Open Championship Fantasy Pool 2027: St Andrews Draft + Auction

The 155th Open is at the Old Course, St Andrews, July 15-18, 2027. It's the 31st Open played there and the last men's major of the year (R&A announcement). For a U.S. friend group, one thing shapes the whole week: the first groups tee off around 1:30am Eastern on Thursday. Your draft has to be done before most of you go to bed Wednesday.

This guide covers how an Open pool runs on Foursome and how to schedule the draft and the Friday auction around UK tee times. By pool we mean a private group playing for its own pot, not DFS against strangers on DraftKings. If you're still comparing options, we keep a full platform comparison.

What a Foursome Open Championship pool looks like

• 3-round snake draft. Each golfer can only be on one roster, so no two friends end up with the same team.
• Friday night cash auction. After the cut, every undrafted player who made the weekend is up for bidding. Winning bids go into the pot.
• Daily prizes. Toggle Thursday through Sunday on or off and set the dollar amount per place. Daily scores use your best 2 or 3 golfers combined (the commissioner picks).
• Overall standings. Ranked by each team's best single golfer's finish, with ties broken by the 2nd-best golfer, then the 3rd.
• Live ESPN scoring. Syncs every 5 minutes once a round is active, including the rounds that start while the U.S. is asleep.
• Push notifications for draft picks, the auction opening, and round changes.

The time zone problem (and how to schedule around it)

Scotland runs 5 hours ahead of Eastern in July. At the 2022 Open on the same course, the first group went off at 6:35am local, which was 1:35am ET (Golf.com tee times). Expect something similar in 2027. Here's how that maps onto a typical U.S. group's week:

• Draft: Wednesday evening, July 14. 8pm or 9pm Eastern works for most groups. A 10-person, 3-round draft with a 90-second clock runs well under an hour. Don't push it to Thursday night like you might for a U.S. major; by then half the field has finished Round 1.
• Thursday and Friday: wake up to scores. Foursome flips each round live around 1am Eastern and keeps syncing from ESPN. Most of the morning wave is done before East Coast breakfast.
• Friday: the auction opens early. Round 2 usually wraps in the UK evening, which is afternoon in the U.S. Foursome watches ESPN for "Round 2 Play Complete" and opens the auction about an hour later, so expect it in the late afternoon or early evening Eastern instead of the usual 7pm.
• Friday night: auction closes at midnight ET. That's the default cutoff. It has to close before Saturday's round starts (around 1am ET), and if it's still open then, Foursome force-closes it and auto-fills short rosters at the minimum bid. Finalize it yourself Friday night.

West Coast groups get the short end. The draft lands at 5pm or 6pm Pacific on Wednesday, and the auction runs through Friday dinner. If your group is split across coasts, set the draft for 9pm ET / 6pm PT and move on.

Real screenshots from a 2026 pool

These are from a 10-person league that ran the 2026 PGA Championship on Foursome. The Open uses the same setup.

How to set up your Open Championship league

1. Register at foursomegolf.golf.
2. Create a league for your group. If you already ran the Masters, PGA, or U.S. Open on Foursome, keep the same league; season standings carry across all four majors.
3. Send the invite link to the group chat. Friends register and land in your league.
4. Configure The Open in the admin panel: entry fee, daily prizes, best-2 or best-3 scoring, draft format, minimum bid.
5. Set the draft for Wednesday night and move the phase to Pre-Draft when the group is ready.

The field syncs from ESPN, so nobody builds a spreadsheet. If you want to stress-test your settings first, the 10-minute setup guide walks through every option.

A sample $50 pot for 10 friends

Ten people at $50 is $500 before the auction. One split that works: $25 to each day's winner (Thursday through Sunday, $100 total), then $250 / $100 / $50 for 1st through 3rd overall. Then set the overall 1st-place slot to "remainder" so it grows with whatever the auction adds Friday night. Auto-fills charge the minimum bid too, so the pot grows even when a few friends sleep through the auction.

The format in detail

Snake draft

Round 1 goes 1 to N, Round 2 reverses, Round 3 goes forward again. Commissioners can switch Round 3 to a fresh random order that stays hidden until Round 2 ends. Everyone finishes with 3 golfers. For pick-by-pick tactics at St Andrews, see the Open draft strategy guide.

Friday night auction

Every undrafted player who made the cut goes up for bidding. Each bid names a drop player from your roster and has to clear the league minimum. If you use the same drop on several bids, only the highest winning bid uses it; the rest skip at no charge. At the cutoff, anyone short of a full weekend roster gets auto-filled at the minimum bid. The auction explainer covers the mechanics.

FAQ

When should a U.S. group draft for The Open?

Wednesday night, July 14, 2027. The first Thursday tee times are around 1:30am Eastern, so a Thursday-evening draft would land after half the field has played.

What happens if a golfer withdraws overnight?

ESPN is the source of truth, so withdrawals sync on their own. If a WD leaves someone short for the weekend, the auction (or the auto-fill at cutoff) covers the empty slot.

Can we pay daily prizes only on the weekend?

Yes. Each round's daily prize is its own toggle, and weekday and weekend scoring can use different best-N settings.

How is this different from Majors Challenge or PGA Tour Fantasy?

Majors Challenge uses tiered picks, so friends can end up with identical teams. PGA Tour Fantasy is a season-long contest. See our comparisons vs Majors Challenge and vs PGA Tour Fantasy.

Does Foursome cost anything?

No. Foursome is free. It doesn't process money either: your group settles entry fees and payouts over Venmo or cash, and the app tracks who's paid.

Next steps: read the St Andrews course preview for who fits the Old Course, build your board with the Open cheat sheet, or check the Admin Guide for every commissioner setting.