Pre-Tournament:

Here is how we started our 2023 Masters journey before the 1st tee shot at Augusta National: 2023 Masters Pre-Tournament

Lead Into Friday:

Augusta National was on full display for the 88 golfers competing, the thousands of lucky patrons and the millions watching around the world this Thursday. With my phone propped up and tucked in the corner of my cubical I was one of the lucky ones to witness a great day of Masters’ golf.

The 88 golfers was cut down to 86 before teeing off for the 1st round due to the withdrawal of Kevin Na and Will Zalatoris. These withdrawals claim to be due to unforeseen circumstances still have consequences to not only the gambling world but also two other golfers who would have gladly taken these two golfers’ spots to compete for the green jacket. Rickie Fowler is one that comes to mind and most likely would have been in contention by the way he has been performing lately.

The weather held off well today at Augusta even though the humidity had the golfers sweating through their shirts and gloves with highs in the upper 80s. Tomorrow they may not be so lucky with rain and thunderstorms forecasted beginning at 12-1pm and the rain is not expected to clear until Sunday evening. This will be quite the challenge for all the golfers. Augusta National has made changes to the lineup based off of the weather forecast and has moved the tee times up one hour for Friday morning. Since the rain is not forecasted until the afternoon hours this will give the morning golfers another advantage over their afternoon counterparts as the morning golfers will be able to come close to completing their rounds before the weather sets in. The afternoon golfers will be susceptible to ending rounds mid round and starting and stopping as severe weather clears. Most golfers know that golf is a game of rhythm and once you find that rhythm you have clear advantage over the opposition.

Thursday Recap:

Recapping the first round at Augusta National there were some surprises and there were some not so surprising results after 18 holes were played by the 86 golfers in the Masters’ field. Starting with the surprising few, for example such as Brooks Koepka coming out and shooting a low of seven under, also amateur Sam Bennett from Texas A&M university and resident of Madisonville, TX came out scorching at the low amateur at 4 under par for the round and finally Victor Hovland who came out on fire in round 1 with a lead tying seven under par. On the other side of the coin the not so surprising finishes from the Spaniard Jon Rahm also tied for the lead at 7 under par, Scottie Scheffler with an easy four under which should have been close to 8-10 under par and finally the way this guy has been striking the ball this season is no surprise to me that he is near the top is Cameron Young who shot -5.  Now, would it not be fair not to mention some of the duds? The first to come to mind is Brian Harman who shot five over, Corey Conners who the DDSN team had high hopes coming into the weekend shot plus one and another DDSN favorite was Min Woo Lee with the plus three showing after round one.

Now, let’s get into where we think the best Round 2 opportunities are:

Player to win the Masters:

Xander Schauffele 22/1: He finished round 1 T6 and is very much in this tournament. 22/1 is a soft line for the X-Man believers to take advantage of going into the weekend.

Justin Thomas 45/1: Um, JT had a solid start to the Masters and is right in the running at -2 under. Anything can happen with the weather coming into tomorrow. This number is too high.

Shane Lowry 35/1: Lowry can play in nasty weather. If he can post a strong Friday number this 35/1 will be nowhere to be found. His mother is a mudder. He loves the dirty weather.

Cam Smith 50/1: He is a proven player at Augusta. I understand the weather may be an issue but if he gets into the weekend sitting in the top 10/20 he is bound to make a run.

Matt Fitzpatrick 60/1: Another European player that can play in some bad weather. Not only does he have success under his belt in bad weather but he has gone face to face with Augusta National and had a solid finish. This pocket of bad weather may give him that opportunity to make a run here.

Round 2 Matchups:

Brooks Koepka (-140) Over Mito Periera

Scottie Scheffler (-125) Over Rory McIlroy

Xander Schauffele (-110) Over Patrick Cantlay