The Open Championship DFS Golf Picks
Make the most of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for The Open Championship, and check out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
The Open Championship
Preview for The Open Championship: This golf tournament has been played since 1860, making it the oldest in the world. It was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, from 1940 to 1945 due to World War II, from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, and interestingly enough, it was also not played in 1871 as there was no trophy available to be won. The all-time record at The Open Championship occurred in 2016 when Henrik Stenson won with a score of -20 at Royal Troon in Scotland, and the best score we have seen at St. Andrews – Old Course was in the year 2000 when Tiger Woods scored a -19 to win by an amazing 8 strokes over two other competitors. Winners of The Open Championship over the last five editions include Collin Morikawa in 2021, there was no 2020 event due to the pandemic, Shane Lowry in 2019, Francesco Molinari in 2018, Jordan Spieth in 2017, and Henrik Stenson in 2016.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $14M, the winner collects $2.5M and also earns himself 600 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: St. Andrews – Old Course is 7,313 yards in length, is a par 72, and the greens are a mix of bentgrass and poa annua. The winning score at this tournament over the last decade ranges from -3 to 20, but several different courses have been played since 2012 – expect the winner to be around -15 to -20 this week at St. Andrews depending on weather conditions. Some key stats to pay attention to this week, in order, are strokes gained: around the green, driving distance, strokes gained: approach, strokes gained: off the tee, and strokes gained: tee to green.
The field: This is unfortunately the last major championship of the year, but we are fortunately treated to a superb field with the world’s best players teeing it up! It’s a full 156-player field this week, and the top 70 golfers plus ties advance to rounds 3 and 4 on the weekend. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be an A+.
Three questions I have about The Open Championship:
1. Which 10 players have been the best around the greens over the last 24 rounds? Around the green play is arguably the most important key stat to hone in on this week, the top players recently are Chris Kirk, Patrick Reed, Billy Horschel, Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Shane Lowry, Si Woo Kim, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Tony Finau.
2. Which 10 players have hit the longest off the tee blocks over the last 24 rounds? Driving distance is likely the second most important key stat for success at St. Andrews this week, the best bombers in recent months are Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Young, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Luke List, Garrick Higgo, Xander Schauffele, and Dustin Johnson.
3. Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over the last 24 rounds? Strokes gained total is always a key stat even when I don’t list it – the elite gainers over the last 24 rounds are Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Seamus Power, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, and Justin Thomas.
DraftKings lineup construction strategy this week: There is a ton of talent at the top and the middle of the board, but the scrub golfers this week are players you may not be familiar with on the other tours and older gentlemen who won The Open Championship decades ago. I like the idea of going with stars and scrubs and hybrid lineups this week – make sure to get as much win equity in them as possible, especially for the large GPPs, and look for value players who have a decent chance to make the cut line and could potentially pop for a top 20. Pay close attention to projected ownership on Wednesday if you have premium tools at your disposal, look for quality pivot options, and leave a few hundred dollars on the table if you’re after unique lineups in big contests that could win you $1M outright.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are my 15 DFS golf picks which feature my top 3 players from each tier on DraftKings (DK) in no particular order, plus I include player salaries for DK, as well. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last 5 years, and add in some tasty pieces of information, also.
The $10K+ Range
Rory McIlroy (Salary: DraftKings – $11.1K) – You just got to know that McIlroy is as hungry as any player in the field to win this week as he hasn’t won a major in 8 long years. He has been very strong lately with a win at the Canadian Open three starts ago, five top 8’s in his last seven starts and he has finished no worse than T19 during that span. His stats look impressive, he won this tournament in 2014 and has four top 5’s in his last six Open Championship starts, and there’s no reason to think that he won’t be in contention this week. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 46th, 2019 – Cut, 2018 – T2, and 2017 – T4.
Jordan Spieth (Salary: DraftKings – $10.0K) – Spieth loves playing this event and it shows as he has the win in 2017, three top 9’s in the last five years and that’s with no 2020 edition, and he has six straight top 30’s at The Open Championship. He finished T10 last week in Scotland and has four top 10’s in his last eight starts. I don’t think that he will win this year, but I could see something similar to his T4 which he secured seven years ago at St. Andrews. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 2nd, 2019 – T20, 2018 – T9, and 2017 – Won.
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $11.0K) – It was a hard call between Scheffler, Rahm, and Thomas, but I actually like that Scheffler missed the cut last week, so he can be fully ready to go this week with an added breather on the weekend. He rarely loses strokes with his short game but did last week – don’t expect that to happen two weeks in a row, he’s just too good. He already won The Masters earlier this year and should be in contention this week thanks to his outstanding ball-striking and solid around the green play. He has four wins this year, and two top 2’s in his last five starts, so the world’s top-ranked golfer will be a handful this week. In his first look at The Open Championship last year, he was outstanding with a top 10 finish, and his game has evolved a ton since then, so anything short of another top 10 will be disappointing in Scottie’s eyes. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 8th.
