The Open Championship will feature an extremely talented field that includes 80 of the top 85 players in the Official World Golf Rankings. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will lead the way as the big four right now but with each of those players listed at over $11.5M in DraftKings tournaments we will have to look elsewhere to fill out our six lineup spots this week. We did the necessary research to find the perfect combination of star players and strong value options in order to deliver hat we feel is the perfect roster. Here is a look at our optimal lineup for this week’s DraftKings fantasy tournaments for The British Open Championship.
Dustin Johnson, $12,000
There is no hotter golfer in the world right now than Johnson, who will arrive at The Open Championship coming off back-to-back wins at the U.S. Open and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Johnson’s breakthrough at the highest level has completely changed the outlook of him as one of the top players in the world and now that he has some confidence on his side he is as dangerous as any option in the field. Johnson’s strength and power should translate well at this week’s tournament. He has four straight Top Five finishes, which is very encouraging. It only makes sense to start our lineup with D.J. as our top pick on the board.
Rory McIlroy, $11,900
If we had to choose one of the other big four to compliment D.J. in our DraftKings lineup it would have to be McIlroy, who is coming off a third-place finish at the Open de France a couple of weeks ago. McIlroy has had a couple of weeks to adjust to the shift in time zones in preparation for The Open Championship and he should enter this event with a chip on his shoulder after missing this tournament a year ago because of an ankle injury. There is no way we would be able to afford both Johnson and McIlroy without some excellent sleeper value options elsewhere but the fact that we have found those to fill out the rest of our lineup means we have the green light to load up at the top of our board.
Scott Piercy, $7,400
Piercy is another golfer that is in excellent form heading in to this week following a co-runner up finish at the U.S. Open and another runner-up finish at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Those results are impossible to overlook as Piercy has certainly proven that he can contend in elite fields. At just $7.4K, it’s impossible to ignore the value here with Piercy a smart value option this week.
Tyrell Hatton, $6,600
Hatton is coming off a runner-up finish at the Scottish Open last week just to qualify for The Open Championship and now that he will play in the tournament it’s impossible to completely overlook him. Hatton has already registered five top-15 finishes on the European Tour this year and he is an interesting sleeper pick at a very reasonable $6.6K this week.
Harold Varner, $6,000
Varner caught our eye as a smart value play in part because of three top-10 finishes over his last eight events and in part because he ranks 15th in the field in strokes gained tee to green. The fact that he has made the cut at eight straight events certainly helps but we are hoping that another strong performance is in the cards as a top-25 finish would provide a tremendous boost for our already formidable DraftKings lineup.
Colt Knost, $5,900
Knost was added to the field after Brooks Koepka was forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury but it’s his numbers that forced us to consider him as a cheap flier for this week’s event. Knost enters this tournament in excellent form after three top-20 finishes in his last four starts including a tied for third at The Players Championship so it’s clear he can contend with the best players in the world. At under $6K, Knost is an obvious fit as another outstanding value option for The Open Championship.
