Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2023 US Open

2023 US Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Fans of sado-masochistically hard golf rejoice: the U.S. Open is upon us.

We don’t quite know how difficult the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club will play – there hasn’t been a significant tournament played there in more than 80 years, but all of the signs point to it being a maniacal examination of all departments of golf.

The course looks incredibly dry – not as lush green as you might expect, and so you can bet your bottom dollar that these fairways and greens will run fast and firm. That could be significant, as there’s some major elevation changes, slopes and contours to be conquered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Chris (@golfguy77)

There’s around 7,250 yards of golf to be played across a Par of 71, with three Par 5s and a handful of bizarrely-measured Par 3s – some are as short as 120 yards, others as long as 280 yards.

Pretty unusually for Californian golf, the fairways are Bermuda and the greens are Bentgrass – so all surfaces will run true and pure (Poa Annua, the West Coast grass of choice, is not to everybody’s taste).

The greens are small and well protected by sand, native areas and sharp run-offs, and given how firm the ground appears to be – aided by a warm weather forecast for LA – the U.S. Open could be the ultimate test of short game as much as anything else.

But who will be up to the task? It’s not as if the tournament will be short of a star or two, with many of the world’s top 50 players in tow. Will the newly-reunited PGA TOUR and LIV guys kiss and make up? Don’t count on it, and that’s why there will be no shortage of desire to win the third major of the year in Los Angeles.

Messrs Scheffler, Rahm, McIlroy and Koepka seem most likely, although the likes of Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama and defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick may just enjoy the speed of the greens as much as anybody.

You expect the best in the world to prevail in the majors – and especially so at the U.S. Open, where the course is set up so hard that only a small handful of players have the game to put a winning score on the board.

But conditions in Los Angeles this week could be so firm and fast as to be something of a leveller – only those with the requisite skillset of quality scrambling, chipping, up-and-downing (definitely a verb) and lag putting may be viable contenders.

So let’s get a few guys of that ilk onto out sleeper shortlist for the 2023 U.S. Open.

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2023-2023)

Tommy Fleetwood – 60/1 – Always an eye-catching option when scrambling and around-the-green prowess are the order of the day, Tommy Fleetwood is a live contender this week if he can overcome the disappointment of his defeat in the Canadian Open playoff.

He seems to thrive the faster the conditions are, and there’s no doubt that he has the pedigree to win a major – he may follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Fitzpatrick, who struck golf for the first time on American soil when winning this very event 12 months ago.

You don’t have to look too far for form on Fleetwood’s rap sheet, with top-fives at the Wells Fargo and Valspar Championship joined by T18 at the PGA Championship and a solid-enough solo 33rd at The Masters.

Rickie Fowler – 70/1 – You would think that, at some point, Rickie Fowler’s hot streak will be converted into a trophy or two.

Since the start of 2023, he’s posted nine top-20 finishes in strokeplay events on the PGA TOUR, with T6 and T9 at the Charles Schwab and Memorial Tournament respectively the most recent additions to his ledger.

A solid ‘all round’ talent, Fowler’s key asset is keeping bogeys off his card – hence his fine record in majors over the years. Can he finally enter the winner’s circle at a Los Angeles layout where that skill is very much at a premium?

Adam Scott – 80/1 – There can’t be many nationalities in golf better suited to firm and fast conditions – under a baking sun – than the Australians.

Although primarily known for his laconic yet brilliant driving of the golf ball, Adam Scott is canny enough around the greens to grind out scores at difficult layouts.

He’s in decent nick too. Three top-10s at the Memorial Tournament, Byron Nelson and Wells Fargo wrapped around T29 at the PGA Championship, so Scott heads to Los Angeles brimming with confidence.

Russell Henley – 100/1 – Despite winning at Mayakoba back in November, Russell Henley was in danger of becoming something of a forgotten man at golf’s top table – until a recent burst of form suggests the good times could be just around the corner again.

T4 at The Masters was the pick of his resurgence, but you can add T19 at the PLAYERS and T16 last time out at the Memorial Tournament too – Henley gained a whopping +1.84 strokes on the field on approach there.

His is a game built on being precise and error free, and such conservatism typically works well at hard layouts like Los Angeles CC, where firing directly at the flags should come with a health warning.

Harris English – 175/1 – There’s similarities in Henley’s uptick in fortunes to those of Harris English, whose game appears to be in an excellent place.

He has been in the doldrums for a while – even T2 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was powered by an unsustainable putting performance, but an outstanding turn at the Wells Fargo suggested that English had solved the riddle. He gained a whopping +2.01 strokes on the field on approach on his way to T3.

T12 at the Charles Schwab Challenge banished the memory of a missed cut at the PGA Championship, and so the wheels of good times are in motion for the four-time PGA TOUR winner.

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the US Open here.

Cover photo via Instagram