Welcome to beautiful Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the PGA Tour trades birdie fests for one of the most classic shot makers tests on the schedule. This place is old school golf. Tight fairways. Tiny bentgrass greens. Doglegs everywhere. Miss your spots here and Colonial will chew you up fast.
They do not call this place “Hogan’s Alley” for nothing. Ben Hogan won here five times and this course still rewards the exact type of player Hogan represented. Precision. Ball striking. Patience. Discipline. You cannot just bomb driver all over the property and expect to survive. Colonial forces players to shape shots, attack from the correct angles, and scramble when things inevitably go sideways.
This week feels completely different from last week’s Byron Nelson scoring contest. Colonial Country Club is a par 70 sitting around 7,200 yards, but yardage means almost nothing here. The defense is in the layout itself. The fairways pinch. The greens are tiny. The approach shots demand precision. Players who gain strokes on approach and keep themselves in position off the tee historically dominate this event.
The course recently underwent a major restoration project led by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, modernizing parts of the property while preserving the classic Perry Maxwell and John Bredemus design. The result is a perfect blend of modern championship conditioning mixed with traditional PGA Tour strategy golf.
The bentgrass greens here average only around 5,000 square feet and can get absolutely slick by the weekend. Missing greens at Colonial leads to stressful scrambling situations all day long. That is why this tournament tends to favor elite iron players, strong scramblers, accurate drivers, and golfers who avoid mistakes instead of chasing nonstop birdies.
Metrics That Matter
This week is all about profiling golfers who consistently thrive on shorter positional golf courses where precision, patience, and clean execution matter more than simply overpowering a layout. When looking at comp courses like Harbour Town, Sea Island, Waialae, TPC River Highlands, and Sedgefield, the same types of players repeatedly pop near the top of leaderboards. Obviously Russell Henley stands out as one of the cleanest examples of a golfer whose game translates beautifully to these tighter positional setups. These courses reward players who understand angles, keep themselves in position off the tee, avoid costly mistakes, and consistently give themselves quality birdie opportunities while limiting damage when they get out of position.
The metrics I will be weighing most heavily this week are Strokes Gained Tee to Green, Strokes Gained Approach with a slight emphasis on the 150 to 175 yard range, Strokes Gained Putting with added focus on putting from 10 to 15 feet and one putt percentage, Greens in Regulation, and Bogey Avoidance. The biggest thing that stood out during my research was just how important putting appears to be at Colonial Country Club. Approach play still sets everything up, but golfers who can consistently capitalize on those mid range birdie and par saving opportunities are the players who tend to separate themselves here over four rounds.
Scotty Scheffler Conundrum
Whoops. Scottie Scheffler is not in the field this week. Thank God. Not because I do not enjoy watching him play golf, but because DFS lineup construction becomes a whole lot easier when we are not trying to jam a golfer priced fourteen thousand dollars into every build.
This week feels far more open from a pricing perspective. Ludvig Åberg sits at the top around the ten and a half thousand range, followed closely by Russell Henley and Robert MacIntyre, but nobody completely breaks the slate from a salary standpoint. That makes this one of the more balanced pricing structures we have seen in a while, and honestly, it creates a much more interesting DFS environment because roster construction can go in several different directions without feeling forced.
You can comfortably build balanced lineups this week. You can double pay up. You can start with a top tier golfer and still land on quality mid range options without feeling like you are dumpster diving at the bottom of the player pool. Overall, the pricing honestly feels pretty fair this week, which means the edge probably comes less from salary manipulation and more from identifying the right course fits, ownership leverage spots, and golfers whose skill sets actually translate to Colonial Country Club.
This feels like one of those weeks where building smart, staying patient, and finding the right positional golfers matters more than simply clicking the most expensive names. There are definitely some value plays that stand out, and this slate feels wide open enough where several different roster construction paths could realistically take down a tournament.
Elite Tier
Ludvig Åberg $10,500 overweight
There is no denying it at this point. Ludvig Åberg is probably the most talented all around golfer in this field, and statistically he backs it up with the best strokes gained tee to green numbers in the tournament at nearly 1.7 strokes gained per round. The finishes continue to pile up too. T5, T5, T4, T8, T4, and T21 over his recent stretch is about as consistent as it gets against elite competition, and he has looked sharp at basically every major stop this season including the PGA Championship, RBC Heritage, The Masters, and The Players Championship.
