The PGA Tour will join members of the LIV Tour this week for the final and oldest major on the schedule. The Open Championship will be played at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. The Masters will always be my favorite major, but the Open Championship is a close second. The weather has to cooperate though. This tournament does not need to be played in bright sunshine and 10 MPH winds. We need rain, cold and 25 MPH winds to make this the tournament it is expected to be. Hopefully that is what we get this week.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The Open Championship was last played at Royal Troon Golf Club in 2016. It was one of the best majors in the last 25 years. Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson put on a show. Stenson shot a 63 in the final round to edge out McKelson who shot a 65. Rory McIlroy tried his best to chase the two leaders down, but he came up short. I expect fireworks again this year at this iconic course.
Royal Troon opened in 1870 when it only had four holes. Now it is an 18-hole, par-71 that plays 7,385 yards in length.
Royal Troon is a links-style course. Most of the holes on the front nine typically play down wind and offer a lot of birdie chances. The back nine plays into the wind and is often where the golfers give strokes back to this difficult course.
We will hear a lot this week about the “Postage Stamp.” The eighth hole is a 123-yard, par-3, often called the Postage Stamp. In 1997, this hole played 99-yards and Tiger Woods scored a triple-bogie, six. It may be short, but the winds make the tiny green tough to hit.
Click here to see the course: Royal Troon Golf Club
SCOTTISH OPEN KEY STATS
– Accuracy Off-the-Tee
– Driving Distance
– Scrambling
– Strokes Gained Putting
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
TOP 30 GOLFERS
CORE GOLFERS FOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP STRATEGY
The golfers priced over $10K will determine the winner of your contest this week. Scottie Scheffler is back and his ownership is going to be really high. I am going to mess with fire and fade the highly owned Scheffler since the Open Championship is his worst major (that just means he will probably finish 3rd instead of first). I will go all in with Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Arberg in tournament contests. I really like where their game is right now. There is enough talent in the $6K and a few in the $5K price range to build all types of lineups this week.
I am playing some Cash Contest lineups with Scottie Scheffler (I prefer to get exposure to Scheffler in Cash Contests this week). I will pair Scheffler with Shane Lowry, Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Alex Noren and Adam Scott in some Cash Contest lineups. I will also play a balanced lineup using the golfers listed below in the Cash Contests picks.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
COLLIN MORIKAWA ($9,900): Starting your Cash Contest lineup with a golfer who has missed the cut in the last two Open Championships is probably not a good idea, but sometimes you have to look past the numbers. Morikawa won the Claret Jug in 2021. His form right now is closer to what we had in 2021 then what is was the last two seasons. Morikawa came a few putts away from winning last week at the Scottish Open. His game right now is good enough to win his third major.
TYRRELL HATTON ($9,500): Hatton has a history of playing well in the Open Championship. He has made the cut four of his last five Open Championships and he enter the tournament this week at Royal Troon in some of the best form of his career. Hatton just won the LIV Tour Tournament in Nashville by six shots. He can win again this week if he can keep his emotions in check.
SHANE LOWRY ($8,200): They should have a picture of Lowry on the cover of every promotion for the Open Championship. He just looks like a guy who would play well in this tournament. Lowry won the Open Championship in 2019 and he enters this year’s major after making the cut in his last 14 tournaments on the PGA Tour. Lowry has the form and the game to score well this week.
BRIAN HARMAN ($7,600): How is the defending champion of the Open Championship only $7,600? I thought Harman would be in the $8K price range, so I will take the discount. Harman won by six shots last year. It was the second-largest margin of victory by a U.S. born golfer. He plays well in the Open Championship when the weather forecast does not look too rough. So far, the weather should be in his favor this week.
CAMERON YOUNG ($7,500): Young has not won on the PGA Tour yet. His first win could be a major at the Open Championship. For some reason, Young has played his best golf on the links-style courses. He finished second in the Open Championship in 2022 and eighth last year. Young just shot a 59 at the Travelers Championship and he finished his last two tournaments in the top-10. He has the form and the ability to finish near the top of the leaderboard Sunday.
COREY CONNERS ($7,300): Conners is one of the best golfers in the field tee-to-green. I was worried about his game if the winds were going to be gusting over 25 MPH, but that is not the case. Conners should be able to keep his tee shot in the fairways and attack these small greens. He has a good chance to win if he can putt this weekend.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
RORY MCILROY ($11,400): We all know that McIlroy has not won a major in a decade, but that doesn’t mean has hasn’t been good. McIlroy has finished six of his last Open Championships in the top-six. I like the $1,400 discount we get from Scottie Scheffeler this week too. McIlroy dominated the field last week at the Scottish Open from tee-to-green. He would have won if he could putt. I am sure McIlroy worked hard on his putting this week and should have a good chance to end his major drought.
