We’ve reached the third major championship of 2025, as the best golfers in the world head to Pittsburgh to take on Oakmont Country Club for this year’s U.S. Open. The field is elite, the course is extremely difficult, and the stage is set for what should be an excellent week of golf. If you’re looking to build your bankroll this week, one way to consider is by checking out the cash game or double-up contests on DraftKings. My top fantasy golf cash game picks this week are Joaquin Niemann ($8,600), Shane Lowry ($7,800) and Russell Henley ($7,400).
Make sure to also check out my top three pivot plays for tournament lineups at the U.S. Open in a companion piece to this post. The pivot plays for tournament lineups are more aggressive, while these three picks are generally safer picks with higher floors and lower risk. The picks in this post typically have much higher ownership than my pivot plays, but they are good plays for contests where your lineup being unique is less important. Think of cash game picks as laying back and playing a par 5 as it was designed with three shots before reaching the green, looking for a solid birdie. Tournament picks are going driver off the deck to try to reach the green in two—more reward if it works, but much more risk, as well.
Just to be sure we’re all using the same terms, “cash games” are contests that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby. In this format, it’s important to minimize risk and raise the floor of your entry rather than focusing too much on the ceiling.
With those ground rules set up, let’s dive deeper into my top three fantasy golf cash game plays for this week at the U.S. Open. Last week, I had RBC Canadian Open winner Ryan Fox in this post, so there’s a lot to live up to for this post this week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR Single Entry $25 Double Up
Joaquin Niemann ($8,600)
While Scottie Scheffler is a great play to build around and has a great chance to win the week and be a key to build around in all formats, in this post I’m going to look at three cheaper options that can form the backbone of a balanced lineup or be used in the mix alongside a stars and scrubs construction. The first of my fantasy golf cash game picks is LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann.
Niemann is under $9,000, but he is already a four-time winner this year in the eight LIV events. Last week in Virginia, he claimed a one-stroke win over Graeme McDowell and Anirban Lahiri. He has also played well in his two majors this season with a T29 at Augusta and a T8 at Quail Hollow.
Over the last five years, the 26-year-old from Chile has made the cut in 15 of his 17 majors, including each of his last four times he played the U.S. Open. He missed last year’s event, but is a solid pick for a good finish this week, given his excellent form and his ability to fit his game to a wide variety of courses.
Even though they’ve come on a variety of tours and settings, the fact that he already has 19 professional wins at such a young age shows just how high his ceiling can be.
Shane Lowry ($7,800)
Lowry is a great value under $8,000 and is a top option for fantasy golf cash game lineups since he has been so consistent this season and in his career at majors. He doesn’t have a win this year but has posted 10 top-25 finishes, four top-10 finishes and a even a pair of runner-ups.
He ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green per round over the last six months, behind just some guy named Scottie Scheffler. He also ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green over the last 20 rounds and third in Strokes Gained: Approach over that timeframe.
He has five top-25 finishes in his last six events, with the only finish outside the top 25 during that stretch coming at the PGA Championship, where he missed the cut.
He has had no issues at majors aside from that, though, since he has 19 top-25 finishes and nine top-10 finishes in his career at major championships, including a pair of top-10s at previous U.S. Opens. He finished runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2016, which was the last time the event was played at Oakmont.
Lowry has the kind of game and approach that plays well everywhere but especially when the challenge is at its toughest. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he is in the mix on Sunday, and he brings a very high floor since he’s such a steady performer overall.
Russell Henley ($7,400)
Like Lowry, Henley is a seasoned performer with a consistent history, and he comes even cheaper from under $7,500. Unlike Lowry, he does have a win this season. He claimed his fifth PGA TOUR career victory by triumphing at Bay Hill, where he outlasted Collin Morikawa in very difficult conditions.
This season, Henley has six top-10 finishes in 12 events, including a T5 at the Memorial just a few weeks ago in another event that plays very difficult relative to par. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship like Lowry, but I expect both players to bounce back this week.
The 36-year-old from Georgia has a good history at the U.S. Open, dating back to when he finished as low amateur in 2010. He made the cut in eight of his 11 appearances with five top-25 finishes.
Last year, he finished T7 behind Bryson DeChambeau ($11,000) at Pinehurst No. 2 for his best career U.S. Open finish. He has three top-20 finishes in the previous four years at this tournament, with five top-30 finishes in his last six appearances at the event.
Henley ranks 10th in the field in Total Strokes Gained and 14th in Strokes Gained: Approach over all rounds played in the last six months. Over the last year, Poa greens have been his best putting surface by Strokes Gained: Putting, so he should be able to excel once he’s on the greens as well.
When he’s at his best, Henley has shown he can definitely hang with the top golfers in the world on difficult tracks like this one. He has a good path to either victory or at least contention this week, and he also brings exactly the kind of floor that we look for in fantasy golf cash game targets.
