It’s time to see who claims the crown in King of the Course at the fourth and final major of the season! You asked for it, we answered. DraftKings Sportsbook is running back the King of the Course promotion this week. With the difficulty of the course this week at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, there won’t be a ton of birdies available, but whoever can find the most of them in the first two rounds will earn the title as King of the Course.
This Thursday and Friday, $1 million in bonus bets will be split and distributed to users who opt in and place an outright winner bet on the golfer who ultimately leads the first two rounds in birdies or better!
In this post, we’re going to look at three picks that are longer shots to win and to claim the King of the Course crown, but they could end up being great options if they contend for King of the Course honors. Since they will likely have fewer tokens on them than the favorites like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, they will likely provide larger payouts if they emerge with the crown. It is important not to reach too far, though, since the bet is for them to win the tournament as well, so that needs to be a realistic possibility.
In the first three major championships, the Kings of the Course have been sleeper plays, so let’s look at a few off-the-radar options who have a shot to earn the crown this week.
Robert MacIntyre (+3500)
Bobby Mac has proven he can be a contender on any links-style layout. The 29-year-old lefty from Oban, Scotland, won the Scottish Open in 2024 after finishing runner-up in 2023, and he finished T3 last week, making 19 birdies or better across his four rounds.
He won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last October as well, another course in Scotland. At this major in the past, he has three top-10 finishes in six appearances, including a T7 last year.
It hasn’t been the best season for MacIntyre at the majors with missed cuts at the Masters and the PGA Championship before a T39 at the U.S. Open, but he did finish in the top 15 in three of his last four events, and he has proven he can pile up birdies in difficult scoring conditions, like the pros are expected to face at a very firm and fast Royal Birkdale.
Joaquín Niemann (+5200)
Niemann is one of the 15 players from LIV Golf in the tournament this week, and the 27-year-old from Chile has shown plenty of upside to go with his volatility. Niemann has an impressive total of 21 professional wins, including two from the PGA TOUR and eight from LIV Golf. He won on LIV earlier this year at LIV Golf Korea in a playoff over Taylor Gooch. Last summer, he also won LIV GOLF UK, which was held at JCB Golf & Country Club in Staffordshire.
In addition to a top-20 finish at the PGA Championship and three top-10 finishes in LIV Golf events, he could have been right in the mix at the U.S. Open if it wasn’t for one disastrous hole that ended up as a +7 after the USGA tacked on a two-stroke penalty. Even with that awful hole, Niemann finished T7 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and he totaled 17 birdies, which was the second-highest total of the week.
Since then, Niemann teed it up twice on the DP World Tour, finishing third at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia and T7 at the BMW International Open two weeks ago. He ranks eighth in the field over the last three months in Strokes Gained: Approach and 11th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He hasn’t had a ton of success in this event in the past, but his current form could make him a flyer play that pays off if he can play as he did in the last major, but this time without the meltdown.
Jayden Schaper (+29000)
Let’s get wild with our third and final longshot play for this week’s King of the Course. Schaper has missed the cut in each of his three PGA TOUR appearances this season, failing to get to the weekend at the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, or the Genesis Scottish Open. It’s easy to see why he’s such a long shot as he makes his debut at this event, but there is some real sleeper potential in this 25-year-old rising star from South Africa.
Schaper had an incredible run at the start of this season on the DP World Tour, and as a result, he still sits fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings. At the end of the season, the top 10 on that list not already exempt will earn full-time PGA TOUR membership, which will give those players a huge edge looking ahead to the re-shuffled 2028 PGA TOUR format.
Schaper finished runner-up to Kristoffer Reitan at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honor of Gary Player in South Africa to start the DP World Tour season, but then he won each of the next two tournaments at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. After those back-to-back wins, Schaper has racked up seven more top-25 finishes over his last 14 events.
Schaper has proven he can go extremely low rushing in the right conditions. He hasn’t proven himself at this level, yet, but the 25-year-old has the potential to continue his rise to prominence with a big week at Royal Birkdale. If you are ok taking a huge risk with your King of the Course token looking for a premium payout, Schaper is a deep sleeper to consider.
How to Play King of the Course
- Opt in to receive your King of the Course token in the Promotions page
- Make an outright winner bet on DraftKings Sportsbook and apply your token (minimum $5 bet)
- If the golfer you wagered on with your token applied records the most birdies or better through the first two rounds of the tournament, win a share of $1 million in bonus bets
For more information on this promo, click here!
