We’ve waited, and we are here. Finally, the most sacred week for all golf fans has arrived. Although Augusta is not a challenging course to handicap or predict, the best players will rise to the top, and we have to do our best to find spots to get different and separate ourselves from the pack.
2023 Masters DFS: Best Plays in Each Price Range
2023 Masters DFS – $9,000+
Over the last 36 rounds, Scottie Scheffler is on a different planet regarding strokes gained from tee to green. There are only two players that come close to him in that aspect, and those are Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay.
Rory McIlroy $10,600
Rory is set to try yet again at the career Grand Slam, and I am sold that this may be the year for various reasons. First, the stat profile is lining up for a massive breakout. This season is his worst “ball striking” performance was gaining 4.91 strokes at the players. That is truly amazing because that is an enormous week for any player.
The putter has been holding him back, which is rare because Rory is generally a solid putter. He switched to a Scotty Cameron Putter at the WGC Matchplay and gained 2.37 strokes on the greens, which was good to see. Besides that, he has two top five finishes in his last three Masters starts. So play Rory and play Rory HEAVY. He will be your 2023 Masters Champion.
Patrick Cantlay $9,500
The other player who is close to the Scheffler level of ball striking is Patrick Cantlay. Over the last 12 rounds, he is the only player to gain over two strokes from tee to green besides Scottie Scheffler. The ball striking is at an all-time high with Cantlay, but the putting has taken a severe dip. As we know, Cantlay is one of the best putters in the world but has not gained a full stroke to the field on the putting greens since the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Believe Cantlay will be out early at Augusta, getting plenty of reps in on the surfaces because the ball striking is peaking at the right time. I doubt he wants to miss this opportunity to claim a green jacket and his first career major.
2023 Masters DFS – Middle Tier
Viktor Hovland $8,500
Hovland will indeed fly under the radar for this year’s Masters as people will be drawn to Dustin Johnson as the sneaky (not sneaky at all) LIV player, the trendy young bomber Cam Young, or the resilient Jason Day. Hovland lacks a significant aspect of his game that you need around Augusta National, which is the short game, but he can surely make up for it in different areas.
Before the WGC matchplay, Hovland tallied back to back starts of +9 strokes and gained ball striking, which is extraordinary. If he can dial into this, the short game will not be nearly as needed. So look for Viktor to fly a tad under the radar but sniff the leaderboard at the 2023 Masters.
Sungjae Im $8,100
This is too short of a price for a golfer that has two top eight finishes in three Masters starts, as well as being the leader after round one in last year’s event. However, Sungjae is trending well, making eight straight cuts, three of which are top six finishes. Recently, he posted a sixth place finish at TPC Sawgrass in the loaded Players Championship field. So lock in Sungjae Im in your 2023 Masters lineups.
2023 Masters DFS – <$7,000
JT Poston $6,600
I expect Hoge to eat up most of the ownership in this upper 6K range so that we will head down to JT Poston. The last we saw of him, he took the world’s number one Scottie Scheffler to the final hole in the Matchplay playoffs. Now this will be Poston’s second Masters appearance, so expect nerves to be in play, but he is trending at the moment as he has tallied up consecutive top ten finishes. I rave about Poston being a microwave, so you want to play him when the guy is hot!
