DFS Golf Picks for the Masters Tournament
Pull in information from this article to improve your fantasy golf picks for the 2020 Masters Tournament, and check out FantasyData’s PGA Optimizer to insert better player selections into your daily fantasy lineups. Best of luck next week!
Recap from last week: We are now just one week away from the Masters and I couldn’t be more excited to take in this world-class event in November after missing out on it in April. On a positive note, we get another Masters in just 5 more months in April, 2021!
Preview for the Masters: Tiger Woods has had this tournament circled on his calendar since he won the event for the fifth time last year to many people’s surprise. This historic event started back in 1934 and the tournament is considered to be the most prestigious in all of golf. Even for casual sports fans, the Masters gets the attention of those young and old regardless of an individual’s general interest in the game of golf. When people think of golf they immediately think of the Masters, it’s like the Superbowl of golf and is always a huge television spectacle. The previous five champions at the Masters include: Tiger Woods – 2019, Patrick Reed – 2018, Sergio Garcia – 2017, Danny Willett – 2016, and Jordan Spieth – 2015.
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Tournament purse: The purse for this year’s event is set at $11.5M, the winner takes home a healthy $2.07M in prize money and earns himself 600 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: As always, this year’s Masters will be played at the Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta, Georgia – it’s a par 72, is 7,425 yards in length, and the greens consist of bentgrass. Some key stats to take into account are Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach, Strokes Gained: Total, Scrambling Gained, and Strokes Gained: Par 5s.
The field: The field is just 95 players for the Masters, and the top 50 plus ties make the cut to play rounds three and four on the weekend. On a scale ranging from A to D, the field strength is absolutely an A+ but it would have been nice to see Daniel Berger, who’s currently ranked 13th in the world at the event. The Masters selection committee hand picks who they want to play at the tournament and Berger has been publicly vocal about his displeasure of being excluded this year. He last appeared at the Masters in 2018 and finished T32.
Notable storylines: Tiger Woods is looking for his 6th win at the Masters but based on his weak recent form we shouldn’t expect him to repeat or even contend this year. Rory McIlroy has won pretty much everything in golf except for a green jacket at the Masters – he will look to complete the career grand slam this week and become just the sixth player in history to win all of the majors. There will be no patrons at the tournament this year for the first time ever, but hopefully we get to hear roars from the crowd in April, 2021, for next year’s Masters.
Some bold predictions:
- Tiger Woods fails to make the cut at the Masters for the first time in his illustrious career.
- Bryson DeChambeau completely overpowers Augusta to win the Masters by two strokes and captures back to back major championships.
- Rory McIlroy doesn’t complete the career grand slam by winning the Masters, but still finishes top 15.
Betting strategy this week: Typically more than 50% of the field makes the cut at the Masters so you can get a bit more aggressive with your lineups than you normally would for a major tournament that feature larger field sizes. Create a few lineups and have all kinds of configurations to see what performs best. I especially like a stars and scrubs approach this week since a lot of the win equity is at the top with the Rahm’s, Thomas’, DeChambeau’s, and Johnson’s, and in order to pull down a big GPP you will more than likely need the tournament champion on a lineup.
All the best for earning some contest wins this week – here are my 15 DFS golf picks which feature my top 3 players from each tier on DraftKings (DK) in no particular order, plus I include player salaries for DK and FanDuel as well. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performance at this event over the last 5 years (when available), and add in some helpful pieces of information as well.
The $10K+ Range
Bryson DeChambeau (Salary: DraftKings – $11.2K, FanDuel – $12.1K) – DeChambeau is the longest hitter on the PGA Tour by far, and the rest of his game has come together as well, so he’s a deadly machine that’s destined to win a lot going forward. He’s coming off the big win at the U.S. Open where he won by a landslide, he also won the Rocket Mortgage Challenge in July, he has 12 top 10’s in his last 22 starts, and was T4 at the PGA Championship, so he’s becoming a constant threat in majors. He takes a highly scientific approach to the game now, he works out like crazy, and these efforts are really starting to pay dividends for him now. I think his extreme length is really going to benefit him this year at Augusta, and he’s my favorite bet to win this week. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T29, 2018 – T38, and 2016 – T21.
Dustin Johnson (Salary: DraftKings – $10.0K, FanDuel – $11.8K) – Johnson returns from COVID-19 this week at the Houston Open and I suspect that he will finish in the 10-20 range and be nicely setup to perform at a high level next week in Augusta. DJ has two wins and two runner ups over the past 5 starts, and his most recent start was a T6 so he’s clearly on point to win the world’s biggest tournament next week, plus he’s been dominant at the Masters so he’s a great bet to finish very high in the standings. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T2, 2018 – T10, 2016 – T4, and 2015 – T6.
Justin Thomas (Salary: DraftKings – $10.7K, FanDuel – $11.6K) – Thomas has been rolling along quite well lately with two runner ups, a T8, and a T12 over his past four starts, and don’t forget that he won three times last season so he’s due to win again sooner rather than later. JT already has a major victory as he won the PGA Championship in 2017, so he has the pedigree to come up big in the largest tournaments. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T12, 2018 – T17, 2017 – T22, and 2016 – T39.
