The Masters One and Done Picks
Golf fans and one-and-done players have waited nearly nine months for major championship golf to return, and it is back at the most iconic golf course in the world -- Augusta National. Last year's Masters that saw Rory McIlroy complete the career Grand Slam will be tough to top, but this tournament always delivers, and it feels like more golfers than usual have a chance to claim the Green Jacket.
The 90th Masters kicks off a crucial stretch in One and Done leagues. The next five events will either be majors or Signature Events, which will include much larger purses and lead to big changes in the standings. If you had a slow start, there is still plenty of time to surge up the list, and what better time to start than now.
As has been the case since LIV Golf formed, one-and-done strategy for the majors gets a twist. There are only four weeks in the season in which you can deploy LIV Golfers, and there is ample reason to use talented options like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau at some point. Both are likely to be very popular here given their form and track record at Augusta.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.
SIGN UP NOW FOR THE ULTIMATE MASTERS CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY ROTOWIRE!
Course Tidbits
- Course: Augusta National Golf Club (7,656 yards, par 72)
- Location: Augusta, Georgia
- Purse: $21 million -- $4.2 million to winner
- Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy (-11)
- 2025 Scoring Average: 72.68
- 2025 36-Hole Cut: +2
- Average Winning Score Last 5 Years: -10.8
Augusta National is the most exacting golf course out there, and it should be even more than usual with the lack of rain both this week and in weeks past. Players have to be so precise on approach to allow for birdie putts on which they can be aggressive. This is a course where you need to be very patient and let the scores fall where they may. If golfers try and force birdies, a round will go downhill in a hurry more often than not.
Driving distance has been a key factor to success at Augusta in recent years. There is room to spray tee balls a bit and get away with it to some degree. At the same time, there are certain spots you just can't miss it. That goes for approach play as well. The best players know where to miss it to each hole location. Misses on the proper side will leave a pretty straight forward up-and-down, while getting a little too aggressive and missing on the wrong side can lead to complete disaster.
Overall, quality approach play and short game are musts around Augusta National. Those are two areas where the best players can really separate, but that extra gear off the tee can lead to even more birdie opportunities -- especially if the greens are as firm as anticipated.
Scoring has been pretty consistent after the one-off November Masters that Dustin Johnson won at 20-under-par. The winning score over the last five Masters has fallen between 10- and 12-under-par. The 36-hole cut will allow the top 50 plus ties among the 91-man field to play the weekend.
It's a new era of golf, as this will also be the first Masters Tournament without Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson since 1994.
Visit RotoWire's PGA earnings report to find total winnings and winnings per entry via our fantasy golf stats pages.
RotoWire One and Done Tools
- One and Done Rostership
- Tournament History/Current Form
- Projected Player Schedule
- OAD Strategy
- OAD Full Season Planner
The Masters: One and Done Picks
It took DeChambeau several years to figure out how to attack Augusta, but he has certainly found the formula. He was right in the mix the last two years before settling for a T6 and a T5. DeChambeau's driver is obviously a massive advantage, but it could be even more so this week with many holes asking for a right-to-left tee shot, which he is extremely comfortable with. DeChambeau's short game and putting don't get enough credit for how strong they are. He is not going to get outworked by anyone and has the mental toughness to grind over every shot. --Ryan Andrade
Regular readers will know my OAD strategy in the majors. LIV golfers are available only for the majors -- pick them. Don't waste a Jon Rahm or a Bryson DeChambeau ... or a Reed. Of course, Reed is not with LIV anymore, but he's not on the PGA Tour, either, and his starts will be limited to the majors and probably the Scottish Open. Reed, Rahm and DeChambeau will be in all the majors, but this one far and away presents Reed's best chance to win -- and his chances of doing so are almost as good as the other two. He won in 2018 and finished top-5 two of the past three years. That includes a third-place result in 2025 that was better than both Rahm and DeChambeau. --Len Hochberg
Although he's no longer a LIV golfer, Reed can be treated as such in one-and-done leagues. He should carry a significant rostership discount compared to Rahm and DeChambeau, which can help you gain ground if you're further back in the pack. The course history is evident for the 2018 Masters champion, who placed 3-T12-T4 the past three years at Augusta. Reed leads the DP World Tour in SG: Total per round and he's second in SG: Approach, and he posted wins at the Qatar Masters and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in the process. --Bryce Danielson
No doubt DeChambeau is a popular OAD pick this week, and rightfully so. Making his 10th Masters start, he arrives with back-to-back top-6 finishes at Augusta, including a T5 last year. He showed last April that he has the full skill set to contend here, leading the field in SG: Around the Green while ranking third in SG: Off the Tee and seventh in SG: Tee to Green. The current form is there, too. DeChambeau is one of only two players with two wins this year, and five of the last six Masters champions had already won twice before teeing off at Augusta. It doesn't hurt that he currently leads LIV in eagles, ranks third in GIR and fourth in putting. How that stacks up against PGA competition is less of a concern this time around, especially with several top contenders carrying question marks into the week. --Lauren Jump