The $9K Range
Xander Schauffele (Salary: DraftKings – $9.9K) – If pricing came out after last week, then Schauffele would be likely the second or third most expensive player as he won the Scottish Open, now has back-to-back victories, and has three wins in his last seven starts if you count his win with Patrick Cantlay at the Zurich Classic. His stats are insanely tight right now, he has had a pretty good Open Championship career to date including a co-runner-up four years ago, and there’s a decent chance that he add his third win in a row this week. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 26th, 2019 – T41, 2018 – T2, and 2017 – T20.
Matt Fitzpatrick (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – Fitzpatrick is playing the best golf of his career right now thanks to winning the U.S. Open two starts ago and he has five top 10’s in his last six starts with no weaknesses in his game at all. His best finish at The Open Championship was a T20 three years ago, but I expect him to shatter that this week with a top 10 and he could be right in the mix to win come Sunday. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T26, 2019 – T20, 2018 – Cut, and 2017 – T44.
Patrick Cantlay (Salary: DraftKings – $9.4K) – You got to respect the show he put on last week at the Scottish Open gaining strokes across the board and finishing T4. Cantlay has four top 4 finishes over his last seven starts if you count the Zurich Classic win, and has six top 14’s during that same stretch. Over his last four starts in particular he has gained strokes in every major stat category, except for a 1.33 loss on approach at the U.S. Open. He had a T12 at this tournament four years ago, and I can see a similar finish coming for Patrick again this week. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – Cut, 2019 – T41, and 2018 – T12.
The $8K Range
Louis Oosthuizen (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – Oosthuizen blew the field away at St. Andrews in 2010 with a score of -16 – seven strokes better than Lee Westwood who was the runner-up that year. He had a T2 in 2015 and last year he finished 3rd, so he plays quite well over in Europe. He’s still trying to find his A-game on the PGA Tour, but had a T8 at the BMW Championship two starts ago and is coming off a T5 at the LIV Golf International Portland event in his most recent start. It’s hard to say what he will do this week, but I like him for balanced lineups. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 3rd, 2019 – T20, 2018 – T28, and 2017 – Cut.
Tony Finau (Salary: DraftKings – $8.4K) – I was off of Finau for a while as he had seemed to lost his way, but he’s back again with three top 4’s in his last seven starts, and he’s coming off a T13 at the Travelers Championship where he gained 5.55 strokes on approach. His results at this event have been rather impressive as well as he has five straight top 27’s including a T9 in 2018 and a 3rd in 2019. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 15th, 2019 – 3rd, 2018 – T9, and 2017 – T27.
Tommy Fleetwood (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K) – I’m not normally a Fleetwood type of guy, but his 5th at the PGA Championship and his T4 last week at the Scottish Open have me a bit giddy this week for him. He has finished no worse than 33rd at The Open Championship since 2017, and let’s not forget about his runner-up finish in 2019 at Royal Portrush. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 33rd, 2019 – 2nd, 2018 – T12, and 2017 – T27.
The $7K Range
Max Homa (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – If you’re looking for stability in your lineups then look to Homa as he has six top 23’s over his last seven starts and his worst finish was a T47 at the U.S. Open two starts ago. He had a solid T16 last week in Scotland and if his approach play rebounds, which it should, then expect another top 20 from Max. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 40th.
J.T. Poston (Salary: DraftKings – $7.3K) – You wouldn’t know it, but Poston is one of the hottest players right now coming off the win at the John Deere Classic, a T2 at the Travelers Championship, he had a T9 six starts ago, and a T3 eight starts ago excluding the Zurich Classic. He has gained almost 16 strokes ball-striking and over 14 strokes with his short game over his last two starts, so he’s blazing and it could continue this week! The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: None.
Cameron Tringale (Salary: DraftKings – $7.0K) – He did quite well last week in Scotland finishing T6 thanks to strong approach play and putting, and he also had a 14th at the U.S. Open three starts ago. He had a 26th-place finish at this tournament a year ago, and I can see him doing something similar again this week – not bad for a flat $7K player. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – 26th.
The $6K Range
Wyndham Clark (Salary: DraftKings – $6.6K) – Distance is very important this week and Clark is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, so I like what he brings to the table in that regard. Add to it that he finished T16 last week in Scotland, had a T7 at the Canadian Open four starts ago, and has four top 37’s in his last five starts. His short game is impressive as well, which will certainly play well this week. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: None.
Keith Mitchell (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Mitchell has two top 7’s in his last three starts including a T6 at the Travelers Championship and he has been statistically sound for months now resulting in five top 10’s on the year. He has failed to play weekend golf at The Open Championship in two starts, but I think he breaks through this week with a top 40. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – Cut and 2019 – Cut.
Thomas Detry (Salary: DraftKings – $6.6K) – We don’t see a ton of Detry on the PGA Tour, but he’s coming off a top 10 last week in Scotland where he gained strokes across the board except for a 0.59 loss on putting, and has four straight top 22’s on the PGA Tour. He’s worth a look for one or two of your stars and scrubs’ lineups this week. The Open Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – Cut.
