DFSR is proud to bring you our newest contributor Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly PGA picks, analysis and breakdowns to help you cash on DraftKings. If you are new to DraftKings PGA DFS be sure to click on the banner below.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Open Championship? Chris is selling three DraftKings, 2 Victiv lineups and 2 Fantasy Aces lineups plus a cheatsheet for only $5. Just scroll to the bottom of the picks. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
St. Andrews Golf Club(Old Course) - Fife, Scotland
Par 72, 7,297 Yards
The John Deere Classic came to a close this weekend with another Jordan Spieth victory. After starting the tournament off with an Even Par 71 on Thursday, he stormed out of the gates on Friday shooting a 7 under 64 to vault up the leaderboard. He followed that up with a career best 61 on Saturday to take the lead going into Sunday. He faltered to start his round Sunday with two bogeys in his first three holes. As the afternoon wore on there were multiple players contending for the lead and it looked very possible there would be a another playoff on the PGA Tour. Spieth ended up making four birdies in his final six holes to force a playoff with Tom Gillis. Spieth came out on top on the second playoff hole to collect his 4th win of the 2015 season. He will carry some great form and momentum into the Open Championship at St. Andrews next week.
Another golfer who will carry momentum into the Open Championship will be Rickie Fowler who took down the Scottish Open this weekend. There were about 40 players who were in the Scottish Open this weekend who will be playing in the Open at St. Andrews. Why is this important you ask? With little course history for most of the players I will be closely analyzing a few tournaments to get a feel for players who are well suited on links courses. The Scottish Open is one of those links courses I will be looking at as four times in the past the winner has gone on to win the Open Championship. It is also a nice indicator of current form having a players most recent event being played on a links course. Other players with good Scottish Open results are Matt Kuchar(T2), Joost Luiten(T4), Marc Warren(T4), Luke Donald(T7), Victor Dubuisson(T10). Be sure to purchase my cheatsheets to see how all the players in the field did at the Scottish Open. Now onto the course this week.
The 144th Open Championship will be held at the Old Course at St. Andrews Golf Club. The home of golf will be hosting the Open for the 29th time in its history. The Open was held here most recently in 2010 and back in 2005. I will be looking closely at those leaderboards to pick out players who succeed at this course. The course is just shy of 7300 yards with wide, rolling fairways. The wide fairways, in no way, means you can be inaccurate as there are bunkers scattered everywhere from fairways to surrounding the greens. The long hitters will have an advantage this week but if they can't hit the fairways the advantage will shrunk. The greens are quite large and the average for GIR is usually around 70%-75% so we will be focusing more on Proximity this week. The course has 14 Par 4's, two Par 3's and two Par 5's. Par 4 Per Performance will be a key stat this week along with Scrambling and Sand Save % and as always Strokes Gained: Putting. Early reports on the course are that it is playing softer than it has before during the Open. Players are saying they are leaving ball marks on the greens which they have never seen before. With the rain in the forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday during competition the soft conditions will more than likely be the norm the entire tournament. Another factor that could rise at anytime is the wind. You will want to pick players who can adapt to changing conditions and be creative at times with shot selection.
This week is the Millionaire Maker tournament on Draftkings where 1st place will again win a cool $1,000,000. The first two millionaire maker tournaments at the Majors were both won by single entry contestants so you don't have to break the bank and multi enter to have a chance. The pricing is fairly soft this week which will allow you to form many different variations of GPP lineups. With that being said, if you are multi entering the Milli Maker this week it is advised to pick a core 4-6 golfers and build around them. Try to roster one or two guys on every lineup that you feel will be under owned. This will be the only way to win this week with there being 171,750 entries.
I will be doing my article a bit different this week do to the time difference in the sites releasing their salaries. This article will be geared towards DraftKings as their salaries have been out for some time now. I will release a second and third article for Victiv and Fantasy Aces once their salaries are released Monday or Tuesday. If all goes well I will try and do this each week going forward.
Below you will see a list of all the stats I will be using this week on my cheatsheet. The stats ranks you see are up to date post Greenbrier Classic. With DraftKings pricing out so early I wanted to complete the cheatsheet early as well and couldn't wait until Sunday night to get updated stats after the John Deere Classic. As always if you have any questions please send your questions to my Twitter @Jager_Bombs9.
