GOLF

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: The Masters

With a small field and flexible pricing on DraftKings this week, we have a lot of directions we can head with our DFS lineups. With the big names all likely to be popular at the top, we must identify some pivot options when trying to build a unique lineup

Daily fantasy golf requires a new approach for each and every event.

The course and field change week after week, making no two contests alike. That means you need to refine your approach for each PGA Tour event to try to find golfers who are primed to excel for your daily fantasy golf lineups.

Each week, we have a course primer, and our daily fantasy golf projections and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for The Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

Key Stats

Key Stats for The Masters at Augusta National GC
Driving Distance
Strokes Gained: Approach
Birdies or Better Gained
Strokes Gained: Par 5s
Course History at Augusta National


Let's get to the picks. For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the course primer.

Stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds.

High-Salaried Studs

Dustin Johnson (DraftKings Salary: $11,500 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds: +950) - You certainly can't go wrong with any of these golfers at the top of DraftKings' pricing this week, but with all the buzz around Jon Rahm ($11,000 | +900) and his stellar recent form, great Masters record, and baby swag, we have a unique opportunity get Johnson as a pivot. He'll still be plenty owned, but if we are starting our lineups with one of the top guys he will likely be the lower of the two. You know the deal -- defending champ, World No. 1, stats are incredible. With respect and due consideration to Rahm, DJ is the play on DraftKings.

Rory McIlroy ($10,200 | +1900) - Throw all your dirt on Rory, who now ranks outside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in over a decade. Boo hoo, what a bum! An opening 75 in November torpedoed Rory's hopes to complete the career Grand Slam, but he battled back to another top-five finish. McIlroy's record at Augusta is one of the best among players with significant experience here without a win. His 5th place finish was his sixth top 10 in his last 11 tries, and he ranks 3rd in total strokes gained at Augusta. He ranks 3rd on Tour this year in driving distance and in the 50 rounds sample he's 5th in birdies or better gained. Duds at THE PLAYERS and the WGC Match Play will hopefully steer many DFS players away from Rory and give us an opportunity to take advantage of lower popularity.

Patrick Cantlay ($9,800 | +2000) - We often see soft pricing on DraftKings for major championships, given the strength of field there's bound to be quality in the low $7k range that makes loading up on top tier studs that much easier. We'll see even disbursement of ownership across the top group, but Cantlay is our pick for the most likely to be the odd man out. He missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and failed to escape the group round at the WGC Match Play, and compared to many of the golfers around him he is a relative novice at Augusta National. The $10k range is loaded and a few recent major champions are priced right below Cantlay, giving us another leverage opportunity at the top of the board.

Mid-Salaried Options

Jordan Spieth ($9,400 | +1100) - Spieth is right up there with the favorites after his win at the Valero Texas Open last week, and at a $2k discount from Johnson we can be sure to see Spieth as one of the most popular plays on DraftKings -- likely the most rostered golfer in the field. But after leading the field in strokes gained: tee to green and keeping his putting stroke grooving, Spieth is hard to deny at one of his favorite venues. He has two runner up finishes and a third in addition to his 2015 win, and unsurprisingly leads the way in total strokes gained at Augusta National. The breakthrough coming last week does little to damper our hopes, as he showed at his peak that he can string high end finishes together, and at this price he doesn't even have to win to pay off his salary in our lineups.

Brooks Koepka ($9,200 | +2600) - Just a few weeks out from knee surgery, Koepka is back this week with a lot of question marks. Priced right below Spieth and former Masters champion Patrick Reed ($9,300 | +3200), the unknown factor will keep Koepka from becoming too popular even with the soft pricing. It's not hard to fit McIlroy, Spieth, and Koepka and corner the market on former major winners with plenty of options in the $6k and low $7k range. Koepka ranks 8th in birdies or better gained, 11th in strokes gained at Augusta, and 15th in strokes gained: approach. He's 17th on Tour so far this season in driving distance.

