Each week in this column, you’ll find my favorite pivot plays in DraftKings tournaments. This isn’t to say to eat some of the chalk — sometimes the popular plays tend to be popular for good reason, and you should use some of those players in your lineups. Remember, never pivot off a good play to a bad play just because they’re projected to be lower owned. That’s moronic. A shrinking of a lower-owned play or two, however, can grant you a lot of leverage in what a mostly coin-flip situations. 

Scott Brown/Kevin Kisner $8,700

I assumed the familiar pairing of Brown and Kisner would be overwhelming chalk this week. Like with most things, I was wrong. Even at their seemingly deflated price, no one wants a piece of the action. Fine. They’re boring. I get it. But they’ve played together each of the three years this event has been a team format and never finished worse than T15. Their games are in simpatico, and unlike most of the teams in the field, they actually play together all the time. Outside of this event, they play together at their home club and take the other members’ cash. 

Brice Garnett/Scott Stallings $6,800

One unique feature of TPC Louisiana is the length of the par 3s. All four measure over 200 yards. They’re a collection of the toughest holes, on an otherwise easy course. And, if we think back to 2019 — which I’m aware, is a very long time ago — Stallings, then paired with Trey Mullinax, was the 54-hole co-leader with Rahm and Palmer. It didn’t go well for them in alternate shot final round. While imposing off the tee, at the time, Mullinax didn’t quite have the game to keep up if things went off the rails. Garnett is a much better match for Stallings. While his approach number aren’t exactly encouraging, he’s capable off the tee and been much better around and on the greens lately. That jibes with Stallings perfectly, as he’s all irons and nothing else these days. 

Despite missing five of eight cuts in 2021, he’s actually gained on approach in every starts. So, especially in alternate shot, their games actually complement each other perfectly. Then there are those par 3s. For whatever reason, both short and long term, they’re two of the top players on Tour on par 3s from 200-225 yards. It’s that way this year, and in the previous two. They’re cheap, going to be relatively unknown, and in a format that has such high variance, picking a narrow nugget or two and riding it to the finish line is the best way to play it. More so at the bottom end of the DraftKings pricing.