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    Golf Daily Fantasy Expert Advice

    04/04/2022
    Chris Durell

    Daily Fantasy PGA Picks and Betting Guide for DraftKings & FanDuel – The Masters

    Chris will be bringing you weekly PGA picks, analysis, and breakdowns to help you cash on DraftKings and FanDuel. Want more? He also provides a cheatsheet with stats, course history, current form, player write-ups for cash and GPP, a customizable model, and much more.

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    The Course

    Augusta National Golf Club
    Par 72 - 7,475 Yards
    Greens - Bentgrass

    **Click the image above to see a hole by hole breakdown from PGATour.com**

    Previous 10 Winners

    • 2021 - Hideki Matsuyama(-10)
    • 2020 - Dustin Johnson(-20)*
    • 2019 - Tiger Woods(-13)
    • 2018 - Patrick Reed(-15)
    • 2017 - Sergio Garcia(-9)
    • 2016 - Danny Willett(-5)
    • 2015 - Jordan Spieth(-18)
    • 2014 - Bubba Watson(-8)
    • 2013 - Adam Scott(-9)
    • 2012 - Bubba Watson(-10)

    Hello friends(in my best Jim Nance voice)! That's right, it's time for the first major and biggest event in golf, the Masters. This year's field contains 91 players including each of the Top 10 and 48 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings. As always, we are never short of narratives to follow so before we get into the fantasy-related content of the article, let's look at a few that stand out the most.

    1. Tiger Woods return??? All the talk over the last 7-10 days has been that the GOAT is still on the Masters field list which progressed to people tracking his private jet from Florida and eventually led to a confirmed practice round last week. Who is excited? I am not sure what to expect from a DFS standpoint but you know that if Tiger does play, he will be gunning to win another Green Jacket, not just walk around and enjoy the sites and sounds. Stay tuned for updates. You won't have to look very hard for them(lol).
    2. Hard not to start with Scottie Scheffler who is the hottest player on the planet and the new #1 player in the world. He comes into this years' Masters with three wins(Dell Match Play, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Phoenix Open) in his last three events and has tallied a Top 20 in both previous appearances at Augusta. Does he make a fourth win in six events and put on the Green Jacket Sunday?
    3. Defending champion, Hideki Matsuyama, returns but will injury slow him down? He withdrew from last week's Valero Texas Open which was his return after missing time due to a back injury. He was on the Augusta driving range Sunday(reportedly) so we will just have to wait and see.

    The elite field will take on one of the most challenging and beautiful golf courses in the world, Augusta National Golf Club. Going into this year's event, the grounds crew has updated the course adding distance and other adjustments to Hole #11, #15, and the closing Hole #18.

    From an overall perspective, while the course provides a large target off the tee with tons of room on the fairway, you don't want to get off track as there is minimal rough and tons of native area which will make saving par very difficult. Those errant tee shots will greatly increase the difficulty of the approach shots which already present their own challenges with very fast and undulated Bentgrass greens surrounded by large bunkers and/or water. Making it even more difficult are the shaved edges which makes hitting your spots on the green much more important here than in an average tour event. Not just to avoid a possible three-putt but to also avoid penalty strokes. Almost equally important as the approach is the around-the-green/scrambling game as everyone is going to make bogeys but those who avoid the big numbers will be the ones in contention come Sunday afternoon.

    With all that said, let's take a look at a few of my top picks then stay tuned for my YouTube PGA Live Show on Tuesday night as we will be talking top plays, ownership projections, bets, and much more!

    Top Targets

    Scottie Scheffler
    World Golf Ranking (#1)
    Vegas Odds (16/1)
    Draftkings ($11,000)
    FanDuel ($11,600)

    Sine pricing came out last week, I have seen arguments on both sides of this play and have decided I am fully on team Scheffler here this week. I mean, based on ownership, no one really has an issue paying up for Rahm or other elite players when they top the pricing. Yes. Scheffler is elite in my eyes as he comes in having won three of his last five starts on tour and these are not your John Deere Classic type events. He won the WGC Match Play, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and Phoenix Open while Rahm's last three wins on the PGA Tour extend back to August 2020 at the BMW Championship. In no way is this take mean I am against Rahm but more FOR Scheffler who I think is deserving of this price tag.

    Taking it further, I also wanted to look at previous Major's performances and Scheffler comes in with three straight Top 10 finishes and six straight Top 20 finishes and has the 8th highest DraftKings points average in Majors going back to the start of 2018.

