Open Championship week is heating up, quite literally!
Royal Birkdale is baked out and looking beautiful, Wyndham Clark has been fine tuning his game with a coat hanger and Tommy Fleetwood is being built up for a big performance on home soil.
But, with the minutes ticking down to the first tee time, I have been fully focused on producing the optimal fantasy team at the Open Championship... and I think I've nailed it.
Chip In Sports Pools have launched an Open Championship fantasy competition which the Tour Issue tipsters and I have entered, so let me explain how you can enter, how it works and how I curated my fantastic team!
I've Picked The 'Optimal' Open Championship Fantasy Team
Let's caveat my bullishness with an obvious reality check - there is no such thing as an optimal team before the tournament has started, this facade is built in jest. I am, however, very confident in the group I have selected.
The process is simple. Download the Chip In Sport Pools app and enter one of their Open Championship fantasy leagues.
You will be asked to pick one player from each of eight pre-determined pots. Pot A contains the tournament favorites, B and C are those you might consider sleepers and the others are much harder to predict.
Once you have selected your team and the tournament starts, your four best performing players (from eight) will count.
At the end of the tournament, the total score of your four best performing golfers will give you a total and the lowest total wins.
Simple as that. Oh, but I also need to mention that more than four of your players miss the cut - you are out!
Bazza's Team
Wyndham Clark is in due to the link between Royal Birkdale and Shinnecock Hills
I was initially very critical of anyone who didn't pick Scottie Scheffler from pot A, when discussed our teams on the Golf Monthly Tour Issue podcast, but I've now completely changed my mind and opted for Rory.
He is in my Bazza's Best Bets for the Open Championship column, after all.
The fickle nature of my personality has shown itself again in pot B, where I have now abandoned Justin Rose in favour of Wyndham Clark - and not just because I believe in the power of the coat hanger.
I love the link between Royal Birkdale and Shinnecock Hills - so it's a no brainer to go with US Open Champion Wyndham Clark after he also performed well in Scotland.
Pot C and D were tougher, but I punted for 2023 Open Champ Brian Harman and Casey Jarvis. I was desperate to follow my heart by picking Jordan Spieth in C, but my brain wouldn't allow me to do something so bold.
Haotong Li and Laurie Canter emerge from pots E and F, as I love their high ceiling and winning potential, but pots G and H is just a throw of a dart to be honest.
Matthew Baldwin and Cameron John round out my team - if they make the cut I will love them forever.
I liked Berger, Ayora, Parry and Noren - who all had a place in my team at one time or another - but I am now content with my side and looking forward to the action starting... even if it's quite different to the team I picked in the video above/
Chip In Sports Pools is available to players in the UK aged 18+. Please be sure to gamble responsibly, visit Be Gamble Aware for more information.
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