This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
The Masters
Course: Augusta National Golf Club (7,555 yards, par 72)
Purse: $18,000,000
Winner: $3,240,000 and 750 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
After nine long months major championship golf is back and it returns to the most iconic course in the world, the Augusta National Golf Club for the 88th playing of the Masters. It is in my eyes the best week in all of sports. The history, tradition and pageantry is truly unlike any other. Augusta National is simply perfection. The details are what set it apart. There is not a blade of grass out of place on that property. This course challenges players in ways no other can and makes it an absolutely thrilling watch for us amidst the stunning backdrop of the azaleas.
Every year that we come into Masters week there are always several intriguing storylines and we have no shortages again this year. Can Rory McIlroy finally complete the career grand slam? What can we expect from Tiger Woods? How does defending champion Jon Rahm fair after his move to LIV Golf? Can anyone beat Scottie Scheffler? All these and more are certainly worth talking about, but there are four long days of competition before we find out what the final headline will be on Sunday evening.
After Akshay Bhatia held off a furious back-nine challenge last week at the Valero Texas Open from Denny McCarthy, the field for the 2024 Masters will be 89 players. Making up this special field will be 18 past Masters champions, five amateurs and 33 former major champions. There's also an impressive list of Masters rookies this year led by World No. 4 Wyndham Clark and No. 9 Ludvig Aberg.
Augusta National has little tweaks they make to the course each year to continue to put out the best product possible and keep up with the distance of today's game. The biggest change this year will be a new back tee on the par-5 2nd hole, extending the hole to 585 yards. The change will bring the right fairway bunker more into play and likely require players to play a right-to-left shot to find the fairway and potentially attack the downhill par-5 in two.
Scoring and the weather is always a topic of conversation heading into Masters week. The last three years has seen only the champion reach double-digits under-par, which is probably about what the setup crew would like to see. After clear days for the Augusta National Women's Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, the course should be pretty firm and fast for the practice rounds this week. The one wrench in all of this a major storm expected to hit the property during Thursday's opening round. Not only could that create delays in the event, but it also could bring enough rain to make the course play completely different for the duration of the tournament. The good news is that Friday through Sunday are expected to be beautiful and we should have no issues deciding a champion on schedule. It's difficult to predict a winning score at this point, but gusts of over 30 mph on Thursday and Friday will certainly make things even more difficult for the players hoping be among the low-50s and ties to make the weekend where the wind will lay down a bit and give players a chance to mount a run at a green jacket.
Recent Champions
2023 - Jon Rahm (-12)
2022 - Scottie Scheffler (-10)
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)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance
- Par-5 Scoring
Champion's Profile
Augusta National has really always been known as the ultimate second shot golf course. There is certainly trouble to find with some wild drives, but Augusta usually allows for creative recovery shots to get back into play. It's really not about the size of the greens, it's more about understandings the slopes and knowing where to miss the ball to each hole location. The elite iron players will have the ability to separate at this course, especially when it plays firm, because of how small the some of the targets are to get the ball close. Poor iron play will lead directly into bogeys even if you are a good putter or chipper.
There is no place where course history is more sticky than Augusta National. Form coming in is obviously great, but the guys that play well here tend to do so year after year regardless of the form they have coming in. It also allows older players to contend despite the continual lengthening of the course because they have so many rounds here and know every slope and where to miss it.
There's no way to fake it around a course like this. You have to have all aspects of your game dialed in to be in the mix come Sunday afternoon. Par-5 scoring is another stat to watch this week. Most of the par-4s and par-3s are going to be all you want, but the moves can be made on the par-5s. Usually the champion here is taking care of business on the par-5s and avoiding the trouble that those holes have. Lag putting is also very critical at Augusta National. Three-putts will be abundant this week due to all the slopes, but players who are dialed in with their speed will be giving themselves the best chance to save par.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Scottie Scheffler ($13,000)
Even at a record-setting $13K price tag is absolutely worth it this week for World No. 1. Scheffler has finished top-10 in 10 of his last 11 starts including wins at the Hero World Challenge, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS. The 2022 Masters champion is miles ahead of the rest of the world from a ball-striking standpoint and he is also one of the best short-game players in the field. Scheffler has gained strokes on the greens in five of his last six starts.
