The Open DraftKings Millionaire Maker Recap

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Anybody that has ever played PGA DFS before knows that, like the actual golf contest itself, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Yours truly was in first in the Fore on Friday afternoon thanks to a very low owned Richard Bland doing well, but once he came back to earth I’d drop to a respectable 823rd place – only a $29,970 difference in winnings. RotoGrinders co-owner, Cal Spears (aka GrindersCal), was in the top 10 of the Millionaire Maker heading into the weekend, but he would also drop all the way down to 883rd place after Thorbjorn Oleson showed he was not a true Game of Thrones character and plummeted into oblivion.

Heading into Sunday, it was knickgilman (a top 100 ranked RG Grinder) who was on top thanks to spectacular Saturday performances from his lineup: Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Ross Fisher, Branden Grace, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, and eventual winner Jordan Spieth – poor Sunday rounds from Fisher and Matsuyama would do him in, however, and he would end up in 17th place. Those six would shoot a combined 28 under par on the day. Close behind in second place was frequent forum poster kbarnhill7523 (#119 in the RG TPOY race) – he would need a strong Sunday from Rickie Fowler and Scott Hend to have a shot at the million, but the two were a combined +5 on the day and he dropped to 52nd place.

Here’s a quick recap of how the day went…

8 AM

The first look at the leaderboard saw StephenConti81 moving into the top spot on the strength of a 65 from Xander Schauffele. A in-the-clubhouse 73 from Bernd Wiesberger though was not a good score to have and his lead was tenuous at best.

1. StephenConti81 447.5 (Grace-Koepka-Kuchar-Schauffele-Spieth-Wiesberger)
2. joshbeck87 435
3. atfrost 434.5

9 AM

StephenConti81 continued to hold the top spot as the final golfers got set to tee off.

1. StephenConti81 447
2. KsJhawk35 437
3. xr4ti 436.5

9:30 AM (everyone has teed off now)

The final group of Spieth and Kuchar teed off and StephenConti81 would see his name at the top of the leaderboard for the last time (he’d finish in 55th), as bsouth332003 moved into a tie for first place and with strong rounds from Matthew Southgate (65) and Charley Hoffman (67) his lineup was one to watch out for.

1. StephenConti81 448.5
1. bsouth332003 448.5 (Fowler-Hoffman-Koepka-Kuchar-Southgate-Spieth)
3. xr4ti

10:00 AM

Sure enough, bsouth332003 took over the top spot and if he could get a strong round out of the chalk that was Rickie Fowler, he’d have a shot at the top prize. However, that was not to be and he’d end up in a very respectable sixth place (good for a nice $15,000 payday).

1. bsouth332003 459.5
2. StephenConti81 453
3. mazzic411 452.5

10:30 AM

bsouth332003 continued to hold onto the top spot with mazzic411 moving up to second place and Stuie climbing into the top three.

1. bsouth332003 469.5
2. mazzic411 464
3. Stuie 463

11:00 AM

There was now a two-way tie for first place between Stuie (with Southgate, Fowler, and RCB, as his key difference makers) and scrawl (Leishman, Li, and Scott his big difference makers) and our first EmileHeskey sighting as he moved into third place.

1. Stuie 480.5 (45) (RCB, Fowler, Koepka, Kuchar, Southgate, Spieth)
1. scrawl 480.5 (30) (RCB, Koepka, Leishman, Li, Scott, Spieth)
3. EmileHeskey 479.5

11:30 AM

Stuie continued to hold onto the top spot and there was a new, familiar face lurking in fourth place in SamENole (a former NFL Millionaire Maker winner).

1. Stuie 502 (35)
2. EmileHeskey 497 (28)
2. bsouth332003 497 (28)
4. SamENole 496.5 (34)

12:00 PM

Stuie continued to lead, sharing the top spot with Darock24 who had strong rounds from Adam Scott (67) and Marc Leishman (65) to move into contention (he’d end up in seventh place).

1. Stuie 497.5 (22)
1. Darock24 497.5 (21) (RCB, Grace, Kuchar, Leishman, Scott, Spieth)
3. swedishchef 495 (17)

12:30 PM

It was coming down the stretch and EmileHeskey moved into the lead despite a 287 total from Andy Sullivan, thanks in large part to a final round 63 from Hao-Tong Li (at just .5% ownership) that moved him into sole possession of third place. SamENole was now perched in second place and Stuie in sole possession of third.

1. EmileHeskey 503.5 (11) (RCB, Kuchar, Li, McIlroy, Spieth, Sullivan)
2. SamENole 496.5 (14)
3. Stuie 495.5 (14)

1:00 PM

Nothing changed, as SamENole was a mere four points behind with his RCB, Koepka, Kuchar, Leishman, Poulter, Spieth lineup. It was going to come down to Rory McIlroy for EmileHeskey and Brooks Koepka for SamENole to determine who our winner was.

1. EmileHeskey 518.5 (6)
2. SamENole 514 (7)
3. Stuie 513 (7)

Final Standings

A eagle putt from Rory McIlroy hit the cup hard and spun in. SamENole would need a birdie from Koepka on 18 to take over the top spot, but after the US Open winner could only manage a par he would have to settle for second place and $150,000. Stuie ended up holding onto third place for a $75,000 payday while EmileHeskey was our latest DFS millionaire!

1. EmileHeskey 536
2. SamENole 532
3. Stuie 531

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About the Author

thehazyone
Aaron Hendrix (thehazyone)

Aaron Hendrix is a former professional poker player who made the transition from season long fantasy sports to DFS in October of 2014. He used to cover poker tournaments for a living until stepping into his current role at RotoGrinders. He can be found on Twitter at @aaronhendrix