Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- The Masters

OVERVIEW
It’s finally here! Spring has officially sprung once the PGA Tour hits Augusta National. There’s something about this tournament that just makes you smile even talking about it and that’s coming from someone who has never stepped foot on the property, let alone driven by Magnolia Lane. The story lines this week – Will Tiger finally win his first major since the knee injury? Will Rory finally complete the Grand Slam? Is Jordan the best Augusta National player ever? Ok, that seems like a stretch considering he is tied with Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Angel Cabrera, and Patrick Reed for total green jackets, but still. They say employee’s productivity diminishes during March Madness, but I personally plow through that garbage to kick my feet up on the desk for eight hours of Amen Corner, both Featured Groups and 15 & 16 coverage on Masters.org and the Masters app. Outside of playing real golf, this is my favorite past time and that’s grown exponentially with the introduction of DFS and almost legal sports betting. Obviously, the highlight of the week is the Millionaire Maker, where you can compete with 235,294 of your best friends for $1 million dollars. Second place in the Millionaire Maker probably feels close to finishing runner-up at the event itself as you’ll only collect $150,000 (still not a bad prize for $20 entry). If you’re playing to win the top prize, your lineup needs to be pretty damn close to perfect and while there’s already been some talk about aggregate ownership, I think the more important part of your lineup is nailing the one to two players who are sub 9% owned, who either get a hole in one or finish inside the Top 10. Obviously if I knew who that was going to be, I wouldn’t be wasting my weekend writing about the event and I’d be there in person double fisting my favorite beverages. I think this is an important week to listen to some podcasts, but only to find out who is being touted. Make your own decisions and don’t let group-think persuade your decisions. There’s nothing better than being right this week based on YOUR research and not something someone has told you to look at.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

o The Course
• Augusta National Golf Club
• Par 72
• 7,400 yards
• Bentgrass greens
o Location: Augusta, GA
o Corollary Courses/Performances: API (Bay Hill)
o Cutline: Top 50 and ties AND anyone within 10 strokes of the lead (if the Top 50 is outside of 10 strokes, then that’s who will make the cut – Example: Leader is -10 through 36 holes, Player X is -2 but is in 50th place and Player Y is Even but in 52nd place. Player Y will not make the cut).
o Past Champions:
• 2018: Patrick Reed over Rickie Fowler
• 2017: Sergio Garcia -9 in a playoff over Justin Rose
• 2016: Danny Willett -5 over Jordan Spieth & Lee Westwood
• 2015: Jordan Spieth -18 over Phil Mickelson & Justin Rose
• 2014: Bubba Watson -8 over Jonas Blixt & Jordan Spieth

KEY STATS TO TARGET

o Strong Emphasis – SG: APP, Par 5 Scoring, Birdies or Better, Scrambling
o Important – P4 Scoring (specifically 450-500 yards), SG: Putting

Sign up for an FGI account today to see the rest of this post.