LUDVIG ABERG ($10,100): I will take Aberg over the field for three rounds. It is the final round that sinks the Sweden’s game. Aberg is no doubt one of the best golfers tee-to-green. He proved last week that he can play well on the links-style courses. He will start to play better in the final round once he gets more experience and his nerves calm down. I am willing to play Aberg this week and hope this is the tournament when he puts it all together.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD ($9,300): There are two things that we know about the Open Championship this year…. Fleetwood will not win…and…. Fleetwood will finish in the top-12. That is what he does in this tournament. Fleetwood has finished 10th, 4th, 33rd, 2nd and 12th in his last five Open Championships. He finished third in the Masters and 16th in the U.S. Open. He should finish another major in the top-10 this week.
SAHITH THEEGALA ($7,200): There are some golfers who are good on short courses, some that are good on long courses and some that are good on links-style courses. Theegala is just a good golfer. He does not excel at any of the courses listed above, but he does play well enough to have his name near the top of the leaderboard. Theegala just finished fourth in the Scottish Open, so his form is ready to attack Royal Troon. I would not be surprised if we see Theegala in one of the final groups Sunday.
ABRAHAM ANCER ($6,600): I need a really contrarian golfer that has the upside to push this lineup to the top. Abraham could be the Ancer. He has been forgotten since Ancer left for the LIV Tour. He won one of the tournaments this year on the LIV Tour and he has finished four tournaments in the top-12. Ancer can still play golf. He has made the cut in his last three Open Championships and that includes an 11th-place finish in 2022. This lineup could score well if Ancre finishes in the top-10 Sunday.
MATTEO MANASERRO ($5,400): Manaserro is going to be the chalk in the $5K price range, but he is just too good to fade at $5,400. Manaserro finished 15th last week at the Scottish Open. It was his third top-15 finish in his last four starts. All we need Manaserro to do is to make the cut. I think he can do a lot more than that at Royal Troon.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (Multi Entry Lineups)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the seventh tournament in Segment 3. This is the toughest segment to navigate. We had two signature events, the third major (U.S. Open), and we still have the Open Championship and the three FedEx Playoff events. The Top golfers in the world will be playing a lot over the summer, so we need to save some of our top golfers for the playoffs. This is a good tournament to take a chance with a few golfers from the LIV Tour.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Min Woo Lee (73rd), Sungjae Im (12th), Cameron Young (6th), Ludvig Arberg (27th), Xander Schauffele (7th), Viktor Hovland (15th), Rory McIlroy (4th), Colin Morikawa (3rd), Books Koepka (26th), Wyndham Clark (47th), Tom Hoge (41st), Matthew Fitzpatrick (28th), Jon Rahm (45th), Hideki Matsuyama (7th), Will Zalatoris (74th), Maverick McNealy (45th), Justin Thomas (MC), Scottie Scheffler (Won), Russell Henley (41st), Tony Finau (13TH), Sahith Theegala (37th), Sam Burns (3rd), Max Homa (66th), Jason Day (MC), Taylor Montgomery (61st), Corey Conners (57th)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: TOMMY FLEETWOOD (OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP)
One & Done picks used so far this season: Robert McIntyre (Win), Sepp Straka (61st), Taylor Pendrith (72nd), Brian Harman (9TH), Hideki Matsuyama (6th), Byeong Hun An (22nd), Rory McIlroy (4th), Colin Morikawa (3rd), Bryson DeChambeau (2nd), Max Homa (8th), K.H. Lee (59th), Adam Hadwin (10TH), Patrick Cantlay (3rd), Jon Rahm (45th), Corey Conners (25th), Keith Mitchell (MC), Sam Burns (MC), Shane Lowry (19th), Matthew Fitzpatrick (MC), Eric Cole (MC), Nicolai Hojgaard (52nd), Adam Scott (19th), J.T. Poston (MC), Jordan Spieth (39th), Keegan Bradley (43rd), Andrew Putnam (47th), Russell Henley (4th), Sungae Im (5th), Alex Noran (Won), Beau Hossler (15TH), Min Woo Lee (6th), Adam Schenk (MC), Eric Cole (35TH), Sahith Theegala (Won)
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP BEST BETS
COLLIN MORIKAWA (16-1)
TYRRELL HATTON (25-1)
SHANE LOWRY (40-1)
CAMERON YOUNG (60-1)
AARON RAI (60-1)
NICOLI HOJGAARD (120-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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