It’s time for the first major of the season. The azaleas are in bloom this time around with a return to the traditional tournament week. To help you prepare, here’s a guide to this season’s Masters-inspired gear, details on how to watch the tournament, and where you can find fantasy options to further engage.
Masters Inspired Gear
While only official Masters merchandise can carry the tournament name, there is tons of golf gear and apparel out there clearly inspired by the major. For clubs, two special edition putters are soon to be released.
The first is TaylorMade’s special-edition Itsy Bitsy Spider putter to commemorate Dustin Johnson’s 2020 Masters victory. This Masters spider will be built to DJ’s play specs and feature custom aesthetics reflecting his first win at Augusta National. Read more about this putter here.
The second is Bettinardi’s Spring Classic BB14 limited run putter which has the unique Masters-inspired aesthetics and a head that is not available as a retail offering. Check out this post for the full specs and information.
In honor of the first major of the season, Cobra has released the KING RADSPEED XB Driver – Season Opener.
Masters Apparel
While the Masters itself might be considered the most traditional and conservative of the majors, that doesn’t mean you have to be. SwingJuice produces fun and comfortable golf-inspired apparel. Their current line includes several options with clear nods towards Augusta.
The Golf & Chill t-shirt is the perfect pairing for watching four straight days of golf coverage. For those who like to combine their brand meme’s the new Pimento Cheese shirt places the Masters staple into a throw-back fast food logo. For headgear, you might not ever have the opportunity to be a patron at Augusta National, but the Patron hat is available to help you keep the dream alive. Use code SJGIVE30 for 30% off your order.
Following last year’s Master’s themed golf shoe, the CrossKnit DPR “Low Am”, adidas has just released limited-edition Stan Smith golf shoes which are available starting today for $140.
Golf Accessories
Stitch Golf is always a favorite destination for accessories. They take this to another level with limited edition merch for the majors and their “Master of Style” collection just went live.
The standouts of the collection are the unique headcovers created for this year. While the driver and fairway covers are certainly nice, my favorite is the Limited Edition Amateurs Welcome hybrid cover. The classic green on white really pops. Use code MYGOLFSPY for 20% off sitewide.
Taylormade just launched their season opener line of headcovers which includes a driver, rescue, and blade putter cover.
How to Watch the Masters 2021
For traditional television coverage, CBS and ESPN will combine for 18 hours of live broadcasts in the US. Additionally, the Masters has some of the most robust online coverage of any golf tournament. To stream online head to Masters.com, the Masters app, or ESPN+ for coverage of featured groups, Amen Corner, and featured holes. Masters.com coverage is free while ESPN+ is $5.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Here’s how to watch (all times EDT):
Broadcast and Simulcast:
-Wednesday, April 7: Noon – 2 p.m., Wednesday at the Masters on ESPN
-Thursday, April 8: 3-7:30 p.m., ESPN/Masters.com
-Friday, April 9: 3-7:30 p.m., ESPN/Masters.com
-Saturday, April 10: 3-7 p.m., CBS/Masters.com
-Sunday, April 11: 2-7 p.m., CBS/Masters.com
Additional Live Channels on Masters.com and the Masters App
Featured Groups: This offering begins approximately five minutes before the first featured group’s tee time and provides 18-hole, spotlight coverage of two select groupings during both morning and afternoon play.
Hole Nos. 4, 5 & 6:
-Thursday, April 8: 9:25 a.m.-6:45 p.m.
-Friday, April 9: 9:25 a.m.-6:45 p.m.
-Saturday, April 10: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
-Sunday, April 11: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Amen Corner:
-Thursday, April 8: 10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
-Friday, April 9: 10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
-Saturday, April 10: 11:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
-Sunday, April 11: 11:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
Hole Nos. 15 & 16:
-Thursday, April 8: 11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.
-Friday, April 9: 11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.
-Saturday, April 10: 12:30-6:30 p.m.
-Sunday, April 11: 12:30-6:30 p.m.
On the Range:
-Monday, April 5: Noon-2 p.m.
-Tuesday, April 6: 9-11 a.m.
-Wednesday, April 7: 9-11 a.m.
-Thursday, April 8: 8:30-10:30 a.m.
-Friday, April 9: 8:30-10:30 a.m.
-Saturday, April 10: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
-Sunday, April 11: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Fantasy Guide and Betting Odds
Besides watching the best players in the world compete at one of the most beautiful courses, fantasy sports allows us to be competitive ourselves. Here are a few free and paid options for fantasy golf during the Masters. For an idea of the current favorites, we’ll check on the current betting odds as well.
