To prepare for golf's biggest betting weekend, meet the field participating in the 2023 Masters tournament.
This weekend's major tournament includes the following golfers:
1. All past winners of the Masters Tournament
Fred Couples, Sergio García, Dustin Johnson (12,18), Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Hideki Matsuyama (13,17,18,19), Phil Mickelson (4), Larry Mize, José María Olazábal, Patrick Reed, Scottie Scheffler (5,12,13,16,17,18,19), Charl Schwartzel (12), Adam Scott (17,18,19), Vijay Singh, Jordan Spieth (16,17,18,19), Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Tiger Woods, Danny Willett (12)
Past winners not expected to play: Tommy Aaron, Jack Burke Jr., Ángel Cabrera, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Trevor Immelman, Jack Nicklaus, Mark O'Meara, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller
2. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2018–2022)
Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick (17,18,19), Brooks Koepka (4), Jon Rahm (16,17,18,19), Gary Woodland
3. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2018–2022)
Shane Lowry (12,18,19), Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa (4,12,17,18,19), Cameron Smith (5,12,17,18,19)
4. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2018–2022)
Justin Thomas (5,12,17,18,19)
5. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2021–2023)
6. The winner of the gold medal at the Olympic Games[a]
7. The winner and runner-up in the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship
Sam Bennett (a), Ben Carr (a)
8. The winner of the 2022 Amateur Championship
Aldrich Potgieter (a)
9. The winner of the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
Harrison Crowe (a)
10. The winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship
Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (a)
11. The winner of the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship
Matthew McClean (a)
12. The leading 12 players, and those tying for 12th place, from the 2022 Masters Tournament
Cameron Champ, Corey Conners (16,17,18,19), Sungjae Im (17,18,19), Rory McIlroy (14,16,17,18,19), Will Zalatoris (13,15,16,17,18,19)
13. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2022 U.S. Open
14. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2022 Open Championship
Tommy Fleetwood (18,19), Viktor Hovland (17,18,19), Cameron Young (15,17,18,19)
15. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2022 PGA Championship
Mito Pereira (18)
16. Winners of PGA Tour events[b] between the 2022 Masters Tournament and the 2023 Masters Tournament
Keegan Bradley (18,19), Sam Burns (17,18,19), Patrick Cantlay (17,18,19), Tony Finau (17,18,19), Russell Henley (18,19), Max Homa (17,18,19), Mackenzie Hughes (18), Billy Horschel (17,18,19), Si Woo Kim (19), Tom Kim (18,19), Chris Kirk (19), Kurt Kitayama (18,19), K.H. Lee (17,18,19), Taylor Moore (19), Séamus Power (18,19), Justin Rose (19), J. T. Poston (17,19). Xander Schauffele (17,18,19), Adam Svensson
17. All players who qualified for the 2022 Tour Championship
Brian Harman (18,19), Tom Hoge (18,19), Joaquín Niemann (18,19), Scott Stallings, Sepp Straka (18,19), Sahith Theegala (18,19)
Aaron Wise (18,19) will not play.
18. The leading 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of December 31, 2022
Abraham Ancer (19), Ryan Fox (19), Talor Gooch, Tyrrell Hatton (19), Kevin Kisner (19), Jason Kokrak, Adrian Meronk, Kevin Na, Alex Norén (19), Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters (19), Harold Varner III
19. The leading 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 27, 2023
Jason Day, Harris English, Min Woo Lee, Keith Mitchell
20. Special invitations
Kazuki Higa, Gordon Sargent (a)
The Field for the 2023 Masters
Abraham Ancer 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: 13th (2020)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Ancer left for LIV Golf last July and has been a bit “out of sight, out of mind” like many of the LIV players. On debut here in 2020, Ancer found himself in the final group on Sunday where he had a front-row seat to Dustin Johnson’s green-jacket coronation. A disappointing final round 76 dropped him to a 13th-place finish.
