For the second time in less than six months, the PGA Tour will be heading to Augusta National Golf Club (par 72, 7,475 yards) for our first major of the 2021 season, the Masters. Dustin Johnson added a green jacket to his decorated resume this past November for the first ever fall edition of this major, finishing at -20. This marked the lowest winning number in the history of this storied tournament. With some rain leading up to the November Masters and a lack of wind during the event, the players saw some very ideal scoring conditions at Augusta National. This time around, there is a chance of thunderstorms for both Friday and Saturday, and there are double-digit wind gusts projected for all four days. It’s safe to say, the conditions are going to be more difficult than they were in the fall, and I strongly believe we should be factoring in bogey avoidance into our models for this major. Johnson led his field in least bogeys back in November, and was the third Masters winner over the last half decade to finish 1st in this statistic.
Just like most courses, finding the greens often is a huge advantage at this famous par 72. Johnson led the fall Masters field in GIR and was the second champion in a row at Augusta National to do so. The fairways are wide and friendly, and the rough isn’t overly penalizing at all, giving longer hitters an advantage. This doesn’t mean we should only be rostering bombers, but if you can’t decide between a pair of golfers, I would give the edge to the player who is more efficient off the tee. Given this is a par 72, there are four par fives to attack this week, and unsurprisingly, they rank as the four easiest holes at Augusta. Capitalizing with at least a birdie on these holes will be important, but the par fours have statistically been more significant at the last five editions of this major. Including Johnson in November, four of the past five golfers to take home the green jacket have ranked 1st in SG on the par fours. The Bentgrass greens here at Augusta National are some of the fastest and most difficult putting surfaces these players will face all season. They are so tricky that it almost levels out the field and many average putters have dawned the green jacket in the past. Still, I believe it is worthwhile to analyze putting splits this week, in an effort to find golfer’s who roll it best on this specific surface.
Compared to the other three major events of the golf season, the Masters presents a smaller field of players. Barring any withdrawals, there will be 88 golfers competing this week, and the top-50 and ties, plus any player that is within ten shots of the lead following the second round will make the cut. In simpler terms, a higher percentage of the field than usual will be moving onto the weekend, certainly making stars-and-scrubs lineups more enticing.
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Abraham Ancer, $7,400
Ancer was outstanding in his Masters’ debut this past November, finishing T13th. He only trailed Johnson in GIR for the week, while also ranking T10 in SG on the par fours at Augusta. These are very impressive accomplishments for a first timer, and Ancer is heading into his second start at the Masters’ in compelling form. His T23 at the Valero Texas Open last week was his ninth top-25 of the season, and the 30-year-old is 29 for his last 32 in made cuts worldwide. Over his past 12 rounds, Ancer ranks 17th in SGT2G, 19th in ball striking and 7th in bogeys avoided.
He is 5/7 at majors for his career, and has made it to the weekend in 11 straight appearances at courses that feature Bentgrass greens. Ancer has all the tools to add another Masters’ top-20 to his resume, and he is vastly underpriced at $7,400.
Joaquin Niemann, $7,400
Niemann struggled in his first attempt at Augusta back in 2018, but the 22-year-old wasn’t half the player he is now. As the 1,527th ranked player in the world at the time, Niemman had yet to turn pro, and this was only his third career start at the PGA level. Since then, the Chilean prodigy has improved each year on TOUR, including the first win of his career, at the 2019 Greenbrier. For the 2021 season, Niemann possesses a spotless 12/12 record, with three top-ten finishes. Furthermore, he ranks 8th in SG OTT, 15th in SGT2G, 2nd in ball striking, 8th in par four scoring, 16th in par five scoring and 23rd in bogey avoidance.
Arriving at Augusta this time around, Niemann is the 28th ranked player in the world and sports +5500 odds on the DraftKings Sportsbook to secure a major title this Sunday. His $7,400 salary underestimates these odds, considering Niemann and Scottie Scheffler carry the same odds to win, but the latter is $1,000 more for DFS purposes.
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Matt Kuchar, $6,800
After his impressive third place finish at the WGC-Dell Match Play, Kuchar carded a T12 at the Valero Texas Open this past weekend. This marks his highest finish in 12 starts this season, and Kuchar produced 7.6 total strokes at TPC San Antonio, which is the most the veteran has amassed in over a year. His game is clearly trending in the right direction and before missing the weekend by one stroke at the fall Masters, Kuchar had made ten consecutive cuts at Augusta National. He has only missed two cuts in 14 starts at this major, finishing inside the top-30 ten times.
Of all the players in the field this week, Kuchar ranks 9th in total career strokes gained at this legendary track, and this is the cheapest the course manger has ever been on DraftKings for a Masters. Rounding into form at the perfect time, Kuchar not only should make it through the cut, but a top-25 isn’t out of question.
SI Woo Kim, $6,700
Kim got right back on track after his first-round withdrawal at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing T9 at the PLAYERS, then T23 at the Valero Texas Open. He shot par or better in all eight of these rounds, and positively gained strokes on APP, T2G and OTT in both starts. Additionally, Over his last 12 rounds, Kim ranks 10th in SG on par fours and 11th in bogeys avoided.
He has finished inside top-25 six times this season, including the win at the American Express just back in January, and the bottom line is Kim is way underpriced for his upside. The 25-year-old has been playing on the weekend at three straight Masters, with two top-25 finishes, and has made eight of his past ten cuts Bentgrass. Of those eight made cuts, Kim posted a top-20 on four occasions.
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