For the fourth and final major of the season, we head to the Old Course (par 72, 7,313 yards, fescue/bentgrass/poa mixed greens) of St. Andrews for the 150th Open Championship. In the new millennium, this renowned links course has hosted four Open Championships. Tiger Woods — who will make his first starts since the PGA Championship this week — hoisted the Claret Jug in both 2000 and 2005, Louis Oosthuizen in 2010 and most recently, Zach Johnson in 2015. Between these winners, the average winning number at the Old Course has been -16 this century.
Also known as the “home of golf,” the Old Course of St. Andrews — which is untraditionally home to 14 par fours, two par threes and two par fives — is truly a special experience of golf for both the players and fans. The fairways are wide but bordered by penalizing rough and fescue, and the hills of most these fairways create many blind shots from off the tee and on approach. Furthermore, there are 110 pot bunkers scattered in the fairways and around the greens at the Old Course, which are all challenging to exit effectively. Speaking of the putting surfaces at this links track, all of them are extremely large — especially the seven shared greens that are used for 14 of the 18 holes. To top it all off, the Old Course is a tree-less venue that is completely exposed to the costal winds from the North Sea.
Given these challenges, accuracy off the tee is more important than length at the Old Course. Of the golfers to win The Open at St. Andrews this century, all of them finished T9 or better in fairways found during their victories. Also, with putting surfaces at the Old Course much larger than your standard PGA TOUR venue, we must be targeting players who come into this major with promising form with their flat stick more so than usual. Johnson ranked second in average putts per round during his victory at the Old Course in 2015, and the two previous golfers to be crowned a major champion at this par 72 led their fields in this stat. As noted above, the Old Course presents 14 par fours. Automatically, this makes scoring on the par fours the most critical for success at this historic venue, which has been evident this millennium, with all of the golfers who won The Open Championship at the Old Course since 2000 either leading their fields or finishing runner up in par four efficiency for the week. Lastly, with wind always becoming a factor at St. Andrews, following the forecast closely all the way up until roster lock to see if either the morning or afternoon waves of tee times have an advantage with weaker wind gusts is a wise strategy.
The Open Championship’s field consists of 156 players, including 49 of the top 50 ranked golfers in the world, with Daniel Berger (back) being that lone absence. Unlike some of the majors, The Open Championship uses a standard top-65 and ties cut taking place after the first 36 holes. The lower half of this stacked player pool is filled with appealing options, and below are four of my favorite sub-$7.5K bargain plays for The Open Championship on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry] (PGA)
Justin Rose ($7,400) – Rose needs to be backed at this low salary, which is the cheapest he has ever been priced for an Open Championship on DraftKings. Rose comes into this week as the maker of four of his last five cuts, gaining strokes on APP in three of these starts. During this stretch, he flashed some terrific upside, carding a T13 at the PGA Championship and a T4 at the Canadian Open. In that latter finish, Rose closed out the event with a final round 10-under par 60 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, which not only was the lowest score posted by any player that week, but also tied the 41-year-old’s career low on the PGA TOUR. Rose is already in Scotland, advancing to the weekend at last week’s Scottish Open, and he has made seven consecutive cuts at The Open Championship, including five top-25 finishes, one of which was a T6 at the Old Course in 2015. To further solidify Rose as one of the best values on the board, he holds the best odds to win The Open Championship on the DraftKings Sportsbook of all the players priced under $7.5K at +6500.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,300) – At the Scottish Open this past week, Bezuidenhout finished the event with a final round 4-under 66, en route to a T16 at the Renaissance Club. Impressively, this finish marked his 13th made cut and eighth top-25 finishes in his last 16 starts worldwide. This will be Bezuidenhout’s debut at the Old Course, but his game fits this track well, ranking 14th in SGP, ninth in bogeys avoided and 21st in fairways gained across his past 36 rounds. Additionally, Bezuidenhout made the cut at The Open Championship last season and has only missed one weekend in his last eight attempts at a major. In this lower $7K price range, Bezuidenhout is one of the safest options available and is a name that should fly under the radar in this world-class field.
Patrick Reed ($7,300) – Reed arrives in Scotland in compelling form and has an undeniable resume at The Open Championship. In his first start with the LIV Golf league two weeks ago, Reed finished third of the 48-man field in Portland. Prior to this debut, the 31-year-old was trending up when he was still a member of the PGA TOUR, making seven of his final eight cuts before getting suspended. Plus, when The Open Championship was last held at the Old Course seven years ago, Reed finished T20th, which is just one of his four top-30 finishes in his last six appearances at this major. Given his reputation, Reed never gains much attention for DFS to begin with, and now add in the fact he is one of the players who controversially left the PGA TOUR for LIV Golf, and the 2018 Masters champion should essentially come with no rostership in large tournaments this week. At this career-low price tag for The Open Championship, Reed is an elite sleeper pick that needs to be included in your GPP pool.
Ryan Fox ($7,100) – Fox is currently playing the best golf of his career, making 12 of 14 cuts in the new year, seven of which have been top-10 finishes, most notably with a five-stroke victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in February. For the season, the 35-year-old ranks third in SG APP, 40th in SGP and ninth in par-four scoring on the DP World Tour. Thanks to this success, Fox has moved himself up a whopping 169 spots in the world golf rankings since the start of 2022 to No. 48, but he is only the 55th-most expensive golfer on DraftKings for The Open Championship. Fox has made three straight cuts at this major and is a steal at this low price tag.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry] (PGA)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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