Ancer is in this field courtesy of his OWGR Top 50 ranking at the end of 2022. He does have a victory in 2023 after winning the PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour back in February against a respectable field.
He is not a big hitter off the tee, so he will have to be pinpoint everywhere else to compete and it is hard to gauge that based on competing against smaller fields in no-cut events over the last several months.
Sam Bennett (A) 2500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Sam Bennett became the first Texas A&M Aggie to win the U.S. Amateur back in August of 2022 when he defeated fellow 2023 Masters debutant Ben Carr at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey. This is his first trip to Augusta but not his first major championship golf experience after he qualified and made the cut (T49) at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline.
Keegan Bradley 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/5
Best Career Finish: T-22nd (2015)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Keegan Bradley played in five straight Masters from 2012 to 2016, but it’s been a tough run ever since. He qualified for the 2019 event, which was his last appearance here, finishing T43.
Two years ago, Bradley was outside the OWGR Top 125 and now he is just outside the OWGR Top 20. He started to turn it around in 2022 and capped it off with a win last October in the ZOZO Championship and a runner-up earlier this year in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
He ranks inside the top 15 in total strokes gained per round over the past six months, with very few holes in his game now that his putting, a weakness for many years, has improved. Nevertheless, he might be of better use in a placement (T20, T30, T40) market or on a make/miss cut prop.
Sam Burns 35/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/0
Best Career Finish: MC (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Burns shot 75-74 to miss the cut on his debut at Augusta last year. He lacks course history at a place where it is most paramount; however, he is a different class of player now having rolled through the WGC-Dell Match Play including semifinals win over OWGR No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the way to dispatching Cameron Young 6 & 5 in the championship match.
Burns had lost strokes on approach in nine of the past 12 starts prior to his performance at the Match Play. He was able to get off the schneid at the Valspar, which is clearly his favorite place to play on TOUR having won the title there in consecutive years for 2021 and 2022. It continued two weeks ago at the Match Play.
Now that he has mixed it up and triumphed over the game’s elite at the Match Play, he must be considered a viable contender. However, he has yet to post a Top 10 in any major.
Patrick Cantlay 18/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/4
Best Career Finish: T-9th (2019)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 2
Cantlay has risen to a Top 5 world ranking, but contending on a Sunday in a major has been all too rare. He profiles well in all of the statistics including ranking second in this field in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee over the past three months. The current OWGR No. 4 shot 79 on Saturday to plummet down the leaderboard and eventually finish T-39 here last year.
Cantlay’s last win was in the late summer of 2022 at the BMW Championship. Since then, he has been three Top 5s and four Top 10s in his last nine events. He is clearly a world-class player, but it is long past time for him to prove it on the biggest stages and the stage gets no bigger than The Masters.
Ben Carr (A) 2500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
The local kid from Georgia Southern earned his Masters invite after reaching the finals of the U.S. Amateur in August, losing 1 up to Sam Bennett. As with any amateur debutant, making the cut should be the goal.
Cameron Champ 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/3
Best Career Finish: T-10th (2020)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 2
Champ is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR (2018 Sanderson Farms Championship, 2019 Safeway Open, and 2021 3M Open), and one of the TOUR’s biggest bombers off the tee has surprisingly very good form here at Augusta considering driving distance can be mitigated here.
However, his recent form leaves a lot to be desired. He has missed the cut in eight of 11 starts this season while losing an average of 0.94 strokes per round on approach. Those irons are going to have to be way better if he is going to make the weekend at Augusta for a fourth consecutive year.
Corey Conners 45/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 5/4
Best Career Finish: T-6th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 3
Conners posted his third consecutive Top 10 finish at Augusta here last year with a T-6. Unfortunately for Conners, he has not posted a Top 10 anywhere since a T-5 at the BMW Championship late last summer in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Nevertheless, he was a respectable 2-1 in his group at the Dell Match Play but ran into a buzzsaw in Cameron Young.
