The 2022 Masters will mark a return to normal, but several questions remain. Will Tiger Woods make his competitive return at Augusta on Thursday, April 7, or will he join Phil Mickelson on the list of former champions not competing? Can Rory McIlroy add the final piece of a career grand slam? Can a quartet of two-time tour winners this season make a run at the green jacket? Who can you trust in your 2022 Masters fantasy golf rankings?
Can Cameron Smith (16-1), Scottie Scheffler (25-10) or Sam Burns (40-1) notch a third win this season and merit a prime spot among your 2022 Masters fantasy golf picks? Before you consider any fantasy golf rankings or make any bets on the 2022 Masters Tournament, be sure you check out the Fantasy golf projections from fantasy expert Riley Gates at SportsLine.
Gates is a writer for 247Sports and has covered a range of sports for nearly five years. He has followed golf closely for much longer and has a profound knowledge of the sport. He also knows what it takes to win, on the course and in fantasy sports.
At this year’s Valspar Championship, seven of his picks finished in the top 12. They included Sam Burns, who claimed the title at Innisbrook for the second straight year. “I don’t understand why Burns has such high odds,” Gates told SportsLine before the event. “Burns has back-to-back top-15 finishes and appears to have snapped out of his slump.” The 25-year-old went out and shot 17 under, then prevailed in a playoff for his third career victory.
Gates has been on fire all season. Nine of his top 10 picks finished in the top 20 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and at the Honda Classic, eight of his picks finished in the top 16. The expert also was on the money at Phoenix, where his five top selections all ended up in the top 10. He nailed his picks at the Sentry, with four of his top seven picks posting top-five finishes, and he duplicated that at the Hero World Challenge. Anyone who has followed Gates is way up.
Now, Gates has ranked his top 2022 Masters golfers. You can only see them here.
2022 Masters fantasy golf picks
Gates has been watching Thomas surging and expects him to break through, so he is firmly backing him for the Masters 2022. The expert knows the talent remains in the player who won the PGA Championship in 2017 before ascending to world No. 1. The 28-year-old is starting to look like that player again and has five top-10 finishes in eight tournaments. That includes a third-place showing at the Valspar to bounce back from his worst finish of the season, a 33rd at the Players Championship. Thomas is second in scoring average (69.617) and par-breakers (30.21 percent).
At the same time, Rahm hasn’t exactly looked like the former top player in the world, and the expert is fading him. Rahm has just three top-10 finishes in his eight tournaments, and the consistency that propelled him to the top ranking has been missing. He remains excellent from tee-to-green, ranking first in greens in regulation, but his putter has deserted him. He is hitting 30 putts per round (201st on tour) and gets off the green in one putt just 35 percent of the time (203rd). He has also struggled inside 10 feet, making just 85.6 percent of his attempts (179th).
How to set 2022 Masters fantasy golf rankings
For the 2022 Masters at Augusta National, the fantasy expert is backing an epic long shot. Gates says this golfer, who will be trying to atone for a missed cut at Augusta last year, “seems to always be in the mix.” You can only see who it is at SportsLine.
Who wins the 2022 Masters Tournament? Who are the top PGA Tour players to target for your fantasy golf picks, and which epic long shot is a must-use? Visit SportsLine now to get 2022 Masters fantasy golf picks, all from the fantasy expert with his finger on the pulse of the game.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism