We made it, everyone! It’s finally here–Masters week! Not only is the PGA TOUR’s annual stop at Augusta National the first major of the season, it’s also the best week of golf all year long. The elite field and iconic course make it one of the best sporting events of the year, and to add some extra pimento cheese, DraftKings has some outstanding GPP offerings with not one, not two, but three $1 million prizes to claim this week.
As you get your roster together for whatever GPPs you decide to play, check out my top PGA DFS picks, specifically designed to maximize leverage in large-field contests. For more info on the course, the field, the weather, and key stats to watch, be sure to check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.
The focus of this post each week is to highlight strong GPP options that have lower ownership projections than their potential performance. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.
All Strokes Gained metrics referenced are from the Rabbit Hole.
Usually, I rely heavily on the Stroked Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week-to-week than a hot putter.
Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.
No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.
As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates an abundance of lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.
Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.
Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.
The PGA Models are FREE this week with a registered account.
Updated on 4/29/25
High-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Ludvig Aberg $10,800
Warning! In case you skipped over the intro section, let me be clear: Aberg is not a safe pick this week. Paying this high for anyone is high-risk, but Aberg’s recent form is concerning enough to make this even riskier than other high-priced plays.
However, for tournament plays, there’s a strong case to be made for him because he has such a high ceiling and such a low projected ownership. I highlighted Collin Morikawa in my Pick6 plays, and he’s a much safer option this week that still brings decent leverage. If you’re ready to swing for the fences, though, Aberg’s upside is legitimate enough to buy into.
Of all the golfers in the field, Aberg has the highest SimLeverage and the fourth-highest leverage. He has the fifth-highest Perfect%, but his ownership projection is outside the top 20. He has the sixth-shortest odds to win and to finish in the top 10, according to Vegas, so getting so much win equity at such low ownership is worth the risk.
The reason why Aberg is high-risk is his recent form. He missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass and TPC San Antonio in his last two events. However, the reasons to buy in on Aberg are obvious if you look longer-term. He finished runner-up last year in his Augusta debut, and the course is notoriously brutal on golfers in their debuts. He also won the Signature Event at Torrey Pines earlier this season at the Genesis Invitational, where he was clearly the class of the elite field.
Can he get back to that form this week? If he does, he could break through for his first major championship win. Taking a chance on it is high-risk, but he also brings the potential for very high reward.
Aberg makes more sense in the $10 or $100 Milly Maker compared to the $3,333, where you could play more optimally.
Justin Thomas $9,600
Thomas is another high-priced golfer with low ownership projections. He has the fourth-highest SimLeverage in the field and the highest of golfers between $8,000 and $10,000 on the salary structure.
He matches eight Pro Trends, which ties him for the third-most in the field, and comes in with good form overall, although the public is obviously not willing to pick him this week based on his inability to close out a win since the 2022 PGA Championship. That win was the second major and his 15th PGA TOUR win.
Aside from his inability to get back in the winner’s circle, he has played well overall this season, making the cut in each of his eight events with four top-10 finishes, including solo runner-up finishes at the American Express and at the Valspar Championship in his most recent start. If you add in last season, he has made the cut in 16 straight events with three more top fives. If near misses mean you’re close to a win, Thomas must be about to break through.
At Augusta, Thomas has a mixed track record. He missed the cut the last two seasons but prior to that had made seven straight cuts with six straight top-25 finishes, highlighted by a solo fourth in 2020 and a T8 in 2022.
His game is back in form, and over the last six months, he leads the entire field in Total Strokes Gained while ranking second in Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Getting such great form at low ownership makes him another good option for tournament play, either as your pay-up option or alongside another star.
JT works in plenty of roster constructions, which makes him an ideal target in any of the Milly Maker buy-ins.
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Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Joaquin Niemann, $9,300
Between $7,500 and $9,500, there aren’t many leverage opportunities, but Niemann is one that stands out with the second-highest SimLeverage in that range. Niemann has the highest median, ceiling, and floor projection of all golfers under $10,000 and the seventh-highest Perfect% in that price range.
Niemann has been one of golf’s fastest-rising stars for the last few years. He was contending on the PGA TOUR before jumping to LIV, where he has won four times, including twice already this year. He won LIV Golf Adelaide by three strokes in mid-February and LIV Golf Singapore by five strokes in mid-March.
The one thing that Niemann doesn’t have on his resume is any good results at major championships. He’s played in 22 major championships but has zero top-10 finishes. The Masters has been his best, though, since he does have four top-25 finishes at Augusta in his five appearances, including the last two years when he finished T16 and T22.
Niemann appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough, but he is still unproven on this type of course. His lack of results makes him high-risk, but his overall ability gives him a very high ceiling.
Min Woo Lee $8,500
Lee is another young star on the rise who has a high ceiling but low ownership. He has the highest SimLeverage and leverage of all the golfers in the $8,000s. He has the second-highest Perfect% as well but his ownership projection is the second-lowest in that range.
In his last start, Lee broke through for his first PGA TOUR win at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Municipal Park Golf Club, where that event takes place, is a course with a lot of correlation to Augusta National, so if he can continue his form from that win, he could be back in the mix this week.
Lee was having a great season even before the victory and now has five top-20 finishes in his seven events on the PGA TOUR in 2025. Over his last 30 rounds, he ranks 13th in the field in Total Strokes Gained and third in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green.