Free Fantasy Golf Option: PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf
The PGA Tour offers a fantastic free fantasy golf option. Each week, players select six golfers (four starters and two on the bench). These golfers collect points based on performance for the week. Players can move their golfers from the bench to the starting lineup between rounds to strategize for the best results. Scoring is live and uses the exclusive PGA Tour Shotlink system to allow players to follow their golfers shot-by-shot.
The point totals add up over the course of three segments and the full season to earn PGA TOUR Superstore gift cards. Additionally, players can create public or private groups to compete directly against friends. If you are looking to set up a fantasy golf option for a small group of friends or colleagues specifically for the Masters, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf is likely the quickest and easiest option.
PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf makes it easy for even casual golf fans to participate by freely providing expert picks as well as statistics for the most popular selections for the week. Want to try it for yourself? Set a line up for the MyGolfSpy Readers Masters 2021 group for bragging rights among your fellow Spies.
Paid Fantasy Golf: FanDuel and Draftkings
As the undisputed leaders in DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports), both FanDuel and Draftkings offer paid fantasy golf tournaments. In the case, the word “daily” is a bit of a misnomer as scoring happens over the course of a four day tournament instead of a single round. Both sites feature a very similar lineup selection system.
Like PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, you’ll select six golfers, however with FanDuel and Draftkings there is no bench. All golfers will score points for the entry and golfers who miss the cut can’t be replaced. Another difference is the inclusion of a salary cap. Each golfer is assigned a dollar value based on their odds. Players will have to chose their six golfers while staying under the maximum salary cap. Highly ranked players likely to win will cost significantly more than underdogs. Selecting players like Dustin Johnson and John Rahm will leave you scrambling to fill the rest of the roster with unknown names.
Players can join contests for as little as a dollar and win money based on the final ranking. The prize pool depends on the number of players, so a small contest may give better odds of winning, but the big prizes will come from contests with hundreds if not thousands of entries. Major tournaments such as the Masters tend to draw the largest contests. Draftkings does offer free contests as well if you’d like to try it out before committing real money.
Keep in mind that Draftkings and FanDuel are legal in 43 states in the US as well as a handful of other countries. You’ll have to verify your location in order to play.
Masters 2021 Betting Odds
In addition to DFS, FanDuel and Draftkings offer sports betting online and in a couple of physical locations in the US. While the number of places sports gambling is legal is very limited, looking over the betting odds can give us an idea who the markets see as the best bets to win the Masters this year.
Betting odds are expressed as a + number (or sometimes a – number). For example, if Dustin Johnson is listed at +850, a winning bet of $1 on him will pay $8.50. In traditional odds, this would be expressed as 8.5 to 1.
Here are top 10 golfers in the betting markets on FanDuel and Draftkings as of this writing. Note that betting markets are dynamic, so check online for the latest odds.
FanDuel
- Dustin Johnson +850
- Bryson Dechambeau +900
- Justin Thomas +1000
- Jon Rahm +1100
- Jordan Spieth +1200
- Rory McIlroy +1400
- Brooks Koepka +2000
- Xander Schauffele +2000
- Collin Morikawa +2200
- Patrick Cantlay +2200
Draftkings
- Dustin Johnson +700
- Bryson Dechambeau +1000
- Justin Thomas +1000
- Jon Rahm +1100
- Rory McIlroy +1200
- Jordan Spieth +1400
- Brooks Koepka +1600
- Xander Schauffele +2000
- Tony Finau +2200
- Patrick Cantlay +2500
As you can see, while the favorites are relatively consistent across different sites, the odds can change slightly. If you are located somewhere with legal sports betting, it’s a good strategy to check around on who has the best odds for your preferred golfer. Selecting the winning golfer on any week is always a tough proposition, but might even be more difficult for a tournament like the Masters. Golfers like Patrick Reed and Collin Morikawa seem to be offering decent value with the current betting odds. Brooks Koepka might best be avoided as his status isn’t known yet after knee surgery.
Fantasy sports can provide a great way to further engage with a major championship. Even if you’re only playing free options, the thrill of winning the week is very real. You might not be getting a green jacket for it, but bragging rights are good as well.
Daisuke
3 years ago
Never in a million years, Japanese player can win The Masters. I am so happy for Hideki Matsuyama and all the people that have supported him.
I watched the Japanese TV and Tommy Nakajima was one of the commentators, and he had his eyes filled with tears. We all know that so many players from Japan have tried so hard just to come here and been defeated brutally by an enormous wall call the Masters. so when I saw Tommy’s tears it really touched my heart and I also burst into tears.
I am just posting this to say that for the love of the game and for many Japanese golfers today is a great day.
Thanks