This column is a quick-hitter article to give you the data to make informed PGA DFS picks for your DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy golf lineups. Alongside the data, we will also provide a few player recommendations for Round 2 of The Masters. There is plenty of PGA DFS action available at Augusta, even if you missed the main slate. DraftKings will offer upwards of $50,000 to first for Rounds 2 and 3 showdown slates and sometimes up to $100,000 for the final-round contest. They also provide weekend-long contests that have frequently been offering $25,000 to first place. FanDuel has also tried to get into the weekend-long and final-round contests, offering $10,000 and $5,000 to first.
[AUGUSTA]
PGA DFS Preview: The Masters Round | DraftKings + FanDuel
Previous Round Recap
Morning Wave
A 10-minute fog delay started the day on the wrong foot, but the real tilt came when play was suspended after just a few holes were completed. This delay was the long one, lasting just over three hours. Mother Nature wanted to test my patience yet again in 2020. Still, once play resumed, the rest of the day presented us with great scoring conditions. The average score for the morning wave of golfers was slightly under par at 71.77.
The day didn’t start out well for the two studs in the morning wave, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau both reached 2 over par at one point in their rounds before course correcting and finishing under par. It looked for a while that there would be a tight group of golfers at 4 or 5 under par, but Paul Casey had maybe the best putting performance of his career to vault to the top of the leaderboard at 7 under par.
Morning Wave Continued
Xander Schauffele is unsurprisingly near the top of the board again after posting strong early rounds in each of his recent high finishes. Webb Simpson joins him shooting a bogey-free 67 in Round 1. Simpson’s day culminated with a 29-foot par save on the ninth green. Hideki Matsuyama is no surprise on the leaderboard either. Matsuyama is continuing his good form from Sunday and had his best round at Augusta in some time, rewarding fantasy golf players who kept their faith in his skills. Smooth-swinging Louis Oosthuizen and two former Masters Champions, Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods, all shot 4-under par at 68. For Tiger, the score matched the lowest opening round in his storied career at Augusta. The legend was also bogey-free on the day.
The biggest surprise of the morning would have to go to Jazz Janewattananond, who shot a 69 in his first competitive round at Augusta. Larry Mize, the 62-year-old former champion, made his loop with a 2-under 70, showing us that even 220 yards off the tee can compete with the world’s best.
Afternoon Wave
Round 1 is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning with players in position at 7 a.m. The lowest number of holes completed on Thursday was seven, the most was 12, leaving roughly three hours of first-round golf for those starting on the eighth tee. Golfers who finished 12 holes will have about an hour and a half. This will likely start Round 2 around 9:30 a.m. If that is the case, DraftKings will likely push back their tournament lock times.
The scoring average seemed to be improving through the afternoon, coming in at 0.88 under par. The average number of holes played is 10.15, so fantasy golf scoring can still go in any direction. Justin Thomas started off his round with a flurry, posting a birdie on the first three holes. The star golfer sits at 5 under through 10 holes and will start his day in the left rough on 11.
In his first 11 holes at Augusta National, Matthew Wolff went around in 4 under, taking apart the par-5 holes and showing exquisite touch around the greens with a few big par saves to keep his round on track. Adam Scott and Dylan Frittelli are also at 4 under through 10 and nine holes, respectively.
A late birdie for Justin Rose tied him with Dustin Johnson at 3 under through nine holes, with several other players 2 under par through nine, including Max Homa, Cam Champ and Patrick Cantlay. Sungjae Im is also the mix despite only playing seven holes.
PGA DFS Slate Preview | DraftKings + FanDuel
Lock Time
Lock is currently scheduled for 7:00 a.m. but will almost definitely be closer to 9 or 9:30, assuming DraftKings updates.
Contest Preview
DraftKings
- DraftKings is offering $50,000 to first and a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool for the second-round showdown slate.
FanDuel
- FanDuel is offering $20,000 to first and a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool for their second-round showdown slate. (Note: FanDuel’s single-day PGA DFS contests are listed separately under SPGA)
General Strategy and The Masters PGA DFS Picks
A ton of rain overnight and in the morning storm made conditions very easy starting the day. With nice soft greens to attack, hitting fairways becomes a bit more important, and fantasy golf scores should be up while golf scores are down. We don’t have strokes gained information to judge from, so we are going to have to rely on old-age statistics like greens in regulation and driving distance, among others.
There appears to be multiple ways to attack tee-time stacks. Stacking golfers that will be starting the day finishing Round 1, basically gaining a warmup round, is a great approach. I think there could be a slight edge in playing the golfers scheduled to play 27 holes tomorrow morning into the early afternoon.
Also, since the finishing positions aren’t set, I’ll have to change up the format. I’m going to give one PGA DFS stud pick, one PGA DFS value pick and one PGA DFS sneaky pick from each of the waves.
Morning Wave: (golfers that finished all 18 holes today)
- Tiger Woods ($8,400): Hopefully the masses won’t rush back to the master of the Masters in Round 2, giving us one more round of lower ownership. Tiger looked great both off the tee and with his irons, hitting 15 of 18 greens and 10 of 14 fairways in Round 1. Maybe even more importantly, he looked good with his putter again.
- Paul Casey ($7,400): Maybe this is a bit obvious here, but at this price we have to take advantage. Even if he doesn’t shoot 65 again, a 68 will do.
- Si Woo Kim ($6,700): Another quality round at Augusta in Round 1, Kim seems to get better every year. At this price and experience here, he’s a great piece to add in a stars-and-scrubs build.
Afternoon Wave:
- Justin Thomas ($10,100): Dustin Johnson is a $100 more expensive than Thomas for this round of The Masters, which should bring their fantasy golf ownership together a bit. Their week-long ownership difference is pretty large, but it should be mitigated in Round 2. I like what I’ve seen from both of them through their first nine holes, so I don’t see anything stopping that going into Round 2.
- Justin Rose ($7,500): While the results may not be there, he’s certainly scoring well and has reached 3 under through nine holes. His putter is hot, and that normally doesn’t stop when it gets going. The price is still low, so let’s jump on it before it rises over the weekend.
- Cameron Champ ($7,200): He’s only played nine holes, and I’ve seen what I’ve needed to see from Champ. His putter is hot, and that’s the catalyst of him having a profitable week for fantasy golf gamers.
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