DraftKings ‘King of the Course” promotion returns for The Open Championship this week. Here’s is a step-by-step guide to the promotion on DraftKings Sportsbook:
- Opt into the promotion on the homepage of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Place a bet of $5+ on any golfer to win The Open Championship with the King of the Course token applied
- Regardless if that golfer wins or not, if that golfer produces the most birdies or better in rounds 3 and 4 combined, you will receive a share $1,000,000 in bonus bets
- Go to our “How to Play” page for more.
If you’re betting on The Open Championship, the King of the Course is a no-brainer! All bets for the promotion have to be made by 3:00 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. Below, I have featured three of my favorite picks to target for the King of the Course promotion for The Open Championship.
We’ll be tracking the King of the Course leaderboard this weekend, along with posting the unofficial splits, so that you can know how much you’re in line to win in bonus bets if your selection claims the crown this weekend. Follow me @ZT_sports on X, where I’ll share the tracker and splits, and be sure to stay tuned to DKNetwork all weekend long for updates.
DraftKings King of the Course Strategy
It’s essential to balance picking players who have a chance to win, but who also have a chance to claim the King of the Course title. As we’ve seen in the first two rounds, the weather can change very quickly at Royal Portrush, which can allow for birdies or better to come in bunches.
While the birdies or better in the first two rounds don’t count for the players’ King of the Course total, it is interesting to see who has the most birdies or better in the first two rounds and how it matches up with the current leaderboard.
Birdies or Better in Rounds 1 + Round 2
- Scottie Scheffler – 13
- Matt Fitzpatrick – 12
- Brian Harman – 11
- Jason Kokrak – 11
- Harris English – 11
- Matthew Jordan – 10
- Rasmus Hojgaard – 10
- Rory McIlroy – 9
- Haotong Li – 9
- Deam Burmester – 9
- Robert MacIntyre – 9
- Romain Langasque – 9
- Nicolai Hojgaard – 9
- J.J. Spaun – 9
- Akshay Bhatia – 9
- Harry Hall – 9
- Rikuya Hoshino – 9
- Jesper Svensson – 9
- Tyrrell Hatton – 8
- Dustin Johnson – 8
- Louis Oosthuizen – 8
- Kristoffer Reitan – 8
- Xander Schauffele – 8
- Rickie Fowler – 8
- Marc Leishman – 8
- Kevin Yu – 8
- Ludvig Aberg – 8
- Chris Gotterup – 8
- Daniel Brown – 8
- Ryggs Johnston – 8
DraftKings King of the Course Picks
Matt Fitzpatrick (+550)
Fitzpatrick had the lead for most of the day before Scheffler surged past him to take a one-stroke lead entering the weekend. Fitzpatrick had three birdies and one eagle in Round 1, and followed that up with eight birdies on Friday in Round 2.
His 12 birdies or better are just one back of Scheffler’s total for the tournament. Since Scottie’s odds are -190 and likely to be extremely popular, I actually like taking a longer shot on Fitzpatrick for my top King of the Course play for the weekend.
Fitzpatrick had been playing well coming into the tournament, and the 30-year-old has continued his excellent production on links-style courses this week. He will have to out-duel Scheffler, so he’ll need all the birdies he can grab.
If anyone can take down Scheffler this weekend, Fitzpatrick looks like the one in the best position to do so.
Robert MacIntyre (+2800)
MacIntyre caught fire on Friday and vaulted from T32 up to T5 with a five-under Round 2. He dropped six birdies in Friday’s round after three birdies on Thursday.
The 28-year-old from Scotland struggled a little last week in his title defense at the Genesis Scottish Open. But, he’s had a good summer overall and has proven he can pile up birdies in tough conditions with strong fields.
He finished runner-up to J.J. Spaun at the U.S. Open a few weeks ago and also added top-20 finishes at the Memorial, the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Travelers Championship over his last six tournaments.
In addition to his win in Scotland last year, he has a great history at links events. He was T6 in 2019 when he made his debut at The Open Championship in its last stop at Royal Portrush, and he added another top-10 finish in 2021, as well.
If he can build on Friday’s momentum, he could continue to climb into contention and be right in the mix on Sunday. He starts the weekend with pretty long odds, so there’s the potential to cash out if his odds drop significantly. Although, that will nullify your shot at King of the Course winnings. If he’s in contention for that crown, Bobby Mac will be worth riding through Sunday, since he has shown he can find creative ways to make birdies in a wide variety of conditions, which seems to be the calling card of this year’s edition of The Open.
Bryson DeChambeau (+60000)
DeChambeau is a very unlikely pick to win the tournament. But as a King of the Course play, he’s worth a look after he caught fire on Friday. He didn’t have a single birdie or better in Round 1, struggling to a +7, but he flipped the script in Round 2 and made seven birdies with just one bogey to move from T144 to T51.
If he can duplicate that performance, he’ll climb the leaderboard. Even if he can’t work all the way back into contention, he’ll be a contender for King of the Course.
Since he starts the day T51, DeChambeau will be on the course well ahead of the leaders. If the conditions are easier early, DeChambeau could put together another strong round. Plus, he has proven he can stack up birdies at majors.
He’s a long-shot bet to win the tournament, to be sure, but if his birdie barrage on Friday is an indication of what’s in store for the weekend, he’s a great sleeper option for King of the Course if you’re primarily chasing those bonus bets.
