DraftKings Pivot Plays for The Masters 2021
We're going to look at 2 extremely popular names across DFS contests and why you could justify staying away. More importantly, I'm going to tell you about 2 other players with as much upside at significantly less projected ownership. Ownership leverage and equal or greater upside from the players we're pivoting away from is the name of the game every week for the Pivot Point article.
Popular DraftKings GPP Plays & Pivots
Paul Casey $7700 25% - It’s hard to argue anyone in this field is off to a better start in 2021 than Paul Casey. Outside of the WGC-Matchplay, Casey has four starts on PGA Tour this year and has finished top 10 in every one of them. This includes a 5th place finish at The Players Championship last month. Casey also has a win on The European Tour in 2021 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic against a decent field. In addition to his great recent form, he also has great course history at Augusta National with seven top 15’s in fourteen appearances including four top 10’s.
Jason Day $7500 13% - The days of Jason Day being part of golf’s “elite group” seem to be a distant memory. For Day, The last couple of years seem to have been filled with family tragedy and personal injuries keeping him away from the game or in questionable form. Day arrives at Augusta National in 2021 healthy and hungry for another run at a green jacket that he has come extremely close to winning in previous years. In ten career starts at the Masters, Day has three top 5’s including a runner up to Charl Schwartzel in 2011. In addition to his great course history, Day has recorded six top 10’s on Tour in the past nine months.
Why Pivot? If you haven’t had time to watch any player interviews yet this year, let me sum them all up for you……”The course is really firm and really fast and it’s going to play difficult this year.” Jason Day was quoted saying the course is really firm and fast right now which he loves and says it gives him the best chance to win. I dug into what he said and found out In the last 50 rounds on fast, firm, bent grass greens, Jason Day is ranked 2nd in this field…I bet you are dying to know who #1is … anyway…. Paul Casey is in elite form and can do well here again this year, but I doubt his ability to top a great field and finally win a big tournament. Jason Day is half his ownership and has actually won a PGA Championship, A Players Championship, and a World Golf Championship.
Daniel Berger $8,500 20% - Berger arrives at Augusta National with a possible chip on his shoulder after failing to qualify for the 2020 Masters despite being ranked 13th in the world. Since the start of 2020 he has eleven top 10s and two wins on the PGA Tour and is currently ranked 15th in the world. Berger will find his way into a lot of lineups this week due to his high upside / relative safe floor / good price appeal. Berger has made the cut in all 3 appearances at the Masters including a 10th place finish in 2016.
Lee Westwood $8800 5% - Man….what in the world happened to the love for Lee Westwood? A short few weeks ago, Lee finished runner up in back to back events at the API and The Players Championship. The next week he missed the cut at The Honda following several days spent on the grounds at Augusta National practicing for the upcoming Masters. Westwood is no stranger to Augusta National as he is about to make his 20th start at the Masters this week. Data Golf has Westwood ranked 3rd in this field in their course history adjusted index. Eight of his nineteen starts are T11 or better including two runner up finishes.
Why Pivot?: I absolutely love the current form Lee Westwood is in. Match his current form with his Masters history and I think he makes for one of the better leverage plays in the field. I am not worried about his missed cut at The Honda coming off three straight weeks of playing and a midweek trip back to Augusta National for some practice rounds. He rebounded from Honda with a gutsy effort in a stacked group in the WGC - Dell Match Play, only being eliminated by a hole-in-one by Segrio Garcia in a sudden death playoff. If you are eating some chalk in the top end of your lineup you are going to need to gain some leverage with a few plays. Would there be a better story in golf in 2021 than the 47 year old winning his first major? This may be his last shot.
Written by: Tim Gaymon (THG803)