The Open Championship: PlayOn fantasy picks

Who better to lead my team than Justin Rose, the man who played his first Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1998 as a 17-year old amateur, where he finished T4.

The 36-year old Rose has won only one major championship, the 2014 U.S. Open, and his best finish at The Open came at his 1998 Birkdale debut.

Looking at his game this season, I just can’t turn loose of his final round at Augusta National. It was simply magnificent and showcased the very finest game in his bag. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to summon that game at Erin Hills which, in many respects, was a dress rehearsal for Royal Birkdale.

But Rose is better-prepared than most to tame the Birkdale links. Perhaps the only player in the field better-prepared is Tommy Fleetwood, who will be the home-town favorite this week and would make an equally good pick. So why didn’t I tap him instead of Rose? Age. Birkdale winners, with the exception of Ian Baker-Finch, have tended to bring more mature games to the tee. Fleetwood will take it next time round.

In terms of the numbers, Rose is bringing a dialed-in game to the tee. He’s in positive numbers across the board, ranks 12th on the PGA TOUR in SG: off-the-tee, 9th in SG: around-the-green, and 12th in SG: tee-to-green. His putting is average but not great, but he’ll manage Birkdale’s greens handily. He warmed up for Birkdale with a T4 at Portstewart two weeks ago.