Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: The Masters

The Masters is finally here. What else needs to be said?

The event is steeped in history and has generated some of golf's most memorable moments from some of the biggest names ever to play the game.

But with all that aside, what do you need to know about the course -- Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia -- this week when building your FanDuel lineups?

Course and Tournament Overview

Augusta National opened in 1932, and the 7,435-yard par 72 was one of the 10 longest courses on the tour last season.

The course, known for elevation changes and undulating greens, played as the third-toughest on the PGA Tour last season at 2.422 strokes over par. It ran just 0.539 strokes over in 2014-15 but was 1.946 strokes over in 2013-14, tougher than all but Pinehurst No. 2 that season.

Weather did cause issues here a year ago, and that led to some weak scores (even at the top of the leaderboard), so keep that in mind when digging back into past results.

This year, 95 players are in contention, now that Russell Henley won the Shell Houston Open to earn a spot. There's a cut, but it works a little differently than most other tournaments: the top 50 (plus players tied for 50th or better) make it through, as well as anyone within 10 strokes of the leader after the second round.

Recent Tournament History

Danny Willett (-5) won last year, in part because of head-scratching struggles on the 12th from Jordan Spieth (-2) that opened the door for him. Lee Westwood (-2) tied for second, as well.

Paul Casey, J.B. Holmes, and Dustin Johnson (-1) tied for fourth and were the only other players to finish under par.

In 2015, Spieth (-18) started on fire, posting an opening-round 64 and a 66 in Round 2. Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose (-14) tied for second. Rory McIlroy (-12) and Hideki Matsuyama (-11) rounded out the top five.

In 2014, Spieth (-5) finished second in his debut at Augusta, nearly becoming the first player to win the Masters in his debut since 1979. Bubba Watson (-8) overcame a round-three 74 to win, and Jonas Blixt (-5) tied for second. Miguel Angel Jimenez (-4) was fourth, and Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar (-2) tied for fifth.

Key Stats

Certain stats, such as strokes gained: tee-to-green, birdie or better percentage, and putting efficiency will always be worth monitoring, but these are some of the most important stats to look for when rostering golfers at Augusta National

You can lock and load strokes gained: tee-to-green and birdie-or-better percentage into your research process each week.

At Augusta strokes gained: approach-the-green and strokes gained: around-the-green are also valuable if you want to dig deeper.

Par 5 scoring should also make your checklist this week, as Augusta's most beatable holes are the par 5s. Of course, Willett last year was even on the par 5s and first in par 3 and par 4 scoring, but the larger sample prioritizes par 5 scoring.

Scrambling also should be factored in a bit extra when narrowing down your player pool.

Course History Studs

Course history matters a lot here at Augusta.

Spieth has it in spades, finishing T2, 1, T2 in his three events at Augusta.

Mickelson and Watson each have won at Augusta twice in the past 11 years, and the other winners since 2006 include Spieth, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Willett, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, and Trevor Immelman.

Justin Rose has 8 top 25s in 9 events here since 2007, and Cabrera and Lee Westwood have 7 top 25s in 10 tries in the past 10 years.

Mickelson, Scott, and Rose each have 6 top 25s in 10 tries in the past 10 years.

Dustin Johnson was T13 in 2013, 68th in 2014, T6 in 2015, and T4 last year. He's the odds-on favorite to win outright (6/1, per Bovada).

No golfer has won the Masters in his first try since 1979, and no amateur has ever won. That list for this year includes the following golfers.