Open Championship fantasy golf picks: 5 sleepers to look out for

In less than a week all of the big names will hit the green to fight for the 2018 Open Championship. This week’s major tournament promises to feature superstar talent, heated rivalries and some pretty intense golf.

Jordan Spieth will return to defend his 2017 crown, while past champions like Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and even Tiger Woods will surely be on hand to try to stop him from repeating.

Nobody knows what can happen in a week. Perhaps an injury causes a top threat to withdraw or maybe Vegas knows something we don’t and shifts the odds.

If you’re thinking about betting on the winner, be sure to always look for a legitimate site. That way you know you’re getting you cash back if you win and you also can secure the best possible odds.

That tireless research should extend to the fantasy golf realm, too.

Specifically, for daily fantasy golf, DraftKings and FanDuel both will offer big GPPs for The Open and you may be seeking out some help.

The top names are some I already mentioned and one look at the latest Open Championship odds or the top of the DK and FD salary list will show you the rest.

You can’t have them all, but if you want to win a daily fantasy golf tournament, odds are you at least need a few. To afford them, you need viable fantasy golf sleepers that won’t just open up your salary cap, but also actually pan out for you.

There’s a long line of viable sleepers to at least look at, but the following five may lead the way:

Emiliano Grillo ($8.7k)

25-year old Grillo, who has been extremely competitive this year with 17 made cuts out of 18 tournaments.

Grillo hasn’t just hung around, though, he’s also given some of the biggest names in golf a serious run for their money. The Argentinian cracked the top 20 at the Travelers Championship in late June, while back in May he finished 3rd at the Fort Worth Invitational.

In all, Grillo has five top-10 finishes dating back to October, along with nine top-25 outings.

None of this locks Grillo in as a must-have Open sleeper, but his 12th place finish here in 2016 shows his experience and ability to compete with bigger names.

The value here is obvious, as Grillo has the talent, experience and production to give this tournament a serious try.

Anirban Lahiri ($8.2k)

Grillo is a fine sleeper, but if you want to stack the biggest names in golf in your PGA DFS lineup, you’re going to dig a little deeper than that.

Lahiri is certainly in the mix, as he costs even less and has been in solid form, finishing 39th, 13th, 9th and 37th over his last four events.

That won’t get the saliva going, I know, but Lahiri cracked the top-30 here back in 2015 and has two European titles to his name.

The guy can play some golf and with 15 made cuts in 19 events dating back to October, he’s shown he can keep his mind right in the early going, too.

Austin Cook ($7.6k)

Cook might be my favorite Open sleeper of the lot, as he’s a fantastic price for a guy that finished 5th in his last event and has two top-10 runs over his last three tournaments.

Strong form is the name of the game here, while Cook seems to be too cheap for a guy that is starting to climb the ladder.

He didn’t blow the lid off of the Masters or the PLAYERS Championship, but he’s delivered some solid outings and even won the RSM Classic back in November.

Does he really have what it takes to storm the Open Championship in his first try? Probably not, but he’s proven he has he talent to give it a serious go.

I think for the price he’s worth a shot to get you a solid score and avoid an early cut.

Ryan Armour ($7.2k)

Ditto for Armour, who enters with stellar form, posting finishes of 21st, 2nd, 23rd and 14th in four of his most recent five events.

The form is very good for the price, while Armour has a fun narrative behind him with this being his first crack at The Open.

Newcomers don’t always fare well, but he’s made 18 of 24 cuts this season and obviously has come to play in recent tournaments.

Beyond that, he’s swung the club at a high level for much of the year, recording eight top-25 finishes and even stealing the show with a win at the Sanderson Farms Championship back in October.

Again, I’m not sure he’s about to race to the top of such a loaded field, but this is a great price for a dialed in golfer.

Bronson Burgoon ($7k)

One more Open Championship sleeper to consider is Burgoon, largely because he’s price at the bare minimum at FanDuel.

I’m not even sure you need to go this low more than once, but if you’re loading up as much as possible, he’s in the conversation when it comes to deep sleepers.

Burgoon has missed 10 cuts on the year, but he does come in with solid form, having finished 30th in his last event and 6th at this year’s Quicken Loans National. He also has three other top-25 showings, with a 24th place run at the Houston Open and a 17th place finish at the Safeway Open standing out the most.

I wouldn’t bet big on Burgoon, but if you need a bare minimum golfer at FD, he’s in the mix due to his recent form.

Overall, I think the big play is to load up with the star talents whenever possible.

You will need to dive down and save at some point, though, as there are a ridiculous 24 golfers in this player pool priced at $10k or higher.

Yeah, now you’re starting to see where the need for cheap PGA DFS sleepers comes in.

Whether or not these guys work out for you is anyone’s guess. However, they just might be the key to unlocking that perfect fantasy golf lineup next week and hey, perhaps they’re even worth betting on in general.