We head to the Masters for this week’s DraftKings Daily Fantasy PGA tournament. I’m here to help with your Masters Daily Fantasy PGA picks in the first major of the year, and DraftKings is offering their 2.2M Fantasy Golf Millionaire Maker this week – turn $20 into $1 million! The tune ups are done and it’s time for the main event. However, don’t leave the weather to chance. Head over and buy some custom golf umbrellas. That way, whatever the weather, you can get involved!

The tour stops in beautiful Augusta, Georgia among the azaleas and patrons and green jackets. Let’s see if I can help you out this week.

It’s a great week to check out DraftKings as they have some top notch contests. Come on over and take a look.

Tour Stop

We are at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA for the Masters – the first major of the year. Augusta National is a 7,435 yards, par 72 course designed by Bobby Jones and Alistair Mackenzie.

Feel free to take the full video tour of every hole here.

The Masters has been played here since 1934, but significant renovations from 1999 through 2006 make course history relevant from 2006 onward.

The weather looks like we could be in for some rain and maybe even a delay. There are showers and thunderstorms early in the week. Thursday looks pretty clear, but there is a threat of thunderstorms Friday in the afternoon or evening. The weekend also has a shot of seeing rain and thunderstorms. The rain puts the focus on long hitters who don’t get their distance from rolling, but from the drive itself. Keep checking in as the weather forecast has changed seemingly every hour.

Scorecard breakdown: Four (4) par threes, ten (10) par fours and four (4) par fives. Three of the par 3s are short – all are 180 yards or shorter. However, the par 5s can be monsters with three greater than 530 yards and two of those 570 yards or more.

Field

This is a major so we have star power throughout the field. It is also a small field with only 98 players currently scheduled to start on Thursday. However, we do have a few players who likely have any chance of making the cut as any former champion is granted a lifetime exemption and a variety of amateur champions from the around the world are also here.

Even with this small field, there is still a cut as the low 44 scores, plus ties and any golfer within 10 strokes of the lead make the cut and get to play on.

The last first time Masters’ entrant to win in his inaugural voyage at Augusta was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. So, debutantes need not apply this week (even with the success last year of freshmen Jonas Blixt and Jordan Spieth).

Also, there are a number of players in the DraftKings’ player pool who are not playing this week. So, make sure that Tim Clark, Harris English, Alexander Levy, Andy Sullivan and Marc Warren aren’t in your lineup as they won’t be at Augusta. Also, Kevin Stadler hasn’t played in three months since a wrist injury and Marc Leishman has other concerns (his wife is extremely ill), so neither may tee it up.

Matt Every ($6,300) was added to the player pool after the initial release of the game so he can be considered this week. If you did early work on your roster, he wasn’t available and is now as he qualified for the Masters after DK issued their initial pool.

The full field can be found here. Or if you choose, you can also check out the full field on the Masters site which also includes historical data for each player in every trip they’ve made to Augusta. You can see how everyone qualified to play the Masters here.

Also, thanks to GolfOdds.com for the odds this week. If you’d like to see a second set of odds, check out the Betting Zone’s odds here – just click on this week’s tournament on the left hand pane.

Past Tournament Results

2014 Winner: Bubba Watson picked up his second victory in three years at Augusta as he battled first time Masters’ participant Jordan Spieth on Sunday. Spieth led early but faded near the turn and Watson hung on to win by three strokes over Spieth and Jonas Blixt. Blixt played all four rounds under par, the only golfer to do so last year.

Here are the top 20s from last three years’ tournaments to give you a wider view of the recent course history.

Statistical Review

This week there are only two stats I’m focused on as course history here is such a great predictor of future success.

Driving Distance – Since the “Tiger-proofing” in 2006, long hitters have reigned supreme. Shorter hitters can succeed, but the bombers (especially those who can maintain some accuracy) are the choice du jour.

