DKNetwork Logo DKNetwork Logo
Is Scottie Scheffler a viable DFS play at the Open Championship with his massive salary?

Is Scottie Scheffler a viable DFS play at the Open Championship with his massive salary?

DraftKings Fantasy Advice DFS Golf

Published:

By: Alex Hunter

Per usual, Scheffler is the favorite to win the Open Championship this week, with field-best +450 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. For DFS on DraftKings, Scheffler’s salary is all the way up to a whopping $14,200, which is the third-highest salary we have seen on DraftKings in the last five years. The world No.1 costs $2,700 more than the second-highest priced player in Rory McIlroy ($11,500).

Scheffler is always a great pick, but for him to fully justify his massive salary, Scheffler needs to win the Open Championship, which is not guaranteed by any means. The 29-year-old has won three times this season, but in his last three starts, Scheffler has finished T7th, T6th and T8th. That latter finish came at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open and he finished 64th in SGP for the week. The slow fescue greens at the Renaissance Club gave Scheffler fits, and he will be playing on similar fescue putting surfaces this week at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

This will be Scheffler’s first time competing at the Ireland based links course and his Open Championship resume isn’t overly compelling by his standards. In Scheffler’s five starts at this major, he has finished T8th, T21st, T23rd and T7th, in that order. Scheffler is gaining 2.0 strokes per round at the Open Championship, which is notably lower than the 2.6 strokes per round he is averaging at the other three major championships.

Plus, rostering Scheffler and his mammoth salary severely restricts what you can do with the rest of your lineup on DraftKings. With Scheffler in your lineup, you only have $7,160 per golfer for the remaining five spots of your roster. With five of your six golfers being this cheap, the likelihood of you getting all six of your golfers through the cut is very low, which is the key to cashing in GPPs in DFS golf.

Another major factor here is ownership. Even at his huge salary, Scheffler, as always, is likely to be one of the most popular plays of the week. In his 15 starts this season, Scheffler hasn’t been less than 22.6% owned in DraftKings’ main GPP of the week. Fading Scheffler is a very scary feeling, but taking your chances on him not winning and opting to not roster him in GPPs this week makes sense.

Alex Hunter
Alex Hunter is an avid DFS player and sports handicapper, who has been a proud member of the DraftKings Network team since 2020. He is a data-driven analyst, who earned his bachelor’s degree in communications at Worcester State University and has been in the sports content business for nearly a decade, covering the NBA, NFL and PGA TOUR. Alex is a diehard Boston Celtics fan, who loves to be on the golf course when he isn’t grinding lineups or producing content. For all of Alex’s work or if you need any lineup advice, be sure to follow him @Hunta512 on X.
Disclaimer

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.