He has two top-25 finishes in his three career appearances at Augusta, and if he stays hot, he could be lined up to be a great play for tournaments in this price range.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Strokes Gained metrics referenced in this article come via the Rabbit Hole.
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Value PGA DFS Picks
Robert MacIntyre $8,000
MacIntyre is one of my sleeper picks to win the tournament this year, so I’m willing to eat some chalk and play him at $8,000. Augusta is more accessible for lefties like Bobby Mac, and he has had good success on this track and in major championships in general.
Over the last year, the 28-year-old from Scotland claimed big wins at the RBC Canadian Open and his own national championship at the Genesis Scottish Open last July. He has been very consistent over the last nine months since those two victories as well. Since finishing T16 at last year’s TOUR Championship, he has notched eight top-25 finishes in 11 events on the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour.
He finished in the top 11 in four of his last five tournaments worldwide. After finishing T9 at THE PLAYERS, he headed to Singapore, where he also finished T9 on the DP World Tour.
Over the last 20 rounds, MacIntyre ranks sixth in this elite field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and seventh in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.
MacIntyre finished T12 in his debut at Augusta back in 2022 and followed that up with T23 in his most recent appearance in 2023. While he was not invited to Augusta the last two seasons, he did make the cut in two of the other three majors last year, highlighted by a T8 at the PGA Championship. He definitely has top-25 potential with the upside of contending for the win if he’s in top form.
Adam Scott, $7,200
While he’s a longshot to actually contend this week, Scott is a great option if you’re looking for a cut-maker in the lower $7,000s. With his extremely low ownership projection, he has the second-highest SimLeverage of golfers from $6,500 to $9,500.
Scott’s recent form has been fine but nothing to go crazy about. In his six tournaments this season, he has made five cuts, with just two top-25 finishes coming at the Sentry and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His short game has been solid, but he hasn’t been able to challenge any leaderboards since the DP World Tour Championship last November, where he finished third.
The main reason Scott is a great play this week is his impressive history at Augusta. Regardless of how his form is coming into this event, he has made the cut in each of the last 15 years at this event and in 21 of 23 career appearances. He finished T22 last year, which was his best finish in five years.
He is a strong option to get some leverage with a steady veteran who has a great shot to make the cut again this year.
Updated on 4/29/25
Sleeper PGA DFS Picks
J.J. Spaun $6,800
Of the golfers under $7,500, Spaun has the second-highest ceiling projection and the third-highest Perfect%, but he still has a positive SimLeverage since his ownership projection is so reasonable.
A month ago, Spaun pushed Rory McIlroy to a Monday playoff at THE PLAYERS before he missed the island green and finished runner-up. It was his second runner-up finish of the season, along with his second-place finish at the Cognizant Classic at PGA National.
On both of those Florida courses, Spaun relied heavily on his approach game. He has already notched four top-25 and three top-5 finishes this season and ranks fourth in this very strong field in Strokes Gained: Approach over the last 30 rounds. He also ranks in the top 10 in the field in Total Strokes Gained and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in those 30 rounds.
In his 10 tournaments in 2025, Spaun failed to play the weekend only twice. One of those early exits was a withdrawal from the WM Phoenix Open due to illness, and the second was a narrow missed cut at Houston two weeks ago. It was his first tournament since his near-miss at Sawgrass, and he couldn’t quite claw his way back under the cut line after a slow start.
With a manageable ownership projection and a high ceiling due to his shot-making, he’s a great option under $7,000 this week. If you’re in the biggest GPPs in search of the top prize, you may need a less chalky option like Nicolai Hojgaard or Max Greyserman, but for all but the largest tournaments, Spaun’s ownership is palatable.
Spaun is a strong player in the $10 Milly Maker, where you need to be much more unique to win.
Stephan Jaeger $6,300
“Stars and scrubs” is always a popular building strategy in tournament play since it gives your entry such a high ceiling if your big names all hit. The key, though, is finding the right “scrubs” to put into that equation. This week, 30 players have salaries under $6,500, and of those players, Jaeger is my favorite blend of realistic upside and lower ownership.
Jaeger got his debut at Augusta out of the way last year after winning the Houston Open just two weeks earlier. He actually started ok and was sitting at -1 after 13 holes before things went sideways and he missed the cut. I’m willing to give him a mulligan since he had very little time to prepare, but this year, he comes in with more course knowledge and good upside for a bargain option this cheap.
The strength of Jaeger’s game is definitely his short game. He ranks 11th in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green over his last 30 rounds and seventh in the field in that category over his last 12 rounds. He also ranks in the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach over his last 12 rounds and 14th in Total Strokes Gained. After a slow start to the season, Jaeger finished T20 at THE PLAYERS Championship to start off those 12 good rounds. During that run, he tacked on a T36 at the Valspar and a T11 in his title defense in Houston.
His short game can keep him competitive on tough tracks like this, and his ownership projection of under 4% is low enough for him to be a strong option in all but the biggest of GPPs. If you’re playing in the $10 entry GPP that has even more entries, you could opt to take a flier on Nico Echavarria or even amateur Jose Luis Ballester if you’re really looking to set your lineup apart.
Pictured: Ludvig Aberg
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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