Almost 15 percent of daily fantasy sports players started THE PLAYERS Championship down a golfer when the PGA TOUR announced Hideki Matsuyama withdrew with a back injury.
Word started circulating on Wednesday that Matsuyama may be dealing with an injury, but there was nothing official from Matsuyama or the TOUR.
Until Thursday morning.
At 8:03 a.m. local time, the PGA TOUR sent out a tweet announcing the move with Patrick Rodgers replacing him in the field. While it won't impact sports bettors — wagers involving Matsuyama will likely be refunded depending on house rules — it's a big deal in daily fantasy sports.
Because Matsuyama didn't officially withdraw until after the tournament began, DFS lineups were already locked and could not be edited. That left those with him in their lineups stuck with a zero.
The defending Masters champion carried a $9600 salary on DraftKings. He was rostered in 11% of lineups in the $2.5m Fantasy Golf Millionaire, which carries a $1 million prize for first. He was 7.4% owned in the Mega Millionaire with a $2,222 buy in. Only five golfers were rostered more than him in DraftKings Round 1 showdown.
In the betting market, Matsuyama was around +3000 to win the tournament. House rules may vary, but outright tickets, placement bets and matchups are likely void if a player doesn't tee off.
Matsuyama started the 2022 calendar year with a win at the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff against Russell Henley. He tacked on a top-10 finish at the Waste Management in Phoenix in February before finishing 39th and 20th at the Genesis and Arnold Palmer Invitational, respectively.
