The Open Championship and Player Preview

Here we go, another week of Major Championship golf and not only that but we are back at St. Andrews. The Old Course has provided us with 28 open championships here with this being the 29^th since 1873. St. Andrews has been played on since the late 1400s which would make it known as the home of golf. It is another links style course and one that is not much different from last week where they played the Scottish Open. We will have 156 golfers teeing it up with 50 of them being the top of the OWGR. We will also see LIV golfers joining us for what could be the last time for most of these guys since they do not accrue any points playing on the LIV tour as of this writing. I can’t wait to watch a bunch of golf this week and hopefully win some money in the process. I know we have had questions on content by some subs but this week I will try to give 110% and give you everything you need to build winning lineups. Any feedback is always welcome as well so I can make sure I do better in the future. Also, I would like to congratulate a couple of our subs for winning tickets into the Milly Maker this week by picking the best golfers the past two weeks. Barnguy33 and jp7980 will be getting a free entry this week and we will be rooting them on to hopefully take it down. Good luck to all and let’s make some money this week.

Course Preview

This week we move not too far from the Scottish open to fife, Scotland to play at St. Andrews. This week will rely mainly on the weather because like most links courses we rely heavily on wind as the main defense for the course. If we do not get much wind, then you will see a fairly easy course setup where we have a ton of run out with fast fairways. These fairways are very easy to hit as most holes are double fairways. The main thing with the fairways is they run out so much that you can actually run out into the pot bunkers which would then ruin that hole because most times you need to hit out sideways giving up a shot. This course is a 7,300 par 72 but by no means is the normal setup only having two par 5’s along with two par 3’s and fourteen yes fourteen par 4’s. this course will play shorter since of the rollout of the fairways talked about above. On approach golfers will see fairly big greens due to them being double greens which helps with upkeep so you will need to be good at lag putting. The green surface is Fescue, Bent and poa blend. All in all, we need to pay attention to the weather because if the wind is down, we will see sort of a birdie fest in which will be a low scoring Open Championship.

Stats I am Looking at

SG: APP
SG: Par 4
SG: ARG
SG: OTT
3 putt avoidance
BoB Gained

Player Breakdown

Rory Mcllroy (Cash/GPP)

I do not think this is going to be a hot take at all this week with Rory having good Open history and his form is at some of his best in a long time. His 3-putt avoidance is kind of scary but everything else looks great and if we do get windy conditions, he will be fine.

Scottie Scheffler (GPP)

Only reason he has a GPP tag is just due to his price, and I like other around him a little bit more. He is 2^nd in my model this week and he should fit this course well. I would love for him to come in lower owned and it would boost him for me, but I just don’t see that happening with his form and also finishing 8^th last year at the open.

Jon Rahm (Cash/GPP)

Started out decent last week and fell apart on the weekend. That could honestly be a good thing if playing him because ownership could be lowered. Finished 3^rd at the open last year and it is kind of a comp course. Form is not the greatest but every stat besides ARG he is top 15 that I am looking at.

Jordan Spieth (Cash/GPP)

Be prepared for Spieth to be quite chalky this week. Spieth finished 4^th at this course in 2015 along with finishing 2^nd at The Open last year and has never missed a cut at an Open venue. He loves playing these types of courses and it shows it every year.

Will Zalatoris (Cash/GPP)

This guy is just a Major Championship machine and while he has not won one, yet it will come soon. He comes in 4^th in my model and while he is not experienced at this type of course I think he will do just fine this week and work his way to another top 10 finish.

Xander Schauffele (Cash)

I really don’t love this play in general this week just because I feel he will be more owned than most guys this week. He rates out well and everything but in GPP I am personally fading so I can try and get an edge on the field this week.

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Cash/GPP)

His form is actually insane, and his par 4 scoring is 4^th in my model, which is great because we see so many of them this week that you will need to score on them.

Cameron Smith (GPP)

This would be my pivot off of Xander in this range this week. His stats besides OTT are off the charts but he could have a decent week OTT and finish top 5. I don’t think he comes in low owned but he for sure should come in under Xander and I like that a lot.

