The PGA Tour will travel Oakmont Country Club (just outside of Pittsburgh, PA) this week for the third major on the 2025 schedule. The U.S. Open is always the toughest tournament on the schedule and this year it will be one of the toughest tournaments the players will play in their careers. The U.S. Open was last played at Oakmont Country Club in 2016. Dustin Johnson won the trophy and Phil Mickelson nearly tapped out because he had a three-foot putt for par that rolled 50 feet off the green. Do not expect any low scores this week. Oakmont Country Club is going to be a true test for the best golfers in the world. That should bring a lot more golfers into play for our DFS lineups this week.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The U.S. Open will be played at Oakmont Country Club this year. This is one of my favorite courses (other than Augusta National), because it is a true test of golf. Oakmont Country Club will play 7,375 yards as a Par 70.
Oakmont Country Club looks like a links course. There are very few trees and the course has a lot of undulation. The “church pew” bunkers line a lot of the fairways and the golfers will be praying for help to get out of them. The golfers will not have a flat lie on any of these fairways, so that is going to make it more difficult.
Stokes Gained Off-the-Tee and SG Putting is going to win this tournament. Most of this course is going to be played with a driver off-the-tee and a wedge into the greens. I am not worrying too much about Strokes Gained Approach, because the approach shots will not be too long and the greens are huge. Speaking of the greens…. These are the toughest on the PGA Tour to putt on. Golfers need to play defense on these greens. That means, instead of trying to aim at the hole, the golfers need to lag the putts up to an area around the hole and pray it stays there. The greens will be surrounded by deep rough, so scrambling will not matter much this week. If you miss the green and go into the deep stuff, you can write a bogey down on the scorecard and move onto the next hole.
Click here to see the course: Oakmont Country Club
U.S. OPEN KEY STATS
– Shots Gained Tee-to-Green
– Accuracy Off-the-Tee
– Shots Gained Putting (Fast Greens)
– Lag Putting Proximity (Found on FantasyNational.com. It shows how close golfers get with their lag putts)
– Strokes Gained Total (Last 12 Majors)
– Bogey Avoidance
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
TOP 30 GOLFERS
CORE GOLFERS FOR U.S. OPEN
U.S. OPEN STRATEGY
CASH CONTEST STRATEGY: The first question that needs to be answered when constructing your Cash Contest lineup is… Should I play Scottie Scheffler? His price is steep this week, but the $7K and $6K price ranges are so loaded that it makes playing Scheffler pretty easily. I will have just a few Cash Contest lineups like this….
I will fade Scottie Scheffler in most of my Cash Contest lineups. I like Bryson DeCahmbeau’s chances of winning more than I like Scheffler’s chances. Oakmont Country Club has a good chance to piss off Scheffler. He is going to hit some perfect shots that are going to roll into the ruff or off the greens. He has a habit of getting rattled when he feels the golf course in unfair. DeCahmbeau is a robot. He will drive it 340 yards into the ruff, smile and grab his Texas Wedge to dig it out. Instead of playing Scheffler and three golfers under $7,500; I will pair DeChambeau with another higher-priced golfer and four golfers in the $7K price range.
TOURNAMENT CONTEST STRATEGY: Scottie Scheffler is going to be highly owned and DraftKings made it too easy to own him this week. Scheffler is too good to fade, so I will have him in 40% of my lineups. I also like Bryson Dechambeau and Jon Rahm. These three are the class of the field, so I will be building my lineups around them. I will skip over the $9K and $8K price ranges (except for Patrick Cantlay and Victor Hovland) to load up on the golfers from the $7K and $6K price ranges. There are plenty of them to choose from this week. I have little interest in the $5K price range for the U.S. Open.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU ($11,000): The difference between Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau is not $3K. Dechambeau has an average finishing position of 4th in the majors since the start of 2024 and Scheffler has an average finishing position of 3.8. I will take the discount and play DeChambeau. His length off-the-tee if going to be an advantage this week. DeChambeau is going to bomb and gouge Oakmont Country Club to pieces, while Scheffler is going to hit perfect shots off-the-tee that will roll in the ruff and perfect approach shots that will roll off the greens. Scheffler has a habit of getting pissed when he thinks the course is playing unfair. Dechambeau is a robot who doesn’t get rattled. Both are great plays, but the price difference is too much to pass up.
PATRICK CANTLAY ($9,300): The U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club is going to test the golfer’s mental ability to stick to their game, even when shit hits the fan. Cantlay is a robot, just like Bryson DeChambeau. Cantlay will be will prepared with a game plan and one of the best caddies on the bag (Joe LaCava). LaCava is the long time caddy for Tiger Woods. He knows this course well. Cantlay will not win, but he should show up in the top-10 on Sunday.
SHANE LOWRY ($7,800): I can get Shane Lowry for $7,800? Sign me up!! Lowry held the lead after 54 holes the last time the U.S. Open was played at Oakmont Country Club. He had a meltdown on Sunday, but Lowry is a more experienced golfer now and he has a major win on his resume. His recent form is top-10 in the field. His price is way too low to pass up this week.
