Paul Casey, 19 months ago, shot his worst-ever round at Augusta National. A nine-over 81 during the first round of the Masters.
Casey, on Thursday, tied his best-ever round at Augusta. A 7-under 65 on his way to the first-round lead.
Betting on golf can be as hard as Augusta was to Casey last year.
Let’s make it as easy as Augusta was to Casey this year.
Three members of our staff – myself, Jessica Marksbury and Josh Sens – are making three bets on Round 2 of the Masters using odds from DraftKings. The three of us are the leaders of our staff’s weekly picks game, which can be found here.
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For this week’s Masters, we have also created a free-to-play, play-money GOLF Magazine league on the new Chirp Golf gaming app (which is owned by GOLF.com’s parent company, 8AM Golf). To play, download the app, sign up and then enter the league here (or enter the code 024470 under the “join league option”). You will have $10,000 to spread around during the first round of the tournament, and you will receive an additional $5,000 each of the next three rounds.
You can spend it before the tournament. You can spend it during the tournament, too. At various times on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Chirp app sets odds in real time. Tiger has a 15-foot putt? Wager on Tiger’s 15-foot putt.
And, and, and …
The top finishers in the global league can win prizes. It’s free to play. The money is fake. The prizes are very real.
Onto the picks:
Masters Round 2 picks
Jessica Marksbury
To-win: Xander Schauffele, +1,000. Xander has proven himself to be a major player in just a few short years on Tour. It’s only a matter of time before he has a major breakthrough, and based on his solid start on Thursday, this could very well be the week.
Round 2 matchup: Best score Round 2: Webb Simpson-Hideki Matsuyama, Simpson, +100. Hideki is playing well of late, no doubt about that. But he tends to run hot and cold, while Simpson is consistently excellent. Plus, Webb has been my guy all season. I’m not quitting on him now!
Prop: Xander Schauffele total birdies or better, 6+, +300. This is a fun bet. Golf is fickle, but given the gettable par-5s and Xander’s birdie performance on Thursday, six seems like a doable number.
Josh Sens
To-win: Dustin Johnson, +700. Johnson was my pre-tournament pick at +1,200, and after watching him play the front side today in three-under, I’m comfortable doubling down. The nine holes he has left are filled with birdie opportunities – at 13 and 15, of course, but, with vulnerable pin positions, at 16 and 18, too. I expect him to be at least five-under by the end of his opening round.
Round 2 matchup: Best score Round 2, Tiger Woods-Shane Lowry, Woods, -125. With this wager, a tie is a loss, so there’s additional risk. And Tiger’s inconsistency this season does give me some pause. But when you look at the big picture – greatest player of all time on a course that suits him better than any other – against a guy who shot two-over today and hasn’t been at his best of late … well, -125 is a pretty small amount of juice to lay.
Prop: Bryson DeChambeau total birdies or better, 6+, +300. Disclaimer: On the odds board we are using, I did not see any especially appealing prop bets. So consider this my favorite play out of a bunch of middling options. DeChambeau didn’t have his best stuff today, and he still made five birdies. I’m banking on him sharpening up his game in the second round and putting up a lot of circled numbers.
Nick Piastowski
To-win: Hideki Matsuyama, +2,500. I’m sticking with my initial pick. He was hot entering Thursday. And he stayed hot Thursday. But keep an eye on former champ Patrick Reed, listed at +2,800. He made eight birdies on Thursday. That ain’t bad!
Round 2 matchup: Best score Round 2, Jon Rahm-Bryson DeChambeau, Rahm, +115. Rahm won by a stroke on Thursday. He wins again on Friday.
Prop: Xander Schauffele total birdies or better, exactly five, +300. He made seven birdies on Thursday. Augusta will likely play a little harder on Friday, so let’s go with five birdies.
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