Our best bets for the first major of the golf season include two of the best players in the world, and a longshot on a Canadian at a big price.
Tomorrow, they tee it off at Augusta National for the Masters, widely considered to be the most prestigious event in professional golf, with its historic traditions, atmosphere, and pristine venue. The Masters is typically the largest handle golf tournament every year, as well.
This year the build-up feels a little different, though. Tiger Woods isn’t there – having taken himself out of the spotlight for the foreseeable future, after a car accident in March. Phil Mickelson isn’t playing this weekend either, having pulled out a few weeks back because of a family illness.
Both men are in their 50s now, and in Woods’ case, his body has undergone multiple surgeries, so this should be expected. Maybe it’s because they’ve been so much a part of Masters’ lore the past 25 years – Tigers has won five of these, Phil three – so it feels like something is missing, that we’re almost backing into the weekend. Their personal narratives, and their storied personal rivalry, has a lot to do with it.
Emotions aside, there are plenty of favourites for bettors to focus on. Does Rory McIlroy have it in him to repeat as champion, which, if he did, would make him the first golfer to pull that off since Woods did it in 2001 and 2002? Reported back problems the past few weeks has oddsmakers holding back.
Does Scottie Scheffler, with almost cyborg-like efficiency on a golf course, and currently the Betway odds-on favourite to win the tournament (+500), overcome a recent slump (for him, anyway). Scheffler has won two Masters titles – 2022 and 2024 and is a Top 10 finisher over the past four years. Scheffler hasn’t posted a Top 5 finish since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.
And what about the LIV Golf guys, in contention for this weekend? Bryson DeChambeau is right after Scheffler, at +1000, with Jon Rahm also at +1000. Rahm plays some of his best golf at Augusta – a Top 10 finisher five times since 2018. Rahm won the Masters in 2023. And then there’s another former Masters champ, Patrick Reed, sitting at +2800.
MONEY SHOT BEST BETS
Scottie Scheffler +550
This is boring, I know, but people talking about Scheffler being in a little bit of a slump – understandably distracted in large part because he and his wife just had their second child this past weekend – likely motivates him to eviscerate the field even more. It’s been a long time since anyone has dominated golf to the level Scheffler has.
Ranked No. 1 in the world, nothing seems to rattle Scheffler. And he’s built for Augusta – with its lightning-fast, wildly contoured greens, slick and severely sloped. Scheffler is currently ninth in Putts Per Round (27.67). The course demands perfect positioning. Scheffler’s ninth in GIR Percentage – 71.30 per cent.
The Masters has the smallest field of the four men’s major championships. Yes, Scheffler hasn’t played in a month – finishing T22 at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, after a 24th at the Arnold Palmer March 4 – but I expect him back on top this weekend, charged up after the birth of his son.
Xander Schauffele +1200
I am taking Schauffele as well. The Californian has the skillset to win at Augusta (five top 10s in the past seven years, starting with that T2 in 2019, the year Woods last won), with his play of late rounding into form nicely (24th at Bay Hill, 3rd at TPC Sawgrass, T4 at the Valspar Championship).
LONGSHOT
Corey Conners +6600
What about some Canadian-ness here, a tip of the hat to what Mike Weir accomplished in 2003? Corey Conners at +6600 – he tied for 8th at 5-under at the 2025 Masters, and quietly finished T14 at the Valspar Championship last month. Masters success hinges on precision – and Conners is elite there, especially on par-5s. He’s fifth in the PGA in driving accuracy currently.
WEATHER AND TEE-OFF TIMES
The weather forecast for this weekend in Georgia is perfect – dry and sunny over the four days, zero percent chance of rain. No excuses. It’s going to be up to the golfers (and the Gods, of course).
Honorary starters Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson tee it off at 7:25 a.m. EST tomorrow. Scheffler tees off at 1:44 p.m., McIlroy at 10:31 a.m., DeChambeau, paired with Schauffele (and Matt Fitzpatrick), at 10:07 a.m., Rahm at 1:08 p.m. Conners is off at 12:44 p.m.
Visit Betway’s golf betting page.