However, he became a two-time Valero Texas Open champion on Sunday for his second career victory on the PGA TOUR. Conners will try to become the first player to win the week before The Masters and then win at Augusta since Phil Mickelson did it at the Bell South Classic and The Masters in 2006.
Fred Couples 2000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 37/30
Best Career Finish: 1st (1992)
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 11
Top 20s: 19
Last October, “Boom Boom” won for the first time in over five and a half years at the SAS Championship on the PGA TOUR Champions, shooting a 60 in Sunday’s final round.
Couples plays sparingly on the over-50 circuit and the 1992 Masters champion has not made the cut at Augusta since 2018.
Harrison Crowe (A) 2500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Harrison Crowe, a 21-year-old Aussie, won the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur and punched his ticket to this year’s event. Crowe also won on the Australian professional Tour in 2022, winning the New South Wales Open. He’ll be teeing it up at this year’s Open Championship as well.
Jason Day 20/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 11/8
Best Career Finish: T-2nd (2011)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 4
Top 20s: 6
Day missed the Masters field last year due to being outside of the OWGR Top 50. This year, he worked his way back inside the Top 50 with a run of terrific recent form. In 13 starts this season, Day has finished 21st or better 11 times which includes two Top 5s and six Top 10s.
He is gaining 0.73 strokes per round on approach which is a career-best and even better than 2016 when he was the OWGR No. 1 player. Day is also gaining 0.55 strokes off the tee, and then there is the top-class short game that has never left him, and his 0.66 strokes gained per round putting is the best since 2018.
Unfortunately, last week still showed the constant injury concern that has plagued Day throughout his entire career. In his quarterfinal match at the Dell Match Play vs. Scottie Scheffler, Day was 3-up through seven holes, and then came a small bout with vertigo and Day ended up losing the match. The form is difficult to ignore, but so are the injury concerns.
Bryson DeChambeau 100/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/5
Best Career Finish: T-21st (2016) Low Amateur
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
DeChambeau had lost his form a bit before he left for LIV Golf last year. The 2020 U.S. Open champion was No. 4 in the OWGR a little less than two years ago and now he is barely clinging inside the Top 150.
He has yet to contend in any of the LIV Golf events over this past year and the only success he has had in any type of golf competition was finishing 2nd last October at the Long Drive World Championship.
Harris English 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-21st (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Harris English was playing the best golf of his career nearly two years ago and worked his way into the OWGR Top 10 and even earned a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Unfortunately, he fell prey to various injuries and has only made 29 starts in the past two seasons.
Earlier in March, English did finish T-2nd at Bay Hill but was carried by his putter. Until he can rediscover the ball striking he had two years ago, it is hard to see him doing much this week.
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (A) 1500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
After finishing in second place at the 2021 Latin American Amateur Championship, Argentine Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, currently playing at University of Arkansas, sealed the deal in record fashion in 2022, breaking Joaquin Niemann’s event record and punching tickets to not only The Masters but also the U.S. Open, Open Championship, U.S. and British Amateurs as well.
Tony Finau 22/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 5/5
Best Career Finish: T-5th (2019)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 3
Top 25s: 3
Tony Finau entered last year’s event ranked 147th out of the top 150 in strokes-gained putting over the six months leading up to the event. Over the past year, Finau ranks 15th in this field in Strokes Gained: Putting, a remarkable turnaround on the greens, which has translated into three tournament wins (3M Open, Rocket Mortgage Classic, Cadence Bank Houston Open) since his last trip to Augusta, where he was finished in the Top 10 three times in five appearances.
Finau has nine Top 10 finishes in major championships over the last five years. What has kept him from victory is just not being able to put all facets of his game together. Either his ball striking has been impeccable but could not make a putt, or his short game was terrific but to save pars instead of making birdies.
This year, all areas of the game seem to be on point and he is an absolute contender for the green jacket.
Matt Fitzpatrick 45/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 8/7
Best Career Finish: T-7th (2016)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 2
Fitzpatrick, while small in stature, has transformed his game and has become a bomber off the tee and that tee-to-green game won him last year’s U.S. Open at Brookline.
