Masters Daily Fantasy Blog

Masters

April 7th – 10th, 2016

Augusta National G.C.

Augusta, Ga.

Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,435

Purse: $10 million

with $1.8 million to the winner

Defending Champion:
Jordan Spieth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday April 6th, 2016

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4:00PM

Dynamic duo…
The two guys I like in the $9,000s on DraftKings are Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose. Then again, those are two guys I usually like, as they are two of the best ball-strikers in the game. Granted, you have to putt well to win at Augusta, but both can get hot on the greens on occasion and in any case are a good bet for a solid finish. Stenson has three straight top-20s at Augusta (five in all), Rose has been in the top 20 five of his last six appearances including a T-2 last year. Stenson, coming off a third and a second in his last two starts, is enticingly valued at $9,600, while Rose’s $9,900 salary seems about right.

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3:00PM

Not so great in the 8s…
I’m not too enthusiastic about anyone in the $8,000s on DraftKings, but the two who have some of my attention are Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed. Unlike the last two years, Walker hasn’t gotten off to a super hot start as he has no wins under his belt, but he is quietly playing pretty well from week to week so he looks like a solid pick (and finished T-8 in the 2014 Masters). Ditto for Reed, and with a T7-T9-10 in his last three starts the guy who led Augusta State to a pair of NCAA titles could make some noise. On the question mark side, Brandt Snedeker withdrew from the WGC-Cadillac with a rib injury last month which should at least make you hesitate. And Louis Oosthuizen’s ball-striking wasn’t impressive in the WGC-Match Play final, which he followed up by shooting 73-77 in Houston. He might be a little pricey at $8,800

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2:00PM

More questions than answers…
That’s what I see in the lower half of the $7,000s on DraftKings. Rafa Cabrera Bello has gone third-fourth in the last two weeks, but can he keep it up? J.B. Holmes withdrew last week with a shoulder injury, making him an iffy pick. Martin Kaymer is 3-for-8 at making the cut in the Masters with no finishes in the top 30. Lee Westwood hasn’t played much this year, or that well when he has, so his fine Masters record might not mean much. Danny Lee has only played in four majors, with a best of T-43, and is in a bit of a slump since mid-February. Ian Poulter has some good points—a strong Masters record and a third in Puerto Rico in his last start—but do those wipe away his generally poor 2016?

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2:00PM

Mostly solid but unspectacular…
There are some steady players in the upper part of the $7,000s on DraftKings. Jason Dufner has made 11 of 13 cuts this year, with a victory at the CareerBuilder but mediocre results since then. Bill Haas has made the cut in all six career Masters, but never has finished better than T-12. Matt Kuchar is usually a cut-making machine, though he ended a string of 18 straight cuts in his last stroke-play event at the Arnold Palmer (yes, he was in my lineup). They are all decent choices. A guy who is a bit more volatile but maybe with a better chance of contending if he’s on is Paul Casey, whose T-6 last year was his fourth time in the top 11 in the Masters. Also a good sign—he had a couple of top-10s on the Florida swing.

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12:00PM

Here are David Barrett’s DraftKings picks:

This is another week where I like to load up with three guys among the top 10 salaries. (Last week that strategy was a flop with the lineup I picked for this blog, but I had an alternate team that did really well. Of course, it helped that one of my low-end guys on that team was Jim Herman.) Having three top guys gives you a better chance at having the winner or multiple top-10s. On the other end, missing the cut isn’t quite as much of a worry at the Masters where the top 50 and ties plus anyone else within 10 of the lead make the cut in an 89-man field that includes some seniors and amateurs with little chance of making the weekend. Here’s my lineup (in alternate lineups I found spots for Justin Rose, Ryan Moore, and Scott Piercy):

Jason Day, $11,600. A third straight win is a tall order but not out of the question, and he’s playing so well, with a game that fits the course, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t contend. Neither Jordan Spieth nor Rory McIlroy inspire as much confidence at the moment, and Day’s salary is lower.
Dustin Johnson, $10,200. Maybe this will be the time he contends at a major and doesn’t self-destruct. It has to happen sooner or later, doesn’t it?
Henrik Stenson, $9,600. Three straight top-20s in the Masters, two straight top-3s on tour.
Charley Hoffman, $6,400. Was T-9 at 2015 Masters and has made six straight stroke-play cuts.
Daniel Berger, $6,200. Has overcome lackluster 2016 start with T-11 and T-5 in last two stroke-play starts.
Smylie Kaufman, $6,000. Too low a salary for a guy who ranks 10th on the money list and has made 12 of 14 cuts on the season.

