The Masters
Course: Augusta National Golf Club (7,565 yards, par 72)
Purse: $21,000,000
Winner: $4,200,000 and 750 FedExCup Points
Tournament Preview
The Masters Tournament is just different. Their tag line being "A Tradition Unlike Any Other" is so perfect. Whether you are a diehard golf fan or not, you have to admit that this is one of the biggest sporting events of the year. A chunk of that has to do with the anticipation. When haven't had a major championship since last July. But the bulk of it has to do with the fact that Augusta National might be the most pristine place on planet Earth. Not a blade of grass ever looks out of place.
All the writing is on the wall for the 90th edition of The Masters to be one of the most exciting ever. There are so many players who have been playing great golf this season, and many others who have a bevy of question marks around them. Two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler has finished outside the top 10 in his last three starts and is just days removed from the birth of his second child. Rory McIlroy is coming off a recent back injury and will have a busy week being the defending champion. Collin Morikawa found his form of old early on this season, but has not played since withdrawing after the first hole of THE PLAYERS last month with a back injury. Then you have Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau who have posted great results on LIV this season, but how will that translate when they face a much more difficult field?
I mentioned there are a ton of players who have been playing great golf too. Cameron Young picked up his biggest win of his career at THE PLAYERS. Ludvig Aberg controlled much of tha tournament before stumbling in the final round. He was in contention last week in San Antonio as well. Matt Fitzpatrick nearly won at Sawgrass and then followed that up with a victory the very next week in Tampa. Xander Schauffele is coming off two straight top-5s and playing some of his best golf since his won two majors in 2024. Robert MacIntyre is coming off back-to-back top-5s as well, while Tommy Fleetwood has been so close to major championship glory and comes in off his fourth top 10 in his last five starts. Then you have some new blood like Jacob Bridgeman, Jake Knapp and Chris Gotterup who have all been crushing it this season.
The point is, we could talk for hours about all the possible storylines this week and by the time Sunday rolls around there will be a handful that we haven't even thought of that are stealing the show. The Masters and Augusta National always deliver and we are sure to have an amazing an event.
Every year we come to The Masters a big topic of discussion is the weather. Early April can always be a bit unpredictable, but Mother Nature is going to bless us this week it appears. There is no significant threat of precipitation all week and we should be able to see Augusta National play exactly how it is supposed to be. There is also not expected to be a ton of wind either. That should allow the setup team to be able to push this course to the absolute limit. I think everyone is expecting to see some of the least receptive and slickest greens we have seen at this course in some time.
Buckle up, folks. We are in for an absolute treat this week.
Recent Champions
2025 - Rory McIlroy (-11)
2024 - Scottie Scheffler (-11)
2023 - Jon Rahm (-12)
2022 - Scottie Scheffler (-10)
2021 - Hideki Matsuyama (-10)
2020 - Dustin Johnson (-20)
2019 - Tiger Woods (-13)
2018 - Patrick Reed (-15)
2017 - Sergio Garcia (-9)
2016 - Danny Willett (-5)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- Par 5 Scoring/Bogey Avoidance
Champion's Profile
Augusta National has the ability to every single club, but the thing it tests more than anything is your mental toughness. You're going to have a few shots every day that look like in the air like you are going to have a great chance at birdie, and then end up catching a slope and it leaves you all you want for par. There is really no worse course to get out of position than Augusta National. Bogeys, double-bogeys and others are so easy to make at this course.
Augusta National leaves players plenty of room off the tee for the most part. There are some fairway bunkers you really won't have a chance on, but it gives you the ability to recover if you hit it in the second cut or the trees. This has been one of the highest correlated courses on the PGA Tour to driving distance. It truly does pay here to be able to bomb it, and it should be an even bigger factor this week because of how firm we expect the greens to be. Much better chance to stop of wedge of some kind than a 7-iron.
Approach has always been king at Augusta. No matter where the drive ends up, the second shot is what really seems to determine your fate. There is no more exacting course on approach than this. Where you can actually land the ball and get it to stop close to the hole is so small, and the penalty for missing that area can be so penal. The best iron players have a better chance to be able to separate at this course than just about anywhere else.
Another huge area of separation this week will come via the short game. Players will face some of the most delicate shots around these greens that they have ever seen. It is going to take some terrific touch to be able to give yourself a good chance to get it up-and-down for par. You'll probably be able to count on one hand the amount of players who don't look foolish at some point this week with a shot around one of these severe greens. But then again, that just goes back to the importance of mental toughness and being a grinder this week.
One last key thing to keep in mind is the importance of par-5 scoring. That is where the score is made, and it's usually hang on just about everywhere else. The four par-5s are all reachable for most players and will give you a decent chance with two well executed shots. That said, almost all of them pose significant danger with one poor shot as well. We often see some huge swings on those holes.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Scottie Scheffler ($13,800)
Scheffler comes in at his usual hefty price on FanDuel, but as mentioned before there are certainly some questions. That said, Augusta National is a place where sometimes form for some guys can be thrown at the window. Scheffler has never finished outside the top 20 here to go along with a pair of wins in 2022 and 2024. His short game and putting has been very strong this year, but the ball striking is actually what he has needed to work on the most. If anyone was going to get it to click for this one week, however, it would be the best ball-striker over the last five years by a significant margin.
