Daily Fantasy Golf 2015: Top Players and Sleeper Picks for U.S. Open
As the 2015 U.S. Open gets ready to begin Thursday morning, time is running out to analyze the year's field and set your daily fantasy lineups for the year's second major.
High-priced picks are littered across the top of DraftKings boards, but not all of them are easily advised. At a Chambers Bay course that is already proving tricky for even the world's best, both driving distance and preparation will prove key in picking any favorite.
With that said, some sleepers have also emerged as dependable for a low score at a low price. Let's take a look at a few of each below.
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| Dustin Johnson | 73.4 | $11,300 |
| Phil Mickelson | 67.5 | $10,200 |
| Henrik Stenson | 87.4 | $10,000 |
| Francesco Molinari | 60.1 | $7,200 |
| Byeong-Hun An | - | $7,500 |
| Kevin Kisner | 70.2 | $7,000 |
High-End Picks
Dustin Johnson ($11,300)
Dustin Johnson withdrew from the St. Jude Classic due to illness just after he started, but that was about the only thing that has kept him from low scores in the last several months. He has three top-20 finishes since the Masters, where he finished sixth or better for the fifth time in six appearances. A PGA Tour-leading driving distance will prove beneficial on this links course as he chases his first major title.
Henrik Stenson ($10,000)
If now isn't Henrik Stenson's time, it may never be. The 39-year-old is coming off a four-under performance at the Nordea Masters and has three top-five DraftKings finishes for the 2015 season. Last year's fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open may not be his best career finish there for long, with his European expertise sure to play to his strengths on a familiar links setting.
Phil Mickelson ($10,200)
Phil Mickelson is knocking on the door lately, and not just at the U.S. Open, where he's finished as a runner-up six times. He's finished in the top five at the Masters, Wells Fargo and the St. Jude Classic, but his consistent form as of late isn't the only thing playing to his advantage.
As Golf Digest's John Strege reported, Mickelson has been at Chambers Bay throughout the weekend, getting accustomed to the course's twists and turns. Fox Sports analyst Greg Norman told Strege how Lefty is separating himself already: "The attitude that (Mickelson) has is the right attitude to take. You have to go in with no white noise going through your head saying, 'I don't like this course because I don't know how to play it.'"
Top Sleeper Picks
Francesco Molinari ($7,200)
The U.S. Open has had a knack for surfacing emerging stars. Perhaps it would be too much to log Francesco Molinari as this year's emergent star with no PGA Tour victories to his name, but he's at least in to contend this weekend.
Molinari's driving accuracy tops the PGA Tour, and his sixth-place rank in greens in regulation round up two stats critical to success on links courses, which Molinari knows all about from a second-place finish at the 2012 Scottish Open. With two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year, don't be surprised if he breaks through again at Chambers Bay.
Byeong-Hun An ($7,500)
Byeong-Hun An proved with his win at the BMW PGA Championship in May that he's a force to be reckoned with and has a track record for success at Chambers Bay—which practically no one has, by the way. He finished third at the U.S. Amateur Championship back in 2010, the only other major tournament that Chambers Bay has hosted.
Kevin Kisner ($7,000)
Kevin Kisner got confirmed Monday as one of the last players in the field, but he'll be one of the top names atop the leaderboard throughout most of the tournament. Missing the Masters has lit a fire under him—four of his five scores following it have been 10 strokes under par or more. With three top-10 finishes in the last six DraftKings events, he's the most reliable sleeper you'll find.
DraftKings is hosting one-day U.S. Open contests with thousands in prizes. Claim your free entry by clicking here and making a first-time deposit!
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