The year’s final major championship is upon us. Royal Liverpool will play host to the 151st Open Championship. The course was a par 72 in year’s past, but it has been cut down a par 71 this year that will play around 7,400 yards. Its main defenses are tight fairways, strategically placed pot bunkers and coastal weather patterns. Accuracy and length off the tee is the skill combo that will give golfers plenty of birdie opportunities approaching the course’s smaller greens. PGA DFS players should keep an eye out on the forecast as lock approaches to spot potential wave advantages. Now let’s get to this week’s Open Championship PGA DFS core plays!
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2023 British Open Championship PGA DFS Core Plays
Patrick Cantlay, $9,900
Patrick Cantlay’s recent performances speak for themselves. He has four top 4 finishes in his last 11 starts. Cantlay ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee over the last 50 rounds, hitting over 66% of fairways. The fairways will be tight at Royal Liverpool, making that final statistic particularly noteworthy. Cantlay also ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in the same timeframe, which is evidence of his elite all-around skill set. Length and accuracy off the tee should give Cantlay plenty of opportunities for great looks into these small greens. His game aligns perfectly with the demands of the course, making him one of my favorite PGA DFS core plays of the week.
Tyrrell Hatton, $9,400
If you followed last week’s PGA DFS core plays article then you know Tyrell Hatton was one of the top options. Luckily he paid off, finishing the Scottish Open in a tie for 6th place. That gives Hatton four top 6 finishes in his last 7 events. He’s another player who is solid throughout the entire bag, and his game sets up very nicely for the demands of Royal Liverpool. Hatton ranks inside the top 6 in both SG: Off the Tee and Strokes Gained: Putting over his last fifty rounds. He has had some nice success at past Open Championships including three top 11 finishes in ten starts.
Tommy Fleetwood, $9,300
Tommy Fleetwood is arguably playing the best golf of his entire career right now. His 6th place finish at the Scottish Open gives him five top 6 finishes across his last ten starts. In Fleetwood’s last 50 rounds he ranks inside the top 25 in this field in all four strokes gained statistics: Off the Tee, On Approach, Around the Green and Putting. Fleetwood has made the cut in five straight Open Championships, including a 4th place finish last year and a 2nd in 2019. His game features consistency throughout the bag, which combined with his history at Open Championships makes Fleetwood a solid PGA DFS core play.
GPP Flier – Byeong Hun An, $7,000
Byeong Hun An’s recent switch to the long putter has been paying dividends. He has historically been one of the worst putters on TOUR, but that might be changing. His 3rd place finish in the stacked Scottish Open field last week gives him some nice momentum heading into the year’s final major. An ranks 21st in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green over the last fifty rounds. If that putter can continue it’s upward trajectory, An will be a very intriguing option in PGA DFS GPPs given that the PGA DFS ownership projections put him in the single digits.
