Consider me “tuned up” for The Masters. The Valero Texas Open was the most profitable event to date this season. This column rode the immaculate form from 22-year-old Akshay Bhatia and Hideki Matsuyama’s steadfast attention to detail throughout the bag to win multiple small tournaments and sweep every head-to-head. Even longshot Peter Kuest stayed hot after Monday’s qualifying to leverage the field in larger-field DFS contests. I was popping bottles, but now a solemn tranquility has descended upon me. It’s time to buckle down and take on Augusta National.
Masters week is special. It is everything a golf fan yearns for and might be the only example of perfection achieved. Spring has penetrated the forest hollows of Georgia. The super bloom has spotted Amen Corner, with vibrant pastels illuminating even the darkest shade beneath the pines. Eighty-nine of the best golfers in the world are here to hopefully don a specially tailored green jacket on Sunday. Map and flag. Azalea and magnolia. Pine straw and Rae’s Creek. The beauty is stifling and elicits a deeply emotional response within me.
PGA DFS: The Masters (2024)
(Salaries courtesy of DraftKings)
For all the romanticism adorning Augusta National Golf Club, the golfers will be battling tougher demons between their ears than across the 7,555 yards. A standard par-72, Augusta National is truly unique in every other way. The only shots with even footing are from the tee boxes. The severe undulations run from the treelined fairways to greens that roll like a wavy sheet of glass. Executing each shot precisely while considering the next one is essential to win here. Familiarity with the course is also more important at the Masters than perhaps any other event on the calendar. Augusta National is notoriously unkind to debuting golfers.
Major tournaments bring more accounts into the DFS contest lobbies, thus incentivizing small-field, limited-entry tournaments in which to allocate bankroll to this week. The condensed field also pushes the experienced player to limit their player pool to a smaller core of high-confidence golfers. Building lineups turned out easier than expected because of unruly chalk on golfers who I wasn’t going to roster anyway. With the roll we’ve been on, confidence is at an all-time high. Grab a pimento cheese and dive in with me.
High-Priced ($9,000 & Above)
- Chalk Plays: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama
- Chalk Fades: Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Ludvig Åberg
- Leverage Plays: Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth
Mid-Priced ($7,600 to $8,900)
- Chalk Plays: Sahith Theegala
- Chalk Fades: Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick
- Leverage Plays: Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau
Value-Priced ($7,500 & Below)
- Chalk Plays: Patrick Reed, Russell Henley, Si Woo Kim, Denny McCarthy
- Chalk Fades: Corey Conners, Taylor Moore, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia
- Leverage Plays: Justin Rose, Akshay Bhatia, Phil Mickelson, Matthieu Pavon, Tiger Woods, Jake Knapp, Kurt Kitayama
