It’s the biggest week in professional golf, and that means big prizes for us DFS players. If you play PGA DFS regularly, you’re probably aware that Draftkings put up The Masters slate early, and there’s three millionaire makers to take advantage of. My plan with these PGA slate previews is to focus solely on the players in the field as opposed to the course itself. Below you will find a breakdown of each price range, and my favorite picks in each of those ranges.
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Pay Up Options ($10,000-$11,000)
It’s no surprise that The Masters brings a very strong field, and the pay-up options represent the strength. Most of these guys are top 20 in the world rankings, so it makes sense for them to be priced the way they are. A couple guys, however, stand out to me more than the others.
Jon Rahm – $10,800
It seems like Jon Rahm has an affinity for Augusta National – or maybe it’s the other way around. Nonetheless, at the top of the board, Rahm is definitely a name to look toward. Jon Rahm has four top 10 finishes at The Masters, with two of those finishes being in the top 5. In his last 5 starts here, he’s made the cut every time, and DFS players can expect that as the bare minimum this week.
Although I’m not the biggest fan of his recent form, Rahm has elite course history here, and his stats over the past 24 measured rounds back him up. He recently gave up his world #1 ranking to Scottie Scheffler, so I’m expecting a huge bounce back performance from Rahm.
Justin Thomas – $10,300
Surprise, another former world #1 at the top of the board. Since 2016, Justin Thomas has made the cut every year at The Masters. Similar to Rahm, Thomas seems to do very well at Augusta National when all the pressure is on. His worst finish in recent memory was a T-39 in 2016, but since then he has landed in the top 20 three times – all three times being consecutive.
The course history is fantastic, but JT’s recent form gives more of a reason to lock him in this week. Thomas has an unbelievable five top 10s in his last 7 tournaments, and he has scored over 100 draftkings points in 7 out of his last 10 tournaments. This week, Justin Thomas is the fourth most expensive DFS golfer, and I’ll be taking advantage of the slight discount.
$9,000 Range
Xander Schauffele – $9,600
Xander has only made three appearances at The Masters, with relatively good results each time out. His best finish was a T-2 in 2019, followed by a T-17 in 2020. In his only other start, he finished T-50, but it’s promising that he’s at least made the cut in every appearance.
I like Schauffele this week mostly because of his scoring upside and his recent form. He has five top 15 finishes in his last seven starts and seems due for a breakthrough win. Even when he’s not at his best, Schauffele is capable of putting up 100+ draftkings points in a tournament, and this is exactly what we need.
Brooks Koepka – $9,400
There’s not a whole lot to say here other than Brooks Koepka is the undisputed king of majors. His stats at major tournaments are second to none, and he has a large sample size to prove this. Besides missing the cut last year, Brooks has great history at Augusta National. He was the runner up in 2019 and managed a top 25 finish in 2016, 2017, and 2020.
I’m interested in Brooks Koepka solely because of his performance in major tournaments. He’s won the US Open twice and the PGA Championship twice – two tournaments that are the pinnacle of professional golf. His recent form, unfortunately, is not the greatest, but it’s very likely that he brings his best game to The Masters.
Keep in mind that the DFS community will be all over Brooks Koepka this week. Course history and statistics are widely available, so there’s no doubt people will take notice. It’s important that you look for pivots in case Koepka comes in a lot higher owned than he should be.
Will Zalatoris – $9,200
Another guy that tends to bring his best game to big events is Will Zalatoris. Last year, he finished solo 2nd at The Masters, and posted a T6 at the U.S Open one year before that. For a guy that’s never won on tour, Zalatoris has serious potential. His approach play has been outstanding lately, and if he can find the putter at Augusta, he’ll likely be at the top of the leaderboard. To me, his price on Draftkings doesn’t reflect his points ceiling of ~120 fantasy points.
In terms of recent form, Zalatoris has been pretty good. His last three starts were nothing to write home about, but prior to that he posted a solo 2nd at the Farmers and a solo 6th at the AMEX. After three mediocre performances in a row, I think The Masters is a potential breakthrough spot for Will.
$8,000 Range
Shane Lowry – $8,800
The Irishman is a little bit overpriced this week in my opinion, but it goes to show what he’s capable of. Lowry is another golfer who tends to do well in big events, but he’s not as consistent as most people would like. He placed 21st and 25th at his last two Masters, but had a terrible outing back in 2019.
The thing that catches my eye about Lowry is his recent form. He’s finished top 15 in four of his last eight starts, and the field was strong in 3 of those occurrences. In his past 3 events, Lowry has averaged more than 80 Draftkings points per tournament, and his ceiling is much higher. Although I don’t see him as a lock, I’ll have some shares of Shane Lowry this week.
