The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool is a day away, and I couldn’t be more excited. The final major of the year always carries extra meaning, and that is especially true for this season which was riddled with more drama than any season before it. This is the final chance for LIV and PGA players to duke it out on the biggest stage, so expect everybody to bring their A game.
I had mentioned in a previous blog how fantasy golf/pick’ems are the greatest additions to the sport since spiked shoes, and another major means another opportunity to play. This time around, I’m using Office Pools. In Office Pools, you pick a certain amount of players per tier, and the odds of your picks are used for your ranked score at the end of the weekend. So, for this tournament, I will walk you through my picks for my squad. Let’s get right into it.
TIER 1
The picks for Tier 1 are tough to make for this tournament. English players have been bumped up because they’re playing on home turf with fans at their backs, so it makes it harder to choose them for your squad. That being said, I think a couple of Brits could make a surge this weekend, so I’ll be taking one for this tier.
My picks: Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood
My Scheffler pick is self explanatory. The guy has been robotic for the whole year and there’s no reason why anybody should bet against him, especially in a Major. He placed 10th in this year’s Masters, second in the PGA Championship, and third in the US Open. The whole year he has been knocking at the door of his second major, and I believe he has the best chance of winning at Royal Liverpool.
Tommy Fleetwood on the other hand is more of a reach. He’s been playing well recently, even reaching a playoff at the Canadian Open, but he has yet to claim his first major, let alone PGA Tour victory. That being said, he placed top 10 in last year’s Open Championship at St. Andrews, and he’s shown that he can win in Europe after collecting 6 wins on the European Tour before joining the PGA. I think his recent success plus his added desire to win on home soil could be a dangerous combination for a low score this weekend.
TIER 2
There are some steals here in Tier 2. Though, now that I’ve said that, I’ve probably jinxed myself.
Something tells me that Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas are on this list as bait for the casual fan. Both players are proven winners and near household names, so placing them in the second tier seems criminal. I am avoiding the bait, but to a seasoned fan, the two players that I am picking are likely thought to be steals as well.
My picks: Min Woo Lee and Bryson Dechambeau
Min Woo Lee has made the cut in each of the past six tournaments he’s competed in since the PGA Championship, including a fifth place finish at the US Open. He’s been so consistently good that my brothers and I have started calling the guy “Him” Woo Lee. If he can keep playing at the level we’ve seen in the past couple months, he’ll have no problem placing in the top 10. Let’s just see if he lives up to the name at Royal Liverpool and proves himself to be that guy.
Bryson Dechambeau has got something to prove this weekend. The distance king is looking slimmer now, but he’s still sneakily placed top 20 in his past six events (including LIV). Adding to this, he placed fourth and 20th in the past two majors, and he tied for eighth in last year’s Open. I think that his style of play will benefit greatly from the landscape at Royal Liverpool if he’s playing his best. His drives will go miles on the flat terrain, and if he can thread the many needles described in this great Golf Digest Article, he can go extremely low. I think he has a real shot at hoisting the Claret Jug and proving once again that he is a top talent in the sport.
TIER 3
This is where talent starts to thin out. So, once again I am going to go with a LIV guy that has something to prove to the world.
My pick: Patrick Reed
Disclaimer – I don’t like Patty Reed one bit. That being said, game respects game, and when he plays his best, boy does he play well. He’s made the cut in each of the three majors this year, even picking up a fourth place finish at Augusta in April. I think he wants to rub a win in the faces of PGA players just as much as the other LIV guys, and this weekend is his last chance of the year.
TIER 4
For these last two tiers, it’s really just a shot in the dark. So I’m not going to explain my picks, I’ll just list ‘em out.
My pick: Harris English
TIER 5
My pick: Guido Migliozzi
TIEBREAKER – EXPECTED SCORE
My projected score: -16