The US Open is the most brutal and mentally demanding of the four majors and this year Chambers Bay will provide a unique and some may say unfair challenge. The course is links style in nature and as it was only opened in 2007 few of the players contesting the second major of the season have competitive experience of the layout. Bizzarley the 1st and 18th can be par 4s or par 5s and the overall length can be anything from 7,300 to 7,900 yards.
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Chambers Bay
Jason Day was expressing a relevant point in a humorous manner when suggesting imagination is required just to see the greens let alone hit them. Charl Schwartzel birdied the last four holes to secure the US Masters in 2011. He knows about good greens and relying on technique more than luck to hole crucial putts. He was scathing of the greens when quoted in the British newspaper, the Daily Mail.
He said: “You come here from a course like Muirfield Village where you’ve got perfect putting surfaces to this place, where it really doesn’t matter whether you hit a good putt or not. They roll so badly that a good putt misses and a bad one goes in” That view suggests putting will about mental discipline as well as hitting great putts. The greens will get harder as the weather increases their score on the stimpmeter.
Despite the player’s reservations about the course the US Open will be popular amongst fantasy sports players. The majors generate a massive increase in interest after the staple diet of regular tournaments. They bring together the best players on great courses and winning a major means something. DraftKings are offering several fantasy games for the US Open and here are some suggestions for your team:
US Open Fantasy Picks
Phil Mickelson has won three of the four majors so needs the US Open to complete the set and become just the sixth player to achieve the career Grand Slam. The blue eyed boy of American golf has finished second six times in the national championship of the country of his birth. He has prepared well and is relishing the challenge of the long and tough course and this week could be his date with destiny. Chambers Bay will be a test of patience and will require wise old head to be mastered and Mickelson has the skills and mentality to finally win the US Open, the title he craves most.
Justin Rose could become the latest of several players to be a multiple winners of the US Open in the last 25 years. He has now become just about the complete golfer and given even an average week on the greens looks likely to contend. He would have won the US Masters in most years and is now one of the hottest players in the game after a win and second in his last three starts. He has the tenacity and temperament to maintain form and rhythm even in the toughest playing conditions and won’t be afraid of a long and demanding course. His game is more about touch and accuracy than distance and that is a good profile in the context of this week.
Francesco Molinari is fifth on the US PGA Tour for greens in regulation and that is a key skill on a links course when wind will be a factor. The Italian is not a prolific winner but often contends. He can get in the picture and looks competitive in the race to finish in the top ten. He combines solid current form with decent efforts in the second major of the season. Accuracy is his main skill so the younger of the Molinari brothers will hit masses of greens and fairways but probably miss too many putts to win the championship. He sometimes flatters to deceive but is a solid operator with the game to finish in the top-division without threatening to win the US Open.
Sergio Garcia was second in the US PGA Championship in 1999 as a teenager. At the time he looked destined to win several majors in his twenties but is still striving for the elusive first one half way through his next decade. He has wasted winning opportunities and then cursed his luck. However, he was more sanguine and accepting after finishing second behind Rory McIlroy in last year’s Open Championship at Hoylake. Garcia is in the top 30 on the European Tour for driving distance and greens hit and that represents a decent profile this week. He may not have the patience to win but could finish in the top five in a major again.
Brandt Snedeker never seems to let the slings and arrows of the game get to him and appears very happy to be earning his living playing a game he loves. As a winner of the FedEx Cup and ten million dollar bonus money is probably not an issue and he even kept his old car when he won that amount. He has made the cut in four of the last five US Opens and excels in the area of scrambling which could be key if the greens are difficult to hit. Snedeker is a superb putter who won’t be distracted by poor greens and has some form in majors. He has won seven times in the State and has found some good form recently so can contend this week.
