The PGA Tour is finally headed to Augusta National Golf Club for the first Major of the season at the 2023 Masters. It’ll be a stacked field seeking the iconic Green Jacket, with plenty of talent and a ton of value when it comes to the outright winner betting slate.
Tiger Woods will join this pursuit, as he’s honed in on acquiring another miraculous comeback win at Augusta to tie Jack Nicklaus’ current record of six outright wins at The Masters.
Woods rallied in 2019 to beat Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Xander Schauffele by one stroke (-13) in a miraculous display of physical and mental fortitude.
We can’t forget to mention defending champion, Scottie Scheffler, who went on a dominant run in 2022 and currently sits as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.
This year’s edition of The Masters should be a bit more intriguing than usual due to the return of several prominent LIV golfers in the tournament, including Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, and Cameron Smith. The oft-maligned decision of these former PGA Tour players who departed for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league could create some tense moments when they are paired up against active PGA Tour players at Augusta.
Of course, Johnson and Reed won the Green Jacket in 2018 and 2020, so they aren’t competing for a T25 finish. They’ll want to win the entire event to quell the perception of LIV being unable to field an event with enough talented players.
Let’s look at the top-ten betting odds, course layout, and a couple of players who possess the experience, skill set, and current form to win outright ahead of Thursday’s opening round at the 2023 Masters.
Before we get into our picks for The Masters, make sure to take a moment to check out these awesome sports betting offers for this week. You can use one of the HUGE first bet offers to wager with more confidence on your 2023 Masters selections this week.
Masters Odds
Masters Betting Preview
Previous Winners
- 2022 - Scottie Scheffler (-10)
- 2021 - Hideki Matsuyama (-10)
- 2020 - Dustin Johnson (-20)
- 2019 - Tiger Woods (-13)
- 2018 - Patrick Reed (-15)
- 2017 - Sergio Garcia (-9)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Driving Distance
- Driving Accuracy
- Strokes Gained Putting
- Greens in Regulation Percentage
- Scrambling
Course Layout
Augusta National Golf Club is a par 72 that runs over 7,500 yards. Its Bentgrass greens tend to run faster than the Bermudagrass that we’ve seen in Florida and Texas, which will be an adjustment for players to make with their putters. There is an even distribution of par 3s and par 5s on the front and back nines, while the fairways are much wider on most holes. Lined by Dogwood trees and Magnolia flowers, players’ irons and putters will be tested the most at this course, as the greens tend to run small in their surface area.
A series of par 3s and par 4s will occur from hole 4 through hole seven, while players will then be dealt three consecutive long par 4s from holes 9-11, before having their tee-to-green tested on the 12th hole. Two par 5s sandwich the par 4 14th hole, creating birdie opportunities, but the sand bunkers that flank the small Bentgrass greens and fairways will create difficult lies to recover from. Most of the fairways, despite being wider, are doglegged, meaning hole locations will be obscured from the tee box and occasionally the approach shot. Distance off the tee and power are important at Augusta, as it’s one of the lengthier courses we’ve seen in recent PGA Tour events.
Top Players to Bet for Outright Winner
Rory McIlroy (+750) (Bet $100 to Collect $850) Get the Best Odds for This Rory McIlroy Pick at FanDuel Sportsbook
We saw Rory McIlroy climb into a second-place finish behind Scottie Scheffler last year at The Masters, so why wouldn’t he be able to replicate that performance and secure his first Green Jacket? The 33-year-old star golfer from Northern Ireland is the best on the PGA Tour with his driving distance and also ranks first in going for the green. It’s his putter that tends to betray McIlroy this season. After missing the cut in 2021 for only the second time ever in 14 appearances, then following it up with a runner-up (-7) in 2022, McIlroy has been closing in on an outright win this Spring.
What better way for him to build his legacy even more than with his first-ever outright win at The Masters? I know the odds are short here at 7/1 but there’s a reason oddsmakers have McIlroy here at the top of the outright betting slate. We haven’t seen a repeat winner at Augusta National recently, so McIlroy makes the most sense out of the top blue-chip prospects.
Cameron Smith (+2200) (Bet $100 to Collect $2300) Get the Best Odds for This Cameron Smith Pick at Bet365 Sportsbook
The golf world may melt down if Cameron Smith winds up winning the 2023 Masters. The Aussie LIV golfer has been steadily producing T10 finishes at Augusta National in each of his previous three appearances, logging finishes of T2, T10, and T3 in 2022.
Smith has precise irons, one of the best flat sticks on any putting surface, and an equally powerful driver to match the likes of McIlroy, Woods, and Cameron Young.
Factor in the perception of Smith’s decision to join LIV, and he’ll likely carry a lot of motivation and ambition into the opening round on Thursday. 22/1 odds are still pretty high in terms of an outright winner in such a loaded field, but it’s 3x more value than we’re landing with McIlroy, so consider Smith a good investment to make as the outright winner at the 2023 Masters.
Sam Burns (+4100) (Bet $100 to Collect $4500) Get the Best Odds on this Sam Burns Pick at FanDuel Sportsbook
I had my doubts about Sam Burns but he swiftly shut them down during a dominant performance at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play event a couple of weeks ago. Yes, the scoring format was adjusted to Match Play, but he still outdueled Scottie Scheffler to advance to the Championship Matchup, where he beat Cameron Young 6 & 5, earning his fifth outright career win in just over 120 events played.
The 26-year-old Louisiana native is ranked 10th in strokes gained putting, which will be a massive asset to leverage on the Bentgrass greens of Augusta National. Burns made his debut here in 2022 and it resulted in a missed cut, but if he can manage to make the cut in 2023, it only takes one round to catch fire and sustain momentum.
He’s built for this course with his driving distance and short game synced up nicely, so at 41/1 odds, consider Burns a solid flier to sprinkle on for an outright win.
