Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- The Open Championship

OVERVIEW

We’re already at the third major of the year as the Tour heads to Scotland for The Open. This  tournament brings us excellent coverage (night/early morning coverage!) and the subtle tones of the commentators which makes it easier to fall asleep to if you’re getting up earlier than usual. The course, nicknamed “Carnasty”, is a brutal test of golf. Players will need to keep their tee shots in the fairway if they want to have clean approaches into the greens, which means one of two things: Hitting low shots that stay out of the wind, or correctly judging the wind and playing as if the wind will move their ball accordingly. This is not a Bubba track to say the least. If players are missing the fairway, they can expect to find their ball in semi short rough which is easy to hit from, tall fescue which can be difficult to hit from, or the dreaded pot bunkers which may leave them with an awkward footing or a tall lip to get out and over. If the wind doesn’t blow, the course is fairly gettable and should result in low scores which is certainly a possibility as Tommy Fleetwood currently holds the course record of 63, and was previously 64 held by Richard Green, Colin Montgomerie and Steve Stricker. Of course, the most famous memory of this course is Jean Van De Velde’s final hole blowup, where he began the 18^th hole on Sunday with a three-shot lead, made an error off the tee (and several more after that) only to lose his lead and eventually lose the championship in a playoff. Course management shouldn’t be something we need our players to consider, but it’s vital coming down the stretch as the final three holes are often considered the toughest closing stretch in golf.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

• The Course
• Carnoustie
• Par: 71
• Yardage: 7,400 yards
• Greens: Bentgrass
• Location: Carnoustie, Scotland
• Past Open Champions (not at Carnoustie)
• 2017: Jordan Spieth -12 over Matt Kuchar (Royal Birkdale)
• 2016: Henrik Stenson -20 over Phil Mickelson (Royal Troon)
• 2015: Zach Johnson -15 in a playoff over Marc Leishman & Louis Oosthuizen (St. Andrews)
• 2014: Rory McIlroy -17 over Rickie Fowler & Sergio Garcia (Royal Liverpool)
• 2013: Phil Mickelson -3 over Henrik Stenson (Muirfield)

KEY STATS TO TARGET

• Strong Emphasis – Ball Striking (SG: OTT + SG: APP), Scrambling
• Important – Current Form, British Open History, Wind/Links play

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