Can he fucking close one out and win? That is really the final piece missing right now because everything else is already there. The approach play is elite. The tee to green game is elite. The around the green game has improved, and the putter has shown enough flashes where it would not surprise me at all if one of these top fives finally turns into a victory. At some point pure talent breaks through, and I will gladly be overweight on Åberg this week betting that it happens at Colonial Country Club.
Russell Henley $10,200 overweight
If there is a golfer in this field that perfectly matches the profile we talked about earlier for Colonial Country Club, it is probably Russell Henley. He has become one of the best positional golfers on Tour, consistently thriving on tighter layouts that reward precision, patience, clean approach play, and smart course management. While he does not bring the raw distance upside of someone like Ludvig Åberg, he makes up for it with accuracy off the tee, elite iron play, and one of the most reliable all around games in the field.
Henley also consistently pops when looking at leaderboards across shorter positional comp courses, which makes him one of the cleanest course fit plays on the slate. The putting numbers have been strong enough, the bogey avoidance profile fits perfectly here, and his overall consistency gives him one of the safest floors among the elite tier golfers. I will definitely be overweight on Henley this week and expect him to once again put himself in contention at a golf course that feels tailor made for his skill set.
Hideki Matsuyama $9,500 Outsider Leverage
I think Hideki Matsuyama sets up as one of the more interesting leverage plays in the entire field this week. A lot of ownership is likely going to gravitate toward names like Ben Griffin, Ricky Fowler, and Justin Thomas, but Hideki quietly showed some encouraging signs last week that make me interested in getting overweight before the field potentially catches back on. He gained over five total strokes last week while also gaining more than three strokes putting, which is always the key swing factor with him.
The off the tee play still was not perfect, and he definitely struggled at places like Quail Hollow and Doral, but this feels like a much better fit for the type of golf he wants to play. We already know the approach upside is elite when he is locked in, and if the putter is even remotely cooperative, his ceiling immediately jumps into tournament winning territory. To me, this feels like a golfer whose overall game is quietly starting to trend back in the right direction, and at what could be reduced ownership compared to some of the other names around him, I think Hideki makes for a really strong Outsider leverage play at Colonial Country Club.
Justin Thomas $9,300 underweight
Let me be clear. I will absolutely have some exposure to Justin Thomas this week because the talent level is undeniable, and recent form has still been solid with a T4 at the PGA Championship and a T13 at the Truist Championship. That being said, I do not think I will be anywhere near the field on him if ownership really pushes into the 25 percent range. I will probably land somewhere in the teens instead because there are just a few things that concern me from a course fit and leverage standpoint.
The greens in regulation numbers have not looked as sharp recently, the putting has been a little inconsistent, and the course history at Colonial Country Club dating back to 2022 and 2023 does not exactly jump off the page either. Could he absolutely contend and burn me? Of course. He is one of the best players in the world when everything clicks. But at projected heavy ownership, I think this is one of those spots where I would rather come in under the field and lean into some other elite tier golfers that fit the overall profile slightly better for this specific tournament setup.
Mid Tier
Akshay Bhatia $9,000 overweight
Akshay Bhatia is one of my favorite plays on the entire slate this week, and I plan on coming in well overweight compared to the field. Projected ownership looks like it could land somewhere around 15 percent, but I will probably be closer to the 22 to 25 percent range because I really like how his overall profile fits Colonial Country Club. The putter has been solid, the tee to green game is good enough, and if he simply keeps himself in decent position off the tee, I think his approach play and scoring upside can absolutely carry him here. The missed cut at the PGA Championship should also help suppress ownership a bit, and after a season filled with a lot of middle of the pack finishes, this feels like a really strong breakout opportunity at a very fair price.
Pierceson Coody $8,600 overweight
There is a lot to like about Pierceson Coody this week, especially on a course setup that should help hide some of the around the green concerns a bit. He has already played well here multiple times, looked solid again at the Byron Nelson, and quietly continues stacking respectable finishes with two top 20s over his last five starts along with a T24 and T28 mixed in there as well. The missed cut at the PGA Championship does not bother me much because when you dig into the profile, the putter looks good, the approach play has been solid, and the off the tee game has been strong enough to consistently keep him competitive. If he can continue trending in the right direction and put everything together for four rounds, I absolutely think the upside for a top 10 finish is there this week at what should still be pretty reasonable ownership.
Matthew McCarty 7700 DFS Outsider leverage play
Matthew McCarty missed the cut here last year and burned a lot of people last week at the PGA Championship, which should keep ownership very low in this price range. I thought he looked much better in the second round at the PGA, and if you go back and look at the five weeks before that, he was playing some really solid golf. I think last week was more of an anomaly than anything else, and while the field clicks names like Tony Finau, Brian Harman, Max Greyserman, and Tom Kim, this feels like a great DFS Outsider leverage play to get different with legitimate upside.
