Port Royal has rewarded iron play first and driving second, and this week's weekend wind should make that test harder. Benjamin James at $10,900 is my cash anchor after finishing T5, 2nd and 3rd in three of his last four starts, Kevin Roy at +3000 is the golfer I am backing to win, and Patrick Fishburn at $7,400 is my favorite value. Thursday and Friday play close to even across the draw, then sustained wind above 20 mph arrives for the weekend. Nobody is out, Vince Whaley withdrew from his last start, and the table of Top Plays near the end sorts the whole card for you.
High Impact Injuries
| Player | Salary | Flag | DFS read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Montgomery | $7,000 | 125 days off, 16 events missed | Longest layoff on the board, fade |
| Chan Kim | $7,300 | 97 days off, 10 events missed | Priciest flagged name, keep out of cash |
| Martin Laird | $6,400 | 104 days off, 12 events missed | Fade |
| Austin Cook, Mason Howell, Charley Hoffman | $6,200 to $6,300 | 90 to 97 days off, 9 or 10 events missed | Tournament darts only, if at all |
Vince Whaley pulled out of the Bank of Utah Championship three weeks ago, his most recent start. Seamus Power, Adam Schenk, Aaron Wise, Patton Kizzire, Jimmy Stanger and Cameron Champ have each withdrawn from an event since May. Camilo Villegas, Aldrich Potgieter and Isaiah Salinda have two withdrawals apiece in the last year and a half, and nobody in the field has two inside six months.
The Course
Port Royal plays 6,828 yards at par 71, short by tour standards, and the fairways average about 35 yards wide. Long hitters can swing freely here because a loose drive usually still finds grass. The winning scores swing with the weather: Camilo Villegas won at 24 under in 2023, Rafael Campos at 19 under in 2024, and Adam Schenk needed only 12 under in 2025.
Port Royal has no shot-by-shot strokes gained data. Line up its last three leaderboards against each player's season numbers, though, and the guys who arrived hitting their irons well have played it best, with driving second. Putting and the short game barely moved the needle at all. So approach and off the tee are the two strokes gained categories I care about most this week.
Schenk, Campos and Villegas all cost under $7,000 this week. The top of the board has not controlled this event, and I will build with that in mind.
Weather to Watch
Round 1 | Cloudy, rain chances up to 69%, 77 to 79F | Wind: 9 to 14 mph, gusts 24
Thursday is warm and damp, with the strongest gusts arriving in the late morning. Rain could soften the greens for the afternoon groups.
Round 2 | Mostly sunny, 76 to 77F | Wind: 9 to 12 mph, gusts 17
Friday brings the calmest air of the week, and the afternoon groups get the softest window on the forecast.
Round 3 | Overcast, 72 to 73F | Wind: 23 to 29 mph, gusts 41
Saturday flips the week. Gusts above 40 mph on a coastal course push scores up for the whole field, and the morning groups get the worst of it.
Round 4 | Overcast, rain likely, 74 to 75F | Wind: 33 to 37 mph, gusts 50
Sunday looks brutal, with gusts near 50 mph and rain chances that climb past 80% by the late groups. A 12 under winning score, like last year, would not surprise me.
Over the first two days, players who go out Thursday morning and Friday afternoon see about 2.5 mph less wind in total than the opposite draw, a bit more than 1 mph per round. Call it 0.1 to 0.2 strokes over 36 holes. It breaks a tie for me and does nothing else. The weekend wind matters more than the draw, and it hits the whole field.
Course History
1. Vince Whaley ($7,400; best finishes: T3, T5)
Three trips here, three top-8 finishes: T3 in 2025, T5 in 2024 and T8 in 2023. He also pulled out of the Bank of Utah Championship three weeks ago. Across four events he has lost 3.22 strokes a round to the field, and he made two cuts from his last eight. I cannot play him in cash, and even in tournaments the course is the whole case.
2. Max McGreevy ($8,000; best finish: T3 in 2025)
McGreevy tied for 3rd here last year at 10 under. Five of his last eight starts ended on Friday, though, and that leaves the course record doing the heavy lifting.
3. Chandler Phillips ($7,600; best finish: 2nd in 2025)
He finished one shot behind Schenk last year and gained 3.15 strokes per round on the field that week. He also tied for 3rd at the 3M in July, so the ceiling is still there.
4. Camilo Villegas ($6,500; best finishes: won in 2023, T9 in 2025)
Villegas took the 2023 title at 24 under and has made the weekend in all three trips. His 2026 season looks nothing like it, and he has withdrawn twice in the last year and a half.
