Masters Golf Picks, Predictions, Odds | Masters Best Bets

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The Masters has arrived! It's popularly considered the best golf weekend of the entire season due to the history and circumstances around the tournament, but it holds up. Augusta National is an incredibly special place, and I have no doubt we are in for another excellent week with all the drama surrounding the PGA Tour and LIV Golf players competing together for the first time since the fracture.

Last year, Scottie Scheffler rode a dominant weekend performance to a win over Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, and others, but we are quite overdue for a really competitive Sunday finish at Augusta, with the last time it really happened being Tiger Woods' incredible victory in 2019.

With the win on Corey Conners last week at the Valero Texas Open, I'm coming into this event with a lot of hype myself, and hope we can keep the good streak going!

Below, check out some of our popular Masters resources we have available! Make sure to use our BetMGM bonus code before making any wagers on this year's Masters!

The Masters will begin on Thursday April 6 from Augusta National Golf Club. (Getty)

Most Popular Masters Betting Resources

The beauty about the Masters is how many risk/reward questions it asks of guys on nearly every single shot, and it's those choices create all the drama. Length may be advantageous if you execute, but wedges must be tight here, and putts undoubtedly have to fall. The latter usually gets most guys by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, and the puzzles that are Augusta National greens are why debutants are best left alone in the Masters every year.

Since the nature of this field is seeing at least a handful of debutants mixed with older past champions that have little likelihood of reclaiming that glory, an already small field event condenses to where there are plenty of great options to add to anyone's betting card.

If you're interested in checking out some additional picks of mine other than what's in this article, check out the YouTube video below!

2023 Masters Best Bets Video

Betting Resources
2023 Masters

  • Date: Thursday, Apr. 6, 2021 to Sunday, Apr. 9, 2023
  • Venue: Augusta National Golf Club
  • Location: Augusta, Georgia
  • Par-Yardage: 72, 7,545 yards
  • TV: ESPN, CBS

The thing about Augusta that consistently gets lost in television cameras is how treacherous of a walk these 18 pressure-packed holes can be. Finding a flat lie is always a challenge here, and guys had better control their ball flight on distance and direction enough to put themselves in the right spots on this golf course. Knowing where to miss and leave oneself on particular holes is another feature of Augusta National that also hurts first-time competitors in this tournament.

Slick, sloping greens will always be the feature of this course that most recall first, and the greens and putting drama will make sure it finds its way into this Masters tournament as it does every year. Because course history is quite valuable here, guys who've played here enough can really get rolling with the putter some days, and it's those kinds of rounds that really can add drama to this event.

Statistically, the approach and scrambling games will save guys the most strokes relative to the field, as that risk/reward aspect of this course widens the range of possible scores on many holes if there are issues into or around the greens.

Still, with this type of quality field, nearly all the names at the top will be pretty strong in those categories, so who you believe can execute the best here is the way to go. Whether that's relying on recent form, recent form at Augusta, or some combination of the two, it's hard to poke too many holes in most of the betting selections you'll hear for this event.

2023 Masters
Betting Odds

Despite the Masters being the fullest field that a PGA Tour event has seen in months, there are still only a handful of names in the sub-20/1 range, and it starts with the trio up top in single digits: Scheffler (+750), McIlroy (+700), and Jon Rahm (+950). These three are the pinnacle of golf currently and nobody can fault them for being single digit favorites.

After the top trio, we have a handful of golfers in the next tier, but it starts all the way at Jordan Spieth (18/1). Spieth has been playing inspired golf all season and after a slow start, really put it all together to almost win the Valspar Championship a few weeks ago. He's in form and has a wonderful history at Augusta. Next up comes Patrick Cantlay (20/1), who continues to be the darling of bettors year after year despite never quite putting it all together here. To round out the 20/1 group we have Justin Thomas (20/1), who won the previous major last season but really hasn't played all that solidly recently. When he puts it all together though, there's an extremely short list of people who can beat Thomas.

  • Rory McIlroy +700
  • Scottie Scheffler +750
  • Jon Rahm +950
  • Jordan Spieth +1800
  • Patrick Cantlay +2000
  • Justin Thomas +2000
  • More Golfers
  • (Odds Subject to Change)

The next wave of names from +2200 to +4000 is loaded with great betting options as well, with many of the game's younger names (Morikawa, Hovland, Im) involved in this group. Morikawa and Im are two names that people have been expecting to contend on a weekly basis, though Morikawa has fizzled out a bit since his last major victory in 2021, and Im is just starting to come into his own.

Let's really get into it and dig into the contender at all levels that I think have a realistic shot to win the Masters this year.

Contender to Back
The Masters

Jon Rahm has been tabbed as one of the top contenders to win the Masters. (Getty)

Jon Rahm +950

Truthfully, I get the sudden shift in temperature around the guy. His last three starts have been less than inspiring: a T39 at the Arnold Palmer, W/D with his numbers sliding at THE PLAYERS, and a T31 at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play where he didn't advance from his group stage.