On the other hand, Fitzpatrick’s typical pinpoint approach game has disappeared of late. The Englishman has lost strokes on approach in five of his past six starts and has missed the cut in four of them. He has been battling a bit of a nagging neck injury since the early part of the season.
While he has one of the best short games in the world, he is still a bit of a wild card coming in with subpar form, especially on approach, which is never a good thing at Augusta.
Tommy Fleetwood 60/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/5
Best Career Finish: T-14th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 3
Fleetwood, off his best career finish at Augusta (T-14) last year, is back for another appearance courtesy of his Top 4 finish in The Open Championship at St. Andrews last summer. The Englishman is not quite back to being in the OWGR Top 10 like he was in 2019, but he is coming closer to form.
He found the winner’s circle for the first time since 2019 back in November, winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the Euro Tour, and a recent T3 at the Valspar was another close call on American soil as he still seeks his first win stateside.
The U.S. Open or The Open Championship are better spots for Fleetwood to really be in the hunt for a major championship victory, but he is certainly worth consideration in at least a Top 20 placement market.
Ryan Fox 180/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
New Zealand-born Fox had his career year in 2022 with two DP World Tour victories (Ras al Khaimah Classic, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship) and vaulted himself into the OWGR Top 50. He finished inside the top 5 in eight of his 24 starts in 2022, but also missed seven cuts, so he can be a volatile player.
Fox has been more consistent in 2023 making all six cuts with four Top 20 finishes, but he has had to step up more in class as he has been playing more PGA TOUR events and has yet to contend.
Sergio Garcia 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 23/15
Best Career Finish: 1st (2017)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 4
Top 20s: 6
Garcia finished T-23 here last year which was his first made cut at Augusta since he won in a playoff over Justin Rose in 2017. He’s missed the cut in five of his last 15 Masters, with just three top-10 finishes, including the year he won.
Like many others in this field, it is difficult to get a handle on how Garcia will play since he has been playing LIV Golf and his only recent finish of note is a T-5th at the International Series Oman event on the Asian Tour.
Talor Gooch 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-14th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Gooch finished a respectable T-14 on debut at Augusta last year and earns a return invitation from being in the OWGR Top 50 at the end of 2022. His bread and butter is his approach game. Nevertheless, he has yet to post even a Top 10 in LIV Golf.
Brian Harman 130/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 4/2
Best Career Finish: T-12th (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Harman makes a return appearance to Augusta courtesy of being one of the thirty players to reach last year’s Tour Championship.
Left-handers like Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Mike Weir have won here, so you would think Harman would have the type of game to flourish here.
However, his recent form has been a struggle having lost strokes on approach in seven consecutive starts and missing the cut in four of his last six events.
Tyrrell Hatton 50/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/4
Best Career Finish: T-18th (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Hatton, currently ranked No. 17 in the OWGR, returns to Augusta having finished inside the OWGR Top 50 at the end of 2022. He’s finished T7 or better in four of his past six starts but suffered a hand injury that led him to lose all three matches at the Dell Match Play.
One would think Hatton would have the game to excel at Augusta, but he was just one Top 20 finish here in six starts. The Englishman has been vocal in his criticism of the course setup here, but the temperamental Hatton is critical of a wide array of course layouts.
Russell Henley 150/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/5
Best Career Finish: T-11th (2017)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 2
Henley earned a return trip to Augusta having won on the PGA TOUR for the first time in five and a half years last November at Mayakoba. He has not started well in 2023 due to his world-class approach game abandoning him early this season.
Unless Henley can sharpen up his usually stellar iron play, his ceiling is likely just making the weekend.
Kazuki Higa 400/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Higa earned an invitation to this year’s Masters having Higa won four times on the Japan Tour in 2022 and finishing first on the Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit last year.
That also earned him status on the DP World Tour where he has finished 11th and 4th in his last two starts.
