The Masters is one of the most exciting golf tournaments of the PGA Tour. The first Major Championship of the season, it is typically the first big tourney that brings together all of the top names of golf. Sometimes we see a big name in professional golf win this, other times a virtual unknown will surprise people. It really is a tournament where anything can happen because it is so early in the season.
That is part of why The Masters is so popular for fans of daily fantasy golf. While there’s always an element of surprise when it comes to fantasy sports, the best fantasy managers are capable of incorporating that into their rosters and doing well regardless. Our goal with this Masters preview is to give you a better idea of what is expected to happen, and how you can compensate for that in your fantasy golf league.
Here are five golfers to watch in the days leading up to The Masters and our analysis. More than likely, you will find each one of these listed below ranked in the top ten on your favorite daily fantasy golf site. But that doesn’t mean that they all are worth drafting.
Dustin Johnson: Johnson is ranked number one in the world right now, and we can’t disagree with that. He is having a strong start to this season, and the ending of last season was even stronger. He won his last three tournaments. That’s really impressive, even if you take into account the fact that one was a Pro-Am. There’s no one that’s on a hotter streak than Johnson right now. Should you draft Johnson? He certainly is a top five threat here. He finished T4 last year, and he’s playing better now than he did then. The only real concern about drafting Johnson is how much you’re willing to spend. If your league has him at a realistic price, we recommend grabbing him. But if he’s out of your price range, there are other golfers that you can draft that will have only slightly lower projections. Building a roster around Johnson might be the best plan you could have, though.
Jordan Spieth: Some analysts have placed Spieth as the number one pick to win The Masters this year. He is certainly a strong choice, but maybe not the best. Spieth won back in 2015, and then fell apart in the fourth round last year, losing the tournament for himself in the back half to Danny Willett. Spieth has potential to do well, especially because he has already started his season on a strong note and he has gained a reputation for playing strong early in the season. The reality here though, is that Spieth’s only win so far this season was in a Pro-Am tournament. He showed weakness in the second round of Shell Houston, falling apart with a 77 stroke count. Spieth has shown signs of greatness, but his last four tournaments have not. While Spieth might be a number one choice for some, we suggest you pass on him. He will be expensive in pretty much every league, and he doesn’t have the numbers yet to back that.
Hideki Matsuyama: Matsuyama’s best ever Masters finish is 5th, and we expect him to be right around that this year. Matsuyama has already shown improvements when it comes to distance and accuracy on the drive from last season to this, and that’s a big strength for him at Augusta. Matsuyama has been a little weak his last few tournaments, but he had an impressive win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. Matsuyama seems to be a better fundamental golfer than he was last season, which bodes well for the stiff competition that he’ll face at The Masters. We can foresee a top five finish from him, making him an ideal draft pick, especially if you can squeeze him in as your number two choice.
Rickie Fowler: It would be foolish of us to overlook Rickie Fowler heading into The Masters. While he didn’t have the most impressive 2016 season, Fowler has already shown signs of improvement when it comes to consistency, even if it is early in the 2017 season. His strong early play at Shell Houston was also quite impressive, leading us to believe that he is a shoe-in to make the cut for the first Major, and a top five contender. A win at the Honda Classic in late February didn’t hurt the case for Fowler, either. He has missed only one cut this season, and it was back in January. Since then, he has been improving with every tournament. This is the biggest tournament so far, but he is on pace to impress.
Rory McIlroy: McIlroy is one of the best, there’s no question about that. In his three main tournaments this season, he has finished T4, T7, and T4. Our biggest concern about McIlroy is that his best finish at The Masters is a 4th place finish in 2015. He is capable of better, but he has never shown us that this early in the season. McIlroy has fought injuries for the better part of the last year, and although he seems to be in top shape right now, it’s hard to tell what he will show us. The past has indicated that this is not the time of year where McIlroy is at his peak. Could that possibly change? For sure. Should you invest a huge chunk of your salary on that speculation? Probably not. If you can draft him as a number two spot golfer, he has a lot of potential to add value to your lineup. But if he’s your most expensive golfer, there may be issues. We really like McIlroy here—much more than we typically would at this point in the season. But unless you have a good price for him at your fantasy site, he’s going to eat up salary. He will contribute points, but at the cost of other points further down your roster.
