What a week at the Masters, and what an absolute tear Scottie Scheffler is on! This is the first time we weren’t on board for one of his wins (no contest for matchplay), and it hurts more than a little given he was only 6% owned. Oh well, onwards and upwards at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island. Partly due to being held the week after a major, the list of past champions is not exactly prestigious. Last year it was a revitalised Stewart Cink, and before that Webb Simpson, C.T.Pan, Satoshi Kodaira and Wesley Bryan. With scores often getting to about 20 under par, there are plenty of birdies to be had.

It’s a particularly short course, which is one of the reasons that we see an unusual winners list full of older guys and flawed golfers. Anyone can get it from tee-to-green reasonably well, which means we tend to see a putting contest here more than anything else. Cink was red-hot with his irons last year, which of course never hurts. In opposition to what I’ve already said, the top of this years field is actually pretty strong with quite a few top players backing up from the Masters.

Draftstars has posted an $8000 prize pool, including $876 to first place. There is also a $2 Mini, and a $10 Single Entry tournament. The aim in DFS golf is always first and foremost to get as many players as possible through the cut, with the winner usually needing all 6 golfers to still be playing on the weekend. After that it is of course very helpful to pick the winner for the week, as well as some other high finishers.
 

 

Love It- Patrick Cantlay $21,360

He didn’t get it done for us last week, but once again Cantlay looks a tad too cheap in this field. His game was in good shape at the Masters, but he could not get any putts to go in. He missed the cut here last season, but in three previous tries he was top 7 on each occasion. Given his short game is usually a strength, I hold no concerns about what we just saw and fully expect a bounce back.

 

Love It- Matt Fitzpatrick $19,340

Fitzpatrick is a bit of a poor mans Cantlay, with his only real weakness being a lack of distance. He’s having his best season so far from T2G, and has always had a really strong short game. Coming off a solid T14 at the Masters and with a strong history here including 3 top 15s in the last 4 years, I think Fitzpatrick is just slightly ahead of the options around him on the board.

 

Love It- Billy Horschel $17,850

Horschel is another having a really strong season, although he struggled on the weekend at the Masters. Still, with a couple of top 10s here in the past and the kind of solid all-round game that can give him a chance in a putting contest, I think he’s a contender for sure. He’s another that isn’t known for his distance, so a shorter course like this levels the playing field against those at the top of the board.

 

Love It- Kevin Na $16,530

Are you sensing a theme among my picks? Even more so than those above, Na is a short hitter who can putt the lights out. He’s finished in the top 11 at this event 6 times in the past! His play hasn’t been great this season, but he’s showed some form in his last two tries at the Match Play and the Masters. If his irons stay hot and the putts are dropping, expect Na to forget all about his perpetually sore back/neck and stay in the mix for a big result here.

 

Love It- Sahith Theegala $13,830

The bottom half of this field is full of a lot of guys that are playing bad or don’t have much chance of winning even at their best. Theegala might be an exception. The inexperienced rookie has been very volatile so far, but he’s shown that there is tremendous upside in all parts of his game. The trick is putting it all together. We’ve already seen a couple of weeks where he got close, with a T7 and a T3 in 2022 already. He’s not overly long, so the short course is a slight boost, and we just have to hope the irons and/or putter are on a good week.

 

Hate It- Jordan Spieth $18,530

After a bit of a revival last season, things are starting to look worrying again for the former phenom. A 2nd place at Pebble beach is the outlier this season as his usually excellent putting has deserted him. His T2G game still seems fine, but in a tournament where putting is king I’m not too keen to chase someone that has putted well 1-2 times in 9 tournaments this season. His ownership will probably be low as people see the declining results, but there are better GPP plays out here who are actually playing well, and less expensive.

Suggested Draftstars Line-up

Masters Results

Cantlay- T39, still surprised that he wasn’t in the mix, should have suited him well. Short game was the main issue.  44.5 points.

Thomas- T8, a bad opening round was salvaged by an excellent weekend. His driver was the only thing that stopped him contending. 79.5 points.

Zalatoris- T6, a cracking 67 in the final round made him a good play in the end. Should win something soon.  83 points.

Young- MC, was way off the pace on debut, losing strokers in almost every category. Maybe next year!  13 points.

Leishman- T30, didn’t get as windy as I expected, and his putting was pretty bad by the numbers.  46 points.

Woods- 47, a good start inevitably came undone as the fatigue & pain started to take it’s toll. Justified the fade.  42 points.

 

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