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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNo surprises here with Tier 1 as we’ve got heavy hitters like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Jordan Spieth. To me, this tier comes down to two men; Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm. Rahm has three wins this season compared to Scottie’s two, but you could argue that Scottie has more quality wins with The PLAYERS Championship and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. I don’t think you can go wrong selecting either of these guys, but from what I’ve watched this season, Jon Rahm seems to have a second gear that no other guy on the tour has. He can elevate his play at any time, and what better time to do it than The Masters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pick: Jon Rahm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The LIV guys are out and about in Tier 2. Dustin Johnson enters the tournament as the LIV golfer with the second-best odds to put on the green jacket (again) at +2800, behind Cameron Smith. I’ll be honest, I haven’t tuned into the CW (that’s seriously the best TV deal they could get?) to watch any of the LIV events, but I don’t think DJ is playing elite golf right now. I’m going to cross him off my list for Tier 2. Brooks is an intriguing option, the old Big Game hunter used to show out at every major on the golf calendar, but he’s way past that point of his career. Some names that stand out to me here include Max Homa, Sungjae Im, and Will Zalatoris. Willy Z’s putting stroke<\/a> is beyond horrendous and I don’t think I can bring myself to pick someone with a worse stroke than me. This is the kind of insight you guys want, right? For this tier, there’s only one pick for me, and it’s Max Homa. He’s been playing incredible golf this season with two wins already under his belt, and you know that he’s hunting a major victory to add to his already impressive resume. I like him to put together a strong showing out of this tier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pick: Max Homa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where the fun begins. Pools and contests like these are won in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th tiers. If you can find that guy who doesn’t have great odds but shows out for a top 5 or top 10 finish, you put yourself in a great spot to take home a prize. The three people that know me that might be reading this know I’m a Tommy Fleetwood guy, but I’ll put my bias aside and try to make an expert pick here. Outside of Fleetwood, I have my eye on one golfer here; Hideki Matsuyama. We’re only two years removed from his 2021 Masters victory, but even looking beyond that his finishes at Augusta are outstanding. T14 in 2022, T13 in 2020, T32 in 2019, 19th in 2018, T11 in 2017, T7 in 2016, and 5th in 2015. Simply put, Matsuyama shows out at The Masters. I’ll take the guy who knows what it’s like to win at Augusta and who consistently puts together quality performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pick: Hideki Matsuyama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Big Cat is staring me directly in the face for this tier. I tend to pick Tiger for literally any pool or contest I’m in for The Masters, but I can’t in good conscience give him out as an expert pick. Take him on your own if you want (I probably will), but there are better options here. I’ll stay away from that cornball Bryson DeChambeau given he tends to crumble when the lights are brightest at Augusta (he’s never finished better than T21), and guys like Sahith Theegala and Tom Hoge simply don’t have the experience to make a splash at a tournament like this. PGA Tour diehards won’t be happy with this pick, but I’m rolling with Abraham Ancer for this tier. You have to take this season’s performances with a grain of salt given the lack of competition on the LIV Tour, but he’s put together some solid showings. He got cut from last year’s Masters, but put together a T26 in 2021 and a top-15 finish in 2020. He’s been there before and I like him to stick around through the weekend and stay competitive at Augusta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pick: Abraham Ancer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we’re in the weeds. I’m tempted to go with fellow New Englander Keegan Bradley, but I think there’s a better play on the board. Kurt Kitayama may go against my ‘experience’ strategy for The Masters, but I love the young gun to make a splash this week. He’s been hit-or-miss on the Tour this season but has put together some quality finishes including a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a 2nd place finish at The CJ Cup, and a top-25 at the WM Phoenix Open. Tiers 5 and 6 are where you really need to take some risks in your selections, and I love Kitayama to be my guy who is still making some noise on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pick: Kurt Kitayama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re officially throwing some darts, folks. If you can get lucky enough to find a guy in this tier that can give you a top-20 or 30 finish, congratulations. Phil is the obvious popular pick here, but I don’t think he has enough left in the tank to make a run this week. Your only hope there if you’re picking him is if he’s in deep with a bookie and needs to cover his losses with a strong performance. We have some other former winners in this tier, including Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Freddie Couples, Bernhard Langer, Larry Mize, and Sandy Lyle, but I don’t like any of those guys to come close to repeating. I’m rolling with Billy Horschel for this tier. His best finish came in 2016 with a T17, but he’s made the cut every single year dating back to 2014, and that’s a huge bonus for golfers in this tier. I won’t promise a top-20 finish for Billy, but as long as he’s around on the weekend, you get a chance to climb the leaderboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pick: Billy Horschel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And there you have it! 6 ‘expert’ picks to help you dominate the TaylorMade First Major Challenge<\/a>, and any other Masters pools you may be in. And if you really want some expert information, check out our Masters hub<\/a> with all the information you’ll need to follow the action this week. With the tournament starting on Thursday, there’s no better time than now to get your pools up and running<\/a>. Sit back, relax, and talk an enormous amount of trash to your friends this week while you’re beating them in your golf pools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The best tournament on the golf calendar is here, and so is our public contest! Get some picks to help you take home the prizes here. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":74686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[797,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","category-pga-golf"],"yoast_head":"\nTier 2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTier 3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Tier 4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTier 5<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTier 6<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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