week, we’re talking about the Top DFS Picks for The Valspar Championship and also… who the f*ck is Akshay Bhatia? Let’s start with the course – this is the last stop of the Florida swing- the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The course is tough and the purse isn’t as big as some other events, so we’re seeing fewer “stars” in this field.
The Copperhead Course is made up of very narrow, tree-lined fairways, so accuracy off the tee is going to be important this week and I’ve weighted my model to support that. Additionally, there are FIVE par 3 holes and 3 of them are all in a row. They call that stretch, The Snake Pit. I’m sure you can guess that Par 3 Scoring Average came into play in my picks too.
My goal isn’t to build your lineup for you, it’s to guide you by using my experience as a sports bettor and the membership tools available at Team Rise or Fall. With that being said… here are this week’s Top DFS Picks for The Valspar (after a word from our sponsor).
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Top DFS Picks for The Valspar
Justin Rose
- DraftKings $9.6
- FanDuel $11.1
While he’s not the priciest player this week and may not be the favorite, I really like Justin Rose this week as one of my Top DFS Picks for The Valspar Championship. Rosey has been playing incredibly consistent this season so far. Some people like to call this “old man” golf. If that’s the case, give me old man golf every day of the week. Hit it straight. Land the green. Get it done. Justin Rose ranked 1st in my personal weighted model. Among this field, he’s in the top 10 in all areas where it matters.
Brian Harman
- DraftKings $9.1
- FanDuel $10.6
I had a few players in mind while I was weighing the benefits of Brian Harman. I’ll drop them in a pool below, but let’s talk about Harman. He’s shaking out at 13th in my model and I don’t hate it. while he struggles a bit more than others in my pool with his approach, he makes it up on his drive. Ranking 3rd in accuracy, 2nd in good drive %, and 12th in GIR… I’m hoping that’s what it takes to get the job done. It also doesn’t hurt that he finished in 5th place last year at this event.
KH Lee
- DraftKings $8
- FanDuel $9.8
Kyoung-Hoon Lee ranks 3rd in my weighted model, using the RoF Member’s StudyHub. In looking at the data, I was trying to understand why he was ranked so high. It looks like it goes back to him ranking far higher than most of my pool in his par 3 and par 5 averages. That’s going to come in handy this week. He also ranks 10th in the field for SG: ATG so if things get a little wild, he’ll be able to recover.
JT Poston
- DraftKings $8.1
- FanDuel $9.8
Ranking 12th in my model, we have JT Poston. I’m trying to give a nice balance in salaries throughout this article and Poston is a nice fit for the middle tier. He leads the field in 5th for GIR (greens in regulation) and these greens are difficult to land. If I have a worry, it would be that his par 3 scoring average is average at best.
Dylan Wu
- DraftKings $6.8
- FanDuel $8.1
Dylan Wu ranks 10th in my model this week in top DFS picks for the Valspar Championship. Oddly enough – Dylan Wu is really comparable to Brandon Wu when we’re talking about course fit. Both are very well-rounded players, but Dylan Wu has the edge here raking 3rd in Good Drive % and 4th in GIR in this field, which is going to be key this week.
Joel Dahmen
- DraftKings $7.5
- FanDuel $9.5
Dahmen played ok last week, making the cut. This week, he’s a much better course fit and also one of the stronger players in this particular field. Joel ranks 6th in my model- standing out in his accuracy, good drive %, and putting. The thing with Joel Dahmen is this – he just enjoys playing golf. That can be a good thing or a not-so-good thing. There are times that it feels as if he doesn’t have the ambition to compete, rather than just play.
WTF Pick: Akshay Bhatia
- DraftKings $7.5
- FanDuel $9
Akshay Bhatia is 21 years old and currently on the Korn Ferry Tour, working his way to the PGA Tour. Last week, he placed 2nd in the Puerto Rico Open, accumulating enough non-tour member points for a special temporary tour card. Within this field of players, he’s ranking 1st in SG: APP, 1st in Good Drive %, 1st in GIR, and more. This placed him 2nd in my model overall and that’s pretty exciting. I’m looking forward to watching him!
Other Players to Consider
- Mark Hubbard
- Adam Hadwin
- Doug Ghim
- Nate Lashley
- Matthew NeSmith
- Robby Shelton
- Greyson Sigg
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