KEEGAN BRADLEY ($7,400): Oakmont Country Club is the type of course Bradley excels at. His tee-to-green game ranks in the top-25 and his approach game does too. The weakness for Bradley is his putter, but the entire field is going to struggle on these greens. It just feels like Bradley is always a good pick when the PGA Tour plays in the Northeast. He is smart enough to figure out his way around the toughest course on the schedule.
RUSSELL HENLEY ($7,400): So, we get the golfer ranked No. 7 in the World Golf Rankings for $7,400? I will take it. Henley checks all of the boxes this week. Well, almost all of them…. He doesn’t drive it as far as some of the bombers in the field, but he does keep his tee-shots in the short grass. He ranks No. 8 in lag-putting and No. 11 in SG Total in Majors Tournaments. I thought about playing Sepp Straka in this spot, but Henley ranks a lot higher in the model I ran for the U.S. Open.
SAM BURNS ($7,100): Burns has found his game and he is playing some of the best golf of his career. He finished 13th in the signature event at the RBC Heritage, 19th at the PGA Championship and he lost in a playoff last week in the Canadian Open. Burns finished 9th in the U.S. Open last year. He should have a good chance to finish in the top-10 again this week.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
BRYSON DECHAMBEUA ($11,000): I typically like to play different golfers in my Cash and Tournament Contest lineups so I can give you my thoughts about as many golfers as possible, but I just cannot pass up on the price difference between Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. I will take a chance with DeChambeua and Jon Rahm at the top of my lineup over Scheffler and a mid-$7K priced golfer.
VIKTOR HOVLAND ($8,500): Hovland really popped when I started my research for the U.S. Open. He ranks No. 28 in Total Driving over his last 16 rounds, so Hovland should be able to hit it far and straight. His weakness is chipping around the greens, but the ruff is deep around the greens this week so every golfer will struggle. Hovland ranks No. 1 in lag-putting and average distance of putts made. That could be very important on these huge greens. Hovland plays difficult courses well, so he gets a spot in the lineup.
SAM BURNS ($7,100): Burns will be in both of my lineups too. I just love the way he is driving the ball right now and he ranks No. 1 in the field in SG Approach 125 and closer and No. 1 in putting. If this turns into a driver, wedge and putter contest, Burns has a great chance to win.
HARRIS ENGLISH ($6,700): English is a cheaper form or Keegan Bradley. They play almost the same style of golf. English finished 4th in the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, 3rd in the 2021 U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines and 8th in the 2023 U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club. He just always plays well at these tough courses. $6,700 will make English a popular pick this week.
TAYLOR PENDRITH ($6,500): Most people will be clicking on Cameron Young’s name when they are searching for a golfer for $6,500. I will pivot to Pendrith. I have burned by Young many times and Pendrith always comes through for me. I read on DK Nation that the last six winners of the U.S. Open also finished in the top-10 at the PGA Championship. Pendrith finished 5th in the last major, so at least he checks that box too.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contests: (Multi Entry Lineups)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the second tournament in Segment 3. This is the toughest Segment to navigate. We have two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), one Signature Event (Travelers Championship) and the PGA Playoffs (St. Jude, BMW Championship and Tour Championship). That is a lot of stacked tournaments requiring our top golfers, so make your picks wisely this week.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: JOAQUIN NIEMANN (U.S. OPEN)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Taylor Pendrith (27th), Xander Schauffele (25th), Harris English (53rd), Bryon DeChambeau (2ND ), Justin Thomas (2nd), Byeong-Hun An (60th), Daniel Berger (3rd), Jon Rahm (14TH), Keegan Bradley (47TH), Aaron Rai (MC), Tommy Fleetwood (16TH), Scottie Scheffler (20th), Rory McIlroy (15th), Shane Lowry (11TH), Akshay Bhatia (9TH), Collin Morikawa (17th), Tom Kim (44th), Patrick Cantlay (33rd), Jason Day (32nd), Sungjae Im (MC), Corey Conners (MC)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (U.S. OPEN)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Sam Burns (2nd), Sepp Straka (3rd), Aaron Rai (MC), Rory McIlroy (47TH), Justin Thomas (2nd), Sungjae Im (33rd), Thomas Detry (32ND), Patrick Cantlay (13th), Jon Rahm 14TH), Akshay Bhatia (MC), J.J. Spaun (MC), Corey Conners (8TH), Scottie Scheffler (20th), Ludvig Aberg (22nd), Daniel Berger (25TH), Patrick Rodgers (25TH), Taylor Pendrith (50th), Nick Taylor (25th), Collin Morikawa (17th), Jason Day (32nd), Russell Henley (10th), (Sungjae Im (3rd), Ben Griffin (15th), Nico Echavarria (29TH), Harris English (14TH), Beau Hossler (56TH), Tom Kim (MC), Keith Mitchell (MC), Ben Griffin (37th)
BEST BETS FOR THE U.S. OPEN
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU +750
JON RAHM +1200
VIKTOR HOVLAND +6000
HARRIS ENGLISH +7000
SAM BURNS +8000
KEEGAN BRADLEY +9000
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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