The driver Tiger Woods used in his TOUR debut at the 1992 Genesis Invitational

The 121st U.S. Open is on deck this week at Torrey Pines, South Course, in San Diego, California. The course will play as a par 71, measuring 7,643 yards and the greens will be poa annua this week. There are 156 golfers and the top 65 and ties will make the weekend for the season’s third major. The last and only time Torrey Pines hosted the U.S. Open was in 2008, where Tiger Woods beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Entry] STRATEGY Torrey Pines is a regular stop on the PGA TOUR for the Farmers Insurance Open, where Patrick Reed (+2500, $9,000) won by five strokes. Bryson DeChambeau (+1900, $10,400) is the defending U.S. Open champion, winning at Winged Foot last season. Similar to last week, Torrey Pines (South) will be another long, par 71 and that’s where the similarities stop. The course hugs the San Diego coastline, featuring undulating fairways, thick rough and small greens. Torrey Pines also has deep bunkering guarding the greens — 14 of 18 holes have bunkers that sit on the left and right side of the putting surface, making sure the golfers don’t have an easy bailout away from danger. There’s no secret what you need to do well at a U.S. Open and here at Torrey Pines. Of course, ball-striking is king, but golfers who are efficient in distance and accuracy Off-the-Tee will have an easier path to success. The last four winners of the U.S. Open are all elite drivers. Bryson finished first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee at the end of the season last year, while Gary Woodland (+8000, $7,500), Brooks Koepka (+1600, $10,100) and Dustin Johnson (+1600, $10,700) finished inside the top 20 in driving at the end of the season they won the U.S. Open. The top five in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee over the previous 24 rounds coming into this week is Bryson, Jon Rahm (+850, $11,200), Matt Fitzpatrick (+5500, $7,800), Abraham Ancer (+5000, $7,900) and Cameron Champ (+18000, $7,000). Hitting it well Off-the-Tee won’t amount to anything this week if the golfers don’t have a hot putting week. Most of the greens pitch back to front and have a lot of slope and undulation. The past winners at the Farmers Insurance Open, dating back to Jason Day, gained an average of 4.125 strokes on the greens. Putting is too variant to predict but leaning toward golfers who’ve shown success putting on poa annua should also be considered. With the elevated greens and bunkers in specific landing areas, golfers who rate out nicely in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and sand saves as well should warrant roster considerations this week. Like all major weeks, pricing is soft, which means there’s value to be mined in each price range. Historically, winning this tournament usually goes to one of the top-ranked golfers heading into the week. The past six winners had an average world ranking of 12.5 leading into their U.S Open victories, with the lowest being Woodland at No. 24 in 2019 and the highest being Jordan Spieth (+1700, $10,900) at No. 2 in 2015. Over the previous three years at the U.S. Open, a balanced lineup approach has been successful. In 2018, the average salary of the top six in DraftKings scoring was $8,650, with the cheapest being Tony Finau at $7,500 and the most expensive being Johnson at $11,700. In 2019, the average salary was $9,183, with the cheapest being Louis Oosthuizen at $7,900 and the most expensive being Koepka at $11,600. Last season, the average was $8,783, with Will Zalatoris being the cheapest at $6,700 and Justin Thomas being the most expensive at $10,700. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Brooks Koepka (+1600 to Win, $10,100 on DraftKings) The fact that he’s won two out of the last four U.S. Opens and just finished runner-up at the PGA Championship last month should be reason enough to consider Brooks this week. Koepka missed the cut last weekend at Congaree, but it was all due to his short game, losing 1.66 strokes around-the-greens and 2.85 putting. His ball-striking was superb in South Carolina, and he’s now gained over six strokes through approach in three of his previous five measured events. Poa annua isn’t his best surface; he usually skips the California Swing during the regular season. Still, this is Koepka at a major, which should suffice if you’re looking to roster a golfer in this range. Collin Morikawa (+2200 to Win, $9,500 on DraftKings) The fourth-ranked golfer in the world is elite with his irons, ranking first in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green over the previous 50 rounds. Over his past five tournaments, he’s