Hideki Matsuyama ($11,100)
Matsuyama is back to form after a mediocre 2023. He has gone T22-Win-T12-T6-T7 in his last five starts that have featured tremendous numbers in both the approach play and short game. Matsuyama has been one of the most consistent players at Augusta of late, notching top-20 finishes in eight of his last nine starts, including his breakthrough win in 2021.
Xander Schauffele ($10,900)
Getting Schauffele in the $10K range is an absolute steal. He ranks second to Scheffler in SG: Tee-to-Green this season and is just in front of Matsuyama. Schauffele has been incredibly consistent racking up top-10 finishes in eight of his last 11 starts. He's got great history at Augusta as well, going T17 or better four of the last five years, including a pair of podium finishes. It only seems like a matter of time before Schauffele gets his turn at a major championship.
The Middle Tier
Sahith Theegala ($9,700)
Theegala comes into the Masters with top-10 finishes in three of his last five starts. A lot gets made about his wildness with the driver, but he is more accurate than many think and sits 14th in SG: Off-the-Tee. He is also 11th in GIR percentage and 10th in par-5 scoring. Theegala's putter has been white hot of late and he now sits 13th in SG: Putting. He got a good introduction to Augusta last year, finishing ninth, and is one of the most creative players in this field.
Si Woo Kim ($9,300)
Kim has put on a ball-striking clinic this season at fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green, and is a big reason why he is 9-for-9 with six top-25 finishes. Kim is fifth in bogey-avoidance this season, fifth in driving accuracy, 20th in GIR percentage and 25th in scrambling. The putter has been a work in progress, but Kim has gained strokes on the greens in his last three starts at Augusta. His lone missed cut here was in his first attempt in 2017.
Corey Conners ($9,100)
Another ball-striking machine is Conners, who comes into the Masters off three straight top-25 finishes. The Canadian ranks 23rd in SG: Off-the-Tee, 25th in total driving, fourth in SG: Approach and second in GIR percentage this season. Those numbers are pretty consistent with what we have seen from Conners for the last several years. That being said, it's really no surprise he has finished top-10 in three of the last four years at Augusta.
The Long Shots
Russell Henley ($8,800)
Henley very well might be the best value in the field. He ranks No. 9 on Data Golf and is all the way down in the $8K range. He comes into the week in great form, with top-4 finishes in two of his last the starts and top-15s in eight of his last 13 starts. Henley is another very accurate ball striker, but this year he has also shown real upside with the short game (11th in scrambling) and putter (29th in SG: Putting). Henley finished T31 or better in his last six starts at Augusta, including a T4 last year.
Chris Kirk ($8,200)
Kirk has been a little quiet since his win at The Sentry to start the season, but he has only missed one cut in eight starts to go along with five top-30 finishes. The metics are very encouraging at seventh in SG: Tee-to-Green, 22nd in proximity, and 21st in scrambling. The putter hasn't been quite as consistent as past seasons for Kirk, but you don't get to second in birdie average for the season without knocking some putts in. Kirk has finished top-25 in two of his last four starts at Augusta.
Austin Eckroat ($7,300)
Eckroat is my favorite play in the $7K range this week. These are his SG: Approach ranks in his last five starts: 5th, 5th, 8th, 28th and 8th. Eckroat ranks 10th in SG: Approach on the season, 15th in total driving and 14th in SG: Tee-to-Green. He has made the cut in all but one of his last 11 starts, including that breakthrough win at PGA National. It's always tough for a rookie to come in and find success at Augusta, but the ball-striking has been on automatic lately and I think he presents a nice high floor for someone this low on the board.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
This is a very interesting Masters. On one hand you have a dominant player in Scheffler that could go out and put this thing away on Saturday. On the other hand, if Scheffler just doesn't quite have it this week it feels like one of the most wide open Masters I can remember. Much of that has to do with the uncertainties of the top LIV guys like Rahm and Koepka, and then a lot of the top PGA Tour players who haven't played quite as well this year like McIlroy, Hovland and Patrick Cantlay. I really see the $9K and $10K ranges being pretty stacked and that's where I would be trying to go to fill out a majority of my rosters. Course history is everything at Augusta, but if you are able to combine that with some great recent play both on approach and around the greens, that is exactly what we are looking for. Missing the cut hurts here especially given that 89 will only be cut down to the top-50 and ties, and a number of those 89 players are older past champions and amateurs. The better ball-striker is usually going to have the higher floor and that would be my advice when deciding between two different players this week.
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