PGA Tour Fantasy Golf: The Masters at Augusta National Preview

We've been talking about golf for the last three months, but as far as the public is concerned, the PGA Tour season more or less begins at Augusta.

Therefore, a hearty welcome to those of you just joining us. Not only is The Masters the first of the PGA Tour's major tournaments, it represents one of the biggest scores of the year for fantasy golfers.

This is not the time of year to get "cute". This is the big track and you want to run your big dogs out for the race. Sure it's tempting to try to hit on some huge sleeper, but unless you're in Las Vegas trying to find a long-shot to lay twenty bucks on, save that for another week.

My formula for finding success this week is simple. I want golfers who are:

• Playing well right now
• Experienced and have had some measure of success at Augusta
• Accurate off of the tee
• Wielding a hot putter
• Hitting a lot of Greens In Regulation (GIR) or scrambling very well 

Charl Schwartzel is the defending champion. The winner will take home $1,440,000.

Yahoo! Weekly Lineup Game

Group A

Phil Mickelson   (Starting)—Mickelson started off the 2012 season on a roller coaster. He's managed to stabilize his game lately, as evidenced by a T4 (tied for 4th place) finish last week at the Shell Houston Open. He also ranks 2nd on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained - Putting in 2012. Not to mention Mickelson has a strong history at Augusta.

Luke Donald (Bench)—Donald is the only player putting better than Mickelson right now as Donald ranks 1st on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained - Putting in 2012. In his last two tournaments Donald has a T6 and a victory. Add in a strong performance at Augusta last year, and you have a recipe for success.

Also worth using: Steve Stricker, Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Keegan Bradley

Group B

Rory McIlroy (Starting)—McIlroy has been the best golfer in the world since the last Masters. The fact that McIlroy imploded in the final round of that Master tournament has only seemed to make him stronger. Given his limited starts on Tour, you have to roll with him here.

Tiger Woods (Starting)—See, it can happen. I've avoided starting Tiger all season because I wanted to see him play a complete tournament before I did so. I've now seen him play a complete tournament that ended in victory. His putter has been greatly improved and Tiger ranks 6th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained - Putting. Not to mention he's played pretty decently at Augusta previously.

Lee Westwood (Bench)—Westwood has been very solid this year, but we're still waiting for a break-through type of victory. Despite his excellent play Westwood has struggled with his putter. But his strong history at Augusta overrides everything else. Westwood's last four finishes at Augusta: T11, 2nd, 43rd and T11.

Hunter Mahan (Bench)—Mahan has been phenomenal in 2012 and he is coming off of a victory last week at the Shell Houston Open. Mahan is one of the most accurate golfers on Tour, ranking 6th in Driving Accuracy and 9th in Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR).

Also worth using: Justin Rose and Bubba Watson

Group C

Charl Schwartzel (Starting)—Sure the defending champion here has struggled the past two weeks. Would it surprise you to know he pretty much did the same thing last year? Schwartzel has the game to succeed at Augusta, don't let a couple of bad rounds deter you from using him.

Graeme McDowell (Bench)—The wheel kind of fell off for McDowell as the weekend progressed last week. But overall McDowell has an excellent golf game and he offers an excellent blend of accuracy and putting skills that can prove crucial at Augusta.

Also worth using: Johnson Wagner and Padraig Harrington

Who to choose in your Weekly Survivor/Eliminator/Earnings League?

All of the golfers I used or would use in Group A and my starters in Group B are all worth considering here.

I've already used McIlroy this year, so he's out. If you haven't used him yet, do so here.

I've also used Hunter Mahan and Lee Westwood, so they're out of consideration for me as well.

My top options are: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald and Adam Scott.

I'm still not 100% sold on Mickelson, so I will save him for a later date.

For me it ultimately comes down to Tiger Woods or Luke Donald. I don't think you can really go wrong with either, but I'm going to go with Luke Donald this week. I think Tiger will play well, but I'm not sure that he's ready to win another major yet.

For the record, I've already used: Bryce Molder, Steve Marino, Bill Haas, D.A. Points, Martin Laird, Hunter Mahan, K.J. Choi, Rory McIlroy, Jarrod Lyle and Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Charl Schwartzel, John Senden, Bubba Watson and Graeme McDowell.

Picks for The Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge

GROUP 1: Rory McIlroy

GROUP 2: Matt Kuchar

GROUP 3:  Jim Furyk

GROUP 4: Padraig Harrington

For more Fantasy Golf game options check out  Kerplookee and Fantazzle.

Good luck to all this week. If you have any comments or questions,  please use the comments feature or reach out to me on Twitter.

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Just starting fantasy golf? Check out my Season Primer from Week 1