For the first time, DraftKings has not sidestepped offering games on the 2021 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, coming up with a new format specific to this tournament which could open the door to more match-play daily fantasy golf contests in the future.
The DraftKings scoring system for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is different, but the basic format, concept and rules are fundamentally the same. Players will draft a team of six golfers, and the combined salaries of those six golfers must remain under the $50,000 team salary cap. The player whose team earns the most points from Wednesday through Sunday will be the winner of the contest. What's different here is how players earn points for their golfers' performance.
Since scoring is relative in match play -- par, birdie, eagle and the like really don't matter because the scoring between the two players in a match is all that counts -- so Draft Kings came up with a scoring system to cater to the match-play format.
- Holes won: 3 points/hole
- Holes halved: 0.75 points/hole
- Holes lost: -0.75 points/hole
- Holes not played (winner only): 1.6 points/hole
- Matches won: 5 points/match
- Matches halved: 2 points/match
- 3 consecutive holes won in match bonus (1/round): 5 points
- No holes lost in match bonus: 7.5 points
If a golfer wins a match, they'll get 5 points plus the differential in holes won, lost and halved. Obviously winning and halving holes is better than a back-and-forth match where holes are won and lost. The winner of the match will also get a bonus of 1.6 points per hole not played as a result of closing out a match. For example, if a golfer wins their match 4 & 3, leaving three holes unplayed, the winning golfer will get a bonus of 4.8 points (1.6 * 3).
If a golfer loses a match, they get 0 points added as a bonus. If a golfer halves a match, they get 2 points.
Here are the interesting caveats:
- If a golfer wins a match in a withdrawal situation prior to the match, then the winning golfer gets 5 points for winning the match and 28.8 points for not having to play any holes. The withdrawing golfer gets 0 points for the match. A similar situation would happen if a golfer wins by concession via injury at any point in a match, getting bonus points for the holes not played.
- If order for a golfer to get the no-holes-lost bonus, the match has to go at least 10 holes (10 & 8).
- All matches count toward scoring.
- Beginning with the Round of 16 (as opposed to the final day of round-robin play), sudden-death/extra holes count toward scoring.
This should be fun for DFS golf players, so enjoy!
