This week not only marks the third Major Championship of the PGA season but also a new “Craft & Burn” option for DraftKings Reignmakers that’s sure to create even more opportunities both in the lobby and marketplace for all to enjoy.
If you are not familiar with ReignMakers, our Introduction to PGA Tour ReignMakers is sure to get you up to speed ahead of the U.S. Open.
You can get your first pack FREE here and start playing today.
Crafting & Burning
DraftKings recently launched ‘Crafting Tokens’ as a unique type of collectible exclusive to PGA Tour Reignmakers. All tokens at each rarity tier will have a limited supply.
Crafting packs are separated by an Active and Inactive classification, being determined by the previous six weeks of events (as of the Charles Schwab Challenge). If a golfer played in less than two events over this period (per DraftKings), they were deemed “inactive” for the purposes of these crafting recipes.
The following golfers are input as said “Inactive Golfer” recipes and will not be included in the recipes of any of the above packs.
In being completely transparent, we recommend avoiding the “Inactive Group 3 & 4 Recipe” at the CORE level as there is no financial benefit from that strategy: the crafting token alone costs $9.99 and the majority of those cards are priced below $10 on the open market.
Crafting tokens can also be sold on the secondary market, while Crafting Set packs (which are created with tokens) cannot. The CORE market has additionally experienced an $0.85 uptick in average pricing over the last seven days due to the number of Craft & Burn missions that require owning certain player cards in order to earn rewards.
(Byron Lindeque and myself actually crafted and opened our own pack on last night’s U.S. Open Reignmakers show.)
Course Preview
Targeting player cards for our Reignmakers lineups who are in current form to attack the lengthy layout of Los Angeles Country Club is key.
Here are some crucial data points to keep in mind, courtesy of Ron Klos’ must-read (and free) U.S. Open course preview:
- LACC ranks as the fifth-longest course on Tour and the third-longest course that has hosted a major over the last two years.
- Firm and fast conditions, as well as impossible green complexes, are the course’s defense.
- While the massive fairways (43 yards wide on average) will rival the widest in modern U.S. Open history, distance off the tee should not be that large of a factor.
- A majority of long-iron approaches from 175-plus yards.
- They are deceptively difficult. Whether it’s playing from Bell’s bunkers, tight-lied short-grass areas, barrancas, or Bermuda rough, the most important aspect of LACC this week is arguably a golfer’s performance around the greens.
US Open Player Strategy
Player – Minimum Prices on the secondary market
Scottie Scheffler – $35 CORE, $179.90 RARE, $769.69 ELITE
I’m not catching anyone off guard by suggesting Scheffler as an option. I merely wanted to discuss him here because one could argue his current price on the market is at its lowest point over the next month (thus making it a value).
With a T5 finish or better in each of his last four starts, and the best tee-to-green season (+3.0) since Tiger Woods in 2006 (+3.22), Scheffler need only turn his putting (-0.19) around to suddenly begin lapping the rest of the field. If that were to happen this week, expect his player card at every level to surge in pricing.
Tyrrell Hatton – $16.49 CORE, $50 RARE, $300 ELITE
Hatton most recently recorded a double bogey on the front nine during the final round in Canada but turned it around with a T3 finish as one of only five golfers in the field to total at least 3.53 SG. He’s additionally playing the best golf of his life long-term, rattling off six consecutive T20 finishes with at least 2.0 total SG in each (and zero strokes lost putting in that time). $50 is arguably too cheap for Hatton in his current form, especially with two more majors on deck.
Hideki Matsuyama – $7.45 CORE, $34 RARE, $168 ELITE
Back-to-back missed cuts at The Genesis and Arnold Palmer Invitationals seem like a mirage considering Matsuyama has since registered seven consecutive finishes inside the top 31, finishing as high as T5 at the PLAYERS Championship and losing strokes on Approach in only one of his last nine events. Top 10 in this field in both SG: Around The Green and proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards over his last 36 rounds, LACC fits the bill as a course Hideki should pounce on at his lowest Reignmakers price in the last 14 days.
Si Woo Kim – $4.99 CORE, $25.99 RARE, $185 ELITE
Kim has quietly mustered two top-five finishes over the last month including a T4 finish at his most recent entry (the Memorial), gaining the second-most strokes T2G (only behind Scheffler) on the week despite multiple double bogeys. Although he’s historically been inconsistent around the greens, Si WOO also ranks top 20 in this field in SG in that category over the last 10 rounds. His 13% decrease in Reignmakers price over the last week is something to prioritize ahead of the U.S. Open.