Sam Burns – $8,600
It’s hard not to like Sam Burns this week, considering how he’s playing lately. The price tag is right, and his ability to rack up Draftkings points is ridiculous. Sam Burns is coming off a victory at The Valspar Championship where he put up a whopping 130.5 fantasy points. Burns has three additional top 10 finishes since November 2021 alone.
In terms of history at major championships, there’s not much of it for Sam Burns. This will be his first appearance at The Masters, and there will certainly be a lot of eyes on him to see if he can pull through. It’s worth noting that he finished poorly at the U.S Open and The Open, so hopefully the pressure doesn’t get to him this week.
Adam Scott – $8,300
One player that really stands out to me in this range is Adam Scott. He’s a former Masters champion who has a tendency to catch fire when it matters the most. Adam Scott has a total of five top 10 placings at The Masters, including his win in 2013. Once again, we’re talking about a former world #1 golfer who has all the potential to bring home a big win.
In addition to his good track record at The Masters, Scott has had pretty good recent form. I’ve noticed that Adam Scott is the type of player to have a couple off-weeks before turning things around and securing a high placing. If this holds true, then the cards are in his favor. He’s coming off an 82nd and 26th place finish in his previous two tournaments, but took solo 4th at The Genesis beforehand. He had three lackluster performances prior to doing well at The Genesis.
$7,000 Range
Russell Henley – $7,800
Russell Henley is probably my favorite play on the entire slate this week, and I’m prepared to eat my words if it doesn’t work out. At only $7,800, Henley offers a nice balance between good recent form and good history at The Masters. In his last appearance at Augusta National, Henley placed solo 15th, and placed solo 11th the year before. He has a tendency to remain consistent when his form is good, and that seems to be in the cards for this week.
Henley has not placed lower than 33rd in his last 8 tournaments. Among these, he has two top 10s and four top 15 finishes. He has gone over 70 Draftkings points in all 11 of his last 11 starts – this is amazing to me. By pricing him at $7,800, Draftkings is almost guaranteeing that he hits close to 10x value.
Matt Fitzpatrick – $7,700
I’m mostly interested in Fitzpatrick this week for his scoring upside relative to his price. In this case, we’re talking about a guy who is regularly priced above $8,000 and scores 80+ Draftkings points per tournament. This is a situation where I feel like he’s underpriced, but his recent form and course history check out as well.
Regarding recent form, Fitzpatrick has played well. He has four top 10s in his last five outings which is a huge green light. Prior to this, however, he was in a slump for roughly half a year. His history at The Masters is not jaw-dropping, but he tends to make the cut every time he comes out. Most notably, he had a solo 7th finish in 2016 but only scored 65 DK points that year.
With Fitzpatrick, it’s worth noting that he does play well in big events. He’s won or placed extremely high in renditions of The Masters such as the Nordea Masters and Omega European Masters.
Corey Conners – $7,600
I can’t leave out Corey Conners who played extremely well at the match play not long ago. Conners is coming off a solo 8th place at The Masters last year, and he’s made the cut every time he’s played in this event. Similar to Russell Henley, Conners got bumped down in price, which could be a costly mistake for Draftkings. He’s typically priced in the $8,000-$9,000 dollar range, so to see him in the mid-7s is definitely interesting.
Conners’ recent form is nothing astonishing, but he’s at least made the cut in 4 out of his last 5 starts. He ended the Valero Texas Open on a high note this past weekend, shooting a 5-under 67 in his last round of play. I’ll be looking for Corey Conners to keep this momentum as he looks for the best Masters finish of his career.
$6,000 Range
Gary Woodland – $6,900
Now this is something you don’t see too often – Gary Woodland in the dreaded $6,000 range. Normally when I look at this range, I immediately remove a lot of the players from my pool, but there’s always a couple guys worth a look.
Woodland is coming off an impressive solo 8th at the Valero Texas Open, and has two top 5 finishes in his last 5 starts. One thing to note about Gary Woodland is that he’s very good about carrying his momentum for a prolonged period of time. Each year, he tends to have a stretch of four or five tournaments where he plays very well. This happened in 2019 from August to October and again in 2020 from June to July.
I personally think we’re looking at one of those stretches where Woodland catches fire. He’s posted 82 or more DK points in four of his last five starts, so I will gladly play some Gary Woodland at $6,900.
Harold Varner III – $6,600
Varner is another value option that I’m riding based on momentum. He has high scoring upside, and he’s coming off a recent win in the Middle East. At only $6,600, there’s no doubt in my mind that Varner III will pay off his price tag if he plays above average. Late last year, there was a four tournament stretch where he put up more than 93 DK points each time. Based off his last 14 starts, he is hitting 10x value on Draftkings 57% of the time.
Conclusion
I truly hope you found some value in this article, as a lot of research does go into this. The analysis offered here should be taken lightly and never as financial advice. As always, make sure to do your own research before finalizing your lineups. Looking at factors like recent form and course history are a good place to start. Best of luck this week – let’s hope for a GPP takedown!
