The best golfers in the world are set to compete for the 122nd U.S. Open title at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Every player in the world's top 25 of the world golf rankings will be on the course this weekend for PGA's third major, and as such, there are plenty of intriguing lineup combinations you can put together for your DFS lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo.
This will be the first time since 1988 that the U.S. Open will take place at The Country Club. In the 140-year history of this course, it has hosted four U.S. Opens, six U.S. Amateurs, three U.S. Women’s Amateurs, and a Ryder Cup. From 20-year-old caddie Francis Ouimet winning the 1913 U.S. Open to Justin Leonard’s miracle 45-foot putt to help the United States win the 1999 Ryder Cup over the Europeans, we can only hope to see more magic this weekend.
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PGA DFS strategy for the U.S. Open 2022
The Country Club will play as a par 70. It stretches out 7,264 yards and features poa annua greens. You will see extreme fairways, high thick rough, and some of the smallest greens on tour. While the course is not very long by PGA Tour standards, it will challenge these players like all U.S. Open courses.
Natural mounds and hills will cause these players' balls to bounce and roll into disastrous situations. Pebble Beach is a good comparison because of the length and environmental problem areas. These players will face a lot of long par 4s, which will pose challenging second shots. Precise ball striking will be at a premium this weekend. After all that, the tournament will come down to putting on these extremely small poa annua greens. Whenever the USGA sets up the U.S. Open, you can expect it to test these players throughout their bag, but we'll mainly be looking for players whose games are adapted for what we described above.
We should see temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s throughout the weekend in Brookline. It looks like we may avoid any major weather concerns. There is a slight chance of rain in the afternoon Friday, but it shouldn't be too bad. Hitting these very small greens will be made more difficult with winds expected to be in the mid teens throughout the weekend. The weather will not determine the outcome of this major championship, and that’s a good thing.
U.S. Open DFS picks 2022: Studs, sleepers, & values
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Jon Rahm (Yahoo: $48 | DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $11,800)
Is he playing at the top of his game? No, he’s not. Is he still one of the best ball strikers in the world? Yes, he is. The number two player in the world is looking to defend his 2021 U.S. Open title on a completely different course except for the green which are poa annua once again. e has a good track record on these greens. Rahm ranks tops on the PGA Tour in both Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG:OTT) and Greens in Regulation (GIR) and top five in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG:TTG). We saw him bounce back from his 48th place at the PGA Championship to finish top 10 at the Memorial. I’m ready to see him come out strong on day one and stay in the mix throughout the weekend.
Jordan Spieth (Y: $43 | DK: $9,500 | FD: $11,300)
When you look at this course, it seems like it’s tailor made for his game. The 10th-ranked player in the world is looking for his second U.S. Open title after his 2015 victory at Chambers Bay and his first major championship since the '17 Open Championship. The putter has failed him this season but ranking top 30 in SG:OTT, Shots Gained: Approach (SG:A), Shots Gained: Around the Green (SG:ATG), and SG:TTG. He has a win and another two top-10 finishes in his past five starts.
Sungjae Im (Y: $36 | DK: $7,600 | FD: $9,800)
After a mid-season lull, the 21st-ranked player in the world has gotten his game back in tune at the perfect time. He has five straight paydays heading into this weekend with finishes of 21st or better in all of them. Sungjae did not play in the PGA because of a COVID positive but finished top 10 at Augusta. I love him this weekend because he ranks top 15 in SG:TOG, SG:ATG, SG:OTT, GIR, Bogey Avoidance (BA), and Scoring Average (SA). He is a player I feel like is totally flying under the radar this weekend.
Corey Conners (Y: $32 | DK: $7,900 | FD: $9,500)
Conners has finished 21st or better in seven of his past 10 starts on the PGA Tour (sixth place just last week at the RBC). His ball-striking ability is off the charts, but the reason for the consistency has been his putting has been much better. It isn’t anything to write home about, but for him, it's much improved. He's fourth in GIR, eighth in SG: OTT, 13th in SA, 21st in SG:TTG, and 26th in SG:A and DA. He's also top 40 in BA. I love his iron play on this track, so play the good Canadian boy with confidence.
Cameron Tringale (Y: $28 | DK: $7,200 | FD: $8,200)
When I was looking through the players in this price range, there is just something I didn’t like about each one. Tringale stood out to me as a safe option -- not a play that jumps off the page, but safe. Tringale has made the cut in seven of his past eight starts with two top 15s. He is one of those players who is pretty consistent throughout the bag with no glaring weaknesses. We know he has skills on and around the greens, which will serve him well in Boston.
Davis Riley (Y: $21 | DK: $7,300 | FD: $9,200)
It is hard to believe that this guy is probably the hottest player on the PGA Tour. He has six straight finishes inside the top 13 and four of them were inside the top 10. This 25 year old out of Alabama ranks top 60 in BA, SA, GIR, Driving Distance (DD), SG:OTT, SG:P. Riley has shown to be successful on a multitude of courses because of his putting. I trust him against this field, and you should too.
MORE U.S. OPEN DFS PICKS:
Will Zalatoris
Shane Lowry
Max Homa
Tommy Fleetwood
Danny Lee
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