For the 152nd Open Championship, we travel to Royal Troon Golf Club (par 71, 7,385 yards, Bentgrass/POA greens) in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. This will be the 10th time Royal Troon has hosted the Open, most recently in 2016, when Henrik Stenson won in dominating fashion at 20-under, which was three shots clear of Phil Mickelson, who finished 11 strokes ahead of the rest of the field. For this week’s Open Championship, there will be 158 golfers competing and there will be slightly expanded cut, with the top-70 and ties advancing after the first two rounds.
Royal Troon is a challenging, seaside links course that presents narrow fairways, extremely small greens, thick rough and a whopping 101 bunkers. Avoiding the penalizing rough and the pot bunkers that are littered in every fairway makes Royal Troon a course where accuracy is far more crucial than distance. Stenson thriving at this track in 2016 is clear evidence that accurate drivers are sharp targets at Royal Troon – he ranked fifth in driving accuracy during his Open win here – or golfers who rank well in total driving. With the putting surfaces very small at this venue, we also need to be prioritizing elite iron players, as Stenson and the runner-up in Mickelson finished the 2016 Open first and third in GIR%, respectively. Lastly, with 11 par 4s on the grounds, being efficient on the par 4s is the most vital among the holes at Royal Troon. When Stenson hoisted the Claret Jug at this course in 2016, he led the field in scoring on the par 4 by two strokes.
Below, I have featured four of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the Open Championship, that are all priced under $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K DRIVE THE GREEN [$100K TO 1ST]
Aaron Rai ($7,300) – Rai is a must-have value play at this cheap salary. With a ton at stake, the English professional posted a T4 at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, including a seven-under 63 to close the event. This finish earned Rai a spot at this week’s Open Championship, which is much deserved, considering the 29-year-old has been one of the best golfers on the planet recently. Rai has finished T7 or better three tournaments in a row and he hasn’t missed a cut in eight starts. When we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, Rai notably ranks sixth in total strokes gained.
He has made 1-of-2 cuts at the Open Championship and that one finish was a T19 at Royal St. Georges in 2021. As a former DP World Tour player, Rai has experience competing in the windy European conditions and his knack for finding the fairway makes him a perfect match for Royal Troon. This season, Rai leads the entire PGA TOUR in driving accuracy.
Sahith Theegala ($7,200) – In a warmup for the links conditions he will face at Royal Troon, Theegala flourished at the Genesis Scottish Open this past week, finishing T4th, while gaining strokes in every major category at the Renaissance Club. The 26-year-old has now made 16-of-19 cuts this season with nine top-25 finishes and he is the No. 11 ranked golfer in the world. Despite that ranking, Theegala is only the 32nd most expensive golfer on DraftKings this week.
While the blossoming star lacks experience at the Open Championship – he has only made 1-of-2 cuts at this major – Theegala has only missed one cut in his last eight major starts, with two of those finishes coming inside the top-12. At +5000 on the DraftKings Sportsbook, Theegala carries the best odds to win the Open Championship this weekend of all the golfers priced under $7.5K for DFS, and he simply can’t be ignored at this cheap price tag, which is a new season low for Theegala.
Sungjae Im ($6,900) – Im has been playing incredibly well as of late and is an elite value at this sub $7K salary. The 26-year-old is fresh off a T4 at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, which is impressively his sixth top-12 finish in his last nine starts. Specifically in his last three starts, Im has shot under par in all 12 of his rounds – including a pair of 63s – and he has gained at least 3.0 strokes on approach at all three events. Since missing the cut at the Masters, Im has moved himself up 17 spots in the world golf rankings to No. 24, but he is only the 40th most expensive golfer on DraftKings for the Open Championship.
Im finished T20th at last year’s Open and not only is he a terrific DFS target, he is a tremendous bet for a top-20 finish on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +210.
Louis Oosthuizen ($6,800) – Taking his talents to LIV Golf, Oosthuizen has become a forgotten name and he is an excellent sleeper pick this week that could really pay off. The South African owns an illustrious resume at the Open Championship. Oosthuizen won this major in 2010 and since then, he has made 9-of-12 cuts at the Open with six top-30 finishes, including a T23 last season.
Oosthuizen is also on the heels of a fourth place finish at the LIV Andalucía event last week, which is his eighth top-25 finish in nine starts on the circuit this season. Oosthuizen ranks third in fairways found on LIV this season and he really stands out when we compare DFS salaries to odds to win the Open Championship on the DraftKings Sportsbook. Oosthuizen carries +6000 odds to win this weekend, which are better odds than Jordan Spieth, who costs $7,900.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K DRIVE THE GREEN [$100K TO 1ST]
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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.
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