Tom Hoge 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-39th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
2022 was a career year for Tom Hoge having won his first PGA TOUR event (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), played in all four majors, made the Tour Championship, and reached the OWGR Top 50. Hoge owes that success to being one of the best iron players in the game.
His game off the tee and on the greens has not been as consistent although it has shown improvement in 2023 and that makes him a sneaky Top 10/20 placement market bet.
Max Homa 28/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/1
Best Career Finish: T-48th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Homa ranked just inside the OWGR Top 40 (37th) this time last year heading to Augusta, but now ranks 6th in the OWGR courtesy of three victories (Wells Fargo Championship, Fortinet Championship, and Farmers Insurance Open) in the last 12 months along with five more T5 or better finishes, and has finished T20 or better in eight of his 10 starts this season.
His best major championship finish is a T-13th in last year's PGA Championship at Southern Hills, but Homa has victories on classical golf courses like Quail Hollow, Riviera, and Torrey Pines. Is Augusta National next?
Billy Horschel 150/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 8/6
Best Career Finish: T-17th (2016)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Horschel earned another trip to Augusta having won last year’s Memorial Tournament at Jack Nicklaus’s Muirfield Village, Jack’s ode to Augusta National. However, Horschel has never had much success here with only one Top 20 in eight appearances here.
Horschel has missed half of his cuts in 2023 and ranks just 143rd out of the world’s top 150 in total strokes gained per round.
Viktor Hovland 35/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/3
Best Career Finish: T-21st (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Hovland has the ball-striking game to not only win at The Masters but at any major championship for that matter. Nevertheless, he does not yet have the short game to do so.
Hovland ranks 5th in the world in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (Off The Tee + Approach) over the past three months. He hasn’t missed a cut since the Scottish Open in July, 17 straight events, and he’s finished T20 in 12 of the 17 and six of the past seven.
He gained over eight strokes on approach at THE PLAYERS, where he finished T-3rd and just posted his best major championship finish with a T-4th in The Open Championship at St. Andrews last summer.
Mackenzie Hughes 180/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-40th (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Hughes punched his ticket to this year’s Masters by winning the Sanderson Farms Championship last October. In other events, he has not had all that much success considering he only has two other Top 20 or better finishes in his last 25 worldwide events.
The Canadian is one of the better putters in the game, but even that portion of his game has abandoned him at times this season missing four of his last seven cuts before advancing to the Round of 16 at the Dell Match Play.
Sungjae Im 35/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-2nd (2020)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 2
Im was runner-up on debut here in 2020 and had another Top 10 here last year. The South Korean is a consistent Top 20 OWGR player as evidenced by finishing inside the top 20 in 23 of his past 39 starts.
Nevertheless, he does not win as much as a player of his talent should and has not won anywhere since October 2021 at the Shriners Children’s Open.
He ranks in the Top 10 in the field for Strokes Gained: Total over the last 50 rounds and should definitely be considered in the Top 10/20 placement markets and could be a dark horse in the betting market’s middle tier for the win.
Dustin Johnson 25/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 12/10
Best Career Finish: 1st (2020)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 5
Top 20s: 7
DJ arrives at Augusta this year at double the price that he was last year and is currently ranked No. 65 in the OWGR. Whether you are pro-LIV Golf or anti-LIV Golf, everyone knows that DJ is still a higher-level player than his ranking indicates. Before his victory at the November 2020 Masters, DJ had four straight Top 10s at Augusta.
If the price were in the 40/1 range, he would certainly be worth having on your Masters betting card. Do not be surprised if he is in the mix here again despite playing less frequently over the past year. Unlike many of the LIV Golf defections, there is still a sense that DJ has some greatness left in him.
Zach Johnson 500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 18/10
Best Career Finish: 1st (2007)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 3
Zach Johnson will lead the Team USA squad into Rome later this fall as Ryder Cup captain. He has missed consecutive cuts here and has not finished inside the Top 35 here since 2015.
