This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
The Open Championship
Hoylake, England
Royal Liverpool - Par 71 - 7,383 yards
Field - 156 entrants
Purse - $16.5M
The Preview
As we set our stateside alarm clocks to an unspeakable hour for that nostalgic overnight viewing experience, a true links test awaits in Hoylake as Royal Liverpool hosts the Open Championship for the first time since 2014. Now a nearly 7,400-yard, par-71 layout, scattered showers from Friday through Sunday could have this venue playing even longer, albeit possibly easier with firm and fast conditions atypically absent from the year's final major. Contrasting with last week's setup at the Renaissance Club where wind really served as the primary defense, Royal Liverpool features tight landing areas surrounded by thick fescue, and as if penal pot bunkers weren't enough of a mental battle, the introduction of in-course out-of-bounds adds another element to its difficulty. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see the eventual champion flirt with the 15-under-par mark, so we can still focus on birdie-or-better getters from a DFS perspective.
Recent Champions
2022 - Cameron Smith (St. Andrews)
2021 - Collin Morikawa (Royal St. George's)
2020 - None
2019 - Shane Lowry (Royal Portrush)
2018 - Francesco Molinari (Carnoustie)
2017 - Jordan Spieth (Royal Birkdale)
2016 - Henrik Stenson (Royal Troon)
2015 - Zach Johnson (St. Andrews)
2014 - Rory McIlroy (Royal Liverpool)
2013 - Phil Mickelson (Muirfield)
Key Stats to Victory
Driving Accuracy
SG: Approach
Birdie or Better percentage
Scrambling
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Scottie Scheffler - $50
Scheffler curiously came in at just $47 last week against a weaker field in Scotland, but his $3 increase to $50 for the Open Championship still isn't inflated enough to exclude him from the "value" conversation in Yahoo DFS given he hasn't finished outside the top five in a single event since April's RBC Heritage. Albeit an extremely small sample size, it'd be pretty bizarre for Scheffler to finish the calendar year without a major victory, while the obvious putting concerns have kept him without a win since THE PLAYERS Championship. Unsurprisingly, he just paced the field in both SG: Approach and GIR percentage at the Genesis Scottish Open en route to a third-place result.
Rory McIlroy - $46
For a player of McIlroy's stature, I wouldn't give in to the faulty narrative surrounding the difficulty of winning in back-to-back weeks, and am therefore willing to treat these as two independent events in the game of probability after his triumph at the Renaissance Club on Sunday. He torched the field in wire-to-wire fashion when The Open was last played here at Royal Liverpool back in 2014, and his driver will again be a major advantage if conditions remain on the softer side.
Cameron Smith - $41
Coming off a win at LIV London, Smith is motivated to continue sipping his victory juice out of the Claret Jug after becoming a major champion at St. Andrews last year. The occasional errant tee shot is no stranger to Smith's game, but the Aussie mentioned during his preparation this week that he's feeling as comfortable as ever when standing over his driver and long irons. We all know that he's capable of the Denny McCarthy-esque performances with the flat stick, so Smith will be quite dangerous if the ball striking cooperates as well.
Glue Guys
Collin Morikawa - $34
The 2021 Open Championship winner is simply priced too low in this spot, especially after his T2 showing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, so expect a great deal of lineup exposure to float Morikawa's way. Over his last 24 measured rounds, he's No. 1 in Good Drives Gained, which is a useful Fantasy National metric that indicates when the player either hits the fairway off the tee OR the player misses the fairway but still hits the green or fringe in regulation. During this stretch of 24 recent rounds, he's also fourth in Opportunities Gained, fifth in SG: Approach and seventh in overall proximity.
Tommy Fleetwood - $33
Although Fleetwood's win equity might be microscopic, $33 is still a screaming value for someone that ranks fourth in my custom model this week. The Englishman sits second in Bogey Avoidance, fifth in SG: Off-the-Tee, fifth in sand saves and sixth in scrambling over his past 24 rounds. Fleetwood just tied for sixth in North Berwick, where his third-round 63 included eight birdies.
Corey Conners - $31
If the name of the game this week is hitting fairways and greens in regulation, Conners profiles as a potential contender, especially considering the fairly simple putting complexes at Royal Liverpool. He's placed top-30 in back-to-back Open Championships, and over his last 24 rounds, Conners ranks top-10 in each of SG: OTT, Good Drives Gained, overall proximity and Opps Gained.
Bargain Bin
Dustin Johnson - $26
Yahoo's major pricing continues to discount the LIV guys, so DJ is an obvious candidate for a substantial rostership percentage at just $26 with right around 30/1 odds to win the whole thing. Johnson gained the fifth-most strokes from tee-to-green on the way to his 10th-place finish at the U.S. Open, averaging 4.25 tweeters per round in the process.
Min Woo Lee - $23
Lee can get extremely wild off the tee, but his range of outcomes includes a DFS ceiling that's often tough to find down here in the Bargain Bin, while his admirable short-game prowess actually provides a decent floor as well. For further proof, he's No. 1 in scrambling, second in SG: Putting, fifth in SG: Around-the-Green and seventh in Bogey Avoidance over his past 24 rounds. He hasn't missed a cut in over two months now, and his length could lend a couple legitimate eagle chances.
Bryson DeChambeau - $22
Basically in the same bucket as Johnson, DeChambeau remains mispriced after going T4-T20 at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open earlier this year. The golf scientist gained nearly 12 strokes off the tee across those two outings, and he'll enjoy the strategy aspect around Royal Liverpool this week. He tied for eighth at St. Andrews last year when he led the tournament in GIR with a whopping 66 of 72 greens hit.
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