Spencer Schultz (@ravens4dummies on Twitter/X) has joined PressBox to share his favorite plays each day.
The 153rd Open Championship will take place at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland from July 17-20. Here are Spencer Schultz’s top plays:
Xander Schauffele top 10 and to win.
Schauffele is one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world and can hit shots with consistency to six different windows off the tee. Royal Portrush is extremely penal with misses off the tee. Schauffele’s creativity off the tee, his consistency in majors and coming off a 2024 win make him an outstanding play this week.
Viktor Hovland top 10.
Hovland showed at Oakmont that he can play through adverse conditions on a harsh course. His shot creativity is strong. He has recovered after a down 12 months to round back into great form, which he showed off at the Scottish Open last week by finishing 11th. He has corralled his volatility, which will still rear its head, but Portrush will crumble even the best players at times.
Jason Day top 20, top 10 and to win.
Day is simply fantastic at links courses, second in total strokes gained only to Scottie Scheffler in the last 36 rounds against the field. He is positive in strokes gained across all categories playing links style golf and almost certainly makes a run. Day is the classic older player with a successful past who hoists Claret Jug.
Ben Griffin top 10.
Griffin has simply done nothing but play consistently good golf the past few months. He’s finished top 15 in six of his last seven tournaments.
Robert MacIntyre top 20.
Bobby Mac has been a big-game hunter, putting on pressure in a downpour at Oakmont and forcing J.J. Spaun to pry the U.S. Open from his cold, dead hands. MacIntyre had two early top 10s in his first three Open Championship tries.
Cam Young top 30 and top 20.
Young has performed well in all three tries at the Open Championship, with his worst finish being 31st. He has three top-fives as of late and like Schauffele can draw or fade the ball at all three trajectories when needed off the tee. His consistency of late gives confidence to a strong performance.
Harris English, Harry Hall, Carlos Ortiz, Marco Penge to make the cut.
These four are great DFS value plays who have been sneaky strong as of late, play well in tough conditions and have strong links backgrounds.
Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash.com
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