Fantasy Golf Insider: 9 Players to Target at the Quicken Loans National

As is often the case in tournaments following a major championship, the Quicken Loans National features a desperately thin field. Just three of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will be there, as will only three former winners of this event.

The top players in the field and the pricing list are World No. 5 Rickie Fowler and No. 11 Patrick Reed. Both players have been in poor form of late, including missed cuts at the U.S. Open. Neither are featured here as either targets or fades, and owners willing to risk lofty investments should do so only in larger GPPs. Top results are certainly possible in such a thin field.

Here's a look at the past three leaderboards:

Per FantasyInsiders, the key stats for Congressional Country Club are Driving Distance (DD), Par 4 Scoring Average (P4S), and Proximity to the Hole from 200-plus Yards (PROX). These stats have been strengths of previous winners and need to be used in combination with recent form and course history when building lineups.

Top Tier, Top Dollar, Top Results

Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau's price tag has been wildly inconsistent since his breakout performance at the Masters. His results have also been highly variable; he has missed three of seven cuts, but is coming off a 15th at the U.S. Open and enters this week in the middle of the top tier. His price has normalized, and he's truly a top option in this weak field.

He still hasn't played enough to qualify for any of the PGA Tour official stats, be he averages 291.9 yards with the driver, 4.05 strokes on Par 4s, and his average proximity from greater than 200 yards is 61'8". He has a lower scoring average with a late tee time, something he'll have this Thursday.

With no guaranteed safe options up top, DeChambeau is a solid contrarian selection below the top names.

Justin Thomas

While some poor weekend performances and four missed cuts - including two of his past four events - have kept Thomas' season from being great, he still has a victory and four top 10s in 18 events. He came third at The Players Championship and 32nd at the U.S. Open, with a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament sandwiched in between.

He shot three 73s last week, with a second-round 69 improving his overall result. He sets up well for a much friendlier course, with a rank of 25th in DD and 10th in PROX. While he ranks 129th in P4S, he does rank 25th on Par 5s, improving his overall outlook. He's conservatively priced in a thin field, and offers equal upside to those above him.

Byeong-Hun An

An rebounded from a missed cut at the Masters to place 23rd at the U.S. Open. He has made seven of 10 PGA cuts, placing second at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and ninth at the WGC: Dell Match Play. He made all four of his European Tour cuts, opening the season with eighth-, fifth-, and fourth-place finishes in consecutive events.

An ranks 33rd in DD but is outside the top 100 in both of the other key stats. Form trumps both stats and course history this week in the poor field, and An is likely to go low-owned once again.

Best Value With a Chance

Adam Hadwin

Hadwin was left out of the U.S. Open and will return to tournament play with his second-best result of the season coming in his previous event. His 11th-place showing at the Memorial Tournament followed a 22nd at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, a 58th at the AT&T Byron Nelson and a 39th at The Players. He's made seven consecutive cuts, after missing five of his first 13.

He's still favorably priced and won't need more than a top-30 or top-20 finish to return value this week. He's not a long driver, but ranks fifth on tour in Strokes Gained: Putting and Total Putting, seventh in Putting Average at 1.723 putts per hole and fourth in 3-putt avoidance at 1.61 percent.

He also ranks 13th on tour in total birdies, lending well to DFS scoring.

Jon Rahm

Rahm has appeared in just two PGA events so far this season, placing 23rd at the U.S. Open this past week and 10th at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba last November. The top amateur from the U.S. Open will turn pro this week, and he'll look to follow the path of DeChambeau, who came fourth in his first professional appearance at the RBC Heritage.

There's something to be said for financial incentive, and his salary is much more reasonable than DeChambeau's debut price.

Wesley Bryan

Bryan made his PGA debut with a salary indicative of his Web.com results this season, but he proved unworthy of being priced among the PGA's elite (for those in attendance) at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He finished 58th, but it was a third-round score of 78 which was his undoing, as he was 4 under in the other three rounds.

He returned to the Web.com Tour last week, and picked up another top-10 finish at the Nashville Golf Open. He's priced at the very bottom of this week's middle tier, one which will allow him to return value far more easily, especially in a weaker field.

If Everything Goes Right

Cameron Tringale

Tringale missed consecutive cuts at the FedEx and the Memorial, before receiving a break last week. He had previously made seven consecutive cuts, dating back to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He placed 30th at Congressional in 2014, and 44th in 2013 and 2012. He won't need to do much better than he has in the past in order to return value at a bottom-tier price.

Sung Kang

Kang's 18th-place finish at the U.S. Open was his best result since a 10th at The Honda Classic in late February. He had missed five of his last nine cuts before last week, with a top finish of 34th coming at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

He ranks 88th in DD, 68th in P4S and 119th in PROX, but he ranks third with 10 total eagles and ninth in eagles per hole. He does have DFS-scoring upside, and he doesn't need to do much more than see the weekend in order to return value.

Andrew Loupe

The tour's seventh-longest driver, Loupe struggles in the other key stats of the week, ranking 179th in P4S and 73rd in PROX. He has missed three consecutive cuts, but he came 39th at Congressional CC in 2014, his first and only appearance at this event and course. He breaks par on 22.69 percent of holes played, illustrating his ability to meet DFS-scoring requirements.

Top Fades

Troy Merritt

While Merritt may seem low priced for a recent champion of this event, his victory in 2015 came on a different course. The tournament was played on Robert Trent Jones Golf Club last year, which allowed Merritt to post the lowest winning score in event history. He missed the cut when it was last held at Congressional in 2014.

Jim Furyk

Furyk's experience and ability to keep the ball in the fairway allowed him to post a second-place finish at the U.S. Open in just his third made cut of the season. His year has been hampered by injuries which have allowed him to play in just five events.

Though he's healthy now, it's a much different course for this week's event, and one where the elder statesman will struggle to keep pace with the longer hitters.

Bill Haas

Haas is priced among the elite players in this week's event, a billing he's unlikely to live up to. He's missed two cuts and failed to finish higher than 43rd in each of his past five events. He ranks 140th in DD, 68th in P4S, and 162nd in PROX. While stats aren't everything, better standings than those are required at his salary.