Royal Portrush Golf Club (par 71, 7,381 yards, fescue greens) in Portrush, Ireland, will be hosting the 153rd Open Championship this week. This venue last hosted the 2019 Open Championship, which was won by Shane Lowry (-15) by six shots. At last year’s Royal Troon, Xander Schauffele (-9) won by two strokes. The field for this week’s Open Championship consists of 156 golfers and there will be a top-70 and ties cut after the first two rounds.
The Open Championship is the fourth and final major of the season and DraftKings is offering a $2.75 Million Fantasy Golf Millionaire Contest for this major. Entering this contest only costs $25 and it pays out $1 million to first place! You will need to find some low-owned plays that perform well to contend in the Fantasy Golf Millionaire and below, I have featured some of my favorite contrarian DFS options from each price range.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA $2.75M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
Robert MacIntyre ($9,000)
With MacIntyre surrounded by some popular plays in Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, MacIntyre should naturally get overlooked this week, especially after he was a chalky play at the Genesis Scottish Open last week and finished a mediocre T-65. While this was a letdown, as MacIntyre was the defending champion of the Genesis Scottish Open, he is having a terrific season and absolutely could bounce back in a big way at the Open Championship.
MacIntyre has made 16-of-18 cuts and he has carded eight top-25 finishes. Just at the U.S. Open last month, which was played at the challenging Oakmont CC, MacIntyre nearly won his first major, finishing runner-up to J.J. Spaun by two strokes. MacIntyre also finished ninth at THE PLAYERS Championship in March. The 28-year-old clearly knows how to elevate his game when competing in the strongest fields and hailing from Scotland, MacIntyre is a links golf expert that brings great upside at Royal Portrush this week. MacIntyre finished T-6 at this venue in his Open Championship debut in 2019, which is one of his two top-10 finishes in five starts at this major.
Collin Morikawa ($8,700)
After missing the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, Morikawa should come with low ownership for the Open Championship and he is an elite GPP play at this season-low salary. Morikawa won at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in his Open Championship debut in 2021 and he finished T-16 at Royal Troon last season. Morikawa hasn’t won on the PGA TOUR since 2023, but he has been very close this season with two runner-up finishes. The Cal product has recorded 10 top-25 finishes in 14 solo starts and Morikawa remains one of the best ball-strikers in the world, as he ranks sixth in SG APP and 11th in SG OTT this season.
Morikawa’s issue has been his work on the greens, as he ranks 134th in SGP, but he faces fescue putting surfaces at Royal Portrush this week, which are much slower than the greens at a normal PGA TOUR venue. Rolling the ball on these slow putting surfaces may be the change Morikawa needs to awaken his flat stick and if he can have even a decent showing with his putter to combine with his tremendous ball-striking, Morikawa is a threat to win.
Justin Rose ($7,600)
Rose’s up-and-down recent form is going to keep his ownership low and he is a worthwhile gamble to take in GPPs this week. The Englishman has missed three of his last five cuts, but Rose showed some serious signs of life last week at the Genesis Scottish Open. The veteran finished T-6 and gained strokes across the board at the Renaissance Club. Rose closed this event with a 7-under 63 in the final round, which was the lowest score of the final round and is his lowest score in over a year.
Looking to build off this impressive performance, Rose now heads to Royal Portrush, where he finished T-20 in 2019, which is just one of Rose’s high finishes at the Open Championship. The 44-year-old has made 15-of-21 cuts at this major with 10 top-25 finishes, including a runner up at Royal Troon last season and a runner-up at Carnoustie in 2018. Rose has finished T-6 or better in three of his last six major starts and he brings outstanding upside relative to this affordable salary.
Si Woo Kim ($6,700)
Kim was a late addition to the Open Championship field after Ernie Els withdrew and as a result, very few DFS players should be on Kim this week. This is the cheapest he has been on DraftKings this season and he is way underpriced for his talent. Coming off a T-34 at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, Kim has advanced to the weekend in 18 of his 21 solo starts this season and nine of these finishes have been top-25 results.
Kim finished T-8 at the PGA Championship in May and he ranks top-40 in SG APP, SG ARG and par four performance this season. Kim has made the cut at two of the last three Open Championships – including a T-15 at the Old Course of St. Andrews in 2022 – and he has only missed two cuts in his last 10 major starts.
Nico Echavarria ($5,700)
If looking for a full punt play this week, Echavarria is one of the best gambles to take from the $5K range. This will be his Open Championship debut, but Echavarria is a talented player that has the tools to succeed at Royal Portrush. In his first attempt at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, which is played at another links course in the Renaissance Club, Echavarria finished T-22, including an opening round 6-under 64.
Echavarria has now made the cut in 12 of his 18 solo starts this season and five of these finishes have been top-25 results. The Columbian just finished T-6 at the Rocket Classic a few weeks ago and he ranks eighth in SGP this season. Echavarria has advanced through the cut in three of his last four major starts and he is a -120 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook to make the cut at the Open Championship this week.
