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The game’s best are in Augusta, Ga., this week for the 2024 Masters, the 1st major of the year. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is aiming for his 2nd green jacket as the overwhelming favorite, while defending champion Jon Rahm is back at Augusta National for the 1st time since joining LIV Golf.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2024 Masters odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler comes into the Masters as the top-ranked player in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll, followed by Xander Schauffele at No. 2, Rory McIlroy at No. 3, Ludvig Aberg at No. 4 and Viktor Hovland rounding out the top 5. Rahm ranks 6th, one spot ahead of Patrick Cantlay.
Augusta National will play at 7,555 yards this week, 10 yards longer than it played last year. It’s still a par 72, of course, but it’s certainly a venue that favors longer hitters off the tee. Strokes gained: approach is a key metric when it comes to picking a Masters winner because Augusta is a 2nd-shot course, though players must also be good putters on the daunting greens with steep slopes and drop-offs.
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Masters – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 2:44 p.m. ET.
Jon Rahm (+240)
Rahm is the defending champion and comes into the week in great form. In 5 starts with LIV, he’s finished between 3rd and 8th each time, showing impressive consistency. In addition to winning the Masters last year, he also finished in the top 10 each year from 2019-21.
Brooks Koepka (+333)
Koepka lives for the majors. He won the PGA last year and tied for 2nd at Augusta, giving him 14 top-5 finishes in his major championship career. Even if he doesn’t break through and win the green jacket, I like his chances to finish in the top 5.
Tony Finau (+650)
Finau has never won a major and his putting could prevent him from bucking that trend this week. However, his ball-striking is good enough right now to land him a spot in the top 5 at Augusta, a place where he’s finished in the top 10 three times and top 5 once.
Masters – Top-10 picks
Will Zalatoris (+240)
Zalatoris has only played the Masters twice but he’s finished 2nd and 6th in those 2 appearances. That’s a rock-solid record at a difficult course, but Zalatoris seems to thrive when the conditions are tougher. There are admittedly some concerns about his recent form after going MC-74th in his last 2 starts, but he was playing well before that.
Cameron Young (+350)
Similar to Koepka, Young tends to play his best golf in the majors. He has 4 top-10 finishes in the majors in the last 2 years alone, including a T-7 at the Masters in 2023. His high-draw ball flight fits well at Augusta, but he needs the putter to improve in order to contend.
Xander Schauffele (+140)
Schauffele is a top-10 machine in the majors. He has 11 top-10s in the majors during his career and the only time he’s finished outside the top 20 of a major in the last 2 years was at the Masters in 2022. He’s an excellent bet for a top-10 at Augusta again, which would be his 4th.
Hideki Matsuyama (+160)
Matsuyama comes into the week with his game firing on all cylinders. His history at Augusta is obviously very good, too, finishing 13th, 1st, 14th and 16th since 2020. This season, he’s finished in the top 22 in each of his last 5 starts, a stretch that includes 3 top-10s.
Corey Conners (+450)
Looking a bit further down the board, Conners is worth a bet for a top-10. He burned bettors last year when he missed the cut, but his ball-striking is always great and he finished in the top 10 at Augusta in 3 consecutive years from 2020-22.
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Masters – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+115)
Theegala has the type of creative game that has made Jordan Spieth so successful at Augusta, as well as Bubba Watson. He can shape the ball, flight it high or low and he’s putting it extremely well this season (13th in SG: putting).
Si Woo Kim (+175)
Kim has only finished inside the top 20 once in his Masters career (12th in 2021), but since 2018, he’s come in the top 40 each year. What makes him a particularly enticing bet is he has 6 top-25 finishes in 9 starts this season. Aside from his putting, Kim ranks in the top 27 in every other strokes-gained statistic.
Shane Lowry (+115)
Lowry is a former major champion so he checks that box and he’s finished top 20 in each of his last 3 starts on the PGA Tour this season. At the Masters, he’s finished 16th, 3rd, 21st and 25th in the last 4 years. So his form is solid and his course history is even better.
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Nick Taylor (+350)
- Akshay Bhatia (+225)
Masters – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Sungjae Im (-130) vs. Tom Kim (+100)
Betting on Im with his current form is risky, but Kim isn’t playing much better and he hasn’t played much due to an illness that forced him to withdraw from the Players Championship. Im has finished 16th, 8th and 2nd in 3 of his last 4 starts here.
Justin Rose (-110) vs. Rickie Fowler (-110)
This is more about fading Fowler than it is about buying Rose stock. Fowler hasn’t played the Masters since 2020 and his best finish this year was a T-35 at Riviera. He ranks 162nd in SG: total this season, too. At near-even money, take Rose over Rickie.
Shane Lowry (-110) vs. Collin Morikawa (-110)
In Morikawa’s last 3 starts this season, he’s missed the cut and finished 45th and 75th. Not great. Lowry is in stronger form and has better course history.
Masters – Top Korean
Si Woo Kim (+180)
Kim is the favorite to be the top Korean player over Byeong Hun An (+300), Im (+300) and Kim (+350). Neither Im nor Kim are playing well right now and An has missed the cut in 2 of 3 starts here.
Masters – Top debutant
Akshay Bhatia (+700)
As long as his shoulder is OK, Bhatia is a good bet to be the top debutant. No one in this group has an advantage of course history, and with the way he shapes the ball right to left, he’s a great fit for Augusta. The drives he hit in San Antonio were spectacular and he looked to be in complete control of his golf ball. The biggest concerns here are Ludvig Aberg (+300) and Wyndham Clark (+333).
Masters – First-round leader
Cameron Young (+4500)
Young shot 67 here last year and was tied for 4th. He’s teeing off late on Thursday, which could be favorable with storms expected earlier in the day, potentially softening up the greens for him later on.
Jordan Spieth (+2500)
Spieth has the 6th-most birdies in the Masters in the last 5 years, a span that doesn’t include his win or runner-up in 2015 and 2016. If he gets hot, he can really light it up and go low. He also tees off late on Thursday so that could be beneficial, as well.
Masters – To make the cut
Suggested play in bold.
- Tiger Woods: YES (+110) vs. No (-150)
- Bryson DeChambeau: NO (+275) vs. Yes (-400)
Woods hasn’t missed the cut at the Masters since 1996. He’s seeking to make his 24th consecutive cut at Augusta, which would break Fred Couples’ record. At +110, it’s worth playing.
DeChambeau, on the other hand, has no business being -400 to make the cut. He’s missed the cut here in each of the last 2 years and hasn’t finished better than 29th since his debut in 2016 (21st).
More expert prop bet predictions
Group H winner: Keegan Bradley (+450)
Bradley has the longest odds in this group, which includes An (+300), Harris English (+300), Stephan Jaeger (+350) and Kurt Kitayama (+400). English is worrisome for Bradley’s chances, but Keegan’s game is a good fit for Augusta and it’s surprising that he hasn’t had better finishes – though he did come in 23rd last year.
Bogey-free Round 1: Xander Schauffele (+1400)
Schauffele is 2nd in bogey avoidance this season and he’s the type of steady player who’s capable of putting together a clean card in the 1st round. He stays out of trouble and is good around the greens so he’ll consistently make up-and-down when he misses the green.
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