Par 5 Scoring – The par 5s offer the best (and sometime only) chance to score at Augusta. For example, Phil Mickelson won in 2006 by going 13 under on par 5s while shooting seven over on par 4s. The history at the Masters is littered with top 10 finishers who lead or come close to leading in par 5 scoring for the week while shooting even or over par on the rest of the holes.

Last year, Bubba Watson led the field in driving distance, T13 in driving accuracy and was 5th in scrambling. That’s a recipe for a win on any course.

DraftKings Expert Picks

Before we jump into the picks, remember that the salaries for the Masters were established weeks ago. Current form isn’t reflected in these salaries, nor is the movement in odds that has happened since the pool was established.

Rory McIlroy | $14,900 – McIlroy is not worth 22% more than the next highest salaried golfer in Bubba Watson. Watson has won here twice in the last three years and McIlroy’s first top 10 here in six trips was last year. He doesn’t have a great history at Augusta (it’s fine, just not outstanding) so I’d rather save some money with a better option.

Bubba Watson | $12,200 – Bubba has won two of the last three Masters and hasn’t missed a cut in his six trips to Augusta. Six of the last 12 Masters’ champions are left-handed. Bubba is left-handed. His worst finish so far this season is a T14 at the NTO.

Jordan Spieth | $11,900 – Is there a hotter golfer in the world right now? His results in his last three tournaments are WIN, solo second, T2. He finished T2 here last year in his debut. There really isn’t much more to say. He’s a premium player and is completely locked in.

Jason Day | $11,300 – Day has two top three finishes in the last four years and his only non-top 20 finish was due to a withdrawal in 2012. He drives the ball well (ninth on Tour this year) and can score on par 5s (T37 this year and T15 last year).

Adam Scott | $10,800 – Scott is switching back to the long putter this week. On the one side, I’m happy to see him go back to the putter that he’s succeeded with in the past. On the other side, I’m concerned with the mental side of his game if he had to swap putters. I’m not a psychiatrist so let’s look at the facts. Scott has been in the top 20 each of the last five Masters so he knows the course inside and out. He’s played sparingly so far this season (just four tournaments) so we don’t have a ton to go on. I will probably look elsewhere in the top tier.

Dustin Johnson | $10,500 – No one is as hot as Jordan Spieth, but Johnson makes a claim for second place. He’s been all or nothing since his return from his “vacation” with six tournaments, two missed cuts and no worse than a T6 in his four tournaments that he’s seen the weekend. He missed the cut last year at Augusta has only one top 20 (a T13) in his other four other starts. He’s the longest driver on Tour this year and is T7 in par 5 scoring so he has the chops to take aim at the course.

Henrik Stenson | $10,100 – Stenson has back to back top 20 finishes. He’s not a long hitter and doesn’t excel on par 5s. But he’s the king of accuracy (12th in driving accuracy and second in GIR) and also leads the tour in strokes gained: total in 2015. Stenson has taken the last two weeks off, but had three straight top five finishes prior to his short break.

Phil Mickelson | $9,900 – Another lefty who has multiple wins at Augusta. However, he’s struggled the last two years with a T54 and a missed cut last year. He enters this year on a roll compared to the last two years as he’s made four straight cuts with T17, T31, T30 and T17 finishes in those four appearances. He seems to be on the right path and could surprise this week.

Rickie Fowler | $9,800 – Fowler is four for four in cuts made at the Masters and had his best finish with a T5 last year. He noted his preparation last year was to focus on the majors and it worked as he dominated the four majors (though left without a win). He hasn’t missed a cut this season, but his results have been all over the place. He’s a risky option in the upper reaches, but could pay big dividends. A solid GPP play for this week.

Justin Rose | $9,700 – Rose makes his way back onto the avoid list this week even though he showed some life last week. He made the cut last week with a T37. He started well with a 69-68 start and then meandered to a 72-72 finish to end 7-under. His nagging wrist injury concerns me and I think it probably affects him as the week wears on. It’s tough to ignore his history here with top 25 finishes the last four years and a clean nine for nine cuts made.

