The PGA TOUR season has reached the third major of the year as the U.S. Open returns to The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts for the first time since 1988. The historic course was also host to the 1999 Ryder Cup in which the Americans stunned the Europeans with a comeback victory.
The Country Club is a Par 70 measuring 7,264 yards, which is just 254 yards longer than it was in 1988. The Gil Hanse design is a classical layout that will feature Bentgrass greens.
The U.S. Open field will feature 156 of the best players in the world. The only notable players that won’t be teeing it up this week are Tiger Woods and Paul Casey, who are both out due to injury.
For GPP contests on DraftKings, I will be breaking down the key stats (past 24 rounds) and selecting golfers from different price tiers to provide flexibility for a DFS lineup.
And if you missed it, we added two new metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.
The cliff notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.
For large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.
This analysis may reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots on average it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.
Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
Strokes Gained: Approach
As usual, Strokes Gained: Approach will be a major factor at the U.S. Open. The greens at The Country Club are small by TOUR standards and have an average size of 4,388 square feet. The length of the approach shots won’t seem daunting in terms of distance, but the layout of the holes can be devastatingly difficult for even the best players in the world.
- High-end target: Scottie Scheffler — $11.300 (2nd in Strokes Gained: Approach)
- Mid-range target: Sam Burns— $8,300 (1st in Strokes Gained: Approach)
- Value target: Kevin Na— $7,000 (5th in Strokes Gained: Approach)
Good Drives Gained
The rough at the Country Club will be penal, and that may be an understatement. The rough is thick, gnarly, and perhaps worst of all: unpredictable. The course will still play long, and with treacherous pin locations, gaining distance off the tee will be important.
- High-end target: Jon Rahm— $10,800 (5th Good Drives Gained)
- Mid-range target: Matt Fitzpatrick— $8,500 (4th Good Drives Gained)
- Value target: Gary Woodland — $7,100 (15th Good Drives Gained)
Strokes Gained: Total (Difficult Courses)
Don’t be fooled by its 7,264-yard length, this Gil Hanse design will play exceedingly difficult. The Country Club will challenge the players in all facets of their game.
- High-end target: Rory McIlroy 10,500 (1st Strokes Gained: Total (Difficult Courses)
- Mid-range target: Shane Lowry— $9,000 (4th Strokes Gained: Total (Difficult Courses)
- Value target: Louis Oosthuizen— $7,600 (8th Strokes Gained: Total (Difficult Courses)
Green in Regulation Gained
The key to any U.S. Open is the ability to hit greens in regulation. Golfers who are scrambling on a regular basis won’t be able to get away with it for prolonged stretches at such a difficult golf course.
- High-end target: Rory McIlroy— $10,500 (1st Green in Regulation Gained)
- Mid-range target: Tony Finau— $8,200 (9th Green in Regulation Gained)
- Value target: Mito Pereira— $7,800 (3rd Green in Regulation Gained)
Strokes Gained: Total (Northeast)
There seems to be a major carryover between players who consistently play well in the Northeast. The aesthetics and the agronomy are a big part of what makes Northeast golf unique.
- High-end target: Dustin Johnson— $9,400 (1st in Strokes Gained: Total (Northeast))
- Mid-range target: Bryson DeChambeau— $7,900 (2nd in Strokes Gained: Total (Northeast)
- Value target: Patrick Reed — $7,200 (8th in Strokes Gained: Total (Northeast))