gained an average of just under seven strokes with his irons. Morikawa’s finishes hinge on how well he’s putting that week, and he’s lost strokes with his putter in three of his past four measured tournaments. Still, his worst finish in those four events was a 14th at the Charles Schwab; he finished T7 at the RBC Heritage and T8 at the PGA Championship. The last two times he’s gained strokes putting this season, he finished second at The Memorial presented by Nationwide and won the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession. He’s got a top 25 at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open and should be used to the poa annua growing up in California. Shane Lowry (+4500 to Win, $7,600 on DraftKings) Three top 10s and a top 5 in his last four starts, including the Memorial Tournament and the PGA Championship, should give the reigning “Championship Golfer of the World” a boost of confidence heading into this week. Lowry has three made cuts at Torrey Pines during the Farmers Insurance Open, finishing seventh in 2015 and 13th the following year. Few players are hitting it as well as Lowry Tee-to-Green (T2G). Lowry gained an average of 5.9 strokes T2G over his previous five tournaments and comes in with a good swath of U.S. Open experience and success. In 2016 at Oakmont, Lowry was the 54-hole leader with a four-shot lead heading into the final round. His Sunday wasn’t ideal, shooting a 76, but his first three days were near perfection. Adam Scott (+8000, $7,400) should also be considered this week with how well his game sets up for a U.S. Open and how well he’s played at Torrey Pines during the Farmers Insurance Open. Scott finished top 10 at Torrey Pines earlier this season and was runner-up back in 2019. He also has three top 10s at the U.S. Open since 2014. Poa annua greens are his preferred surface, ranking 16th in Strokes Gained: Putting over the previous 50 rounds. Justin Suh (+30000 to Win, $6,600 on DraftKings) If you’re looking for a punt play, one to consider is the former University of Southern California standout. The California native qualified for the U.S. Open at a Monday qualifier last week and gets to tee it up at Torrey Pines, a course he’s very familiar with. Suh has two professional starts at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he finished 37th earlier this season. He’s also mentioned that he’s played Torrey Pines about 20 times in his life during junior and collegiate golf. The former World No. 1 ranked amateur turned pro with Morikawa, Viktor Hovland (+2200, $9,200) and Matthew Wolff (+15000, $7,200) back in 2019 and should have a ton of confidence this week at a course he knows and loves. Refer a friend and get $20 DK Dollars! Head to the DraftKings Playbook Promo page for more details! Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Entry] Put your knowledge to the test. 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In the final round of the 2017 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, Justin Rose shoots a back-nine 31 for a 67 and an epic comeback victory over Dustin Johnson (77) at Sheshan International Golf Club. Meanwhile, Ryan Armour, 41, also torches the back nine for his first PGA TOUR victory, a five-shot romp at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where both Rose and Armour proved it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1.) There was some spooky, Halloween juju at work in Shanghai. First, rookie Dou “Marty� Zecheng beat Matt Kuchar in Ping-Pong. (Kuchar, who finished T31 at 1-under, would beat Zecheng by 10 on the golf course.) Then, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson fell apart at Sheshan, opening the door for Rose. By now you know that Rose, who began the final round eight shots behind, matched the third-best comeback in TOUR history. And Johnson matched the biggest collapse. But to get a sense for just how unusual Sunday was, consider that Johnson, the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, chunked iron shots on the 14th and 15th holes. One such shot is rare enough. But two? Johnson failed to birdie the par-5 14th and bogeyed the par-4 15th. More weirdness: There was no reason for Rose’s family to stay up to watch him play for second, but they were up, anyway, and saw him finish first. Rose’s daughter, Charlotte, stirred at 3 a.m., waking up Rose’s wife, Kate, who turned the TV on just in time to catch the finish.  