Matt Kuchar | $9,600 – Kuchar cost $11,400 last week, but his salary is below $10,000 this week on a course where he’s made five straight cuts and been in the top 10 the last three years. He sits 17th in strokes gained: putting and 27th in strokes gained: total while leading the tour in sand save percentage. He’s playing great golf currently and his course record is nearly unmatched.

Brandt Snedeker | $9,500 – Snedeker’s worst finish in the last four Masters was last year’s T37. He finished in the top 20 in the other three years. Since joining Butch Harmon’s stable last year, he’s steadied his game and found success including four top 10s this season and a victory at Pebble Beach.

Tiger Woods | $9,400 – Nope. His form is horrific. He’s even money to make the cut. Hank Haney is pretty convinced Woods has the yips and it doesn’t sound like Woods is doing what he needs to overcome them. Tiger hasn’t won here in a decade and the last time he won, Chris DiMarco was relevant on tour.

Patrick Reed | $9,300 – Reed played some of his college golf at Augusta State which is in Augusta, Georgia. This week’s tournament is also played in Augusta, GA. He’s officially played the course once (and missed the cut last year), but he played the course previously while in college (though not with the Masters set up). He comes in playing quite well with four straight top 25 finishes ,and I believe he’s learned his lessons from his early exit last year.

Sergio Garcia | $9,100 – Garcia missed the cut last year for the first time since 2008. Prior to that he had back to back top 15 finishes. He comes in to Augusta with four straight cuts made, but he’s been bitten by Sunday struggles that have dropped him off the leader board in the end. He’s the Spanish Jim Furyk as he’ll likely make the cut, look good heading into Sunday and then lay an egg.

Jimmy Walker | $8,900 – The Texan made his debut last year and overcame the freshman jitters by finishing T8. He enters this week as the 16th highest salaried golfer, but the odds makers have installed him as the ninth favorite to win offering a ton of value. He has two wins this calendar year including his last time out at the Valero where he ran away and hid from the field.

Brooks Koepka | $8,600 – . Koepka makes his debut here which makes me want to avoid him generally. However, he’s also nursing a dislocated rib suffered at the Arnold Palmer. He has not played since so hopefully the rest has done him well, but I’ll look elsewhere this week.

Martin Kaymer | $8,400 – Kaymer has missed two cuts in a row on tour. He’s missed the cut four of seven times at the Masters. He’s never finished higher than T31. Pass.

Lee Westwood | $8,200 – After not finishing worse than T24 this season, Westwood missed the cut last week at the Shell Houston Open. Westwood’s first missed cut since the British Open probably keeps him off of some players’ lists this week. But that just emboldens me to put him into more lineups.

His worst finish at the Masters in the last five years has been T11. He’s got four top 10 finishes and a T11 in the last five years – let that sink in for a minute. He’s priced just below the average cost of a golfer and has top 10 upside this week.

Charl Schwartzel | $7,900 – Schwartzel won here in 2011, but the remainder of his results are middling. He’s a bit overpriced (21 st in DraftKings salary, but only 28th in the eyes of Vegas). I’d rather take his countryman Louis Oosthuizen as he’s in better current form. You can’t ignore the win on Schwartzel’s resume, but it’s not enough for me to jump to far to grab Charl.

Jim Furyk | $7,800 – Furyk is 14 for 16 in cuts made at the Masters. He’s been in the top 25 the last four years. He’s a safe option as he’ll likely make the cut, but probably isn’t a threat to win.

Louis Oosthuizen | $7,600 – Oosty hits the ball a ton, but rarely knows where it’s going. And it shows in his results at Augusta with four cuts missed in six starts. He has a solo second and a T25 in the two years he’s made the cut. He’s finished now lower than T14 in seven tournaments this season, but has also missed the cut twice. He’s a high risk/high reward option built for GPPs.