Jordan Spieth
Vegas Odds - 6/1
Draftkings - $12,000
Victiv - $12,800
Fantasy Aces - $7,500
Not sure it would be smart to jump off the train when it is travelling full speed so I will stay aboard as it travels to Scotland this weekend. Spieth is the hottest player in the world right now with back to back wins at the John Deere Classic and US Open. He has also captured both Major Championships so far this year and is looking to make it three in a row. With Rory McIlroy missing the Open, Spieth comes in as the highest priced golfer this week. He is the highest ranked golfer on my cheatsheet when looking at stats with an average rank of 15.4. Not sure anything can slow Spieth down at this point and I wouldn't advise fading him even in Europe.
Dustin Johnson
Vegas Odds - 12/1
Draftkings - $11,400
Victiv - $11,500
Fantasy Aces - $7,000
He has came close on more than one occasion from capturing his first major and should put up a good fight this time around as well. He played here in the 210 Open Championship and finished with a 14th place finish. He is ranked highly in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, Proximity, Par 4 Performance and Scrambling which is a nice recipe for St. Andrews success. He has recorded two top 10's and three top 20's in his previous five tournaments. As stated frequently before every major, Dustin is ready to win a major and this could be his time.
Louis Oosthuisen
Vegas Odds - 22/1
Draftkings - $9,900
Victiv - $9,400
Fantasy Aces - $5,850
I was very surprised to see him come in under $10,000 for the Open. He won the last Open at St. Andrews in convincing fashion by winning by 7 strokes. He also came in 2nd at the US Open after shooting a 77 in the opening round. He is highly ranked in SG:T2G, Ball Striking, Proximity, and Sand Save % which suit this course nicely. He should be one of the highest owned golfers this week and for good reason. He will make a nice cash game play and will be a nice addition to some lower owned players in a GPP lineup.
Sergio Garcia
Vegas Odds - 30/1
Draftkings - $9,500
Victiv - $9,900
Fantasy Aces - $5,250
In his price range, I believe he will be lower owned than Mickelson(fan favorite) and Fowler(won Scottish Open). He played the Open in 2005 and 2010 when it was held at St. Andrews and had 14th and 5th place finishes. He finished 18th at this years US Open at Chambers Bay, which is a links style course similar to St. Andrews. When looking at his form he hasn't missed a cut all year and has three top 20 finishes in his last five tournaments. Sergio makes a nice GPP play with big upside in this style of course.
Patrick Reed
Vegas Odds - 50/1
Draftkings - $8,400
Victiv - $9,100
Fantasy Aces - $5,000
This will be Reed's first trip to St. Andrews so it's tough to say how he will deal with the course and its conditions. This makes him a GPP play with big upside as well as some downside of the unknown. He played fairly well at Chambers Bay and recorded a 14th place finish. He is elite in Par 4 Performance, Sand Save %, Scrambling and Strokes Gained:Putting. If you are going to roster a guy who isn't a great ball striker he better scramble and putt well.
Brooks Koepka
Vegas Odds - 50/1
Draftkings - $8,200
Victiv - $8,800
Fantasy Aces - $4,950
His game seems to fit the course very well. He is elite Tee to Green and is a great ball striker. He crushes the Par 4's and is ranked 8th on tour in Strokes Gained:Putting. He is also making his first trip to St. Andrews but seems more of a safe pick for cash games as he hasn't missed a cut in his previous five tournaments with three top 20 finishes. He finished 18th at the US Open and 22nd last weekend in the Scottish Open.
Tommy Fleetwood
Vegas Odds - 70/1
Draftkings - $7,300
Victiv - $8,000
Fantasy Aces - $4,900
He should be a fairly low owned golfer this weekend as he is unknown for the most part. He plays on the European Tour and has been extremely consistent lately making five straight cuts with two top 10's and no finish worse than 27th. He played the US Open at Chambers Bay and finished 27th and most recently finished 10th at the Scottish Open. His stats below are his ranks on the European Tour.