Stephan Jaeger 7400 underweight
I am not very interested in Stephan Jaeger this week. His approach game has been pretty shaky lately, and I just do not think he is going to hit enough greens around Colonial Country Club to really contend. The off the tee game has not been overly impressive either, and overall, this just does not feel like a strong course fit for him compared to some of the other names in this range. I will be underweight on him this week.
DFS Outsider Value Plays
Sudarshan Yellamaraju 7400 DFS Outsider leverage play
Sudarshan Yellamaraju has not played here before, but when you look at his overall profile, he grades out as somebody who could fit this course pretty well. I do not think ownership will be high at all, which makes him an interesting DFS Outsider leverage play if you are trying to get unique in large field tournaments.
Michael Kim 7300 overweight
Michael Kim has shown some solid course history here and fits the type of player profile I like at Colonial Country Club. The putter can get hot, and if the ball striking cooperates, I think he has legitimate upside in this range. It is really going to come down to how well he is hitting it throughout the week, but the upside is definitely there for tournaments.
Andrew Putnam 7300 overweight
Andrew Putnam fits this course really well with his short game and approach profile. He is a strong putter, solid around the greens, and typically gains with his irons when he is on. He has a T15 here previously, but I honestly think he has the type of game that could outperform that if things click for four rounds.
Eric Cole 7200 overweight
I went back to Eric Cole last week, and while he got off to a slow start at the PGA Championship, he played much better as the tournament went on. He has missed the cut here two years in a row but improved last season, and I think his current form is solid enough to take another shot. He is a very good putter, strong around the greens, and a quality approach player. The entire week for him comes down to the driver. If he can avoid big mistakes off the tee, I think he can absolutely pay off this price tag.
A.J. Ewart 6600 DFS Outsider leverage play
Call me crazy, but I like A.J. Ewart at this price. I do not think many people are going to click his name this week, but he is a quality putter and could surprise some people if the ball striking is good enough. This is a new course for him, but in large field GPPs, this is exactly the kind of low owned dart throw that can help separate your lineup.
David Lipsky 6500 overweight
David Lipsky is another cheap value play that interests me this week. He did miss the cut here last season, but the two years before that were much stronger, and overall the course history is solid enough to take notice. He is a quality putter, solid around the greens, and if he gives himself enough birdie opportunities with the irons, I think he can sneak into a top 20 finish.
Vince Whaley 6400 DFS Outsider leverage play
Vince Whaley is a really interesting value dart this week because the putter and approach game both stand out at this price range. He finished T11 here last year, and if he can keep the driver under control and hit it straight enough, I do not see any reason why he cannot make another strong run at this tournament.
Frankie’s Fade of the Week
“Hey meatballs, Frankie’s fade of the week is Ben Gryffindor. Yeah yeah, I know, everybody loves the hero story. Guy wins here last year and now everybody thinks he’s about to wave a magic wand around Colonial Country Club and do it again. Lemme tell ya something, this ain’t Hogwarts. This is DFS. Everybody and their grandmother is gonna be clickin’ that button this week because they remember the trophy picture. Meanwhile, the other two years here? One missed cut and a T52. Real magical stuff there, Harry.
Look, the guy could absolutely come out and win this thing by five strokes. I ain’t sayin’ he can’t. But when half the field is lining up to play the same shiny toy, Frankie’s goin’ the other direction. I wanna be where the money gets weird, not where the crowd feels safe. Fade the wizard. Take the leverage. Capisce?
Final Thoughts
Pricing is really wide open this week, which means there are a ton of viable lineup combinations depending on how you want to build. That is where the edge comes in. Everybody can click good plays, but the real advantage is zoning in on combinations of golfers that fit this type of course while mixing in an outlier or two that can get hot with the putter or spike with the irons for one week. This is also one of those tournaments where I am perfectly fine eliminating certain player profiles completely. I am not overly interested in bombers that rely purely on distance. I want golfers that can position themselves around Colonial Country Club, stay clean off the tee, and capitalize with approach play and putting.
As I say every week, leaving a little salary on the table gives you a better chance to stay unique in large field tournaments. There are builds this week where you can go double elite, balanced, or even get creative enough to jam in triple elite golfers if you find the right value pieces at the bottom. Do not be afraid to build uncomfortable lineups if the overall story makes sense. That is where the leverage lives.
Now let’s go out there and take down a damn GPP.
It only takes one.