Bryson DeChambeau ($12,100)
It took DeChambeau a long time to figure out how to attack Augusta National, but he has finally figured it out. He has been in the hunt to win each of the last two years before finishing T6 and T5. The fact that DeChambeau loves to hit a right-to-left shot and can hit it so far makes this course setup perfectly for him. His short game and putting is also so underrated. DeChambeau is so much more than just a long driver, he has the grit to be able to win this event as long as his approach play is solid. It doesn't hurt that he won the last two LIV Golf events as well.
Ludvig Aberg ($11,600)
Aberg is no longer just a trendy pick, he might be THE pick to win The Masters. He comes into the week off three straight top-5 finishes. He finished second and seventh in his first two Masters Tournaments, both of which he had a realistic shot to win. Aberg has the perfect demeanor for an event like this. He always has a great attitude and doesn't seem to let anything get to him. Aberg is one of the best drivers in the world, and his short game and putting have been incredibly consistent this year. He needs to put it together on a Sunday, but everything is there.
Xander Schauffele ($11,300)
Schauffele had a very disappointing 2025 season, but he looks to be all the way back to me. He is coming off a solo third at TPC Sawgrass and then a T4 at Innisbrook. He was incredibly strong on approach in both of those events, which bodes extremely well for his prospects at Augusta. He has a great record around this place with five career top-10s, including three straight. Schauffele has drove the ball much better this year, and the short game and putting are nearing where it was in 2024.
The Middle Tier
Matt Fitzpatrick ($10,900)
These next two players are both on the high end for this range, but they both have an excellent chance at winning. Lets start with Fitzpatrick who finished runner-up at Sawgrass and this won the very next week at the Valspar. His ball striking has never been better, as he ranks 16th in SG: Off-the-Tee, ninth in total driving, seventh in SG: Approach, fourth in GIR percentage and sixth in proximity. The Englishman is also top 25 on Tour in SG: Around-the-Green, bogey avoidance and par-5 scoring. Fitzpatrick has finished in the top 25 in three of the last four years at Augusta.
Cameron Young ($10,800)
Young is a lot like DeChambeau in that his ball flight is perfect for Augusta. Young loves to hit a draw and he can carry a lot of the trouble. His confidence has to be at an all-time high after winning THE PLAYERS with a great final round. The approach play and putter is red hot right now and his short game has been solid too. Young has finished top 10 in two of the last three years at Augusta. There's a lot of value at this number.
Patrick Reed ($10,100)
Doesn't matter the form or the year, Reed gets it done at Augusta. He has finished inside the top 12 in five of the last six Masters. That doesn't even include his win back in 2018 when he stared down McIlroy. Reed is the ultimate grinder and when things get tough that's when he is at his best. He should enjoy these firm and fast conditions. His short game and putting is hard to beat, and his approach play has been strong so far this year. Reed has been playing on the DP World Tour and he has already racked up four top-10s, including a pair of victories, one of which was against a great field at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Nicolai Hojgaard ($9,200)
Hojgaard is an uber-talented player who is so close to that first PGA Tour win. He finished runner-up in Houston, which was his fourth top-6 finish of the year. The numbers are impressive across the board for the Dane who ranks top 25 in driving distance, SG: Approach, scrambling and SG: Putting. Two years ago Hojgaard was leading after the 10th hole on Saturday, but had to settle for a T16. He's a better player now and it likely wouldn't surprise many people this time around if he was in contention on the weekend again.
The Long Shots
Jake Knapp ($9,100)
Knapp leads the PGA Tour in SG: Total and scoring average. Getting him in the low-$9K range is an absolute steal for another bomber capable of moving the ball in both directions. The putter has been sensational for Knapp this year, as he's second to only Bridgeman at 1.285 strokes gained per round on the greens. Knapp also leads the Tour in par-5 scoring and is top 3 in scrambling and bogey avoidance. We haven't really seen Knapp get after it in a major, but it's hard to do better than six top-11s in seven starts in 2026 -- a few of those on tough tracks.
Ryan Gerard ($8,500)
Gerard has not played quite as well of late compared to how hot he started the year, but he has a game that should thrive at Augusta. He ranks 12th in SG: Approach, eighth in GIR percentage, 28th in total driving and 14th in par-5 scoring average. The short game does concern me a bit, but Gerard is a tough player who has proven on several occasions this year an ability to pop with the putter. There's a big fall off from the $9K to the $8K range, but I think Gerard has one of the highest upsides you will find down here.
Kurt Kitayama ($8,100)
Iron play typically reigns supreme at Augusta, so why not target a player like Kitayama who excells at that part of the game? The 33-year-old ranks 11th in SG: Approach, seventh in GIR percentage and 16th in proximity so far this season. He is also 26th in total driving, 10th in scrambling and sixth in bogey avoidance. Kitayama struggled with the putter in his last two starts, so that will be a big focus for him prior to Thursday's opening round. He putted quite well earlier this season en route to a T2 at Riviera.
Carlos Ortiz ($7,500)
Ortiz is a very sneaky play this week. He is 64th in the DataGolf rankings, which is quite a bit higher than a number of players he is priced around. The combination of his iron play and short game is very strong, and he hits it far enough to be a legit factor at Augusta. Ortiz finished T4 at the U.S. Open last year and has finished inside the top 8 in two of his last three starts leading up to The Masters.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Because there are so many players with either great course history or great current form, there are so many different players you can make a great argument for including in a lineup this week. I expect to see quite a wide spread of ownership among everyone from $10K up. This is a week where you need to go 6-for-6 to have a legit chance of cashing. The cut here is top 50 and ties from this field of 91 players. That said, a number of those that will miss the cut will be occupied by some of the older past champions and amateurs. There is no other cut that pros hate missing more than this one.
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