The $9K Range
Xander Schauffele (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K, FanDuel – $11.5K) – Schauffele is almost guaranteed to place top 25 every week that he plays and he’s coming off a recent heater where he went runner up, T5, runner up, and was T17 in his most recent start at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. He’s 3rd in strokes gained: total so far this season and the rest of his stats are also impressive for the most part. He’s one of the better players on the PGA Tour who’s still looking for a major championship, but Xander does have four wins so he’s fully capable of making noise at the planet’s biggest events now. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T2, and 2018 – T50.
Bubba Watson (Salary: DraftKings – $9.0K, FanDuel – $10.0K) – Two-time Masters champion, Bubba Watson, is in superb shape right now having a T7 and a T4 in his last two starts, and should be licking his lips at adding Masters win number 3 this year. He has also finished no worse than T31 over his past five events so he’s been consistent since mid-August. Watson has won 12 times on the PGA Tour but he hasn’t won in a couple of years so he should be hungry to add lucky number 13 at the Masters to end the drought. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T12, 2018 – T5, 2017 – Missed the cut, 2016 – T37, and 2015 – T38.
Patrick Reed (Salary: DraftKings – $9.2K, FanDuel – $10.9K) – The 2018 Masters champ, Patrick Reed, is a big-game hunter and I suspect we will see him on his A-game this year at Augusta. His worst finish over his past 4 starts is a T14, he was T3 at the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour, was T13 at the U.S. Open and at the PGA Championship as well, and had a T8 at the Tour Championship in early September. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T36, 2018 – Won the tournament, 2017 – Missed the cut, 2016 – T49, and 2015 – T22.
The $8K Range
Tony Finau (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K, FanDuel – $10.4K) – Finau has been playing very well for the most part since mid-July with 6 top 11’s in 9 starts including his T8 at the U.S. Open and he had a T4 at the PGA Championship. He often gets asked when he’s going to win his first major tournament and pretty soon that question may stop getting vocalized as he has what it takes to win a huge event, and has two excellent finishes at the Masters in the same number of starts. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T5, and 2018 – T10.
Matthew Wolff (Salary: DraftKings – $8.5K, FanDuel – $10.3K) – Wolff hasn’t been so great as of late with a 73rd and a T50 in his last two starts but he was runner up at the U.S. Open and was T4 at the PGA Championship, so he really steps up when the lights shine the brightest. He followed up his runner up at the U.S. Open with another runner up finish at the Shriners, so he’s been knocking on the door to earn his first PGA Tour win. This will be his first Masters appearance, but don’t let that put you off from playing the young superstar in the making.
Hideki Matsuyama (Salary: DraftKings – $8.7K, FanDuel – $10.5K) – Matsuyama hasn’t been putting up a ton of top 10’s like he can over the last few months, but did have a T3 at the 2nd leg of the playoffs (the BMW Championship) last season, he consistently makes cuts and aside from one missed cut – his finishes range from T3 to T29 over his past 9 starts and as of this writing is currently T8 at the Vivint Houston Open after round 3. He has also been a consistent performer over the years at the Masters, and course experience is extra important in an event of this magnitude. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T32, 2018 – T19, 2017 – T11, 2016 – T7, and 2015 – T5.
The $7K Range
Lee Westwood (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K, FanDuel – $9.2K) – Westwood hasn’t been seen in North America since his T13 at the U.S. Open but does have 8 straight top 34’s – mostly on the European Tour but some of them are premier events with strong international fields. He also won back in January at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, so it has been under a year ago since he last hoisted a trophy. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2017 – T18, 2016 – T2, and 2015 – T46.
Louis Oosthuizen (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K, FanDuel – $9.6K) – I originally had Joaquin Niemann in this slot but since he has contracted COVID-19 I have replaced him with Oosthuizen. Louis has 5 top 10’s over his past 19 events and has only missed the cut twice during that span of tournaments played. He was T3 at the U.S. Open and was T33 at the PGA Championship, plus he has 4 top 25’s in his last 7 events. He comes to play well at all of the majors and has been fairly steady at the Masters with his best finish coming in 2012 when he was runner up. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T29, 2018 – T12, 2017 – T41, 2016 – T15, and 2015 – T19.
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $7.8K, FanDuel – $9.4K) – Scheffler was going bonkers leading up to the U.S. Open with three top 5’s in four events, but then had to withdraw from the 2nd major of the year due to testing positive for COVID-19. He has been a little shaky lately but was T17 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in his most recent start, and I suspect will have a top 10 finish this week in Houston. I expect Scottie to have a very respectable finish in his first Masters start.
The $6K Range
Sebastian Munoz (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K, FanDuel – $7.9K) – I have been all over Munoz over the past few months and he has paid off time and time again with top 27’s in all his starts except for one over his past 8 starts – three of them were top 9’s. Sure, he’s going to see Augusta for the first time, but he’s been seeing a lot of courses lately for the first time and has been tearing them up.
Corey Conners (Salary: DraftKings – $6.6K, FanDuel – $8.1K) – When Conners has his putter working he tends to fair quite well at all types of PGA Tour events in all qualities of fields since he’s a ball striking machine. In his most recent start he was T8 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, is currently T22 after 3 rounds at the Vivint Houston Open, and he has 4 top 33’s over his past 7 events. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T46.
Si Woo Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K, FanDuel – $8.5K) – Kim has been making pretty much every cut since late June – just one missed cut in 14 starts, and 6 of those have been top 18’s. Masters finishes over the last 5 years: 2019 – T21, 2018 – T24, and 2017 – Missed the cut.
