When I finally get around to writing my book about fantasy golf, I will devote at least one entire chapter on adjusting strategy based upon the makeup of the field. Paying up for Jordan Spieth could be a necessity one week and a terrible mistake the next due to nothing more than the other players in the field. That isn’t exactly what has happened with Spieth from last week to this week at the Memorial Tournament, but it is pretty close.

I could make a compelling argument for starting almost all of the top 17 players in DraftKings price this week.  I won’t play Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Billy Horschel or Gary Woodland this week, and Dustin Johnson continues to be a GPP play only, but beyond that any of the top guys are in play. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who insisted on paying for Spieth, but considering he has finished 63rd and 19th in his two starts at Muirfield Village GC, I will probably save my money and hope for the best.

The other challenge in filling out a lineup this week is there are plenty of relatively cheap options I like. If the bottom of the field was terrible, I would just  load up on guys like Kevin Na and Bill Haas, but you could actually pair Spieth with somebody like Patrick Reed and still put four competitive players in the other lineup spots. The possibilities are pretty endless.

With so much firepower at the top, I decided to put the cheap players I really like—Steve Stricker, Charl Schwartzel and Bo Van Pelt—in my lineup and then fill in the expensive players from there. Often I like to lock down my studs first, but since I am fine with almost any of the players who cost $10,000 or more, it just made sense to get the cheap guys I like really like and go from there.

Speaking of the guys I like, here they are: 

PlayerDraftKingsComments
Kevin Na9000Na has been on an absolute tear lately, with top-20s in seven straight stroke-play events. He finished runner-up last year.
Charl Schwartzel7300Finished T8 each of last two years, has five consecutive top-30s.
Steve Stricker7100This is the week my undying faith in Steve Stricker pays off in a big way. Stricker tied for sixth in Jack's tournament last year and won in 2011.
Cameron Tringale7300Finished T37 last year, T17 in 2013 and T25 in 2012. 
Matt Kuchar11000Finished T15 last year and won in 2013. 
Tony Finau6700Finau has three consecutive top-20s coming in.
Bill Haas9200Top-10s last two years at the Memorial.
Bo Van Pelt6400Worst finish in the last five years was T21 in 2013. 
David Hearn7200Finished in the top 30 in all three Memorial starts.
Jim Furyk10900Is as safe as they come, and finally got a win last month.
George Coetzee6200Four top-threes and four missed cuts in 14 tournaments (mostly in Europe) this year.
Ryan Moore8100Five consecutive cuts at The Memorial Tournament.