A view of the entrance to Augusta National Golf Club. | Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
The first major championship of the year is upon us, as the best players in the world have descended upon Augusta National.
The most incredible week on the golfing calendar has arrived.
The Masters Tournament is here.
Eighty-nine players will tee it up at Augusta National this year, including 20 rookies, 13 players from LIV Golf, and five amateurs from around the world.
Tiger Woods is playing, too, in what will be his first professional tournament since the Genesis Invitational, when he had to withdraw midway through the second round due to an illness. His presence always creates excitement, intrigue, and a healthy dose of nostalgia.
The Masters Odds:
Here are the current odds for players to win at Augusta, provided by DraftKings:
Scottie Scheffler +400
Rory McIlroy +1000
Jon Rahm +1100
Xander Schauffele +1600
Brooks Koepka +1800
Jordan Spieth +2000
Joaquin Niemann +2500
Ludvig Åberg +3000
Wyndham Clark +3000
Patrick Cantlay +3500
Justin Thomas +3500
DraftKings
Odds for the 2024 Masters.
Predictions for The Masters:
The Masters Tournament features the smallest field out of the four major championships—the only one with less than 100 players. That reality makes it more difficult to pick who will succeed, given that the 36-hole cut takes the top 50 and ties.
Still, the cream rises to the top most often at The Masters, with the past two editions reinforcing that sentiment.
Scottie Scheffler continues superb play
Scottie Scheffler is playing in a league of his own, decimating golf courses from tee to green at a rate not seen since Tiger Woods did so in his prime. Back-to-back wins at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass, followed by a near miss in Houston, have shown that Scheffler is currently the best—and hottest—player in the world.
Oddsmakers are aware of this, too, given that Scheffler is -200 to finish in the top 10. You should avoid that preposterously low value, but Scheffler finishing in the top 5 will return plus money.
Considering he won The Masters in 2022 and tied for 10th a year ago, we are confident that Scheffler will finish in the top 5, at the very least.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
The 12th hole at Augusta National.
Three LIV Golf players finish inside the top 10
No player on LIV Golf has had a better 2024 season than Chile’s Joaquin Niemann. He began the year with a 59 at Mayakoba in Mexico, won that event in a playoff, and then triumphed again in Saudi Arabia. Niemann is a terrific ball striker, and his game suits Augusta well.
We like Niemann to improve upon his tie for 16th a season ago and finish in the top 10 at +240.
But Niemann will not be the only LIV player to record a top-10 finish at Augusta this year.
Brooks Koepka, who dueled Jon Rahm one year ago, will once again finish in the top 10, perhaps even the top 5. Knowing that Koepka focuses solely on the majors, we find +360 a solid value for a top-5 finish for the five-time major winner.
Augusta National
Brooks Koepka congratulates Jon Rahm after his victory at the 2023 Masters.
The other LIV golfer of interest is Dustin Johnson, who won the 2020 Masters in the fall. DraftKings lists Johnson at +330 of finishing in the top 10.
Between 2015 and 2020, Johnson recorded five top-10 finishes at Augusta, including his win. The lone outlier came in 2017, when he injured his back and had to withdraw. Since 2020, however, Johnson has missed the cut, tied for 12th, and tied for 48th, but something tells us that he rediscovers that late 2010s form this week.
Shane Lowry contends once again
Shane Lowry has the game to win a second major championship, and we would not be surprised if he became the first Irishman to win the Green Jacket.
The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year is a terrific iron player, has an exquisite short game, and is also a solid putter—all necessary attributes for a Masters champion.
Since 2020, Lowry has tied for 25th, 21st, 3rd, and 16th. He opened with a 4-under 68 a year ago but faded somewhat over the weekend. Yet, his 2023 result would have been better if not for a stumble at the 14th and 15th holes during Sunday’s final round. Lowry bogeyed the 14th, then doubled the 15th, which dropped him out of the top 10.
This time, we like Lowry to continue his strong play at Augusta and finish on the first page of the leaderboard. A win at +5500 is somewhat of a long shot, but we do not oppose that value. But we do like Lowry to finish within the top 5 at +800, which would mark his third top-5 finish over his last four starts.
Patrick Cantlay exceptional value play
If there is one play on the board offering a ton of value and could pocket you some serious money, it would be taking Patrick Cantlay to win at +3500.
Despite not performing at his best throughout his career at Augusta National (one top-10), he fits the bill on a mid-level pick that can win.
He has played well this year, making all seven cuts and might have been an illness away from going wire to wire at the Genesis Invitational.
As much as people love favorites, the average odds of Masters winners in the 21st century is +3300. On top of that, Americans have turned this tide since 2000 after watching international players take the Green Jacket the majority of the time the previous two decades.
Cantlay has knocked on the door for a major championship before and is undeniably one of the best players in the world.
At 35-to-1, you would be hard-pressed finding better odds on someone with a legit chance at winning.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