We have to think about the larger picture here though, and there's a simple truth that shines through. It has been Rahm, not Scheffler, that has truly been unstoppable in 2023. Scottie has the recent body of work that's on everyone's minds, and he has been absolutely tremendous, there's no doubt about it. But Rahm started this year on an absolute TEAR, finishing no worse than T8 in his first 7 events with 3 wins before it all crashed down in Florida.

If you're asking me who I would be absolutely terrified to leave off my betting card this week, it is Rahm, no question. He is unstoppable when he wants to be. He ranks third in strokes gained: tee-to-green, fourth in approach, 17th around the greens, and 12th in putting. With a couple of weeks off to clear his mind, I believe that he has the best shot in this field at raising the trophy come Sunday night.

Mid-Range Value
The Masters

Sungjae Im +3700

Sungjae Im has the makeup to be a serious contender in the 2023 Masters. (Getty)

It's tough to think about what constitutes a mid-range pick when it's such a tightly-packed bunch at this year's Masters, but I settled on Im for this play.

Im is coming off of a really nice stretch of golf, finishing T21 at the Arnold Palmer, T6 at THE PLAYERS, and T17 at the Match Play. In addition to that, we talk about course history at Augusta mattering a TON. Well, Sungjae has plenty of it given he has an 8th place finish and a runner-up finish here in his last two appearances, and we aren't registering the 2020 November event where he missed the cut.

It's just not the course history either, Sungjae fills out the stat sheet nicely. He ranks 8th in strokes gained on Par 5s, 11th in Scrambling Gained, and 14th in 3 Putt Avoidance. He's been building to this for a few years now, it's time for him to finally make his move and win a green jacket.

Long Shot Pick
The Masters

Keegan Bradley +16000

We have to preface this pick by saying the following: betting longshots has historically not been a profitable endeavor at the Masters. Augusta National is an extremely tough course, punishes players not used to its treachery, and generally forces you to really dig deep to come away victorious. It's not a place when you should take a longshot as gospel.

With the depth of this field though, some players fall through the cracks, and I think there's a good amount of value on a player of Bradley's caliber. It's worth noting that he has not played the Masters since 2019, and that he's never finished above T22 here. I get all of that. But Bradley's having a bit of a career resurgence this season, and I think this is worth a tiny sprinkle, and even more so on his placement props.

Bradley ranks 7th this season in strokes gained: T2G, 3rd in Scrambling Gained, and 8th in strokes gained: ball-striking. He fits the stats metric, and also fits another metric I'm eyeing this week: a right-to-left ball flight off the tee that Augusta notably favors. Take a swing on Bradley at 160/1. You'll most likely not win, but he's mispriced in my eyes.

Placement Bet

Jordan Spieth enters the Masters in good form and he owns a good resume at Augusta. (Getty)

Jordan Spieth +175 Top 10

As I mentioned above, Spieth has been gradually building this year's resume from the ground up, with it culminating in a near-win a few weeks back at the Valspar Championship.

He owns five top-three finishes in nine starts at Augusta National, and there's really no reason that can't continue. He's an incredibly creative player at a golf course that demands you to think outside the box to get home, and he routinely does things around the green that no one else on Tour.

We obviously have to worry about his putting, and surprisingly, not the long ones. It's the short ones that have plagued Jordan all year, as he missed a handful down the stretch at Innisbrook CC that caused him to miss out on a title. that'll be a key thing for him to nail down, since you need that 3 putt avoidance skill to navigate the undulated greens of Augusta National.

Look for Spieth to contend all week though, and he really does have a strong chance to win if he gets those short putts down.

Masters Betting Results 2016-2022 (Odds)

  • 2022 - Scottie Scheffler (10/1)
  • 2021 - Hideki Matsuyama (40/1)
  • 2020 - Dustin Johnson (17/2)
  • 2019 - Tiger Woods (14/1)
  • 2018 - Patrick Reed (50/1)
  • 2017 - Sergio Garcia (30/1)
  • 2016 - Danny Willett (50/1)

How to Bet on Golf

Golf betting has gained much more exposure and interest in the past few years, and with plenty of plus-money prices littered throughout the various forms of golf wagers, the chance for bigger scores is part of the reason behind that increased popularity.

2023 Golf Betting Schedule

Sportsbooks ensure that there are no shortage of wagering options on golf tournaments every week, and it isn't all about picking the winner. Grabbing the outright winner of a golf tournament is the best way to get that 'big score' but it's also the hardest wager to cash. After all, a typical professional golf tournament has a field of 140+ different players to consider.

Understanding Golf Odds and Bets

Most golf odds are listed in the fractional format – 10/1 on Dustin Johnson for example – and in that particular case you would multiply the amount bet by that first number to project your winnings. So a $100 bet on DJ to win that particular event would win you $1000.

If you are more comfortable with the American version of odds listings that you typically see across the other major North American sports – ie +1000 – these numbers are easily convertible. Online and app based books may already have that option built in, but the easiest way to do it yourself is to add two zeros to the first number in the fraction. So a 10/1 price on DJ converts to +1000 in that format.