This weekend is The Open Championship, the third Major Championship of the PGA Tour season. Some of the biggest names in the world in professional golf will be congregating at Royal Troon, in Scotland, for this tournament. As always, the British Open promises to be one of the highlights of the golf season.
Some of the biggest daily fantasy golf tournaments will also be held, starting very early Thursday morning. Getting your fantasy rosters ready before hand will be your best bet, especially if you want to have a good chance of winning some serious cash. This year, one of the best fantasy golf tournaments is the $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire, from DraftKings. A total of $3 million in prize money will be handed out, with first place being awarded $1 million. Payouts will go to the first 22,250 finishers, and the last prize amount awarded will be for $50. There are only 105,000 spots available for this tournament, so you will need to act fast if you want to gain entry to this one. The entry fee is $33.
In order to get you a step closer to a seven-digit payout, we’ve taken a look at a few of the top golfers entered for this weekend so that you can have a better chance of winning this, or any other, golf tournament you enter.
Jason Day: Day is the top seed in this tournament, according to DraftKings, with a salary of $12,300. Fundamentally, he’s far from the best entered. Yes, he’s made the cut in 11 of 12 tournaments, and has 7 top ten finishes, but there are some deeper problems. For one, his stroke count per round is a bit higher than some cheaper golfers at 70.1. Also, he has been behind in fantasy points when compared to other top tier golfers. He has 82.9 as an average, which is pretty strong. But at this price, it’s not the greatest. We’re staying away from him.
Rory McIlroy: McIlroy is a far better draft choice than Day. He’s cheaper at $11,900, and has been performing far better than Day this year. His stroke average stands at 69.7 and he has averaged 83.9 points per tourney. He has made 13 of 15 cuts, and has 8 top ten finishes. The downside to McIlroy is that he was cut from the U.S. Open a few weeks ago. With all his other strengths, we are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
Jordan Spieth: Spieth was last year’s Majors darling, winning the first two of the year. It was at this tournament last year that he began to show signs that he was human. His salary of $11,700 seems to be taking this into account. He has average 69.7 strokes per round, like McIlroy, and his fantasy point average is a bit lower at 81.6. Spieth has one more win this season than McIlroy, but against weaker competition. It could be worth taking Spieth over McIlroy if you need the wiggle room in your roster, but if you can afford the extra $200, we believe that McIlroy is slightly stronger than Spieth when they are both at full strength.
Adam Scott: You are being foolish if you don’t take a look at Adam Scott for this tournament. His salary of $10,600 clearly separates him from Spieth, who is ranked one place above him, but his numbers are almost identical. His stroke average per round is the same at 69.7, he has a fantasy point contribution of 84.2, and he has 2 wins, which is also the same as Spieth. On paper, Scott is better than Spieth, McIlroy, and Day. Only Dustin Johnson (who is ranked second here) could be perceived as the stronger pick. Scott has made the cut 13 out of 13 times, and has 5 top ten finishes. He’s not the strongest golfer athletically in the field, but so far this year, he has given us a consistent fantasy performance and needs to be a consideration in your roster as a result of this.