2.) Johnson can take inspiration from Kyle Stanley. The guess here is Johnson won’t be too distraught, given that the wind was gusting up to 25 mph and he hasn’t exactly made a habit of such finishes. But if he needs a silver lining, here it is: Before Rose, Kyle Stanley was the last player who came from eight back to win, at the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open, where leader Spencer Levin soared to a 75. The week before that, Stanley had lost a five-stroke lead in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open. In other words, watch out for Johnson in his next start, which would most likely come at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, which he won in 2013. 3.) Rose was right: He does have time Players are often asked to reflect on their career arcs, and after losing the Masters to Sergio Garcia in a playoff last April, Rose said he felt like he would have more chances to win the Green Jacket. He is 37, but in winning his eighth TOUR title one year after winning the gold medal for England at the Rio Olympics, he’s got a nice little streak going. “All players pride themselves on winning,� Rose said, “and I’ve won every year since 2010. I was very aware that that was slipping away from me this year.� More superlatives: Rose’s performance at Sheshan was positively Nick Faldo-like, with the plot echoing the 1996 Masters: An Englishman (Rose, Faldo) shoots 67 to reel in a faltering superstar (Johnson, Greg Norman) who after spending multiple weeks at No. 1 in the world loses a six-shot lead and then some by soaring to a shocking number (77 for Johnson, 78 for Norman).   4.) Good things come to those who wait. Armour blinked back tears after picking up his first TOUR win in his 105th start. That seems like a long wait, and Armour, 41, didn’t even have a place to play as recently as 2013. “It’s a big monkey off my back,� Armour said after shooting four rounds in the 60s, after which he was permitted to kiss a chicken (or at least the Sanderson Farms trophy). His breakthrough is just the latest reminder that no sport offers more second chances than golf. Kevin Chappell won in his 180th TOUR start at the Valero Texas Open last season, a feel-good story that was nevertheless eclipsed by Sergio Garcia winning the Masters, marking his first major triumph in his 74th major start. Garcia’s stirring victory came seven months after Henrik Stenson, 40, got his first major victory in his 42nd major start at The Open. That’s a lot of late-bloomers. Perhaps there’s hope for the rest of us. 5.) It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. Rose spun his wheels with an even-par 36 on the front before kicking into high gear with five birdies and a back-nine 31, but he was hardly the only player to see a drastic improvement after making the turn. Armour did most of his damage on the back at Sanderson Farms for the entire week. He made 17 birdies on the back, compared to 11 on the front, and drained over 273 feet of putts on the back, where he outperformed the field by +7.05 in strokes gained: putting. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. With 550 FedExCup points, Rose, with one start so far this season, moves into third in the FedExCup race, just six points behind Safeway Open champion Brendan Steele. Pat Perez, who is enjoying a late-career awakening, leads the FedExCup with 627 points. 2. Dustin Johnson’s 77 was his worst round since a final-round 82 at the 2010 U.S. Open, and marked just the seventh time in his career that he has failed to make birdie or better in a round. Still, the last time he didn’t make a birdie wasn’t that long ago: the first round of the 2017 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. 3. Tony Finau, who led the TOUR with 50 rounds in the 60s last season, finished T11 at the WGC-HSBC, where he notched his fourth round in the 60s in three starts in 2017-’18. Armour, meanwhile, shot four rounds in the 60s in winning the Sanderson Farms at the Country Club of Jackson, the only player at either tournament to break 70 all four days. 4. Armour made 441 feet, 3 inches of putts at Sanderson Farms, 12th most by a winner in the ShotLink era. His average driving distance of 264 yards was the shortest by a Sanderson Farms winner since 2003. He laid up on 17 of 20 par 5s, which was the third-highest lay-up percentage (85%) by a winner on TOUR since 2003. Second highest was Jim Herman at the 2016 Shell Houston Open (88.2%). First highest was Ben Curtis at the 2012 Valero Texas Open (90.5%).   5. With two 41-year-old winners (Armour at Sanderson Farms, Pat Perez at the CIMB Classic) and one 37-year-old (Rose at WGC-HSBC) so far, the average age of the winners over this season’s first five events is 35.4. That’s in stark contrast to last season, when 20-somethings accounted for 28 victories (of 47 total tournaments), the most since 1970. TOP THREE VIDEOS

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