The Board
Elite ($9,000+)
The top of this board is thin. Only one player costs more than $9,900, and three of the most popular names in the whole field live in this range, so the price you pay up here is a price for comfort.
Benjamin James ($10,900 | +1200 | Cash) I know $10,900 at a course he has never played looks steep. His last four starts read T5, 2nd, 3rd and T38, and he has beaten the field average by 2.59 strokes a round over his last four starts. He has made seven of his last eight cuts with four top-10s. The one gap is that I have no tour category numbers on him yet, so I am going off results. The odds already make him the clear favorite. I am using him as my cash anchor anyway.
Kevin Roy ($9,700 | +3000 | Cash) Roy's last four tournaments average plus 1.25 strokes a round. He is eight for eight on cuts, and his last six finishes run 13th, 32nd, 24th, 19th, 26th and 31st. There is no top-10 in that run, and there is no blowup either. He tied for 8th here in 2023 at 17 under. Roy sits next to James in my cash builds.
Ben Kohles ($9,600 | +3300 | Cash) Kohles has the best season total in this field at 1.30 and the best approach number at 0.77, and approach is the category this course has paid for. He is plus 1.76 per round over his last eight, with finishes of 17th, 13th and 15th in his last three. The weak spot is the course: he made both cuts here and finished T57 and T61. I trust the irons over two quiet weeks.
Kevin Yu ($9,200 | +2500 | GPP) I know, he finished 59th in Japan and missed the weekend at Port Royal twice in three trips. His latest four starts still average plus 1.00 a round, and that August finish of 4th at the Wyndham shows the ceiling. He is cheaper than Roy, Kohles and Conners with a shorter price than all three. That is a GPP spot I like.
High ($8,000-$8,900)
Rico Hoey ($8,900 | +3000 | Cash) Same odds as Roy, $800 cheaper. Hoey tied for 17th here in 2024 and for 22nd in 2025, and he gains 0.45 a round with the driver. His latest four starts come in at plus 1.42 per round. Seven cuts from eight starts is the cash argument, and he tied for 10th in Utah three weeks ago. His one withdrawal in the last year and a half came at The American Express in January.
Zac Blair ($8,200 | +3500 | Cash) Blair tied for 9th at Port Royal in 2025, a year after missing the cut. His season total of 0.56 is second in this field only to Kohles, and he gains 0.66 per round on approach. He is plus 1.13 per round over his last eight. He gives up 0.45 off the tee, which hurts a little here, and he is still in my cash pool.
Davis Thompson ($8,500 | +3300 | GPP) Thompson is a good iron player, gaining 0.57 a round with his approach shots in 2026, and he tied for 7th at the 3M and for 8th at the Rocket in July. Since then he has gone 14th, a missed cut, 62nd and 54th. Most people will skip him for that. I want some of him in big fields.
Max McGreevy ($8,000 | +4000 | GPP) He tied for 3rd here last year, and he gained 1.59 a round on the field across his two trips. Five of his last eight starts ended on Friday, and his latest four sit at minus 1.27 per round. I am keeping him out of cash. As a course play at the bottom of this range, he still works in tournaments.
Mid ($7,000-$7,900)
Patrick Fishburn ($7,400 | +4500 | Cash) He is my favorite value, and he is not a flashy name. Fishburn has made six of his last eight cuts, he is plus 0.30 per round over his last four, and his season numbers are positive in total, off the tee and with the putter. He tied for 34th here in his only trip. That is a floor play at $7,400, and it pays for James and Roy.
Austin Eckroat ($7,900 | +4000 | Cash) Seven cuts from eight starts. Eckroat gains 0.35 per round on approach and is plus 0.53 over his last four, and his summer finishes run 24th, 38th, 38th and 57th. Eckroat's most recent start was the Biltmore 34 days ago, three events back and short of a real flag. I pair him with Fishburn in cash.
Chandler Phillips ($7,600 | +5500 | GPP) He was the runner-up at this course in 2025 and tied for 3rd at the 3M in July. The approach play is the problem at minus 0.59, and approach is what this course pays for, so his case rests on the course record. I expect very few rosters on him after the missed cut in Utah, and that makes him a GPP play I want more of than the field.
Takumi Kanaya ($7,700 | +5000 | GPP) T3 here in 2025, with 2.90 strokes a round on the field that week. Kanaya did it with chipping and putting, and both are positive for him this season. The irons are the hole in his game, and he has made four of his last eight cuts. Large fields are the only place I want him.
Cheap (under $7,000)
Troy Merritt ($6,500 | +25000 | Cash) Merritt made the weekend in seven of his last eight starts, and that kind of floor is hard to find at $6,500. He tied for 12th here in 2024. Over four starts he sits at minus 0.56 per round, so I am buying the cut streak and not the form. When you need room for James and Roy, this is where I find it.
