2021 PGA Championship Best Picks: Will Zalatoris is a Top Option at Kiawah Island
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images. Pictured: Will Zalatoris.
It was quite a week around TPC Craig Ranch as the TOUR rushed to get the field through Sunday's final round, and Kyoung-Hoon Lee took full advantage. He was the best player for the week, and it showed on Sunday as he pulled away from the field with a three-shot victory.
Lee will get the opportunity to tee it up next week in Kiawah Island at the PGA Championship. He made three bogeys all week in Texas and was one of the best players tee-to-green on the week. He actually gained strokes in all categories across the week, despite some struggles both off the tee and around the greens on Sunday.
This week, the best players in the world gather on the coast of South Carolina for the second major of 2021. It won't be a typical PGA Championship thanks to the inevitable winds of coastal golf, and the setup of the longest major on record should keep scores in check throughout the week.
Let's take a look at the best players from the week in Texas to see who may have it dialed in for PGA Championship.
3 Buys for PGA Championship
There are three players that stick out for me from the AT&T Byron Nelson heading into the second major of the year. The first is Daniel Berger who seemed to come out of nowhere on Sunday in Texas to finish in to a tie for third.
Looking closer at the numbers for Berger, he ranked fourth in greens hit in regulation, hitting over 81% on the week. Those stats translated for him in strokes gained as he capitalized on more than five strokes gained on the field this week in Texas. I believe both of these categories to be extremely important at the Ocean Course this week, making Daniel Berger an intriguing option at +3300 on DraftKings.
There are very few players on TOUR right now that are hotter with their game than Charl Schwartzel. He has dialed in over the past several weeks, not missing a cut in seven events. He was in the final group in two of them including this week in Texas.
Schwartzel has gained more than seventeen-and-a-half strokes on approach in his last three measured tournaments. He is absolutely in some of the best golf form of his career and looking to capitalize on another top finish this week. The South African will understandably be a longshot to win the major this week in South Carolina, but at +10000 he provides great value up and down the betting board.
It seemed to be a disappointing week for Will Zalatoris, but looking closer, the stats really tell a different story. He was the best player in the field on the week with his approach game, but his putter simply let him down.
Zalatoris gained more than 2.37 strokes on the field with his irons per round this week in Texas despite finishing in a tie for 17th. He lost more than a stroke to the field with his putting per round and simply lost any hope of contending with a terrible performance on the greens. Zalatoris is a player that can put his name in the mix in any given week solely with his ball striking, and if he can find anything on the greens in the Low Country this week, he is an attractive option at +6000 on FanDuel leading into the PGA Championship.
AT&T Byron Nelson Final Strokes Gained Data (avg/rd)
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