Horse For The Course: PGA DFS - U.S. Open

Joe Nicely's under-the-radar DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the U.S. Open. His Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history.

Thanks for joining me here at RotoBaller PGA DFS family! The new PGA Tour season kicked off with an old, familiar face emerging with a win. Stewart Cink, last seen ripping Tom Watson's heart out at the Open Championship, showed the youngsters how it's done at Silverado, winning the Safeway Open at 21-under par.

We go from California to New York for more pressing matters this week, as the world's best descend on legendary Winged Foot Golf Club for the U.S. Open! In the absence of substantial course history at Winged Foot, we'll be using U.S. Open history as our guide in this week's HFTC.

Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!

U.S. Open Overview

It's been a long and winding road in 2020, but we've finally reached Winged Foot Golf Club and the U.S. Open. It will be the second major championship played in this crazy year and it has all the makings of a classic, as many of golf's elite are playing their best at the moment and are set to do battle on one of the best golf courses in the world.

The field is obviously stacked. PGA Champion Collin Morikawa will try to make it two in a row. Newly-crowned FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson will try to keep dominating. Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele will try to break the seal on their major-championship-winning potential. This is gonna be a fun one, let's tee it up!

You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!

The Course: Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course)

Par 70 - 7,469 Yards, Greens: Poa Annua, Designed By: A.W. Tillinghast (1923), Gil Hanse (2015 Renovation)

If you are a fan of golf, you are probably already familiar with this A.W. Tillinghast classic, as it's considered one of the finest golf courses in the world. Gil Hanse freshened the place up a bit in 2015, with designs that brought some of Tillinghast's original designs back to the forefront.

This week's world-class field will face a brutish challenge, as the glorious New York layout is stretched out to over 7,400 yards with narrow fairways and very penal rough. The adventure is just beginning when players reach the green, as these Poa Annua surfaces have legendary contours that slope front to back with many having false-front runoffs.

With only two Par-5s and many of the Par-4s coming in at over 450-yards, scoring opportunities will be scarce, making par a very good score this week. We want to focus on good total drivers of the ball, players that play long Par-4s well, and have rock-solid short games.

Recent Champions & Winning Scores

• 2019: Gary Woodland (-13)
• 2018: Brooks Koepka (+1)
• 2017: Brooks Koepka (-16)
• 2016: Dustin Johnson (-4)
• 2015: Jordan Spieth (-5)

The Horse

Xander Schauffele

DraftKings: $10,100
FanDuel: $11,400
Notable U.S. Open History: T3 ('19), T6 ('18), T5 ('17)

A teeny-tiny bit surprised to see Xander over $10k, but it's hard to argue with it due to his history in U.S. Opens, ability on tough golf courses, and rock-solid recent form. That's why we're willing to pay up for him right?

Outside of Brooks Koepka, Schauffele has been the best player in the game in U.S. Opens over the last three years, going T3-T6-T5 in golf's toughest test since 2017. He's openly discussed his affinity for playing challenging courses and has already proven himself to be a player that shows up on golf's biggest stages. The only downside here is his rather stiff price tag.

Xander stands out as one of the best plays at the top of the board due to his solid ability in all facets of the game. He ranks second in the field in Bogeys Avoided using recent measurements and has proven that he can handle the rigors of U.S. Open setups, while also being a tremendous Poa putter. It could very well be time for Xander to become a major champion.

The Ponies

Dustin Johnson

DraftKings: $11,500
FanDuel: $12,100
Notable U.S. Open History: T35 ('19), 3rd ('18), MC ('17), Win ('16), T2 ('15)

Dustin Johnson has been downright dominant since the PGA Tour's restart, winning twice (three times if you wanna count the Tour Championship), posting two runner-up finishes, and capturing the FedEx Cup. His spot atop the salary scale is a no-brainer for several reasons...his recent form, Vegas odds, and U.S. Open history being chief among them.

DJ rather infamously has only captured one major championship in his Hall of Fame career, but that win was a U.S. Open. In addition to that victory at Oakmont in 2016, Johnson has historically played extremely well in golf's toughest major, logging three career top-fives in the U.S. Open.