Joost Luiten
Vegas Odds - 125/1
Draftkings - $7,100
Victiv - $7,900
Fantasy Aces - $4,450
He is coming in with some nice current form in making four of his previous five cuts on the PGA Tour. He most recently finished 4th at the Scottish Open and also had a 39th place finish at the US Open at Chambers Bay. He is another unknown player to the casual fan and should be one of the lower owned guys in his price range.
Marc Warren
Vegas Odds - 150/1
Draftkings - $6,900
Victiv - $7,700
Fantasy Aces - $5,350
If you dip down below $7,000 this week you won't be alone. There appears to be plenty of value and Warren tops the list. He placed 4th at the Scottish Open this past weekend and 27th at the US Open. He isn't a long hitter by any means but is an elite putter who scrambles well and is great from the sand. You will need multiple guys around this salary range to be able to fit two top golfers this week. Consider Warren for cash and also GPP's as he carries big upside.
Robert Streb
Vegas Odds - 250/1
Draftkings - $6,400
Victiv - $7,600
Fantasy Aces - $3,450
He will be one of my most used guys below $7000 this week. I will probably steer clear in cash games as I have a feeling his streak might come to an end. I hope I am wrong as I like his game and think it fits the course nicely. He is elite Tee to Green and a great ball striker. He is top 20 on par 4's and 33rd in Strokes Gained:Putting. He has made the cut in all of his previous five tournaments with four top 20 finishes.
***Monday Evening Update***
The full field is set and Draftkings, Victiv and Fantasy Aces Salaries, Stats, Current Form, and Lineups have been updated on my cheatsheet. Below I have 2 bonus picks for you to help in making your lineups.
1. Russell Knox
DraftKings - $6,700
Victiv - $7,300
Fantasy Aces - $3,700
Vegas Odds - 175/1
He finished 10th at last weeks Scottish Open and has two Top 10 finishes in his previous five tournaments. When looking at his stats he is elite in SG:T2G, Ball Striking, Proximity, Par 4 Performance, and Scrambling. A perfect recipe for success at St. Andrews. Add the fact that he is a great wind player and you have yourself a real nice value play on all sites, especially Fantasy Aces.
2. Daniel Berger
DraftKings - $6,600
Victiv - $7,200
Fantasy Aces - $3,450
Vegas Odds - 250/1
I went back and forth on Berger for days now. His form is pretty weak lately missing three cuts in his last five tournaments. He did finish 41st at the Scottish Open last weekend which is nice to see him make a cut on a links course right before the Open. When looking at his stats it hard to think he isn't set up for success here. He is ranked 31st in SG:T2G, 16th in Ball Striking, 29th in Par 4 Performance, and 20th in Scrambling. I then look towards the pricing and he is a steal on DraftKings and on Fantasy Aces. There is a ton of vulnerability but with it comes a huge amount of upside. I will take the risk this week and have him in a few GPP lineups.
***WEATHER UPDATE FOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP***
Weather, as always in links golf, could again play a huge factor on who makes the weekend and has a shot to win this major. The morning looks to be the best tee time on both days but the difference in the latest forecast is Friday afternoon. Winds are forecast to reach up to 40 mph in the afternoon to late afternoon with possibilities of even higher winds. The weather in Scotland can change in a minute so concentrating on players who excel on links style courses will be key. In the case that the wind is the worst on Friday afternoon I have added an extra lineup on the cheatsheet called DraftKings Weather Lineup for those interested.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Open Championship? Chris is selling three DraftKings, 2 Victiv lineups and 2 Fantasy Aces lineups plus a cheatsheet for only $5. Fill out the form below or click here to purchase using PayPal. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north.
Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks & Projections Playing NBA DFS Nightly? Join one…
Week 9 NFL DFS plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Packed slate of NBA action on FanDuel and DraftKings
Thursday night NBA picks for DraftKings and FanDuel
Daily Fantasy NFL Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - Week 8 Sunday 10/27/24 Now’s…
A main slate of NBA DFS action on FanDuel and DraftKings.
View Comments
Great post, Chris! I totally agree with you on Sergio.
On my PGA Tour blog, I broke down "Select or Neglect?" with all the big names in the $9,500 - $12,000 range.
http://www.michaelrharrison.com/blog/2015openchamp