    He comes in with elite form, excels in almost every statistical category, and being the most expensive(2nd on FD), could be slightly lower owned with people turning towards a more balanced approach with the soft pricing. I will be overweight on Scheffler no matter the projected ownership come Wednesday.

    Patrick Cantlay
    World Golf Ranking (#5)
    Vegas Odds (25/1)
    Draftkings ($9,500)
    FanDuel ($10,700)

    Looking at the early tag counts on FanShare Sports, it appears Cantlay could be one of the lower-owned golfers in the top tier this week. I get it, he is coming off a missed cut at the Players and it's a little concerning he has lost 5.6 strokes on approach in his last two events but getting the Tour Champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year in the mid $9K range is just too much value to pass up for me. Even with those back-to-back underwhelming performances, he still ranks 16th in SG: Tee to Green, 13th in SG: Around the Green, and 14th in SG: Putting over the last 24 rounds. While the course history is spotty(2 for 4 in cuts made), he does have a Top 10(2019) and two Top 20 finishes at Augusta. All things considered, I don't think we need to go here in cash games but I love the leverage in GPP formats and will be overweight in DFS and will be betting him outright at 25 to 1 odds.

     

    Russell Henley
    World Golf Ranking (#42)
    Vegas Odds (55/1)
    Draftkings ($7,800)
    FanDuel ($9,000)

    It's been a minute since Henley qualified for the Masters but returns with some solid course history having made the cut in four of five trips including a T31(2014), T21(2015), T11(2017), and a T15(2018) in his last appearance. He now comes in with arguably the best form of his career as he has made the cut in all 12 events including a runner-up at the Sony Open and eight Top 25 finishes. That consistency comes from an elite tee to green game(10th in this field) as he is ranked 3rd in SG: Approach, 9th in SG: Around the Green, 5th in Birdie or Better, and most importantly 1st in DraftKings points gained over the last 24 rounds. Fire up Henley in all formats.

    Tommy Fleetwood
    World Golf Ranking (#47)
    Vegas Odds (70/1)
    Draftkings ($7,700)
    FanDuel ($9,400)

    DraftKings has stuffed five Englishmen in this range and all peak my interest with their mix of form and course history here at Augusta. My favorite of the bunch is Fleetwood for a couple of reasons starting with the form as he comes in having made the cut in five of six stroke-play events with a Top 10(Zozo Champ) and four Top 25 finishes including three straight. Statistically is where he really jumped off the page for me as he is #1 on my sheet in SG: Around the Green which is crucial here at Augusta. Distance is something that helps as well, especially with the added distance in 2022 and Fleetwodd also ranks 5th in Carry Distance this season. While the ball striking numbers aren't great(53rd on the sheet) he has gained 11.1 strokes tee to green over is last two events. All things considered, Fleetwood is one of my favorite mid-tier plays for DFS.

    Gary Woodland
    World Golf Ranking (#90)
    Vegas Odds (90/1)
    Draftkings ($6,900)
    FanDuel ($8,600)

    While the course history here at the Masters is nothing to write him about with just one Top 25(his first appearance back in 2011) in nine trips to Augusta, I am right back on board with Woodland this week. It comes down to price as he has the best odds of any golfer in the sub $7K range on DraftKings and is coming in with terrific form having made the cut in four of his last five events, all of which he ended up inside the Top 25 while adding three Top 10's and two Top 5 finishes. The iron game is what has been leading the way as Woodland has gained a whopping 10.6 strokes on approach in his last two events and it is also positive he has gained strokes around the green in four of his last six and gained strokes putting in five of his last seven events. By no means do I think he wins this week but I love the PTS/$ value for DFS.

    Harold Varner III
    World Golf Ranking (#40)
    Vegas Odds (150/1)
    Draftkings ($6,600)
    FanDuel ($8,100)

    While I normally like to avoid or at least have little exposure to guys in their first time at the Masters, Varner stands out for multiple reasons starting with the price tag which can help us load up on elite players. The form is not as consistent as I would like but he has made the cut in six of nine stroke-play events with four Top 25 finishes so the PTS/$ upside is most definitely there. He stands out the most for me this week is in the stats model as a course fit. He has gained a whopping 12.6 strokes tee to green over the last two events and more importantly has gained strokes around the green in 10 straight events where shottracker is present. That scrambling alone has me liking him to at least make the cut and like he has shown all season, if that happens he is more than capable of a Top 25 which would crush his price tag this week.

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