DFS Dish: Stack lineups with PGA Championship, Quail Hollow specialists

The DFS board is wide open for the PGA Championship, the second major championship of 2025. Instead of the usual two-horse race, multiple recent performances by proven winners provide an opportunity when constructing rosters for the 107th PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. When entered, Scottie Scheffler ($13,400) assumes his position at the pinnacle, sitting $1,200 above his closest competitor, Rory McIlroy ($12,200). Neither man has missed a cut this season, and both rank first or second in most major statistical categories. Fresh off the career Grand Slam and his fifth major championship at the 2025 Masters, McIlroy has won four times at this course, lost a playoff, and has 10 top 10 paydays. Scheffler, who won in runaway fashion in his tune-up event two weeks ago in Texas, has two major championships, both Masters titles, and has only played this track in the Presidents Cup (0-3-1) in 2022. Course form will swing players to McIlroy, but Scheffler will hardly be a contrarian selection.

Bryson DeChambeau ($11,500) handled the magnanimous rough at Winged Foot and the electric greens at Pinehurst No. 2 to earn his reputation as a big-event player. Nobody finished the week better than 8-under-par in 2017, the first time the Quail Hollow Club hosted the event. Few are better at attacking demanding golf courses and parring them to death. He has cashed T6 or better in four of his last five major championships. Ludvig Åberg ($10,800) is only playing his sixth major championship, yet is fourth choice on the board. His two best results, second and seventh at the Masters the last two seasons, were on a golf course where length is paramount to success. His win this season was at Torrey Pines South Course, 7,765 yards, the longest used on TOUR. The Quail Hollow Club tips at 7,626 yards for the 2025 championship.

The others at the top of the board are highlighted by the defending champion from 2024, Xander Schauffele ($10,700). Defeating DeChambeau by a shot at Valhalla in Louisville in May 2024, the Californian broke through for his first major championship. He won his second later in the year at Royal Troon. Schauffele, twice a runner-up over the last two seasons at Quail Hollow Club, finished five shots behind McIlroy in 2024 and four adrift of Wyndham Clark in 2023, and has not missed a cut in 63 consecutive events. Collin Morikawa ($10,400) provides the perfect detour to swerve the masses above $10,000. Playing from the fairway and grinding out pars is a successful formula at any major championship. The first week with new caddie Joe Greiner is history (T17, Truist Championship), and the 2020 PGA Championship winner should be settled in and ready to contend.

The Truist Championship, won last week by Sepp Straka ($8,000), did not have a 36-hole cut. The top players worked out any kinks at the 7,119-yard Philadelphia Cricket Club. Justin Thomas ($9,900), the 2017 winner at the Quail Hollow Club in the first major championship in Charlotte, followed up his victory at the RBC Heritage, sharing second last week with Matt Minister back on his bag. Nobody was hotter than McIlroy entering the Masters, and not many, if any, are hotter than Thomas entering the PGA Championship on a course where he's already proven he can win. He’s in my lineup, no questions asked. Don’t forget, Brooks Koepka ($9,700) has won this event three times, the most wins in the field, and Jon Rahm ($10,200) owns two major championships. A victory this week for Jordan Spieth ($9,300) would see him complete the career grand slam. No pressure!

Pairing big-money guys above will require salary cap creativity. Tommy Fleetwood ($9,100) earned a T4 last week and owns back-to-back top-10 results at Quail Hollow Club in his previous two appearances. The Englishman turns up the heat in major championships. Qualifying for 11 of the last 13 major championships, he owns five top-10 results and 10 finishes of T26 or better. Course historians will remind me that Jason Day ($8,800) won the Truist Championship here in 2018 and was T4 in 2024. The 2015 PGA Championship winner at Whistling Straits, also a multiple-time winner at Torrey Pines South, loves a long, demanding track. Sungjae Im ($8,200) picked up a check for T7 at The Open in 2024 and cashed T5 at the Masters in April. Toss in T4 in 2024 and T8 in 2023 at the Truist Championship, and I won’t lament his length off the tee.

With 99 of the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Rankings entering, there are plenty of flavors to choose from this week. The first order of business is to get six players to the weekend. When in doubt during major championships, I search for guys in form who can pound it tee to green and grind out pars.

Daniel Berger ($7,900) continues to batter golf balls from tee to green. Gaining over five shots last week at the Wissahickon Course and collecting T11 money, the Floridian cashed a check for the ninth consecutive event he entered, all T30 or better. Showing signs of jumping out of a slump that dates to the 2024 Truist Championship, Max Homa ($7,600) plays excellent golf in Charlotte, the site of his first win on TOUR. His only poor outing was in his first-career title defense (MC), but he returned with a pair of T8 paydays in his last two visits. He has also won at Torrey Pines South and The Riviera Country Club, previous major championship outlays. Cameron Young ($7,100) showed signs of life last week with T7, but I’ll point out that the former Wake Forest Deamon Deacon grew up in New York state. Maybe I’m overthinking it!

Harris English ($6,800) is already a winner this season at Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open) and ran third at the 2023 Truist Championship. He’s never missed the weekend in six previous trips to Quail Hollow and has advanced to the weekend in the last five major championships. Denny McCarthy ($6,700) grew up in Virginia and has been peeling off weekend appearances all season. His results in major championships have been underwhelming, but he cashed T6 at Quail Hollow in 2024 and T8 in 2023, both against big fields. Stephan Jaeger ($6,500) has plenty of muscle tee-to-green and has cashed a check in eight straight events on TOUR. Much was made about the recent opening rounds produced by Keith Mitchell ($6,200) last week after his first round of 61. His recent paydays have been solid as well. Cashing T7 at the Truist Championship was his fifth consecutive T18 or better on TOUR. He was third in 2021 and T8 in 2019 at Quail Hollow. If Jacob Bridgeman ($6,000) holes over 500 feet of putts again this week, nobody will be bothered that he is making his debut in a major championship.

Here's how I would devise a six-man lineup this week, staying within the $50,000 salary cap for DraftKings contests:

• Rory McIlroy ($12,200)
• Justin Thomas ($9,900)
• Sungjae Im ($8,200)
• Harris English ($6,800)
• Denny McCarthy (6,700)
• Keith Mitchell ($6,200)