DraftKings preview: U.S. Open

The PGA TOUR heads to North Carolina this week for the U.S. Open. The No. 2 Course at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club will be the host, and is a monster of a par 70, measuring at 7,543 yards. The greens this week will be Champion Ultradwarf Bermuda.

Being that it’s the U.S. Open, pretty much every top-50 player in the world will be in attendance, led at the top by world No. 1 and last week’s the Memorial presented by Workday champion, Scottie Scheffler

Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st]

Xander Schauffele ($11,500)

Yet again, I will not be highlighting world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in this section, as I think you know by now how good this man is. He just won for a fifth time already in 2024 and gained over 12 strokes on approach at Muirfield Village Golf Club. He’s simply on another planet in terms of talent right now, and if you can field a strong lineup with his $13,000 salary, by all means roster him.

Instead, I will be writing up arguably the best U.S. Open player of the past decade in Schauffele. The X-Man has played in this event every year since 2017, and his finishes in that time frame read: T5, T6, T3, solo fifth, T7, T14, T10. Just a ridiculous display of dominance.

Schauffele is coming off a ho-hum T8 finish at the Memorial, where he had far from his best stuff with his irons. However, he found other ways to get it done, including leading the field in putting, where he gained a whopping 8.03 strokes on the greens.

On the season, Schauffele has six top-five finishes and four additional top 10s, which of course includes his win at the PGA Championship. As much as I love Scheffler this week, you can save $1,500 by dropping to Schauffele, and if he ends up coming in second or third place, having that extra money to spend on another high-end player will come in quite handy.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,000)

Matsuyama gets up for the U.S. Open every year, having made the cut in nine of the past 10 years at this event. In that timeframe, he’s posted a pair of top-four finishes and four other top 21s. The last time Matsuyama missed the cut at a U.S. Open was back in 2016, so we are going on eight straight years now.

He’s coming off one of his best weeks of the season at the Memorial, where he finished T8 and gained strokes in every Strokes Gained category. Most notable was his iron play, where he gained 3.6 strokes on approach at Jack’s Place.

Matsuyama’s game is tailor-made for major championships, as he boasts one of the best short games in the world and is one of the best long-iron players of the past decade. This $8,000 price tag is simply too cheap for his upside, and it also allows you to play him in any style of lineup you prefer this week.

Russell Henley ($6,900)

You could make the argument that Henley is the most underpriced golfer on the slate this week at $6,900. There’s no world where he should be priced below the likes of Rickie Fowler or Justin Rose at this stage of their respective careers.

Over the past 24 rounds in this field, Henley ranks 15th in both SG: Tee-to-Green and Total Strokes Gained, along with sitting third in driving accuracy, which will be absolutely paramount at Pinehurst. His U.S. Open history is also quite strong, having finished T27 or better in four of his past five renditions of this event.

Henley has been on a really nice run of late, posting three top-12 finishes over his past six starts, including a T10 at Quail Hollow Club. He’s made the cut at both majors so far in 2024, and we should absolutely expect that to continue this week. We don’t need him to do much at this price, but the fact that he has clear top-20 upside makes him one of the premier values on the board.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $3M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.