The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history, and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]

The Field

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson (formerly AT&T) is a full-field event that will feature 156 golfers. This year, it will be played the week directly after the PGA Championship, after being a warm-up event (featured two weeks prior) in the past two seasons.  World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler will headline the field at ridiculously low odds of +164 (DraftKings Sportsbook). This is after he won the event last season at -31 under par. Texas resident Jordan Spieth and second-favorite Si Woo Kim are also playing. The course (TPC Craig Ranch) will be the host for the sixth year in a row this season.

Overall, this has been an event that features low scoring and lots of birdies, with very easy-to-hit fairways that reward aggressive iron play and good birdie conversion on the greens. Even with the course playing as a Par 71 last season, we still saw the winning score get to 31-under par, a new event record.

The cut (top-65 and ties) will take place in its usual spot after Friday.

The Course

TPC Craig Ranch—McKinney, Texas

Par 71, 7,414 yards; Green: Bentgrass

TPC Craig Ranch was built in 2004 by Tom Weiskopf. The venue has also seen some action as a host for other professional Tours and acted as the stage for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship back in 2012, an event that saw a winning score of 16-under par. In its first two seasons hosting the Byron, the pros were helped by rain softening the course, and, as a result, we saw winning scores explode past 24 under in both runnings. The course was changed to a Par 71 for 2023 after the 500+ yard Par 5 12th hole was transformed into a 492-yard Par 4. It won’t make much of a difference for how the course plays long-term, but the winning score was a little bit higher in 2023 (-23) as a result, and the winner again hit -23 in 2024 before Scheffler’s performance in 2025.

The venue now sets up as a traditional par 71, and like many Weiskopf designs, it has a nice blend of tougher stretches and easier scoring holes. Weiskopf also designed TPC Scottsdale, which plays around the same length as TPC Craig Ranch and has traditionally seen winners post 16 to 19 under par for their winning scores; so Craig Ranch, in many ways, can be seen as a slightly easier version of Scottsdale.

While there are shorter par 5s in play, and a couple of short par 4s, there are also seven par 4s now that measure in at over 450 yards. Looking at players with good efficiency stats between 450-500 yards is certainly worth your while, as is long approach proximity stats. With softer greens and an open design, GIR% tends to be much higher than normal, making around-the-green play less relevant. Winners at Craig Ranch have gained the least amount of strokes around the green (on average), with last season’s winner Scottie Scheffler even losing strokes ATG for the week.

The routing of the course isn’t overly complex, as there aren’t many doglegs in play, and the venue does appear to have plenty of space just off the fairways in many spots. Players don’t necessarily have to be the most accurate or biggest hitters off the tee to have success here, and that has seemingly helped weaker OTT players in the past. 

KH Lee gained +7.0 strokes more on approach than off the tee in 2021 and was again far more positive in 2022 on approach than off the tee. In 2023, Jason Day’s stats provided a similar story as he gained 10.0 strokes ball-striking (6.4 strokes on approach) but only 1.0 stroke around the green. Pendrith was a bit of an anomaly as he gained over 4.0 strokes around the greens (and less than a stroke on approach) but still gained big off the tee. Scheffler gained over 12 strokes on approach, showcasing what an elite iron player can do around the greens when he gets in a groove on the greens (where he also gained 6.1 strokes). 

You don’t necessarily need to be long at Craig Ranch, but if you want to get aggressive on the bigger tiered greens, a decent week off the tee is still somewhat mandatory (again, if we’re going off the past winner’s stats). This is a very driver-heavy course, but the bigger fairways do allow far more weaker off-the-tee players to thrive, so I’d hesitate to put too much emphasis on driving stats. Moreover, I’d look for players coming into Craig Ranch with solid approach stats over their last few starts from 125-200 yards, with emphasis on good approach proximity stats from longer distances.

2026 Weather Outlook: Expect the course to play soft once again this season. There are thunderstorms in the area over Monday and Tuesday, which should soften the greens. Day 1 also has thunderstorm potential, which could cause some stoppages and again, soften up the course. The chance of precipitation does go down Friday through Sunday, but there is still the chance of a stoppage or two for lightning, with light rain or potentially even a brief heavy downpour. For DFS purposes, it’s too hard to make a call on which wave to target with so many unknowns, including when players may get taken off the course, but later week forecasts could provide better outlooks. Expect softer greens and low scoring once again.

Last Five Winners

**2025–Scottie Scheffler -31 (over Eric van Rooyen -23)

**2024—Taylor Pendrith -23 (over Ben Kohles -22)

**2023—Jason Day -23 (over Si Woo Kim and Austin Eckroat)

2022—KH Lee -26 (over Jordan Spieth -25)

2021—KH Lee -25 (over Sam Burns -23)

**TPC Craig Ranch changed to a par 71.

Winning Trends

• 11 of the last 12 winners of the Byron Nelson had already recorded a T10 or better on the PGA TOUR in the same year of their victory—prior to winning at the Byron Nelson.
• Seven of the last eight winners of the Byron Nelson played the week prior (three of those winners missed the cut at their previous start).

Winners Stats and Course Overview

Scottie Scheffler—2025 (31-under-par; at TPC Craig Ranch)

2025 lead-in form (T8-T4-T2-T20-T11)

SG: OTT — +5.4

SG: APP — +12.8

SG: TOTAL — +23.1

SG: ATG — -1.2

SG: PUTT — +6.1

Jason Day was somewhat similar in 2023. He gained over 6.4 strokes on approach and excelled from 175-200 in total proximity stats.

KH Lee didn’t come in with sparkling form in either of the past two seasons, but he was starting to show signs of a breakout before his win with better iron play — he also made the cut and had good approach stats at the Wells Fargo prior to each win.

