The best week of the year is coming up as the best golfers in the world return to Augusta National for the 88th edition of the Masters tournament. As an avid golf fan this is one of my favorite weeks of the year as the best players in the world head to Georgia for the most lauded trophy in the sport the green jacket.
This years Masters is full of story lines as Scottie Scheffler is starting to find his putter as the best player in the world. Jon Rahm the 2023 Masters Champion has left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and his game hasn’t quite been as sharp. While newcomers like Ludvig Åberg and Nick Taylor are looking to make good first impressions at Augusta. Tiger Woods will play after missing the Players Championship to prepare for the undulation that comes with walking Augusta National.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States reacts to his hole-in-one on the ninth green during the Par 3 contest prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 05, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia.
Masters betting odds
The Favorites: odds by DraftKings
Scottie Scheffler: +400 outright
Scottie Scheffler is the heavy favorite heading into the Masters this year and for good reason. Scheffler has been the best player on the planet for the past year and most of that was with his putter struggling. Recently Scottie has started to figure out his putter which is a scary sight for the rest of the field. For me personally I probably won’t be touching Scottie at that number, at +400 Scottie is entering the Tiger Woods level of odds heading into a tournament, to the point in some books you can even bet Scottie against the field.
There’s no questioning that Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet but at +400 the value just isn’t there for me. I would look to see if some guys go low in round one and Scottie gets off to a slow start to potentially live bet him if you can get a good number, but at +400 to win a major I can’t see myself betting him pre-tournament.
Jon Rahm of Spain poses with the Masters trophy during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 09, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia.
Jon Rahm: +1200 outright
The returning Masters champion Jon Rahm is another one of the favorites this week coming in at +1200 pre-tournament. Rahm is in my opinion the second best golfer on the planet even though he has struggled a little bit with the transition to LIV. However I still expect the fiery Rahm to be all systems go at Augusta to try and defend his title. I’ll be honest I haven’t watched much of Rahm on the LIV tour because the product mostly sucks overall but he has a number of top ten finishes in recent events.
For me Rahm is a guy who finishing top 10 in a LIV event does very little to tell me about his form it’s a 3-day no cut event at courses that for the most part don’t approach the level of difficulty of Augusta National. Saying this I still believe is the second best player in the world so anytime you can get someone at that level returning to a course they’ve had success at +1200 is a decent number to consider. I personally won’t be touching Rahm because of the history of guys winning in back to back years is incredibly scarce with Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo being the only 3 to do so.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 07: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and caddie Harry Diamond walk up the 18th green during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy: +1000
The golfer with the second lowest odds heading into Augusta National is the Irishman Rory McIlroy who needs a win at Augusta to complete the career grand slam. Rory has been chasing a Masters win for years now and hasn’t been able to close the deal due to a litany of reasons, from poor starts, to lackluster putting displays McIlroy is desperate to compete the career slam. He turns 35 next month and his window isn’t closing but with the young talent bursting onto the scene in golf his window is certainly getting smaller and smaller.
Rory has been in decent form to start his 2024 playing in 5 events making the cut in all 5 and finishing inside the top 25 in 4 out of 5. While these numbers are pretty good I’m still skeptical of Rory finally putting everything together and breaking through at Augusta. I go back and forth on Rory, he’s great for the sport and isn’t afraid to get into the weeds on the PGA Tour vs LIV but he does also have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth and back track on previous sentiments.
I think of all the story lines this week for hardcore golf fans Rory completing the grand slam and finally winning at Augusta would be one of the best possible stories to come out of the weekend but I’m not getting swept up in storylines so I personally won’t be betting Rory at +1000. However he is another guy who could falter early and get some pretty juicy live odds that could entice me to take a harder look at him.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 09: Brooks Koepka of the United States talks with his caddie Ricky Elliott on the 13th green during the final round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 09, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Brooks Koepka: +1800
A LIV golfer I’d be more inclined to bet this week than Rahm is Brooks Koepka who seems to have a borderline addiction to playing well in Majors at this point. Koepka is a somewhat polarizing figure in golf as his laissez-faire attitude can rub some people the wrong way on and off the course. However I think it’s all part of Koepka’s mental game to appear as almost uninterested as possible as he’s lighting up Major tournament golf courses on a regular basis in recent years.
Koepka had his chance at Augusta last year and struggled down the stretch as Rahm overtook him to win. Sitting on this loss for a year has no doubt added fuel to Koepka’s majors fire and with another shot at Augusta I’m sure he’ll be more than ready to make another run at a green jacket. +1800 is a good number for Brooks and I’ll be touching this one as I expect Brooks to play well and compete because expecting him to do anything else in Majors would be naïve at this point.
Some people myself included don’t love betting outrights because you’re hitching your wagon to such a small percentage chance but another bet I’d look at with Koepka is for him to finish inside the top 10 at +180.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 06: Xander Schauffele of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 06, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele: +2000
Xander is one of my favorite golfers on tour but I wrestled with putting him into this preview because of how he’s struggled to close down the stretch especially in big events. However Xander’s recent form is tough to ignore, he’s played in 8 events in the 2024 season making the cut in all 8 events and finishing inside the top 10 in 6 of those 8 starts. Xander is arguably the 3rd or 4th best golfer in the world right now and at +2000 that’s pretty good value even if he does struggle late in these types of events.
For me it’s his skill set and consistency for why this could finally be the time he breaks through at Augusta, there are comparisons to guys like Sergio Garcia who was one of the best golfers on the planet for years but couldn’t close out a major until he finally did at Augusta. Since 2019 Xander has played some very good to great golf at Augusta with a 2nd, 3rd and 10th but he also had a missed cut in 2022 that could scare some bettors off. This isn’t enough to detour me though I will be taking a flyer on Xander with the hope that he can get the monkey off his back and finally close out a major.
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan cross the Hogan Bridge on the 12th hole during the third round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 08, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Hideki Matsuyama: +2500
This is one of my favorite plays of the week and a bet I’ve already placed. Maybe I am looking at course history a little too much but Matsuyama is a former Masters champion who seems to play better the harder the course is. Since 2015 Matsuyama’s worst finish at Augusta is a T32, in that span he’s had 3 top 10’s including his 2021 Masters win. So if you’re someone who doesn’t like the outright market Matsuyama top 10 at +250 is a safer bet.
ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 27: Ludvig Aberg of Team Europe smiles on the 12th hole during a practice round prior to the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 27, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Ludvig Åberg : +2500
I’ll be honest this one comes with a little bias as I am a massive Åberg fan and think he’s primed to be the next superstar in the sport. The odds are stacked against him though as no one has won a Masters on their debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, so while the history is against him Åberg has the skillset to overcome it. While Åberg winning would send shockwaves through the golf world as still somewhat of a virtual unknown it would be an inconceivable launching point for what I expect to be an illustrious career.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 07: Tiger Woods of the United States plays a shot on the third hole during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Tiger Woods: +13000
Is it really a Masters preview if Tiger Woods isn’t mentioned? I’ll preface this with no I will not be betting on Tiger and I’m very skeptical of him finishing all 4 days even if he does make the cut but he is still Tiger Woods and his name has to be mentioned. At +13000 you’re basically buying a lottery ticket if you bet on Tiger this year, a guy who’s barely played golf in the last 6 months and hasn’t looked great when he is playing.
I won’t be betting anything on Tiger this year and would strongly advise against it but he’s still Tiger Woods and I’m in the small camp that he could possibly win on tour again. But I can’t fathom it being this year at Augusta with how little golf he’s played and how he’s looked when he is out there.
