As they usually do for a Major Championship, DraftKings decided to give us an early Christmas. They’ve released salaries for next week’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National 11 days in advance.
Here are some things that stood out at first glance in each price range.
The Top Range
What Will People Do With the Big Three?
Of course, I am referring to Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy. All three of these behemoths sit at +700 to take home the green jacket, and picking the right one (two?) on DraftKings this week will be the key to winning all the money. I believe they are all priced appropriately, with Scheffler — the current No. 1 player in the world — sitting at the top at $11,100, followed by Rahm at $10,800 and McIlroy at $10,600.
At first glance, it appears McIlroy is going to be the highest owned, both because he’s the cheapest, and secondly and maybe most importantly — people really want him to win the Masters. It’s hard to believe that it’s been nine years since he’s won a major championship, and winning the Masters would give him the career grand slam. Augusta has been kind to the Northern Irishman over his career, as he’s posted a ridiculous seven top-10 finishes over his past 10 starts. It just feels like there’s no way he does not contend this week.
Scheffler might end up being the lowest owned of this group simply because people love trends, and one of the most notorious trends is that no Masters winner has repeated the following year since Tiger Woods did so in 2002. Blindly fading Scheffler because of this would, of course, be foolhardy, considering he’s won two of his past five starts and finished T4, third, and T12 in the other three. He’s locked in.
Rahm has not been at his best of late, after withdrawing from THE PLAYERS with an illness before failing to make it out of the group stage at the WGC Match Play last week. He should still project extremely well in most models and will, of course, be popular in high stakes stuff, like always.
Jordan Spieth Should Be Chalky
Spieth, much like McIlroy, is always popular this time of year, also due to his elite Augusta history. The three-time major champion has finished inside the top three at the Masters a whopping five times in his nine career starts, including his win in 2015.
He’s been playing incredibly well of late as well, posting a T3 at Valspar, T4 at API, and T6 at the WMPO over his past six starts. It feels like Spieth is very close to being all the way back to the player he used to be, which would make him a true threat to win the green jacket this year.
At $9,700, he’s very likely to be the second golfer on many rosters that start with one of the big three, but you could 100% start your teams with him and feel great about it.
Underpriced Studs
Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Tony Finau are all going to pop as nice values based on their talent level and price. Morikawa is likely going to be the lowest owned of this trio, which is funny considering he’s already won two major championships in his career and is coming off a T5 at Augusta last season. Schauffele and Finau are no slouches themselves at Augusta, having posted a combined five top-10 finishes between them in 10 starts.
Everyone knows about Schauffele’s prowess in major championships, so it’s highly likely he will be the chalkiest of this group at just $9,000 this week.
The Middle Range
LIV Guys?
Cam Smith is one of only two golfers in the field to post three consecutive top 10s at Augusta (Corey Conners). Had he stayed on the PGA TOUR, it’s likely he would be about $500 more expensive with his history at this event. The Aussie has three top-five finishes and a T10 in his seven career starts while failing to miss a single cut.
His ownership is going to be a thing to monitor because no one has watched him play competitive golf since last season unless, of course, you tune into the LIV Tour, which feels like a very small percentage of the population. We can wonder the same thing about Dustin Johnson, who is very surprisingly priced at just $8,800.
It’s hard to believe that a player of DJ’s caliber is under $9,000, but I don’t even think oddsmakers know how to appropriately price LIV golfers. DJ won this event back in 2020 (November Masters) with an additional four top 10s in nine starts this decade.
Some of the other cheap LIV players include Joaquin Niemann ($7,800), Brooks Koepka ($7,600), Abraham Ancer ($7,400), and Patrick Reed ($7,300). If you would have told someone that Brooks Koepka would be $7,600 at a major championship as recently as two years ago, they would call you certifiable. However, it’s certainly warranted, as the four-time major winner appears broken right now.
Niemann, Ancer, and Reed have all had their moments at Augusta, especially the latter, who won this event in 2018. Niemann has been a mainstay in cash games at the Masters in the past due to his price usually sitting in this range, but nobody knows where the Chilean’s game is at right now, making his ownership percentage an enigma this week.
Intriguing Options in Low $8,000 Range?
The $8,100-$8,4000 range presents us with some interesting options this week in the form of Sungjae Im, Will Zalatoris, Sam Burns, and Hideki Matsuyama. We will start with Matsuyama, who has great course history at Augusta, with a win, two top fives, and three top-19 finishes across his eight starts. The question is whether or not he’s healthy, as he’s been dealing with a nagging neck injury for quite a while now, which caused him to WD from the WGC-Dell Match Play last week.
Zalatoris appears to be broken right now, but he’s got a T6 and runner-up finish in two career starts at Augusta. He should be relatively un-owned, making him a potentially strong GPP option. Sungjae Im could end up being chalk at this $8,100 salary. He also boasts a pair of top 10s in three career starts, including his runner-up to DJ in 2020.
Sam Burns missed the cut last year here but is coming off a mammoth win at the WGC-Dell Match Play and a T6 at Valspar a week prior.
He boasts a ton of talent for an $8,300 player and will also likely go overlooked.
The Lower Range
Tiger?
Tiger is finally priced somewhat appropriately this year, sitting at just $7,300. This, of course, makes him a very interesting tournament option after what we saw from him at Genesis in February. The 15-time major champion and greatest golfer to ever live finished T45 at Riviera and shot two rounds in the 60s.
It likely does not have to be said, but Tiger has won the Masters five times in his career, which includes maybe the most unbelievable moment in sports history — when he took this event down in 2019 on one leg at 43 years old.
I will never count out the GOAT, and the price on him absolutely puts him in play next week.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Our PGA Live Scoring Leaderboard: The Best Way to Track Your DFS Teams
THE CJ CUP in South Carolina Top PGA DFS Picks, Values and Sleepers for Large-Field GPPs on DraftKings
Cadence Bank Houston Open Top PGA DFS Picks, Values and Sleepers for Large-Field GPPs on DraftKings
The RSM Classic Top PGA DFS Picks, Values and Sleepers for Large-Field GPPs on DraftKings
