Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- The Open Championship

OVERVIEW

Welcome chip chaps, it’s Open week! This week we head to England for the 10th hosting of the Open at Royal Birkdale. A few things to know before we jump into the plays this week about the course: keep it straight – hilly rough areas line nearly every fairway and the rough is like what Erin Hills was supposed to be, except the R&A won’t be cutting it back because of whining. Flat fairways – this isn’t your typical “British Open links course”, the fairways are relatively flat with no undulation and we shouldn’t see too many odd bounces from tee shots or awkward lies. Wind – wind will be a key factor here this week and should reduce scoring (something Erin Hills was unable to do). Of course, there’s a difference in scoring expectations if the wind doesn’t blow, but it will. Keeping an eye on tee time flights will be a huge advantage before the cut comes on Friday (btw, cut this week is Top 70 & ties).

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

o The Course
• Royal Birkdale Golf Club
• Par 70
• 7,156 yards
• Bentgrass/Fescue greens
o Location: Southport, England
o Past Champions:
• 2016: Henrik Stenson -20 over Phil Mickelson [Troon]
• 2015: Zach Johnson -15 in a playoff over Marc Leishman & Louis Oosthuizen [St. Andrews]
• 2014: Rory McIlroy -17 over Sergio Garcia & Rickie Fowler [Royal Liverpool]
• 2013: Phil Mickelson -3 over Henrik Stenson [Muirfield]
• 2012: Ernie Els -7 over Adam Scott [Royal Lytham]
• *2008: Padraig Harrington +3 over Ian Poulter [Royal Birkdale]

KEY STATS TO TARGET

o Strong Emphasis – SG: T2G, SG: OTT + SG: APP, Birdie or Better %, Bogey Avoidance
o Important – Scrambling, Open history

Sign up for an FGI account today to see the rest of this post.