Guys, this is just something I rambled off from memory this morning before the kids went to school. It took all of 25 min and might show it w/o being polished. I just wanted to run through my own mind and reminisce over what I can expect to see this weekend as I watch the Holy Grail of PGA events……The Masters. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you learned a little about the course. I also hope we see some of it play out.
I was asked to help contribute a little for PGA this season, and while I’m not the most deft DFS player in PGA yet, this might help display my golf knowledge is still in tact and ready to be tapped into for YOUR gain.
Masters Preview
Amen Corner is the ONLY trio of holes deserving of a nickname in golf. Screw Beartrap. Screw all these other nicknames trying to sensationalize a golf course. Hey, dumbass media, it’s frikken golf! Just let the traditions rise organically. Stop trying to force this shit. And, for the love of God, please don’t try and replicate the 16th at Waste Management. Since we started this talking about Amen Corner, let’s break it down and remember how this back nine usually goes for golfers on the weekend.
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10th – Taking 3 wood isn’t horrible here off the tee, but bigger hitters will try and carry the hill down the left side and get that run out leaving them perhaps a wedge into the green. Brilliant risk/reward. That huge fairway bunker wouldn’t even be in play for me, so it’s really just pretty on tv.
11th – Starting with the approach, Amen Corner enters the mind here of a golfer. This 2nd shot is a bit troublesome if the tee shot wasn’t in a solid location. That water definitely plays near the green. Left side of fairway forces a bit of a carry, and if you miss the green right……well, nobody wants that chip shot on Augusta’s greens. I couldn’t get a ball to stop on that with netting and a backstop. The most memorable shot here was Larry Mize chipping in and running around the green like a little kid. That chip in won his green jacket in extras back in the early 80s. (Yes, I’m an 80s kid.)
12th – Swirling winds are always the complaint here. You often see players debate 8 or 9 iron here, but these days might be down to a wedge in some bags. You simply can’t miss the green if contending on the weekend. That little added pressure really makes players timid on this short par 3. Back bunkers are jail, and when the pin is back there……well, that’s when a slight hesitation mentally will chunk one into Ray’s Creek.
13th – First of Amen Corner, this is where the fun starts. For righties, a drawing tee shot taking the bend is ideal. Give it a little quack fart, though, and you are searching Ray’s Creek for your acorn. Block that sucker out right and you are in pine straw. Lay back and you have to lay up to the creek on your 2nd shot. Nut it and you have as little as a 5 iron, maybe 6, into a shallow green with some slopeage on it. Wide from left to right, it’s not that deep. Depth used to be much more problematic when players were debating 3 and 4 irons into this thing. Not so much anymore. It’s one of the best shots in golf ruined by the modern game. That said, this is where you find the course’s largest potential when it comes to putting a ball into the water. Even Tiger did so 15ish years ago.
14th – Perhaps the most bland hole on the back nine. This hole has a neat feature to watch on the weekends, the green. Huge and undulating, it’s the hole’s strength. I believe it’s one of only two holes on the entire course withough bunkering near the green. But, it really isn’t a problem for these guys most times. What you will see when the pin is on the right, though, is the players hit high fades to try and work the slope. They might land as far as 50-60 feet left of the flag and let the ball just funnel back and take the swing. Some of these look like horrible shots but wind up inside 4 feet. Knowing these easy landing areas are important at Augusta.
15th – One of my favorite par 5s in the 1980s, it’s very meh to me now. It’s nearly a lock to reach in two with a middle iron…..booooorinnnnng. However, hitting the right spot on the green is a biggie. You need to be below the hole. Left is rough, and deep is really rough. Those are some dicey putts and chips to watch, but the pros usually handle them fine these days, too. Going 2 under through Amen Corner is paramount to players wanting to make moves on the leaderboards.
16th – This is perhaps my favorite par 3 of the year outside of Sawgrass’ island 17th. With four different pins through the tournament, you see it all here. You see guys taking chances, you see guys bailing out safe, you see guys using the slope like they did back on 14, you see guys try and fly it in and stick it tight. When the pin is back and right, it’s tough as nails to get one close. You can also see 4 foot birdie putts turn into 40 foot comebackers. Usually, that’s Saturday’s pin. Sunday usually gets the back left spot where you can then use that same slope to funnel it down and take the water out of play. On Sunday, you don’t want to see your golfer in the short right trap….and you might see it if he was trying to run one back and use the slope. That bunker shot is about as hard as the one back at 12 from behind the green. My favorite recovery shot on 16, though, is the one you saw Tiger hole back in the day where Nike got that great advertising as the ball hung on the lip before falling in and showed it’s pretty little logo just perfectly. If a player misses that back left pin with an even more back and left tee shot, you are in for a treat. He nearly always has to flop it up well past the pin and up on the slope in hopes he played the break right and it trickles down near the hole. It’s literally the only way to get that shot inside 2 feet for par. The only other hole I’ve seen play that way is a par 4 at Bethpage Black in New York, their 15th.
17th – The old Eisenhower Tree is no longer much of a factor, but players that don’t just tee it high and let if fly will still bail out safely to the right. Those that bomb it up and over will see a significantly shorter approach and a possibility at birdie. 17, however, isn’t much of a birdie hole. You don’t often see any finalized moves made here.
18th – Not a terrible finishing hole, but not a great one in my opinion either. It was better when players didn’t hit the ball so hard. I can remember Sandy Lyle hitting out of the left fairway bunker to win in the 80s. I can remember seeing several winners’ hopes drained here by either 3 putts (if I remember right, the Hoch Choke came here or in a playoff from 18 inches. That lip out is the first I remember as a kid of a long string of yelling “You F’ing LOSER” at tv screens) or by missing right and going into the pines. All this hole really needs is a tee shot hit right at the bunkers but one that is laid up so the bunkers don’t play. That leaves about an 8 iron uphill and into this blind green. Pin on Sunday is always down front and pretty accessible. The only issue is hitting the right tier, which the players do very well. Usually, you see a lot of 20 footers from pin-high and right that are easy 2-putts. On the off chance we see a moron hit the fairway trap or hit the wrong tier of the green, we might see some potential fireworks. But, this is more rare than other finishing holes on tour.
Summary – If your golfers are entering the back nine on Sunday and are behind a bit in the scoring for DFS purposes, you need to realize you still have a LOT of golf to play. It’s nothing for someone to make a 4 under run on the back side and earn themselves tens of thousands of dollars more for said run. Hopefully, you get a little luck on your side and make the same kind of monetary run this week. Enjoy!
Other DFS Army PGA Golf Tools and Articles
Taco’s Two Putt – DFS PGA – The Masters 2017
The PGA DFS Caddie: Early FanDuel and DraftKings Course and Statistical Strategy for the Masters
Shark Autopsy – Dissecting the Mass Multi-Entry Strategies of Top DFS Pros – The Houston Open
A Little Excited for Augusta: What to Expect on the Back Nine
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