The Open Championship is the one tournament where you can find viable pivots in each range. The course and weather conditions are the primary reasons this tournament experiences volatility in each round. In 2018, Francesco Molinari ($7,400) was 18th after Round 1 and didn’t have the lead until the final round on Sunday. Conversely, J.B. Holmes was leading after two rounds in 2019 but ended up finishing 67th, shooting 87 on Sunday.
This week’s overarching narrative is experience — Open Championship, Links, coastal course and wind are a few going around the golf ether. The golfers must practice patience and endure the mental gymnastics it takes to win The Open Championship. The inevitable lousy bounce, the uneven lie in the middle of the fairway after a perfect drive or the inclement weather rolling in off the English Channel minutes after the sun has come out; experience is paramount and priceless this week to survive until Sunday. Still, there are golfers this week who can perform sans experience and hopefully win us a GPP. Completely fading the golfers with no Open experience means omitting the likes of Collin Morikawa ($9,200), Viktor Hovland ($9,100), Will Zalatoris ($8,500) and Scottie Scheffler ($8,200). Per Fantasynational.com, most builds are fading these young players, which is a perfect opportunity to consider them or other similar players for GPPs.
Course history, current form, or your favorite golf tout has pumped up the projected DraftKings ownership for individual golfers throughout the week. This article will look at the projected chalk and pivot in each significant salary range when entering lineups in DraftKings GPPs.
For a full course preview and who I like in the betting market, please refer to DraftKings Preview and the Best Bets articles on DraftKings Playbook. Here are the pivots we should be considering this week on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
$10,000+ Range
Projected Popular Golfer: Brooks Koepka ($10,700)
Pivot: Dustin Johnson ($10,400)
Pivoting off Koepka is not an indictment on him, but an endorsement to buy low on Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 golfer in the world. Yes, his past few tournaments haven’t been ideal, but they haven’t been terrible. His last three tourneys read 25th at Travelers, 19th at the U.S. Open and 10th at the Palmetto. A runner up here back in 2011, the position he held after Round 3, Johnson is flying way under the radar this week, which is the perfect position to play him. Over the previous 24 rounds, on par 70s, Johnson ranks first in ball-striking, first in DK points, and first in SG: Total.
$8,000 to $10,000 Range
Projected Popular Golfer: Jordan Spieth ($9,700)
Pivot: Viktor Hovland ($9,100)
Spieth is projecting to be the highest-rostered golfer per Fantasynational.com. He hasn’t missed a cut in all his appearances, which is why he’s a fantastic cash game player. For GPPs, consider Hovland, who’s coming off a win at the BMW International Open, his last start before coming here. His Open experience is nill, and his links experience is minimal. Still, Hovland is playing tremendous golf right now, ranking third in SG: Ball-Striking over the previous 24 rounds.
$7,000 to $8,000 Range
Projected Popular Golfer: Daniel Berger ($7,400)
Pivot: Joaquin Niemann ($7,700)
Sam Burns ($6,300) is the only other golfer who is severely mispriced this week other than Berger. The 16th ranked golfer in the world is the same salary as the 141st (Francesco Molinari); this should result in massive amounts of Berger lineups this week. Instead, go with another rising star in Niemann, who proved he can play well in windy conditions, finishing runner up to Harris English ($7,300) at the Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. A near victory and another runner-up the week after at the Sony Open either proves he’s a great wind and coastal course player, or he loves Hawaii (me too). His third runner-up of the season came at the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this month, so he’s close, and this week he could be in a similar position with the way he’s playing.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
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