DraftKings Open Championship picks for the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool to build a winning PGA DFS lineup for golf this week.
Itās impossible not to be excited about the forthcoming Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club this year. It should be one of the best tournaments of the year, as it is annually, but itās also a venue that has produced truly great champions with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the most recent winners ā but donāt forget about Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen either.
This yearās Open Championship field is fascinating. Rory is playing great, as is Scottie Scheffler (minus the putter), while some other favorites have been a bit up and down. Meanwhile, Cam Smith is the defending champion at The Open, but we havenāt seen too much ā and donāt have much data ā on his game due to playing on LIV Golf.
So what does that mean for our Open Championship DraftKings picks? First off, it means we have to be careful, especially with a PGA DFS slate that is unique with super-high prices at the top and some players even below $6K for the week.
Taking all of that into account, though, letās go through our top plays and fades on DraftKings in each pricing tier before we make our Open Championship picks for building a PGA DFS lineup that will cash this week at Hoylake.
DraftKings Open Championship picks for PGA DFS lineups: Top Plays
$10,000: Viktor Hovland ($10,000) ā So youāre telling me that the guy who was in the final group at The Open last year, has been in the Top 10 in two of the three majors this year and Top 20 in all three, and has been elevating his game for big events is at the bottom of the $10K range? I love this value on Hovland, whoās ball-striking and improved short game should be primed for him to succeed at Royal Liverpool. Also Consider:Ā Scottie Scheffler ($12,500), Rory McIlroy ($11,900), Cam Smith ($10,700), Xander Schauffele ($10,100)
$9,000: Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300) ā Tommy Lad has continued to trend in all the right directions. His last four starts have included a missed cut at Travelers, but that came after his T5 at the US Open, which completes a run of three Top 6 finishes for Fleetwood over that four-start span. His ball-striking has been great and, with two Top 5 finishes in the last three Open Championship outings, I love him at this price for my lineup.Ā Also Consider: Rickie Fowler ($9,800), Collin Morikawa ($9,600), Tyrrell Hatton ($9,400), Dustin Johnson ($9,200), Shane Lowry ($9,100)
$8,000: Bryson DeChambeau ($8,800) ā Full disclosure, Iām not a fan of the $8K range and thereās a good chance that the way I build my lineup this week avoids it altogether. With that said, Iām ready to take a big swing on the big golfer, Bryson DeChambeau. He finished second at Valderrama on LIV Golf recently and has performed well at majors this season with a T4 at the PGA and T20 at the US Open. I think heās found some control and, with his power, he could be a force at Hoylake. Also Consider: Wyndham Clark ($8,700), Tony Finau ($8,200), Justin Rose ($8,000)
$7,000: Brian Harman ($7,300) ā Ostensibly, Brian Harman shouldnāt be the best fit for Royal Liverpool. But Harman is a guy who has consistently been able to find his way into the mix in big tournaments even when the fit isnāt great, even if he eventually fades. Coming in displaying terrific form, gaining 0.73 strokes on approach over the last 16 rounds and gaining nicely with the short game too, I think he pops up and surprises some people this week.Ā Also Consider: Adam Scott ($7,900), Min Woo Lee ($7,700), Ryan Fox ($7,400), Si Woo Kim ($7,300), Adam Schenk ($7,200), Sepp Straka ($7,000)
$6,000: Robert Macintyre ($6,800) ā Had pricing not come out before the conclusion of the Scottish Open, Bobby Mac would probably be in the high-$7K range. Weāre thankful heās here though as heās trending hugely right now with back-to-back Top 10 finishes, including a runner-up last week in his home country. The numbers back that up as heās gaining strokes across the board and could be terrific value in this range.Ā Also Consider:Ā Romain Langasque ($6,900), Alexander Bjork ($6,700), Padraig Harrington ($6,600), Yannik Paul ($6,500), Joost Luiten ($6,200)
DraftKings Open Championship picks for PGA DFS lineups: Top Fades
$10,000: Jon Rahm ($11,200) āĀ I get it with Rahm. Heās this yearās Masters winner and it seems like people have forgotten about him ā but thereās also a reason for that. He was middling at the PGA Championship (or bad by his standards) and back-doored a Top 10 at the US Open. Heās also not played much recently with his last start being a missed cut at Travelers a month ago. When you consider that with the price heās at on this slate, Iām fading him despite his obvious upside and talent.
$9,000: Jordan Spieth ($9,700) āĀ Really playing with fire when it comes to the fades this week as weāre going with Spieth here, who has been phenomenal at The Open Championship in his career. But man, the form just isnāt there. Heās seemed to figure the driver out, but heās been average on approach and losing strokes in both short game categories over the last 16 rounds. With so many guys in this field playing at their peaks, I canāt buy into that at this price.
$8,000: Justin Thomas ($8,600) āĀ Just in general, itās been extremely hard to trust Justin Thomas with the way heās been playing. His Top 10 finish at Travelers looks like an aberration at this point as his other finishes in his last five starts are three missed cuts and a T60 last week in Scotland. Furthermore, JT has long been lackluster at The Open with just one finish inside the Top 35 in his last five starts. Thatās enough for me to completely stay away, despite an enticing price point.
$7,000: Jason Day ($7,800) āĀ It was a great story at the Byron Nelson to see Jason Day back hoisting a trophy ā but the simple truth is that his game hasnāt been good since. Heās not finished better than T45 since that win with three missed cuts involved with that as well. His approach play has been, in a word, brutal over that run, losing 0.53 strokes over the last 16 rounds. Given that heās also only finished inside the Top 20 twice at The Open in his career, itās an easy fade for me.
Open Championship: Best DraftKings golf PGA DFS lineup
- Viktor Hovland ($10,000)
- Tyrrell Hatton ($9,400)
- Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300)
- Min Woo Lee ($7,700)
- Robert Macintyre ($6,800)
- Alexander Bjork ($6,700)
Admittedly, I first tried to get Rory and Hovland into a lineup. But with an absurd projected ownership for McIlroy, that was a quick pivot to a different type of stars and scrubs build for this lineup with Hovland, Fleetwood and Macintyre, who weāve already talked about to this point.
For Hatton, he beefed his chance at winning the Scottish last week, but he has two Top 11 finishes at The Open in the last three starts and has a well-balanced game suited for success here. Min Woo Lee is an enigma but he seems to be trending with his driving and improving approach play toward competing in a big field. As for Bjork, heās just hot, gaining big numbers on approach and with his short game, which had resulted in four straight Top 10 finishes on the DP World Tour prior to Scotland last week when he was T35. Still, thereās good value there.
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