I thought hard about Reed because if he wins, I could climb into first place. However, I decided to limit myself to Rahm and DeChambeau because we only get four shots at these guys all season. If Scottie Scheffler was playing better I'd certainly consider him, but with a couple quality LIV options I went this route -- and I leaned toward Rahm over DeChambeau for a couple reasons. The first is the track record here. While DeChambeau played well the past couple years, Rahm has played well here for a decade. The second is that it seems like Rahm is finally at ease with where he's at, and it's showing in his results. In previous years it seemed he was struggling heading to Augusta, but that's not the case this time around. --Greg Vara
It took a little while for Aberg to get going in 2026, as an illness led to a withdrawal and a missed the week after, but he has turned the corner since the start of the Florida Swing and has now run off three straight top-5s. A blown three-shot lead through 54 holes at THE PLAYERS has fans questioning his ability to close, but often those learning experiences result in success soon after. Aberg's game -- without a weakness -- fits Augusta well, which has translated into a runner-up finish in his 2024 debut and a solo seventh last year. I think the fifth betting choice on the board is a great pivot off the top favorites. --Ryan Pohle
Course history matters more at Augusta than most places, and among players with two or more appearances only one -- Aberg -- has a better average finish. Since Scheffler's first trip down Magnolia Lane in 2020, no one has fared better from tee to green nor around the greens. Others have rolled it better at Augusta, but Scheffler ranks 17th on Tour in that department this season, so I'm hardly concerned about the putter. Scheffler has had a couple weeks to snap out of the "slump" most golfers could only hope for, and what better way to welcome his second child than with his third Green Jacket. --Kevin O'Brien
The Masters: One and Done Fades
It's a shame to list Morikawa here, because prior to the back injury that forced him from THE PLAYERS he was arguably the Masters favorite given how well he was playing and the five straight top-20s he has posted at Augusta. Morikawa was slated to return to action at last week's Valero Texas Open, but he just wasn't ready. Listening to some interviews with Morikawa this week, he is still struggling to fully trust his body. Augusta is the last place you want to be going to when you are a little off or not quite comfortable. Save Morikawa for later in the year once this injury is fully healed. --Ryan Andrade
It's just too hard to repeat -- no one has done it since Tiger in 2002. In fact, it's incredibly hard just to even finish top-10 the next year. That has been done just three times in the past 19 years. There will be so much going on for McIlroy this week. He's the Biggest Man on Campus. From the Champions Dinner to being feted wherever he walks, this is not the year to expect his best performance. So this is fade in the sense that he won't contend for the top spot. --Len Hochberg
I'm trying to provide actionable advice here rather than "fading" someone that nobody's picking. DeChambeau's OAD rostership is likely going to be a bit too inflated for my liking after back-to-back wins on LIV and a pair of top-6 finishes in his last two trips to Augusta. His iron play wasn't all that good in South Africa when the driver and putter guided him to victory, and he lost more than two strokes on approach in three of his last four Masters appearances. With Augusta likely drying out, I also worry about his wedge play on tight lies around firm and fast greens. He's certainly good enough to win anytime he tees it up, but I'd rather target DeChambeau's scoring upside in DFS and save him for another major in this format. --Bryce Danielson
A year ago, I correctly picked Rory to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta, but this year I'm fading the defending champion. Yes, the course suits his game, but the OAD implications do not. McIlroy, known to struggle in opening rounds at Augusta, just hasn't played that much or that well lately for me to fully buy in. The historical odds are also working against him, with only three players in Masters history successfully defending their title. I love Rory's Champions Dinner menu but don't love his chances of slipping on another Green Jacket. --Lauren Jump
It is really tough to find a top-tier guy to fade at the Masters because almost all of them have solid track records. Almost all of them. Fitzpatrick has only missed the cut here twice in 12 starts, so it's not like he can't get around Augusta, but for some reason he's never had a high-end finish. His best showing came in 2016, when he finished T7. While he has a handful of top-25s in his 12 starts, there seems to be something keeping him from contending on a yearly basis. His form is great at the moment, so perhaps he figures it out this year, but with so many good options I don't see the need to take a chance on a guy who has never finished top-5. --Greg Vara
It's always temping to go with one of the top LIV options being this is one of only four tournaments we can to use them, but considering how popular DeChambeau and Rahm will be, you need a top finish for it to pay off. I'm more hesitant on DeChambeau, who even en route to his T5 last year had to gain 2.2 strokes per round with his short game to do it. He has traditionally struggled to dial in his irons around Augusta, which has led to inconsistent results. That's not a great recipe for success, so I'd rather save him for Aronimink and the PGA Championship -- his best major. --Ryan Pohle
McIlroy claimed his first Masters last year and has seven other top-10s on his Augusta ledger, but only three golfers ever have gone back-to-back, so history suggests he will have to wait for Green Jacket No. 2. With it being early in the season and several quality options available, I'm saving McIlroy for another big spot later in the campaign. --Kevin O'Brien
Don't get burned by late withdrawals. Visit RotoWire's PGA tournament field page for a live-updated summary of the field for the current week and list of players who have dropped out.