Angel Cabrera | $7,500 – Cabrera played last week even though his son was in a serious car accident in Argentina. If he played last week, he’s going to play this week on a course at which he’s had years of success. Cabrera missed the cut last year – his first missed cut at the Masters since 2005. He has a win (2009) and three top 10 finishes total since 2006. He sits second (behind Tiger Woods) all-time in scoring average at August for those players with 50 to 74 rounds scored.

Ian Poulter | $7,400 – Poulter missed the cut in 2013 – the only one he’s missed in 10 appearances. Since 2007, his worst finish is T27 and has five top 10 finishes in that time frame. He comes in having made four cuts in a row and can score on par 5s (T27 this year).

Paul Casey | $7,300 – Casey returns after a two year absence from Augusta. And he’s on a roll heading in with three top 10 finishes in his last five tour starts. He also sits 31st in driving distance and fifth in par five scoring average. I really like him to challenge for a top 10 this year.

Hunter Mahan | $7,200 – Mahan’s results are quite volatile. Since 2008 he’s finished CUT, T10, T8, CUT, T12, CUT T26. He’s tied for 70th in driving distance, but is 44th in driving accuracy thus mitigating some of the length challenges he faces on the course. It’s all or nothing with Mahan which makes him a GPP option this week.

J.B. Holmes | $7,200 – Coming in off a win, Holmes will probably be one of the highest owned players. He has the length to overpower Augusta. He’s only played here once (T25 in 2008), so he doesn’t have much of a course history. It’s tough to pass up a player of Holmes’ current form as he’s put up over 100 points in three of his last five tournaments. He’s also rated 15 spots higher by odds makers than his DraftKings’ salary implies – the best value in the top 50 players based on the odds.

Jamie Donaldson | $6,900 – Donaldson’s second appearance at the Masters was far better than his first as he picked up a T14 last year. He’s currently tied for 10th in par five scoring average so he has the ability to take advantage of the course The downside is he’s missed his last two cuts on Tour. The upside is he’s missed his last two cuts and likely no one will be willing to take the plunge.

Chris Kirk | $6,800 – Kirk performed admirably on his maiden voyage at August last year ending with a T20. He comes in with a tidy T19 standing in par five scoring even while being mired in 125th place in driving distance. Something seemed to click at the Valero as he hung in the top 10 all week and finished up &8 with a steady 71-71-73-72.

Miguel Angel Jimenez | $6,600 – Jimenez hasn’t missed a cut at the Masters since 2003. He finished in solo fourth last year and has four top 10 finishes total since 2003 in nine total appearances. Jimenez has yet to miss a cut this season splitting his time between the PGA, European and Champions tours. He played in Mississippi last week and finished T22.

Ryan Palmer | $6,600 – He finished solo 10th in 2011 sandwiched around two missed cuts. Palmer sits 37th in the order of finish based on the Vegas lines. However, he’s only 51st in the salary structure on DraftKings. He’s T27 in par five scoring average and was T23 in driving distance last year (not enough rounds to qualify this year). He comes in hot with his last three results getting progressively better (T25, T12 and T6). At $6,600 he’s a fantastic value.

Fred Couples | $6,400 – If it’s April in Augusta, then Freddy is on my radar. Who has the lowest scoring average at the Masters of players with 100 rounds or more? Fred Couples at 71.91. Jack Nicklaus is second at 71.98. Since missing back to back cuts in 2008 and 2009, he’s made the cut the cut five straight years and has finished in the top 20 every year. He’s played the Champions tour the last two weeks and made the cut including a T15 at the Mississippi Resort Classic.

Branden Grace | $6,400 – Boy, does he crush the ball (16th in driving distance on the European Tour). Boy, does he spray the ball all over the course (198th out of 209 in driving accuracy). Boy, has he not shown much in his last four tournaments (T30 is his best finish). His two results here (T18 and missed cut) encompass his floor and ceiling this week.