Greyson Sigg ($6,900 | +10000 | GPP) Sigg has gained 0.96 a round over his previous four tournaments, and he tied for 9th here in 2024 before a 46th last year. That pairing of form and course record is rare under $7,000. At this price it is enough for tournaments.
Mark Hubbard ($6,900 | +10000 | GPP) He tied for 3rd here in 2024 and for 20th in 2023, then missed the cut last year. The current form is poor, two missed cuts from his last five starts and minus 0.98 per round over his last 24, so this is a pure course bet. The field will look elsewhere.
Camilo Villegas ($6,500 | +17500 | GPP) He won here in 2023 and tied for 9th last year. Villegas has been idle since the Biltmore, his season total is minus 0.39, and he has withdrawn twice in the last year and a half, which makes his floor shaky. I will play him in GPPs and nowhere else.
Bets
To Win
Kevin Roy (+3000) gets the nod as my pick to win, for a simple reason. He is eight for eight on cuts, he is plus 1.25 a round over his last four, and he tied for 8th here in 2023. The board prices him behind James, Yu, Conners and others, and I do not see why.
Kevin Yu (+2500) has the ceiling. A Wyndham top five in August and a hot four-event stretch are enough for me to pay this price.
Austin Smotherman (+3300) won the Bank of Utah three weeks ago at 26 under, and he is plus 1.14 a round over his last four. He gains 0.64 a round on approach, the skill Port Royal has rewarded most, and the board still lists eight players ahead of him.
Long Shots
Chandler Phillips (+5500) finished second at Port Royal in 2025 and tied for 3rd at the 3M in July. He needs that week again.
Kevin Streelman (+8000) tied for 5th in Utah three weeks ago, and he is plus 0.54 a round over that four-tournament run. This is a form bet at a long number.
Justin Lower (+7000) tied for 5th here in 2024 and for 20th in 2023, and he is plus 0.60 a round over his last four. He missed the cut here last year, so treat this as a lottery ticket.
Not financial advice. These are model leans, not guarantees. Only bet what you can afford to lose. 21+. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Top Plays
| Player | Role | Salary | FanDuel win | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin James | Cash anchor | $10,900 | +1200 | T5, 2nd and 3rd in three of his last four |
| Kevin Roy | Cash core | $9,700 | +3000 | Eight straight cuts, my pick to win |
| Ben Kohles | Cash core | $9,600 | +3300 | Best season total and approach in the field |
| Rico Hoey | Cash core | $8,900 | +3000 | Same odds as Roy, $800 cheaper |
| Patrick Fishburn | Cash value | $7,400 | +4500 | My favorite value on the slate |
| Austin Eckroat | Cash value | $7,900 | +4000 | Seven cuts in eight |
| Troy Merritt | Cash value | $6,500 | +25000 | Seven weekends in eight starts |
| Zac Blair | Cash or GPP | $8,200 | +3500 | T9 at Port Royal in 2025, strong irons |
| Kevin Yu | GPP | $9,200 | +2500 | Hot four-event stretch, real ceiling |
| Max McGreevy | GPP | $8,000 | +4000 | T3 at Port Royal in 2025 |
| Chandler Phillips | GPP leverage | $7,600 | +5500 | Runner-up here, T3 at the 3M in July |
| Camilo Villegas | GPP dart | $6,500 | +17500 | 2023 winner here, withdrawal risk |
Final Thoughts
James and Roy are where cash starts for me. Fishburn, Eckroat and Merritt pay for them, and Kohles or Hoey fill the last spot depending on how the salary lands. That build has two strong players up top and a lot of cut makers underneath, which is the shape I want when the weekend can blow scores apart. The Sunday forecast scares me a little, so safe floors feel better than usual.
For GPPs, the crowd will bunch up on Conners, Roy and James. I am under the field on Conners. I get different with Yu and Thompson, and then I lean on course history at the bottom with Phillips and Villegas, with Kanaya and McGreevy as the extra shots if I am making a lot of lineups. The last three winners here all cost under $7,000 this week, and I want that in my pool.
Watch the Sunday forecast before lock. If it holds at 33 to 37 mph with gusts near 50, the iron players should separate, and I would tilt a little harder toward them in my GPP pool. And if you are clicking Whaley anyway, make sure he is still in the field Thursday morning.
Tools used for this week
Every number in this playbook comes off the free BankrollSZN tools: this week's PGA DFS projections, PGA strokes gained by category, PGA course history, tee time weather by wave, and the free PGA lineup optimizer.