Fantasy Golf: US Open preview

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The second Major Championship of the year means there are triple points up for grabs this week in the Today’s Golfer Fantasy Golf game, in association with Your Golf Travel.

The world’s top players will be battling it out for the US Open at the Olympic Club, California, and battle may be an appropriate description as the course set-up is expected to be brutally tough.

The first six holes of the 7,170-yard layout are likely to be the toughest in Major history and USGA executive director Mike Davis has said “if you can get through those one or two over par, I can promise you’re going to be beating most of the field.”

The course also boasts the longest hole in Major history; the 670-yard, par-5 16th, which is likely to be a three shotter for everyone in the field. The difficulty is cranked up even further with a number of tree-lined dog-legs that feature fairways cambering in the opposite direction to the dog-leg.

While the players face many challenges there will be scoring opportunities. The 7th is a driveable 294-yard par 4 and the round finishes with two par 5s in the last three holes; the 17th checking in at a very reachable 505 yards.

The greens are relatively small but Graeme McDowell has revealed the putting surfaces are the best he’s seen for a long time.

Even par will be a good score on a penal course that will tests every facet of the game, but accurate ball strikers who can move the ball both ways through the air and expert scramblers are likely to fair well.

Here is the six-man Today’s Golfer team for the US Open:

Tiger Woods, $4.5m
The former world number one showed exactly why he became the most famous sportsman on the planet with his chip in at 16 on the way to winning The Memorial two weeks ago. He’s won three US Open’s and currently sits inside the top 10 on the PGA Tour for total driving, greens in regulation and scoring average.

Dustin Johnson, $3.2m
The big-hitting American proved he’s back to full fitness after an injury lay-off that halted an excellent start to the season with a win at the FedEx St Jude Classic last week. He led going into the final round at Pebble Beach two years ago.

Sergio Garcia, $3.0m
The supreme ballstriker is still searching for that elusive first Major win, but his current form, including a T3 at last week’s Nordea Masters, points to a good run at it this week. He hasn’t missed a cut in over a year and his last four US Open starts have yielded T18-T10-T22-T7 finishes.

Justin Rose, $2.8m
The Englishman has seven top 10s in his last 10 starts around the world, including a victory at the WGC Cadillac Championship. He’s a great fit for the course; 3rd in greens in regulation, 6th in scrambling and 19th in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour.

Davis Love III, $1.0m
The American Ryder Cup Captain has come into form with T16 and T3 finishes in his last two starts and still has the length to compete with the younger guns. He has five US Open top sevens and finished T6-T11 the last two years.

Colt Knost, $0.5m
He’s very short off the tee but ranks inside the top 10 on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy. He’s missed his last five cuts but is worth a punt for his rock-bottom price because he finished third at the similarly tree-lined RBC Heritage earlier this year and won the 2007 US Amateur at the Olympic Club.

> You can see a full list of all the golfers playing this week and their prices by clicking here. You have until 3pm on Thursday 14th June to select your team.

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