Tony Finau ($9,100 | +3500) - Finau is a staple on major championship leaderboards despite just one PGA Tour win on his career resume. He was 5th and 10th here in his first two tries before a 38th in November. Consecutive missed cuts coming into this week don't look good, but the form for the past year has really been stellar, and earlier this year he reeled off three straight top fives out West. He ranks 6th in birdies or better gained, 7th in strokes gained: approach, and 11th on par 5s.

Daniel Berger ($8,500 | +3700) - Berger missed out on the November edition despite sporting some of the best recent form in the world, and since then he's picked up a win and three more top 10s, including the last stroke play event at THE PLAYERS. He's missed just four cuts in the last two years, and in three trips to Augusta he's finished 10th, 27th, and 32nd -- but hasn't played here since really coming into form. He is 14th in strokes gained on par 5s, 15th in birdies or better gained, and 16th in strokes gained: approach.

Low-Priced Options

Sergio Garcia ($7,900 | +4900) - Since his win in 2017, Sergio has missed the cut in consecutive years before being forced to withdraw from the November installment after a positive COVID test. The two missed cuts came at a particularly volatile period in Garcia's recent history, and his game is in a much better place now, even if he still occasionally putts with his eyes closed. We aren't rostering Sergio for his putting anyway. He's still 15th on Tour in driving distance even at 41 years old, and he ranks 7th in strokes gained on par 5s over the last 50 rounds.

Bubba Watson ($7,800 | +8500) - Watson was $9,000 on DraftKings and offered at less than half the odds we can get him at this week, though admittedly the two-time Masters winner was in markedly better form than he is now. He has just one finish better than 54th since the November Masters, but of all the volatile players on Tour we know Bubba has winning upside at courses he's comfortable at. His last two April finishes were 12th and 5th. With Paul Casey ($7,700 | +3400) way ahead in the betting market and playing some of the best golf of his career, we can pivot to Watson in this range.

Joaquin Niemann ($7,400 | +6000) - Niemann earned his way into the 2018 Masters as the Latin American Amateur Champion, and after qualifying for his first entry as a pro he had to withdraw due to a positive COVID test in November. He's made every cut of the 2020-21 season so far and been outside the top 30 just twice despite playing most of those events on poa and bermuda greens he has historically struggled on. The ballstriking is there week in and week out for Niemann, and if he's holding his own on the greens he can make a run at it this week.

Will Zalatoris ($7,300 | +9000) - The debutante stats are always out there, but Zalatoris doesn't need to win to pay off this salary in our DraftKings lineups. He just has to do what he's done for the past year, which is make the cut and find the top 25. Even among this elite field he ranks 4th in strokes gained: approach and strokes gained on par 5s. Even in strong full fields at Riviera, Bay Hill, and TPC Sawgrass he managed to gain with his irons, and in fact he's only lost on approach in 1 of his 10 measured events in his recent run on the PGA Tour.

Bargain Basement

Corey Conners ($6,900 | +9500) - No doubt Conners will be a popular play at this price, and while we are weary of highly rostered players in the $6k range, Conners fits exactly what we want this week. He is an elite ballstriker, ranking sixth in stroke gained: approach. He has great recent form, with recent finishes of 14th, 7th, and 3rd. And he has a decent, if short, record at Augusta National, with a top 10 in November on his short resume. There is merit to fading him in tournaments given where the roster percentage will come in, but he unlocks a path to multiple studs and any roster construction we want.

Ian Poulter ($6,800 | +16000) - As he showed in the Match Play, Poulter still carries himself with the swagger of one of the top players in the world, and he won't be intimidated coming down to the wire if he finds himself in contention come Sunday. He's missed the cut just once in 13 cracks at Augusta, and over the past two editions he was 25th and 12th.

Cameron Champ ($6,600 | +16000) - Champ is one of the longest hitters on Tour, and a T19 in November should give him some confidence after a shaky past few months. The driver will always be there for him, and in the weeks where he's played well with his irons and the putter, he typically finds his way into contention. That type of sustainable skill off the tee and volatility elsewhere makes Champ an intriguing play in a crowded mid-$6k range.


Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.