Kevin Na | $6,000 – Na’s history isn’t that great with two missed cuts in four stops and his highest finish was a T12 in 2012. However, he’s playing some of the best golf of his life with three top 10 finishes in his last four tournaments. He took last week off so he might be ignored, but there aren’t too many golfers hotter than Na right now.

Charley Hoffman | $6,000 – Hoffman has only played the Masters once and put up a T27 in 2011. However, he’s hot after putting up back to back T11s in the Texas Two Step. He has the ball flight to succeed (seventh in apex height) at Augusta and sits T48 in par 5 scoring and 20th in driving distance. He’s a sneaky good option.

Geoff Ogilvy | $5,800 – Ogilvy is probably not on anyone’s top 30 this week as he comes into the Masters on a poor run. He’s made four of six cuts (missed his last time out) and his best finish was T27 all the way back in January. He hasn’t played at Augusta the last two years. However, he made seven cuts in a row prior to missing the last two years and had five top 25 finishes including a T4 in 2011.

Morgan Hoffmann | $5,800 – Hoffmann makes his debut at the Masters so he’s likely going to be avoided by many DFS players. However, he’s got two things going his way – driving distance (20th) and par 5 scoring (T48). He’s not an accurate driver of the ball, but he can score on those par 5s so he’s a danger this week.

Vijay Singh | $5,400 – Singh has made the cut the last three years and had some significant success at the Masters in the distant past including a win in 2000 and no finish worse than T18 from 2000 to 2008. He’s been up and down since 2008 here and on Tour in general. However, this year has seen a bit of a revival in Singh’s game. He still can’t putt, but he’s made the cut in four of his last five starts. Perhaps he has one last hurrah in him.

Ben Crenshaw | $4,800 – If you want the sentimental pick this week, then Crenshaw is your man. He’s playing his last Masters’ tournament on the 20th anniversary of this finish. He probably has a less than 1% chance of making the cut, but what a story if he did.

Good luck this week! Head over to DraftKings to choose your squad for this week.

DraftKings Scoring

Roster size: 6 Golfers

POINT SCORING

Golfers on each team will accumulate points as follows:

• Per Hole Scoring
  • Double Eagle (DBL EAG): +20 PTs
  • Eagle (EAG): +8 PTs
  • Birdie (BIR): +3 PTs
  • Par (PAR): +0.5 PTs
  • Bogey (BOG): -0.5 PTs
  • Double Bogey (DBL BOG): -1 PT
  • Worse than Double Bogey (WORSE DBL BOG): -1 PT
• Tournament Finish Scoring
  • 1st: 30 PTs
  • 2nd: 20 PTs
  • 3rd: 18 PTs
  • 4th: 16 PTs
  • 5th: 14 PTs
  • 6th: 12 PTs
  • 7th: 10 PTs
  • 8th: 9 PTs
  • 9th: 8 PTs
  • 10th: 7 PTs
  • 11th–15th: 6 PTs
  • 16th–20th: 5 PTs
  • 21st–25th: 4 PTs
  • 26th–30th: 3 PTs
  • 31st–40th: 2 PTs
  • 41st-50th: 1 PTs
• Streaks and Bonuses
  • Streak of 3 Birdies of Better (MAX 1 Per Round) (3+ BIR STRK): +3 PTs
  • Bogey Free Round (BOG FREE RD): +3 PTs
  • All 4 Rounds Under 70 Strokes (ALL 4 RDS UND 70): +5 PTs
  • Hole in One (HOLE IN ONE): +10 PTs

Scoring Notes: Ties for a finishing position will not reduce or average down points. For example, if 2 golfers tie for 3rd place, each will receive the 18 fantasy points for the 3rd place finish result. Playoff Holes will not count towards final scoring, with the exception of the “finishing position” scoring. For example, the golfer who wins the tournament will receive the sole award of 1st place points, but will not accrue points for their scoring result in the individual playoff holes.

Player Lock Notes: All golfers lock at the time the first golfer tees off on day 1 of an event.

Full rules are located here for DraftKings golf.