Our PGA DFS series continues with our US Open DFS Core Plays, which includes a look at Xander Schauffele, Byeong Hun-An, and more!
The year’s third major championship is upon us, with the 124th edition of the US Open taking place this week at historic Pinehurst No. 2. Before I dive into the details of the course and the players I’ll be hitching my wagon to this week, I want to share a ridiculous sale that we have going on this week at Stokastic: using promo code PINEHURST, you can get our top-tier PGA DFS package, PGA Sims MAX, for only $14.95 for your first week.
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2024 US Open DFS Core Plays & Strategy
2024 US Open DFS Course & Tournament Preview
Alright, let’s talk about this course. Pinehurst No. 2 is an absolute monster. Measuring in at over 7,500 yards as a par 70, it is easily one of the longest golf courses the tour will play on all year. Known for its “turtle back” greens and use of the area’s natural terrain, it is one of the most iconic venues for golf in the world. This will be the fourth time the course has hosted the US Open, with previous iterations taking place in 1999, 2005 and 2014.
I was lucky enough to play the course last summer and was diligent about taking notes about it. The first thing that stood out to me was how much of an advantage longer hitters will have. While tight in some spots, the fairways are pretty generous overall. There is little to no rough to speak of, as the fairways run directly into the “native” areas that are filled with thick wire grass and hardpan sand. A wayward tee shot ending up in these areas will be complete luck of the draw. If a ball ends up stuck in one of these thick wire grass areas, it’s very penalizing. However, balls that avoid the grass end up on a flat, sandy lie that is quite nice to hit out of. Due to this setup, and the pure length of the course, I’m giving the advantage to longer hitters.
In addition to the fairways and native area setup, the signature feature of Pinehurst No. 2 are the “turtleback” greens that make holding greens extremely difficult. While the greens measure around 6,500 square feet on average, they play much smaller than that in reality. Approach shots that fail to land in the middle of the green with enough loft and spin to hold will be rejected off one of the various run-off areas surrounding the sides of the greens. These slopes, the severity of which can only be appreciated in person, can cause balls to run off 30 or more yards in some areas. This will make for some extremely difficult up-and -downs. With reports of firm greens that are running at 14.5-15 on the stimpmeter, the course appears to be set up to feature a single-digit under par winning score.
For a more detailed course breakdown and images taken from the course this week, check out the thread I put together on X.
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Below are the players that I plan to build around as my core plays for the US Open. No, I did not write up Scottie Scheffler. As always, he is intentionally left off this list as you don’t need me to tell you he is a great play. He is the betting favorite every time he steps onto the course, and how you handle him is a strategic decision based on your risk tolerance. Alright, let’s get to the plays!
2024 US Open DFS Core Plays
Xander Schauffele – $11,500
Xander has become a mainstay for this article this season, and, to this point, it has worked out extremely well for us. In 13 starts this season, he has 10 finishes inside the top 10. These include six finishes inside the top five and a major victory at the PGA Championship a few weeks back.
Schauffele has been a model of consistency that only Scottie Scheffler can eclipse. A complete player across the entire bag, his game is tailor-made for major championship golf courses like this one.
Over the last 50 tracked rounds, Schauffele ranks inside the top 18 in this field in strokes gained on approach, around the green and off the tee. In addition, he has top-25 rankings in driving distance and birdie-or-better percentage and ranks first in bogey avoidance. He is absolutely one of the most complete players in the world, and I love his chances this week.
Collin Morikawa – $9.400
Featured in this article last week, Collin Morikawa came through for us at The Memorial with a runner-up finish. That marks his third-straight top-five result, and he now has a top-10 finish in five of his last six. It’s quite clear that he has found something with his game, as he is currently firing on all cylinders.
Another player whose game is tailor-made for major championship golf, Morikawa sets up well this week. Over the last 24 rounds, he has dominated the major stat categories, with top-five rankings among the field in bogey avoidance, birdie or better percentage, strokes gained on fairways, strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained on approach. A player of his caliber in peak form will be tough to beat.
Priced at just $9,400 on DraftKings in this week’s US Open DFS contests, Morikawa is one of the best value plays on the board.
Byeong Hun-An – $7,100
Benny An has quietly become one of the longest hitters on PGA Tour over the last couple of seasons, adding over 10 yards to his average driving distance since the 2021 season.
The added length, combined with his drastic improvement in his putting, has led to some strong results this season, including five finishes inside the top 10 through 15 starts.
His length, combined with top-30 rankings in birdie-or-better percentage, bogey avoidance, strokes gained on approach and strokes gained off the tee amongst this field make for an exceptional value option at the bottom of the $7,000 price range on DraftKings.
US Open DFS GPP Flier: Wyndham Clark – $9,000
Typing those words together felt so odd: Wyndham Clark, GPP Flier…. but here we are.
Wyndham Clark, the reigning US Open champion, will have single-digit ownership in GPP’s this week. On the one hand, I sort of understand it. He has been bad lately, and there is no other way to put it. With back-to-back missed cuts at the PGA Championship and The Memorial, people just aren’t going to be clicking on him.
However, we are talking about such a small sample size here. The zoomed-out view on Clark paints the picture of a very solid player who excels on difficult golf courses such as this one. We’re only three starts away from his third-place finish at the RBC Heritage in April.
I refuse to believe he suddenly just isn’t good at golf anymore. He ranks top-10 in this field in driving distance, birdie or better percentage and strokes gained off the tee over the last 24 rounds. While it may feel uncomfortable given our recency bias, he is an exceptional play as a differentiator in GPP’s. I will be taking a chance on Clark to return to form this week on a course that should fit his game nicely.
