PGA DFS Coverage for the Masters
Oh my god, it’s finally here. It’s Masters week which is basically the biggest week on the PGA Tour schedule. While the other majors are great and all, there is just something special about Augusta National Country Club beside the pimento and cheese sandwiches. The course is so well known by even the casual golf fans starting with “Amen Corner”. There are also tons of storylines heading into the Masters like Tigers going for his 16th major which would tie Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlory once again trying to complete the career grand slam and many more that we’ll discuss throughout the week. Scottie Scheffler heads to Georgia trying to be the champion to successfully defend his title since Tiger Woods 2001-2002. The NFL has its Super Bowl, NASCAR has the Daytona 500 and the PGA Tour has the Masters which is a tradition unlike any other.
The Field: The Masters
The field does not get much better than the Masters. Number one player in the world Scottie Scheffler leads a field of 88 players into Augusta National. Five-time Masters champ Tiger Woods tees it up for the first time since making the cut at the Genesis Invitational. Rory McIlory finished runner up in 2022 after an amazing final round 64 falling three strokes shy of winning his first Masters title. We will also see 18 players from the LIV Tour participating including former Masters champs Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson, alongside Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer. There are 16 newbies this season which includes PGA rising stars Tom Kim, Kurt Kitayama, and Sahith Theegala. We’ve also got a lot of former champions in the field like Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, and Mike Weir to name a few.
The Course: Augusta National Country Club
This is one of the most well known courses in the world. It’s a Par 72 and measures out to 7,435 yards. It is known for extremely long Par 4’s but reachable Par 5’s. The greens are extremely fast and difficult to stick the landing with their shaved edges. Augusta National is known as a second shot golf course which puts emphasis on long iron play. Course history is vitally important when it comes to The Masters even if it is just one previous trip like for the 2016 and 2015 winners, Danny Willett and Jordan Spieth. Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 is the last golfer to take home the green jacket in their debut.
The Weather: Augusta, Georgia
The weather report in Augusta this weekend does not look good. We are looking at thunderstorms rolling in on Thursday afternoon with temperatures in the mid-80s. The storms hang around into the weekend as the temperatures drop into the low-70s and high 60s. It seems like every year the forecast looks bad but somehow the golf gods keep the rain away long enough to get the tournament in without concern. Fingers crossed!
How To Watch the Masters
The Masters will air exclusively on ESPN on Thursday and Friday between 3-7:30pm ET. Saturday coverage will air on CBS starting at 3pm until 7pm eastern. We will see the Sunday coverage begin at 2pm until 7pm eastern. Also, I recommend downloading the official Masters app. That app is the best thing going in golf, no other app compares.
Coverage from Fantasy Alarm
The PGA DFS Playbook will be available on FantasyAlarm.com Wednesday morning at 10am ET. We will also have PGA DFS example lineups available beginning at 2:30pm ET. You can get help with your DFS lineup construction with our usual tools like our PGA DFS Lineup Generator and a run of PGA DFS projections. Oh and did I mention our brand new Value Finder tool? That’s available as well!
I look forward to getting more in-depth in my PGA DFS Playbook. As always, I wish you nothing but the best of luck in your games.
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Justin Thomas arrived at the Travelers Championship amidst a bit of a slump but left with 25 birdies to manage a T9 finish, his first top 10 since March.
Thomas is known for his stellar rate of big finishes over the course of his career but that changed recently with six straight finishes landing outside of the top 10. A cold putter has been the culprit for much of the downturn but he managed to fight through the flat-stick woes this week. Thomas lost 1.9 strokes putting at TPC River Highlands but ranked 3rd in strokes gained tee-to-green. It was a promising result to rebuild some confidence but he still has some work to do in the putting department. Despite the nice finish this week, Thomas is just 66th in the FedExCup race.
Brian Harman tossed together a 6-under 64 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, posting a piece of second place on the final leaderboard (-20).
Harman entered the week with just one top 25 in his last 14 stroke-play events. It's been a slump for the straight shooter but TPC River Highlands was the perfect cure. The Georgia Bulldog gained 4.4 strokes on approach, 3.5 strokes around-the-green, and 4.9 strokes putting. All three ranked 13th or better for the week. This was far from his first taste of success at the course, going in the books as his sixth career top 10 at TPC River Highlands.
Chez Reavie started the day just one shot off the pace but stumbled with a 1-over 71 to drop back to a share of fourth place on the final leaderboard.
Reavie and overnight leader Keegan Bradley were in a tier of their own to begin the day. Reavie dropped a rung with seven pars and two bogeys before the turn. His driver remained steady (12-of-14 fairways) but lost strokes in each of the other three categories of strokes gained today. It was a day to forget but a week to remember for Reavie who still managed a T4 finish, vaulting him from 114th to 95th in the FedExCup race.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler steadied a 5-under 65 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, ending the week on 19-under 261, good for a slice of fourth place.
The Texan piled up 21 birdies and a pair of eagles this week at TPC River Highlands. He ended the week ranked second in strokes gained tee-to-green (+11.08). He's now gained at least 10.6 strokes in that department in six straight events. Scheffler carded three sub-66 rounds this week but a two-birdie 70 on Friday is what held him back from truly contending. The World No. 1 now has six straight top-5 finishes and you have to go back to October to find the last time he finished worse than 12th. It's safe to say he's been the most consistent golfer on the planet over the last nine months.
Rory McIlroy raced out of the gate on Sunday at the Travelers Championship before slowing his pace to record a 6-under 64, ending his week in a share of seventh place (18-under 262).
McIlroy circled birdies on five of the first seven holes today. He couldn't maintain that pace but still bettered the field average by more than three shots today. McIlroy tossed together four sub-69 rounds this week at TPC River Highlands but didn't even sniff contention over the weekend. "I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had." The Northern Irishman now has five straight top-10 finishes and has his game trending back toward the winner's circle just in time for the season's final major and the FedExCup Playoffs.
Patrick Cantlay gave the leader a small scare down the stretch was swallowed two late bogeys to finish on 19-under this week at the Travelers Championship, four shots off the winning tally of Keegan Bradley.
Cantlay was slow out of the gate with eight pars and a birdie before the turn. He applied some pressure with four birdies on the next six holes, all while Keegan Bradley was starting to leak with three straight bogeys. That shrunk the lead to just three shots be Cantlay stumbled home with two bogeys and a par. "I thought I struck the ball very solid all day. Played smart. Not the finish I wanted obviously, but my game is in a good spot and a lot of big tournaments left this summer." The UCLA alum carded four sub-69 rounds this week and led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green. Cantlay now has six straight top 15s at TPC River Highlands. He collected two victories last season but still searching for his first win of the 2022-23 campaign.