DFS Dish: Can Viktor Hovland flip switch in year’s final major?
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Royal Troon in Scotland, will host the oldest major championship for the 10th time. The 152nd Open Championship returns to the links just outside Glasgow for the first time since 2016, where Sweden’s Henrik Stenson set the event tournament scoring record at 20-under 264 to win his first major championship.
The 2024 edition features reigning Champion Golfer of the Year Brian Harman. It will host a field of 158 players and tip out at 7,385 yards, almost 200 yards longer than the record-setting backdrop of 2016, and will play to par 71 (36-35).
DraftKings – Top of the board
Scottie Scheffler ($12,800): The six-time winner this season on the PGA TOUR also is dominant in the DraftKings format. Gamers will have to pay top dollar again for the man who averages better than 15 points than second place. Whatever bothered him at the U.S. Open was quickly resolved in a playoff victory over his good friend Tom Kim at the Travelers Championship the following week. Making his fourth start at The Open, his best payday from T23 or better is T8, achieved at St. Andrews in 2022.
Bryson DeChambeau ($11,500): The reigning U.S. Open champion from Pinehurst No. 2 has muscled his way past Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele into second position. Royal Troon was battered into submission by another tee-to-green power player in 2016, and if the forecast holds, scoring could push that mark. The two-time major champion put on a power show in North Carolina but also provided results on demanding greens. In six previous starts on the links, T8 is the only result he’s posted inside T33, also at St. Andrews two years ago.
Overvalued or undervalued?
Jon Rahm ($10,400): If the first three majors of 2024 indicate what will transpire at Royal Troon, I can’t justify this value. Posting T45 at the Masters in defense was met with a missed cut at Valhalla. A foot infection caused a last-minute withdrawal before the U.S. Open last month. Pass.
Brian Harman ($7,600): The left-hander will look to join Padraig Harrington (2007-08) as the last player to repeat as Champion Golfer of the Year. Winning by six shots at Royal Liverpool in 2023, the Georgia native continued his best three-year run on the links (Win-T6-T19). The 37-year-old has played the weekend in his last eight on TOUR and has produced T26 or better in six events.
Viktor Hovland ($9,700): If there is a magic switch to flip for the biggest events, investors backing the Norwegian this week will need him to turn it up to 11. While the reigning FedExCup champion is making plenty of cuts (10 of 12), the big-time results have not followed, minus a podium at the PGA Championship. The only PGA TOUR regular averaging fewer points per week in the top 20 is Tom Kim.
Aaron Rai ($7,300): The 2020 Genesis Scottish Open winner at The Renaissance Club entered the field this week after cashing T4 at North Berwick last week. Picking up his fourth top-10 payday from his last nine events and third consecutive week, the Englishman will play in his third Open Championship (T19 2021, MC 2022). The man with two gloves is 2-for-2 in majors this season, with T39 at the PGA Championship and T19 at the U.S. Open.
Brooks Koepka ($9,000): Since running second at the Masters and then winning the 2023 PGA Championship, the five-time major champion has cooled. Over his last five major championships, T17 is the best result, and I would demand more at this price in this field.
Adam Scott ($6,700): The 2016 leaderboard at Royal Troon saw multiple veteran players on the podium and in contention for the week. A fantastic week at The Renaissance Club last week for the 43-year-old resulted in a solo second. There’s nothing wrong with hitching up to an experienced player in this event.
Makers or breakers
Rory McIlroy ($11,400): The Ulsterman is one of five players in the field this week who posted a top-10 payday in 2016. The long layoff before the Genesis Scottish Open last week did not show many signs of rust. With seven top-10 paydays at this event from 12 cuts made, I’m on board.
Xander Schauffele ($11,200): The last player to win his first two major championships in the same year was Jordan Spieth (Masters, U.S. Open) in 2015. Since winning his first major in May at the PGA Championship, the Californian rattled off four straight events T15 or better and is one of two players in the field this week to hit the top 10 in the first three majors of the season (DeChambeau).
Corey Conners ($7,300): The Canadian has not missed the cut in the first three majors and has posted T10 or better in three of his last five on TOUR. Any weeks where the field does NOT have an advantage on the greens, his ball-striking should be magnified.
Robert MacIntyre ($7,700): The last player to win the week before a major championship was McIlroy at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2014 before winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla. The Scotsman’s post-round interview told me all I needed to know. The winner at The Renaissance Club said that event, the Genesis Scottish Open, was “the one”.
Sungjae Im ($6,900): The dilemma this week for gamers is the opposite of most of the players listed above. The Korean has been scalding hot in the non-majors portion of the schedule. Missing the cut in all three headliners, he has rebounded to cash T12 or better in his other seven TOUR stops, including T4 last week, plus a victory in Korea.
Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300): The 10th choice on the board this week, the Englishman has posted top-10 finishes in three of the last four years on the links. Making the cut in his last six Open Championships and cruising along on TOUR, I won’t be alone with him in my lineup this week and I’m fine with that being the case.
Cameron Young ($7,500): Converging trends! Entering the week off T6-T9 in his last two on TOUR, the big-hitting American, yet to produce a victory, has cashed twice in the top 10 in two visits to The Open the last two years.
Lineup
Here’s a look at how I would devise a six-team roster this week while staying below the $50,000 salary cap offered for DraftKings contests:
- Collin Morikawa ($9,900)
- Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300)
- Shane Lowry ($8,200)
- Brian Harman ($7,600)
- Cameron Young ($7,500)
- Corey Conners ($7,300)
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