Draftkings Open Championship First Round Picks 7/17/25

This Thursday morning, Draftkings golf fans will be presented with the first round of the 2025 Open Championship. Let’s take a look at the first round of this tournament from a DFS perspective.

Before I discuss my Draftkings player selections for this week’s event let’s review where the first round of the 2025 Open Championship will be played.

The 2025 Open Championship will be played at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The golf course is a par 71 that measures approximately 7,346 yards.

*Royal Portrush last hosted the Open Championship in 2019. Shane Lowry won the 2019 Open Championship with a cumulative four round score of 15 under par.

I wanted to emphasize that the purpose of this article is not to provide an exact DFS lineup.

Having stated that, this article will provide multiple player options in an effort to assist the reader in generating a unique lineup that will hopefully have the potential to win a DraftKings GPP (guaranteed prize pool) contest! Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this DFS slate.

For those readers that are not aware, the rules and scoring for DraftKings single round showdown contests are vastly different than the traditional classic contests offered by the platform.

If you need to review the specific rules for the single round showdown contests feel free to check out the DraftKings website.

Here are my DraftKings picks for the first round of the 2025 Open Championship.

Draftkings First Round Picks

Scottie Scheffler $13,800

The talented American arrives at this week’s event on the heels of ten consecutive top eight finishes on the PGA Tour, including three wins (2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson: 2025 PGA Championship: 2025 Memorial Tournament).

Scottie Scheffler certainly checks the box for me when it comes to key player statistics. Scheffler is currently ranked first in strokes gained approach (1.298), first in par four scoring average (3.91), first in overall strokes gained (2.640), 13th in GIR (greens in regulation-70.28%), first in strokes gained off the tee (0.708) and first in bogey avoidance (10.07%) on the PGA Tour.

What did we learn from the data just presented? Clearly, Scottie Scheffler is playing outstanding golf in 2025. With that said, I fully expect that trend to continue in Thursday’s first round of the week’s 2025 Open Championship.

Justin Thomas $8,700

Justin Thomas has amassed four top 22 finishes in his last seven tournaments played on the PGA Tour, including a win at the 2025 RBC Heritage in April.

Thomas is currently ranked 17th in strokes gained approach (0.564), 14th in strokes gained putting (0.488), second in par four scoring average (3.94), first in birdie or better percentage (37.48%) and sixth in total strokes gained (1.342) on the PGA Tour.

It is noteworthy that Justin Thomas has played well at the Open Championship in the past. Thomas finished 11th at the 2019 Open Championship.

Shane Lowry $9,300

Shane Lowry has accumulated four top 23 finishes in his last seven tournaments played on the PGA Tour, including a 13th place result at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open six weeks ago. Additionally, Lowey won the 2019 Open Championship.

Ryan Fox $7,600

Ryan Fox has compiled four top 20 finishes in his last five tournaments played on the PGA Tour, including a win at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open six weeks ago. Additionally, Fox finished 16th at the 2025 Open Championship.

Additional golfers I like to perform well in the first round of the 2025 Open Championship (Draftkings price noted): Ludvig Aberg $9,100: Tyrrell Hatton $9,200: Matt Fitzpatrick $8,600: Sepp Straka $8,100: Marco Penge $7,000.