GolfMagic Fantasy | Picks for 2023 US Open at Los Angeles Country Club
Scottie Scheffler? Jon Rahm? Rory McIlroy? Brooks Koepka? Who are you picking?!
The GolfMagic Fantasy game - brought to you by our friends at Callaway - launched at The Masters, and we're back this week with our picks for the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
GolfMagic Fantasy is free to play and there are some huge prizes up for grabs from now all the way through to our final event at the Tour Championship in August.
Our season-long winner will receive a full custom through the bag fitting with Callaway at one of their national fitting centres.
We all also have some incredible prizes for weekly winners.
This week you'll get your chance to win an Odyssey putter and limited edition headcover.
How do I enter a team?
To enter your team, all you need to do is sign up for a free account here.
It's quick and easy to join, and you have until the first scheduled tee time at the US Open on Thursday to enter your five players, of which one of them needs to become your captain who will earn you double points!
In total, we'll have 20 events.
We've compiled a helpful guide for you on all the information you need in order to play GolfMagic Fantasy this season.
With that being said, let's get stuck into our GolfMagic Fantasy picks for the 2023 US Open.
Ben's GolfMagic Fantasy picks
Pot 1 - Scottie Scheffler
The stats say the World No.1 is the best player from tee-to-green on the planet. He did have a disastrous week on the greens recently at the Memorial, losing a remarkable 8.52 strokes, but still managed to finish third. Scheffler has reportedly changed his putter to a slightly different Scotty Cameron, so hopefully he can start rolling them a tad better. He is the tournament favourite for a reason. Of course in this pot you've also got Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland. But Scheffler gets my approval.
Pot 1 - Xander Schauffele
Schauffele is on a remarkable streak at the major championships, having posted five top-20 finishes in a row, dating back to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Some might scoff at the suggestion Schauffele can win here, but this should be a course that suits the American. He's sixth in the Strokes Gained: Approach department on the PGA Tour this season and also inside the top-15 in scrambling. He's also an excellent putter. Providing he can keep it in play, he should be a solid choice this week.
Pot 2 - Brooks Koepka (C)
Koepka should be mentioned in any discussion about potential winners for the 2023 US Open, having already claimed the PGA Championship. A healthy, hungry Koepka heads into this week having already won this major twice and seven top-20 finishes in his eight US Open appearances. Need we say more?
Pot 3 - Joaquin Niemann
He's a solid ball striker and has already won at the tough Riviera (even going wire-to-wire) in 2022. Niemann has made the cut in three out of his last four starts at the US Open, so he's more than up for the challenge. I do understand picking Niemann requires a leap of faith, so you might want to consider looking at the likes of Shane Lowry, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama in this pool.
Pot 4 - Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau contends he's the healthiest he's been for nearly three years. He finished T-4 at the PGA Championship at an equally treacherous course in Oak Hill. Despite struggling at the Masters where he missed the cut for a second year in a row, he's playing some good golf right now. Since the 2020 PGA Championship, he has made every single major championship cut (apart from Augusta National). I do expect him to be somewhat of a factor this week.
The rules
Team selection:
You must pick a team of five golfers for each tournament in the PGA Tour season. There are no player values or salary cap for selections, however you must respect the Pots criteria, better explained in the next section. Golfers who are not in the field will not be available for selection. Golfers who withdrawal from a tournament before the start and are still within your team will not be earning any points.
Each week your team will be wiped, so you must pick a fresh team ahead of each tournament. This is to ensure that you have five active golfers in your team each week to maximize your scoring potential.
Deadline:
You have up until the first scheduled tee-time to pick your team or make edits to your team. If you do not submit a team by this time, you will be automatically assigned five players. No team edits are permitted after this deadline.
Players pots:
Your 5 players will be chosen from 4 pots:
Pot 1 will be golfers ranked 1-10 (Official World ranking)
Pot 2 will be golfers ranked 11-25 (Official World ranking)
Pot 3 will be golfers ranked 26-50 (Official World ranking)
Pot 4 for will be all remaining golfers (Official World ranking)
Selection restrictions are as follows:
You can only pick a maximum of 2 players from pot 1
You can only pick a maximum of 3 players from pots 1 and 2 combined
You can only pick a maximum of 4 players from pots 1, 2 and 3 combined
You can only pick a maximum of 5 players from pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 combined
Which five players are making your GolfMagic Fantasy team this week? Who is your captain? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels, or come and tell us over on the GolfMagic YouTube Channel.
