DraftKings Open Championship picks for the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool to build a winning PGA DFS lineup for golf this week.
It's 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 it's also a venue that has produced truly great champions with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the most recent winners — but don't forget about Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen either.
This year's 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 haven't seen too much — and don't have much data — 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, let's 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) – So you're 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, who's ball-striking and improved short game should be primed for him to succeed at Royal Liverpool. Also Consider: Scottie Scheffler ($12,500), Rory McIlroy ($11,900), Cam Smith ($10,700), Xander Schauffele ($10,100)
$9,000: Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300) – 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. 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) – Full disclosure, I'm not a fan of the $8K range and there's a good chance that the way I build my lineup this week avoids it altogether. With that said, I'm 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 he's 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) – Ostensibly, Brian Harman shouldn't 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 isn't 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. 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) – Had pricing not come out before the conclusion of the Scottish Open, Bobby Mac would probably be in the high-$7K range. We're thankful he's here though as he's 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 he's gaining strokes across the board and could be terrific value in this range. Also Consider: 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) – I get it with Rahm. He's this year's Masters winner and it seems like people have forgotten about him — but there's 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. He's 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 he's at on this slate, I'm fading him despite his obvious upside and talent.
$9,000: Jordan Spieth ($9,700) – Really playing with fire when it comes to the fades this week as we're going with Spieth here, who has been phenomenal at The Open Championship in his career. But man, the form just isn't there. He's seemed to figure the driver out, but he's 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 can't buy into that at this price.
$8,000: Justin Thomas ($8,600) – Just in general, it's been extremely hard to trust Justin Thomas with the way he's 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. That's enough for me to completely stay away, despite an enticing price point.
$7,000: Jason Day ($7,800) – It was a great story at the Byron Nelson to see Jason Day back hoisting a trophy — but the simple truth is that his game hasn't been good since. He's 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 he's also only finished inside the Top 20 twice at The Open in his career, it's 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 we've 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, he's 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, there's good value there.
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