The weekend at Augusta National was life-changing for Patrick Reed. He slipped on the green jacket by winning the first major championship of the year and took home a nearly $2 million winner’s check.
Drew Mathews also had a life-changing Masters weekend. On Friday night, Mathews got married and on Sunday, thanks to one of his 27 entries in DraftKings Masters Millionaire Maker contest, he won $1 million.
Drew “@redkacheek” Mathews, @TheMasters newest @DraftKings champion, wins $1,000,000 while traveling home from his wedding…(!)
Link: https://t.co/rJtSLO9U8v pic.twitter.com/OQj6iCMP4V
— Cameron MacMillan (@RotoGrindersCam) April 9, 2018
A systems analyst, Mathews dabbled in professional golf before settling down for a “normal” life in Lakeland, Florida. An avid fantasy player, Mathews shared the bizarre story of how he came to find out he won the million dollar grand prize with fantasy handicapping site, RotoGrinders.
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“I was in the car all day driving back from Nashville for my wedding which took place on Friday evening,” Mathews explained. “I had two lineups doing okay going into Saturday and was hoping for a push, but really did not pay much attention. And keep in mind, I am an ex-professional golfer, played in college etc., so I love the Masters, and absolutely love watching it. But this week being my wedding, I had to put my lineups in on Monday and Tuesday and then focus my attention elsewhere.
“The really surreal part when I had the gut-feeling I may be near the top was when I was getting notifications of all these people adding me as friends on DK and following me on Twitter. I just had this odd feeling something was happening. Then Dan Back tweeted me ‘Congrats on the Milly.’ I was thinking, ‘no way this is happening’ and I didn’t check DK because I just didn’t want to see the reality of anything less than $1 million.
“When I got home, I got the winnings notification from DK and I showed my wife and we’re just so excited. Just a completely surreal dream experience.”
Mathews’ 6-person winning lineup included Reed, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman and Russell Henley. All six players finished inside the top-15 in the tournament and Hoffman’s ace on 16 on Sunday gave Mathews the boost he needed, not that he even knew what happened.
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“To find out Hoffman had an ace on 16 made it seem even (crazier),” Mathews said. “I was actually in a van with seven other people and did not say a word to anyone until I got home. Just a bizarre day for me to have to experience a big win this way, but again, it made it more memorable.”
So what does a newly-wed golf junkie with a fantasy sports habit do with a million dollars?
“I told my wife, ‘we need to stay in our lane,’ but I want to buy us a nice house, so that is the first thing on the list,” he said.
It would stand to reason that the Mathews’ price range just went up.
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