His game translates exceptionally well to difficult golf courses - with his combination of length and accuracy off the tee (first in the field in Good Drives Gained last 12 rounds), sharp iron play (first in field in GIR Gained), and improved short game (fourth SG: Short Game) - and there's truly no layout that DJ can't win on.

Hideki Matsuyama

DraftKings: $9,000
FanDuel: $10,600
Notable U.S. Open History: T21 ('19), T16 ('18), T2 ('17), MC ('16), T18 ('15)

Hideki has failed to truly put everything together since the COVID-19 layoff. Matsuyama did put himself into contention in the BMW Championship on a difficult U.S. Open-like Olympia Fields layout and his ability to navigate very hard golf courses is one of the main selling points for rostering him this week. He's shined in this event, recording five top-25s in seven career U.S. Open starts against just one missed cut.

His recent ball-striking hasn't been bad, it just hasn't really been Hideki-like, as he's gained strokes on Approach in each of his last three. Perhaps more importantly when focusing on this Winged Foot layout, the Japanese star has sparkled around the greens on some of the schedule's toughest recent tests, leading the field in SG: Around at brutal Olympia Fields and ranking third at TPC Harding Park.

Rostering Hideki is often anti-climatic...you hope for a win or top-five, but expect a top-25, which is usually all he'll give you. I expect him to fall somewhere in that finishing position again this week - which is a bit frustrating - but there's some value in targeting safety on a course like Winged Foot, as getting 6/6 through this week would give us a huge leg-up on the competition.

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Tommy Fleetwood

DraftKings: $8,900
FanDuel: $10,400
Notable U.S. History: T65 ('19), 2nd ('18), 4th ('17)

Fleetwood was one of the players that elected to delay his return to competition following the layoff. The normally-reliable Englishman has posted a couple of good rounds here and there - including a second-round 64 at the PGA - but has failed to find consistency for the most part. Fleetwood did post a strong outing at the Portugal Masters last week in Europe and has traditionally shined on difficult courses throughout his career. His U.S. Open record is strong and he posted back-to-back top-four finishes in 2017-18. For years now, we've felt comfortable rostering Fleetwood as a mid-range building block in major championships and that's once again the case for me this week. The recent form might depress his ownership a bit, but there's upside here. I love his ability to go out and drop a 66 while the rest of the field is posting 76.

Patrick Reed

DraftKings: $8,400 
FanDuel: $10,000
Notable Course History: T32 ('19), 4th ('18), T13 ('17), MC ('16), T14 ('15)

I refuse to call Patrick Reed "Captain America" because Cap is not an ass or a cheater, but - personal feelings aside - I have to give Reed his props when it comes to his track record in America's national championship.

Man...the $8k range is jam-packed with these "haven't been playing great, but have tons of U.S. Open experience and should play really well on this type of course" guys. Patrick Reed is always a statistical mystery to us DFS junkies, and he heads to New York having lost strokes with his irons in his last three starts, but it is very tough to take him out of consideration, because we know how well he plays in major championships and on hard golf courses. His short game is one of the best in the world and he led the Tour Championship field in Fairways Gained two weeks ago. For what it's worth, Reed has played very well in this part of the country, with wins at Bethpage and Liberty National. His stats say "no", but his history of solid play in U.S. Opens says "yes". My best advice is go with your gut on him.

Louis Oosthuizen

DraftKings: $7,600
FanDuel: $9,300
Notable Course History: T7 ('19), T16 ('18), T23 ('17), T23 ('16), T2 ('15)

I found myself on Oosty the last time he teed it up at the BMW Championship (in large part because it felt like a U.S. Open layout) and I was shocked at how low his ownership was that week. I hope that is the case again this week, but I have my doubts, as people love to play the South African in majors. No matter what his ownership ends up being, I'll be back on board, as there is a lot to like with Shrek in this spot.

He heads to New York having gained strokes T2G in each of his last five starts and he's made the cut in five-straight U.S. Opens...all of them top-25s! Poa is his best putting surface and he profiles as a great fit for Winged Foot thanks to his major championship experience and ability to navigate difficult layouts (led the BMW field in scrambling at Olympia Fields). Perhaps my favorite play in the mid-$7ks.

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