5 Fun Masters Pool Format Ideas for 2026

If you're looking to spice up your Masters watch party or office pool, choosing the right format is key. While the classic "pick a few golfers and add up their scores" works, there are several variations that can keep everyone engaged throughout the entire weekend—even if their top pick misses the cut!

Here are 5 of the best Masters pool formats you can run (all of which are fully supported by PoolFrenzy).

1. Tiered Selection (The Standard)

This is the most popular and balanced way to run a golf pool. Instead of everyone picking the heavy favorites, golfers are grouped into tiers based on their Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

How it works: You create 6 tiers of golfers (e.g., Tier 1 has the top 10 players, Tier 2 has ranks 11-20, etc.). Each participant must pick exactly one golfer from each tier to form their team of 6.

Why we love it: It requires participants to do a little research and prevents everyone from having the exact same lineup.

2. Pick 6, Use 4 (Drop the Worst Scores)

Nothing ruins a participant's weekend faster than having one of their golfers blow up with an 80 on Thursday. The "Pick 6, Use 4" format solves this.

How it works: Each participant drafts a team of 6 golfers. However, at the end of the tournament, you only count the scores of their best 4 golfers. The two worst scores are automatically dropped.

Why we love it: It provides a safety net. If a participant's sleeper pick misses the cut or has a terrible round, they aren't completely out of the running for the points distribution. (Note: PoolFrenzy automatically calculates this for you).

3. Daily Best Ball

If you want a format that keeps people checking the leaderboard every single day, Daily Best Ball is the way to go.

How it works: Participants pick a team of golfers (usually 4 to 6). Instead of adding up every golfer's total score at the end of the tournament, you only look at each day individually. For each round (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), you take the single lowest score shot by any golfer on a participant's team and that becomes their team score for the day.

Why we love it: Every single day is a fresh start. A participant might have a terrible Thursday, but if one of their golfers shoots a 65 on Friday, they are right back in the mix!

4. Prize Money Earnings

Golf terminology like "To Par" and "Strokes" can sometimes confuse casual fans or office coworkers who don't watch golf regularly. The Prize Money format simplifies everything into dollars.

How it works: Participants pick a team of golfers. At the end of the Masters, you look at the official tournament purse distribution. The participant whose team of golfers earned the highest combined real-world prize money wins the pool.

Why we love it: It's incredibly easy to understand. More money equals better performance.

5. Total Strokes (The Grinder's Format)

If you have a group of hardcore golf fans who want every single shot to matter, Total Strokes is the ultimate test.

How it works: Participants pick their team, and you add up every single stroke taken by every single golfer on their team over all four rounds. The lowest total stroke count wins.

Why we love it: It's pure golf. However, you must have a strict missed cut penalty in place (like assigning a score of 80 for Saturday and Sunday for any golfer who misses the cut), otherwise the math falls apart. PoolFrenzy handles this penalty math automatically.

---

Ready to get started? You can easily configure any of these formats in seconds using our pool creation tool.