Tuesday April 5th, 2016

8:00PM

Masters rookies to consider…
Two guys worth considering with low salaries on DraftKings are Smylie Kaufman ($6,000) and Daniel Berger ($6,200). DK might downgrade them because they are playing in their first Masters, but it’s not unheard of for rookies to do well. And these guys are good players who are in good form coming in. Kaufman has finished T-12 and T-8 in his last two stroke play events and Berger T-11 and T-5. Of the two, Kaufman is probably the better pick because he’s a more consistent cut-maker and might also have the better upside. 

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A rookie and veteran to avoid…
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnat is playing in his first Masters and is just 2-for-6 at making the cut in majors in his career. Sure, he pops with a good showing once in a while in his limited U.S. appearances, but he’s not worth taking a chance on at $6,100 on DraftKings. Neither is Davis Love III at the same salary. The 51-year-old got into the field with a win in Greensboro, but hasn’t made a cut in his last five majors; the last time he played on the weekend in a major was in 2012.

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Now of course there are many others who could win from Phil Mickelson to Brandt Snedeker to Patrick Reed and even Dustin Johnson to name a few.  In the next couple of days we will try to help you find those perfect choices and give you a rooting interest in watching the Masters.

So away we go, please join us with your thoughts on our Fantasy Golf Chat. It’s a page on Facebook in which I want to get everyone involved with discussing Fantasy Golf.  I want it to be a home for you to freely discuss your picks, thoughts on players and anything that has to do with professional tournaments.
So we have created a this special section for you to join, it’s at hit this link and I am hoping you will join us all.

Here are a couple of items that we dug up as I hit the car for my two hour drive to Augusta.  Should have our picks up this evening.

Sal

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11:45AM

New dads ready for Augusta…
Kevin Streelman and Danny Willett, whose wives had due dates Masters week and thus were uncertain of their Masters participation, both have seen their babies delivered and will be in Augusta. Streelman and wife Courtney celebrated the birth of a boy on March 22, and Streelman played at Houston, missing the cut. The early delivery wasn’t a surprise as Courtney had a condition that made carrying to full term difficult, but Streelman was prepared to sit out the Masters if it came to that. Willett wasn’t going to hop on a plane from England until his wife Nicole gave birth. That happened on Wednesday (it was a boy), so Willett is good to go for the Masters. 

Holmes’ health in question…
J.B. Holmes didn’t mention any health issues when he did a press conference on Tuesday as defending champion at the Shell Houston Open. Then on Wednesday he pulled out of the pro-am and in the evening withdrew from the tournament, citing a shoulder injury. Looking at his results this year, it’s possible the shoulder has hampered him recently. He had a very good West Coast Swing, finishing T6-T6-T11-T11 in his last four starts. But then he finished near the bottom of the no-cut WGC-Cadillac (59th with a final-round 80) and took two weeks off before a decent showing at the WGC-Match Play (1-1-1 record in his group). Whether this shoulder injury is something that just happened this week or an ongoing issue, it’s not a good way to be going into the Masters. 

Berger’s wrist seems fine…
Daniel Berger injured his wrist hitting a rock with a swing at the WGC-Match Play and withdrew from the third round (he didn’t have a chance to make it out of the round-robin anyway). Berger didn’t post any updates on his Twitter account after posting a picture of himself icing the wrist the day of the injury, but he showed us what we needed to know about his health in his return to action at the Shell Houston Open, where he shot a 67 in the first round and a 66 in the final round to finish T-5. So, he’s not only good to go in the Masters, he’s looking good.

Woods out, any good values in DK’s early salaries?…
It wasn’t exactly a surprise when Tiger Woods announced on Friday that he wouldn’t be playing in the Masters. While he’s secretive about his condition, there didn’t really seem to be much of a chance that he would be physically ready to play. But for its Fantasy Golf Millionaire Contest, DraftKings posts its player salary numbers early, so there is Woods on the list at $7,700 (with a red circle next to his name in case you missed the news that he’s not playing). If he did play, he probably wouldn’t have been a very good pick at that salary, although you can understand why DK didn’t make it lower.
The early salary posting raises the possibility of a player being undervalued because his play at Houston wasn’t taken into account. Then again, you shouldn’t put too much faith in how a player did the week before. The thought that a player is “hot” or has momentum going into the following week isn’t borne out by statistical studies. Still, Henrik Stenson is looking pretty good at $9,600 (10th on the board).