This was similar to Pendrith in 2024, who put up a couple of solid finishes in a row before coming in and grabbing his first win.

Day also had some good ball-striking weeks right before he won the Byron in 2023, and had posted multiple top 10 finishes on the season, despite missing the cut the week prior.

In 2022, Lee gained most of his strokes on the field through his approach game and also excelled on the par 4s at TPC Craig Ranch, where he was ranked second in efficiency for the week in 2021 (TPC Craig Ranch has six par 4s over 450 yards).

Scheffler absolutely blitzed this venue last season with some of the most absurd approach stats you’ll see in a PGA TOUR event (+12.1). He emphasized how straightforward this venue can be by actually losing strokes ATG but still winning by 8 strokes. 

In both seasons, Lee wasn’t anywhere near the top in fairways gained or strokes gained off-the-tee stats, but he was near the lead in GIR%. Lee also led the field in proximity from 150-175 yards and was top-five from 175-200 yards as well in 2021.

Finding Values on DraftKings Sportsbook

Odds to win are one factor to consider when picking players, but not the only one, so be careful not to put too much weight on them. This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.

Pierceson Coody +3800 and $9,100

Comparables:

• Davis Thompson +4600 and $9,200
• Ryo Hisatune +4500 and $9,300

Rico Hoey +6000 and $7,600

Comparables:

• Michael Brennan +6200 and $8,000
• Max Greyserman +6200 and $8,400
• SungJae Im +6200 and $8,700

All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook are subject to change.

DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY

Big Field Punt plays:

Davis Riley ($6,400): Riley has won in Texas before (Colonial). He’s coming off a missed cut at the PGA Championship, but he did gain big on approach in his first two rounds at Myrtle Beach and has a history of big weeks from out of nowhere.  

Luke Clanton ($6,500): Clanton has been struggling to put together big weekend rounds, but the young American has made three cuts in a row and is just a couple of months removed from a T5 in Puerto Rico. 

Pontus Nyholm ($6,800): Nyholm is starting to look like a solid player who can potentially thrive out here on the PGA TOUR long-term. He gained over 5.5 strokes ball-striking in Myrtle Beach. 

Core Plays: 

Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($8,300): Has been striking his irons well of late and won’t be as disadvantaged off the tee this week on the easier venue. Has posted top-10 finishes at TPC Craig Ranch and TPC Scottsdale. 

Brooks Koepka ($9,800) – see below

Recent Form

1. Scottie Scheffler ($14,800; T14-T2-T2): Scheffler didn’t cope as well as some of the other top players did with the treacherous greens at Aronimink and slid outside the top-10 for the first time in four starts. Still, the American was within shouting distance all week and will certainly welcome the return to this easier venue, where he absolutely destroyed last season. 

2. Jordan Spieth ($9,800; T18-T52-T18): Spieth played well at the start of last week’s event but fell off a bit on the weekend. Still, the veteran has been consistent of late and has now posted top-20 finishes in two of his last three starts. 

3. Ryo Hisatune ($9,300; T35-T45): Hisatune comes into this event on a 13-event made cut streak. While he’s been slightly regressing of late in terms of his play, the consistency is worth noting as the fall-off hasn’t been that dramatic, and a quick turnaround seems possible at this week’s easier venue. 

4. Max Greyserman ($8,600; T14-T31): Greyserman seems to be back on track of late after posting his third straight made cut at the PGA Championship last week. His top-20 was somewhat eye-catching given the difficulty of the venue, and he’s a player who has come close to grabbing a win multiple times over the past two seasons. 

5. Mattias Schmid ($7,500; T4-MC): Schmid had the event of his life last week, posting a T4 at the PGA Championship, where he was in contention late. The German is inconsistent but popped for two top-10 finishes in a row earlier in March as well, so he’s certainly shown great upside in 2026.

MY PICK: Brooks Koepka ($9,600)

It’s likely smart to stay on Koepka this week. Sure, he flamed out a bit on the weekend at the PGA Championship, but the venue flummoxed many, and Koepka’s play has started to percolate enough to think that the American’s tee-to-green game is getting close to peak form. After gaining over 9.0+ strokes on approach and off the tee in Myrtle Beach, Koepka again started strong with his ball-striking, gaining over 4.4 strokes ball-striking in Round 1 at Aronimink. 

The move to the easier venue should also help his putter, which has been very up and down, but actually didn’t perform too badly last weekend. Koepka’s also won on a Tom Weiskopf-designed venue before, having taken down the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale twice. Overall, I see no reason to think that a comeback win of sorts isn’t close for the former LIV defector, who is trying to gain back signature tour status and improve his ranking on the PGA TOUR. 

I view him as an elite pay-up option for balanced builds and a player I’d be fine taking on for betting at +2700 or better on the DraftKings Sportsbook.

MY SLEEPER: Tom Hoge ($7,000)

Hoge was a bit of a shock finisher last week, managing a T26 finish after solid rounds of 68-70 on the weekend. The American had his putter going, which was a good sight to see, but he also gained on approach in each of his final three rounds. While he does typically struggle around the greens and sometimes off the tee, neither of those areas will be as important as they were last week, which may mean we’ll see some carry-over form from Hoge, who has finished as high as T17 at this week’s event and made the cut here each of the last three times he’s played. 

In terms of how to play for DFS, at 7k, he makes perfect sense as a higher-upside value to mix in with your Scheffler lineups, and a player you likely won’t need to be overweight on compared to the field. For betting, he does have some attractive outright odds, but is likely viewed as a solid placement bet at +1300 for a top 10 (and ties).