Best time of the year, and with DK running a Million Dollar tournament, we can only hope that some people get lucky, win some money, and decide they’re good at this and want to keep betting after.

Check out the GOTM preview here.

Jack’s Picks

Well this is awkward. Just last week in this same space I wrote how I was 6/6 and likely to go 7/7. Pretty sure on our twitter account, I mentioned how using our picks was like “printing money”. Maybe not now that I tried to find that tweet, but I can tell you, I was thinking that. But now after my lineups got destroyed at the Shell Houston Open, I’m back to humbly offering my picks, but only if you want to use them.

The Masters is an interesting week in the Draft Kings world. With a million dollar payout, you can expect a ton of players who have absolutely no idea that Sandy Lyle probably isn’t a good deal at $4,800 even though he’s “won the tournament before”. Obviously the influx of noobs shouldn’t change your picks, but don’t be discouraged when some guy who wins the million dollar prize who signed up after using the promo code “golf” or some garbage. Hopefully, these people who don’t really know what they’re doing stick around after the Masters and make it easier money fro the rest of us. Either that or they’re going to find this on google and gonna be winning every week like I do. Apparently my humbleness only lasts a paragraph.

After going through the salaries, something looks… off. There are a ton of good players at really low salaries. Don’t know if it was because they released these salaries a couple weeks ago or what, but there’s a ton of value out there. Actually, now that I think about it, since there are so many good players (major and all), you’re going to need some of them to be at a low salary so you can actually finish a lineup.

With all of the in mind, here are my picks. As opposed to most weeks where I have to justify picking a player, I don’t really need to here since all these guys are well known. Also looks like I’ve gone mostly with guys who are experienced, and won’t get thrown around from being in contention at a major.

Rickie Fowler ($9,800) — Started playing well recently, and has quite the track record in majors (all top 5 last year).

Russell Henley ($6,500) — Playing well, and knows the course from being at Georgia.

Ryan Moore  ($7,000) — Since he won the US Am, he’s been playing Augusta for a while. Knows the course, and can stay calm when he’s about to win.

Ryan Palmer ($6,600) — Looking for experience here. He’s been around for a while and won’t be intimidated like other players at this salary might.

Jordan Spieth ($11,900) — My overall pick to win, honestly, he (or Jimmy Walker) have been playing the best as of late, and he knows the course well enough. Finished second last year after not being able to close the deal. As I said in my preview, my pick to win.

Lee Westwood  ($8,200) — Same as Palmer with the experience, but also has had better finishes in big tournaments. And is a little better overall too.

Mike’s Picks

Like Jack, my picks last week were rough. Some players with very consistent recent play and good course history failed to make the cut and I didn’t cash as a result, but such is golf. First major of the year, and the field/salaries have been adjusted accordingly. Will be quite interesting to see how many points one will need to cash depending on how many players make the cut, especially if it is around the minimum of 40. Anyway, this week I looked at recent play and history at the Masters (hoping that last week was a fluke and that common sense prevails).

Lee Westwood ($8,200) — Missed the cut last week, but still has had a solid run of play and his recent history at the Masters is tremendous.

Jimmy Walker ($8,900) — How he is priced is simply criminal, going to be a popular pick.

Kevin Na ($6,000) — Playing well recently and a decent course record.

Jim Furyk ($7,800) — Probably not going to win, but the veteran knows how to get it around and will probably take top 20 or so.

Russell Henley ($6,500) — Coming in hot and made the cut in his second appearance last year. He’s only gotten better since then.

Jordan Spieth ($11,900) — Looking for his fourth top 2 in the last month, and he was t2 here last year. Worth the high(ish) salary all day every day.