GOLF PICK 'EM: PALMETTO CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP BREAKDOWNS
BY WILL GRAY
Golf Pick 'Em is back for another season of picks and prizes in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
The free-to-play game has returned in 2021 and continues this week with the Palmetto Championship. Each week participants will choose between a series of head-to-head matchups, plus select an overall tournament champion and winning score.
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $50,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score (increasing up to $100,000 during some of the biggest events of the year). There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
Here's a look at some of the keys to this week's set of 10 matchups at Congaree, the ultra-private venue that will host a Tour event for the first time with the U.S. Open now just one week away:
Dustin Johnson vs. Brooks Koepka
Keys: This field doesn't have a ton of star power on the eve of the year's third major, but the two biggest names square off here. Johnson is teeing it up in his home state with hopes of ending his recent malaise, having missed the cut at the PGA Championship in his most recent start. Koepka couldn't keep pace with Phil Mickelson at Kiawah but he did appear in much better form than he did in missed cuts at the Masters and the Nelson in his two prior starts.
Edge: Koepka
Ian Poulter vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick
Keys: Two Englishmen, both former Ryder Cuppers who lean on strong iron play to contend. Poulter has been holding his own this year at age 45, with a T-3 finish at Colonial his fifth top-30 finish in his last seven starts dating back to March. Fitzpatrick has been equally solid, with 10 top-25s in his last 13 starts including a T-4 finish in South Carolina at the Heritage and a T-23 finish last month at Kiawah. He'll look to bounce back from an unexpected early exit at the Memorial.
Edge: Fitzpatrick
Keys: This matchup features two players heading in the right direction. Noren struggled in the wake of making the 2018 European Ryder Cup team, but recently he has found some consistency while racking up four top-25 finishes over his last five starts. Kizzire won twice during the 2017-18 season and has recently returned to that level of play, with T-3 finishes at both the Nelson and Colonial before missing the Memorial cut.
Edge: Noren
Editor’s Note: Get an edge with our premium DFS and Betting Golf Tools that are packed with a DFS Optimizer, DFS Projections, Salary Tracker, Edge Driver, Prop Projections, Futures and much more. Gain access to both tools in our EDGE+ Max tier and don't forget to use promo code WELCOME10 to get 10% off. Click here to learn more!
Keys: A Palmetto State showdown. Few players in the field have more experience at Congaree than Glover, the former U.S. Open champ who finished fourth earlier this year at the Valero Texas Open and T-8 at Colonial before a T-37 finish last week. Kisner is another South Carolina native who snapped a run of four straight missed cuts with a T-40 finish two weeks ago in Fort Worth.
Edge: Glover
Keys: Im missed the cut by a shot last week at water-logged Muirfield Village, his third missed cut in his last four starts with a T-17 finish at the PGA in between. In seven starts since the Masters, he has either missed the cut or finished inside the top 30. English won earlier this year at Kapalua, but that remains his lone top-10 finish this year. He finished T-13 last month at the Nelson and T-64 at the PGA.
Edge: Im
Tyrrell Hatton vs. Tommy Fleetwood
Keys: Two Englishmen squaring off, each in search of some momentum heading into Torrey Pines. Hatton got a win earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and has now made all but one cut in 10 starts this year. Fleetwood remains in search of his first Tour win and is hoping to turn around his luck in South Carolina, having missed the cut at both the RBC Heritage in April and last month's PGA Championship at Kiawah.
Edge: Hatton
Padraig Harrington vs. Luke Donald
Keys: The Ryder Cup captain against the former world No. 1. Harrington was pleased to be talking about his own game for the first time in a while at Kiawah, where he punched his ticket to next year's Masters with a T-4 finish. Donald is in search of a similar return to form, as his T-13 finish at the Byron Nelson in his most recent start was just his second made cut in 13 starts dating back to November.
Edge: Harrington
Doc Redman vs. Brandt Snedeker
Keys: Redman should feel quite comfortable this week, as the former U.S. Amateur champ went to school at nearby Clemson. His T-9 finish at the Byron Nelson last month was his first top-10 result since November, and he finished T-42 Sunday at the Memorial. Snedeker has been on a bit of a comeback, with five straight made cuts including three finishes of T-17 or better.
Edge: Redman
Keith Mitchell vs. Harold Varner III
Keys: Two players who should feel quite familiar with a new stop in the Southeast. Mitchell has largely struggled this season but went stride for stride with Rory McIlroy last month at Quail Hollow. His missed cut at Colonial broke a streak of five made cuts in a row. Varner remains in search of his first Tour win but has recorded five top-20 finishes this season, including a runner-up showing across the state at the RBC Heritage. He finished T-47 at Muirfield Village.
Edge: Varner
Keys: Willett is in the midst of an OWGR slide, as the former Masters champ is on the cusp of tumbling out of the top 100 after starting the year at No. 67, although he picked up some ground Sunday with a T-23 finish. His lone top-10 this year came in Punta Cana, and he was T-64 at Kiawah. Reavie finished T-3 at the season opener in Napa but remains in the midst of an extended drought, having missed six straight cuts after a T-49 finish at Bay Hill in March.
Edge: Willett
