Hands down my favorite time of the golf calendar year is the beginning of April when The Masters rolls along and the daily fantasy sports sites release their monster golf contests like the Fantasy Golf Millionaire contest at our partner site DraftKings.
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Drafting a fantasy golf lineup for the Masters can be easy if you focus on a few simple strategies that have remained true every year at Augusta. When I enter a fantasy contest (especially the Milly Maker) there are a few golden rules to live by:
- 1Don’t pick a golfer that is playing his first time at the Masters
- 2Look for guys that always make the cut every year at Augusta
- 3Pick the golfers that are hot heading into the Masters with some top 15 finishes
Masters Contest Strategies
Before we get to Masters picks for 2018 let's look at some simple strategies to help you win some money. I usually create a bunch of lineups but I make two main types:
The list of Masters fantasy picks below don’t include some of the big names because guys like Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy are guys that you should expect to win the tournament regardless and we will have a write up about them in our Who Will Win the 2018 Masters article the week leading up to the Masters. These are all still top PGA Tour players that we think are good anchors for a Masters fantasy golf lineups and why this year they should be picks that are on a bunch of your teams.
Fantasy Golf Masters Picks for 2018
Sergio Garcia
I know you will think it’s strange that Sergio is on the Masters Fantasy Golf Picks list instead of a Who will win the 2018 Masters list but there are good reasons for this. For one thing, there have only been 3 golfers that have gone back to back as winners of the green jacket. The other reason is that a defending Masters champion has a bunch of appearances and responsibilities during the week and that takes the focus away from the golfer. Sergio does play well at Augusta and he should do fine but he’s not going to win so just look at him as a good fantasy pick.
Jon Rahm
Although I don’t like first timers at Augusta, I did take Rahm last year in my Masters golf lineup and if he didn’t have a poor final round 75 he would have finished much better than 27th. This year he will be a costlier salary cap number but he should produce a better result and a solid contender to win too!
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar made a charge at the leaderboard last year but only finished in 4th. Kooch is one of those golfers that seems to make the cut and finish high enough on the Sunday that he gives you great value as a DraftKings pick for his price. He is starting to hit the downslope of his career and he may start to struggle in tournaments but he should still have one solid Masters left in him.
Justin Rose
Rose is one of my favorite fantasy picks for the Masters because he plays the course so well. He’s never missed a cut at Augusta, his worst finish was a T39 in his first ever Masters and his last 3 trips there he’s finished 2nd - 10th – 2nd. He won’t be talked about as much as guys like Day, Spieth, DJ or Rory but he should be in most of your fantasy lineups as a solid pick.
Phil Mickelson
So if you take Lefty in 2018 it goes against a rule of not taking a golfer over 40 to win the Masters. Only 3 golfers have ever done it but I’m not taking Phil to win the Masters – I am taking him for his fantasy numbers. In 25 years he’s only missed 3 cuts and 15 out of 25 years he’s finished in the Top 10 including 3 wins. Some also say that lefties have an advantage approaching some of the holes which explains why Mickelson has done so well there. Don’t overlook him when making your fantasy golf lineup especially after claiming his 1st win on the tour in 4 years at the WGC Mexico Championship.
Bubba Watson
Speaking of lefties, Bubba Watson is a two time Masters champion and showing signs of once again becoming a solid player on tour. The last couple of years have been a bit of a disappointment but a win at the Genesis Open and some solid results in 2018 have made Watson a good fantasy pick once again. He should have low ownership at all DFS golf sites and worth a gamble in a few lineups.
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