Pro Golf Now
Fansided

2019 Masters: Draftkings Picks and GPP Strategy

By Hans Geevers

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 17: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the fourth hole during the final round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 17, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 17: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the fourth hole during the final round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 17, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Well it’s finally here! The 2019 Masters is just a few days away. The Masters is always a great week for DFS players. In this week’s article, I will provide my Draftkings picks for the Masters as well as my thoughts on how to construct your GPP (guaranteed prize pool) lineups. 

So let’s take a look at GPP strategy for the Masters to start. This event is very unique when it comes to playing GPP tournaments this week. This tournament currently has a field of only 87 players. The Masters also allows former champions to play the event. This means that players such as Fred Couples and Larry Mize will be in the field this week.

I think it’s fair to say that a certain segment of the field don’t really have a chance to wear the green jacket on Sunday. Allowing the older champions to play is nice, but for Draftkings players, it basically means eliminating about 15 players from the field when developing GPP lineups.

More from Pro Golf Now

Now that I have narrowed the field eliminating players I deemed highly unlikely to win, I am down to about 65 players. This is obviously a drastic difference from most PGA Tour events. Hence the reason that you must look at the Masters differently when playing GPPs.

In my opinion, the way to differentiate your lineups from others in standard GPP tournaments can be done in a few different ways:

  1. Gain leverage on the field: This can be done by your assessment of what players will be the least owned in a given GPP. For example, if you think that Jimmy Walker will be only owned by 5% percent of the GPP field and you feel strongly that Walker will win you could own 50% of Walker to gain leverage. How does one do this? Well, if you have 20 lineups in a GPP tournament with a 20 entry maximum you could have Walker in 10 of your lineups.
  2. Leave money on the table: This is a simple one. Each lineup is allowed to have a maximum of 50,000 dollars. Most people that play GPPs use all 50,000 on the six players they choose for lineups. Rather than using 50,000 maybe only use 49,000 on your lineups. By doing so, you will differentiate your lineups from the vast majority in the GPP you are playing.

2019 Masters: Draftkings Picks 

Rory McIlroy (11,600) I rarely eat the chalk when I play Draftkings. However, this week I am making an exception. The 2019 Players Champion is displaying some outstanding form. He has top 10 finishes in his last 6 events on the PGA Tour. Additionally, McIlroy has very good course history at Augusta. His last 5 results at the Masters are: 8th, 4th, 10th, 7th, and 5th. I don’t see a scenario where he is not contending on Sunday.

Tiger Woods (10,500) The 4 time Masters Champion had a resurgence in 2018. After battling injuries in previous years, Tiger illustrated that he can still compete on the PGA Tour at a high level. He finished runner up at the 2018 Valspar Championship and of course capped off 2018 with a win at the Tour Championship. This year, Tiger has continued playing some quality golf. He currently ranks 4th on the PGA Tour in GIR. For my money, no person knows this course better than Tiger Woods. Course knowledge is a great asset this week.

Rickie Fowler (9,700) He has demonstrated a high level of consistency this year. He has made his last 18 cuts on the PGA Tour. Fowler won the 2019 Waste Management Open in February and followed that up in March with a runner up finish at the Honda Classic. He currently ranks 8th on Tour in strokes gained putting. Fowler finished runner up at the Masters in 2018. In my opinion, Fowler is very motivated to win his first major and this course fits his game.

Louis Oosthuizen (8,100) Oosthuizen is a player that is somewhat of an enigma. He can be can be inconsistent with his play on the PGA Tour. He can sometimes frustrate DFS players with an occasional withdrawal from a tournament as well. However, the 2010 Open Champion seems to save his high level play for major championships. He has finished at least runner up in all four majors. His last two tournament finishes are a 2nd at the Valspar Championship and a 5th at the WGC Match Play. Louis also has made his last 5 cut at the Masters.

If you are looking for additional lower priced players to fill your lineup this week I like the following:

Charles Howell III (7,000) Howell currently ranks 2nd on the PGA Tour in GIR.  The 2018 RSM Classic Champion has made 10 consecutive cuts on Tour.

Charley Hoffman (6,800) Hoffman has several missed cuts in 2019. However, he has put together 2 consecutive decent finishes. Hoffman finished 18th at the Valspar and 2nd at last week’s Valero Texas Open. Hoffman seems to always play well at the Masters as well.

Next. The Masters: Top 10 power rankings at Augusta National. dark

Those are the picks this week for Draftkings, and my picks for GPP play as we approach The Masters. As always, good luck!

Home/Fantasy Golf