Value for each salary range

The British Open is the oldest golf tournament in the world and the last major tournament of the year. It was first held in 1860 and is played on a number of courses in the United Kingdom on a rotating basis. The courses are coastal links courses which offer a unique style of golf compared to what we usually see on the PGA Tour. The Open Championship will be hosted by Royal Troon for the 10th time this year.

Royal Troon was designed between 1888 and 1923 by George Strath, Willie Fernie and James Braid. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and is extremely close to the coast compared to other Open Rota courses. Royal Troon first hosted the Open in 1923. It plays as a par 71 of around 7,300 yards, including a record-breaking par 5 of 623 yards.

Our model this week looks at SG: Approach, SG: Around the Green, Fairways Gained, SG: Putting (slow greens), Greens Gained in Regulation, and SG: Par 5s.

Highest value: over $9,000: Collin Morikawa – $9,900

Collin Morikawa continues to play one of the best golf games in the world right now. He has now finished 16th or better nine times in a row since the Masters. Five of those finishes have been in the top four, three of those starts have been major championships, and four more have been high-level events, so he is once again consistently strong in the game’s biggest tournaments.

All facets of Morikawa’s game are going really well right now. His putter, which used to hold him back, has actually been a real strength in recent months. He’s also gained strokes on the greens in every start since the Wells Fargo. Given his accuracy off the tee and the fact that he’s previously won The Open, I see no reason why this spot wouldn’t be a good fit this week. While I think some of the top players are more likely to win, Morikawa is clearly the best value for me at $9,900. He ranks 4th in my model.

Highest British Open DFS: $8,000-$8,900: Tony Finau – $8,700

Tony Finau hits a tee shot at Royal Troon.

Tony Finau seems to be coming into this major pretty quietly for someone who has finished 5th, 3rd and 8th in his last three starts. That included the US Open when a silly triple bogey may have cost him a chance at his first major win. Finau is hitting the irons at an elite level and has really been getting the putter up lately too.

Although he didn’t play in Scotland last week, Finau has done well on links courses. He has finished 9th, 3rd and 15th in Opens in the past. And as a debutant he finished 18th here at Royal Troon in 2016. Finau has a great track record in strong winds and loves difficult courses. This is also a great price to pair him with Morikawa. He ranks 6th in my model.

Highest Value: $7,000-$7,900: Brian Harman – $7,600

This price just doesn’t make sense to me. Harman is the defending champion of this tournament, which complicates things a little. But he was also sixth the year before and 19th in 2021. Harman was also 21st in the Scottish Open last week and was 12th there last year before winning the Open.

Harman’s form is pretty good. Last week he gained 6.4 strokes on the approach shot, which was his best result since his second place finish at the PLAYERS. The only reason he hasn’t done better recently is a bad putter. We know Harman has been a good putter throughout his career, so he’s in for a good week. Harman has also always loved slow greens. He ranks 8th in my model.

Highest British Open DFS: $6,000-$6,900: Sungjae Im – $6,900

That’s an outrageous price too. Sungjae Im has been in great form since mid-April. If you don’t count the major championships during that period, his form is: 4th, 12th, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 4th, 12th. The struggles in the majors might be why he’s rated lower this week, but it’s not like Im hasn’t been able to get up in the majors. He’s been to the Masters a couple of times and was here at The Open T20 last year.

Im’s irons have been getting really hot, which is the only thing that has held him back during a long dry spell. The putter has also stabilized recently, having gained at least two strokes on the green in three tournaments in a row. Im is a fantastic player in strong winds and showed he doesn’t mind playing in Scotland with a 4th last week. He ranks 15th in my model.

Note: This price range is extremely inflated. Other options in this range included Davis Thompson ($6,900), Russell Henley ($6,700) and Adam Scott ($6,700).

Highest British Open DFS Value: $5,000-$5,900: Matteo Manassero – $5,400

Matteo Manassero hits a tee shot at the Scottish Open.

It’s great to see Matteo Manassero back as an option at an Open Championship. Somehow it’s been 15 years since the teenager finished 13th at this tournament and became a rising star in the golf world. But he hasn’t played in an Open since 2016. Last week at the Scottish Open, Manassero gained an absurd 8.8 strokes on approach shots in a great field. He’s been doing great with these irons and could really make a difference this week.

His biggest challenge will be finding enough fairways off the tee and getting into form with his volatile putter. Sometimes he can hole a lot of putts and then challenge for the win on the European Tour. His form there has been pretty good recently. At this low price, I think the former prodigy is worth a try and could produce a good, decent result at Royal Troon. He ranks 50th in my model.