Dustin Johnson (GPP)

I’m sure we will see some ownership on him because of his 2^nd place finish at this course in 2015. The reason I have him listed is because we know his talent and while his form is not the greatest, he should do well here. His ball is going to run a bunch if he can keep it in the fairway and be in striking distance to score on every single hole. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see him win this week.

Louis Oosthuizen (Cash)

You could make a case for him to be considered for GPP as well due to his Open history along with finishing 2^nd at this course in 2015. He also finished tied for 3^rd last year at the Open which is a comp course. This is more of a risky cash game play but honestly something you would want in my eyes.

Tommy Fleetwood (Cash/GPP)

Man, Fleetwood is in some pretty good form coming in and his Open history is not bad. I hate that he missed the cut here in 2015 but I do think his skill set can matchup up for this course and he should make the cut this time and I envision a top 20 with upside for me.

Brooks Koepka (GPP)

I really do not know what to do with Koepka this week; his open history is actually insane and even finished 10^th here in 2015. I think I have to give him a chance because not long ago he was the major killer, and this is a major he can win if he finds his form again.

Tony Finau (Cash/GPP)

Honestly, he fits this course well and has played well at Open Championships in the past. The two categories that are not top 20 in my model are BoB gained and ARG, but they also are not the worst either. I think it will depend on ownership here because I don’t play chalky Finau.

Joaquin Niemann (Cash/GPP)

I do like how he sets up this week and he is a guy who can play tougher courses well along with able to play in the wind if it picks up. He comes in 11^th in my model this week with his worst stat being APP being 42^nd in the field.

Cameron Young (GPP)

I do not hate him this week and he has the talent to do well. The only issue is his recent form is kind of mediocre and if it gets windy this week, I think this hurts him a bit. Not factoring in much win, he is 14^th in my model and sets up ok.

Sergio Garcia (GPP)

Going to be a risky play just due to his form but he has played well on links courses along with this exact course in 2015 where he finished 6^th. His open history is pretty good as well.

Justin Rose (Cash/GPP)

A little safer than Garcia in this range but also has his risks. Good links players and also finished towards the top at this course in 2015. His form is also not terrible.

Patrick Reed (GPP)

Not going to be your winner this week but he plays Open venues well and finished 20^th here in 2015. I do not hate throwing him in my lineups for the massive upside he provides.

Mito Pereira (Cash/GPP)

Honestly, I am actually surprised how bad he played last week, and I will be going back to the well here. I think he fits this course and if wind picks up on the weekend this benefits him.

Thomas Pieters (GPP)

This dude has some massive upside, but he also could go out and miss the cut. If you play him, you need to know he has a bad attitude and when things start going bad, he kind of shuts down. If he can keep a straight head this week then we will see a nice finish from him.

Jordan Smith (GPP)

I told you guys last week in the article that he is a good golfer from the DP World Tour and going into the weekend he looked like he was going to smash but then came back down to earth a little bit finishing 24^th.

Russell Henley (Cash)
I really do not love him for GPP this week because I don’t think he will come top 25, but I do think he can make the cut and help you cash this week. Great with his irons and 37^th in par 4 scoring so I am willing to say he finishes top 30 and scores well.

Keegan Bradley (GPP)

Screwed me last week but I will be going back to him this week. He has good stats all around for me the only one he struggles in is ARG.

Adri Arnaus (Cash/GPP)

Going back to him this week, he didn’t do amazing last week but he got four full days in and played decent over the week and the winds were crazy so I would like to see how his talent will shape up this week.

Luke List (GPP)

Comes in 8^th OTT and 9^th on APP along with 50^th in the field in par 4 scoring. Yes, he is a very high-risk play but he has the talent to make the cut and work his way up the leaderboard.

Sam Horsfield (GPP)

Man, at this point I feel like I have written up every single LIV tour player we have in the field. No but in all reality he is a good golfer who has the distance and in the past has had great numbers with his irons. He is also from England so that should help him with these type of conditions.

Thomas Detry (Cash/GPP)

Quietly had a top 10 finish last week at the Scottish open. In addition, a good Dp world tour player who when coming over to play PGA tour events has actually fared well. His driver is super long and his irons are good we will just have to worry about his putter.