Si Woo Kim 80/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/5
Best Career Finish: T-12th (2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Si Woo is the ultimate boom or bust player, but he still has strong win equity on the PGA TOUR with four victories at only age 27. Despite his erratic play, he has made five of six cuts here.
He is one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the game, but his irons can be hit or miss (they were a hit in his win at the Sony Open earlier this year), and putting is always an adventure. Si Woo Kim could be a solid Top 20/Top 30 placement market bet.
Tom Kim 70/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
It is rare for an OWGR Top 20 player to be making his Masters debut, but that is how fast 20-year-old Tom Kim has risen up the ranks. He scored two victories (Wyndham Championship and Shriners Children’s Open) in the back half of 2022 as part of a 12-event run where he finished 13th or better in nine of those starts.
Tom Kim has not been able to sustain that form in the early part of 2023 with the step up in class of playing against elite fields in elite events on a weekly basis. There will come a time when Tom Kim is a contender for the green jacket, but this year on his debut is probably too much to ask.
Chris Kirk 150/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-20th (2014)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Kirk has not been in the Masters field since 2016 but is back this year courtesy of his win at the Honda Classic last month. He is a great redemption story having taken a leave from the PGA TOUR due to alcohol and depression issues. However, his disadvantage off the tee is likely too much to overcome even with his short game, which has been excellent throughout 2023.
Kevin Kisner 350/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 7/5
Best Career Finish: T-21st (2019)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Kisner is back at The Masters courtesy of finishing in the OWGR Top 50 at the end of 2022. He has been nowhere near that ranking throughout 2023 having missed four of his last five cuts and his only made cut was a T-75 at THE PLAYERS.
You know Kisner is playing poorly when he is not even able to make it out of group play at the Dell Match Play. It would be a surprise if he made the cut.
Kurt Kitayama 100/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
One year ago, Kitayama was ranked 204th in the OWGR. Now he is ranked 20th in the world courtesy of holding off an elite field in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last month. He hits it a mile off the tee, but he is trying to forego some of his distance with better accuracy.
Kitayama is making his debut at the Masters and his best major championship finish was a T-51st in the 2020 PGA at Harding Park, so it is difficult to know what to expect out of him in his first time at Augusta.
Brooks Koepka 35/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 7/5
Best Career Finish: T-2nd (2019)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 3
There were some out there four years ago that thought Koepka was going to win ten majors. Needless to say, he does not even come close to resembling the same guy that was the man to beat in major championships.
Koepka won a LIV event in Jeddah last October and won this past Sunday in Orlando becoming the first player to win multiple LIV events.
Watching the Netflix series Full Swing showed a guy that had completely lost his confidence. Perhaps he rediscovers it on the major championship stage, and he is being bet accordingly as his price has been cut by more than double.
Jason Kokrak 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-14th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Kokrak posted his best career finish at the Masters with a T-14 here last year. He left for LIV Golf at a time when he was arguably playing the best golf of his career on the PGA TOUR and still remained in the OWGR Top 50 at the conclusion of 2022.
Kokrak finished inside the Top 20 in his two recent Asian Tour events but has finished inside the Top 10 in LIV Golf’s 48-man fields just once in seven starts, so like many LIV players, it is difficult to judge his recent form.
Bernhard Langer 800/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 39/27
Best Career Finish: 1st (1985, 1993)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 9
Top 20s: 11
Back in February, Bernhard Langer, at age 65, tied Hale Irwin for the all-time wins record on PGA TOUR Champions. Since becoming eligible for Social Security, Langer has won twice on the over-50 circuit. He has missed the cut the last two years at Augusta, but making the weekend would be a historic accomplishment.
K.H. Lee 300/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/0
Best Career Finish: MC (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
K.H. Lee defended his 2021 win at the Byron Nelson in May, holding off a strong field to win the 2022 version, punching himself another ticket to Augusta.
The South Korean has shown that he can at least contend at events other than the Byron Nelson, but he has never finished better than 37th (2022 U.S. Open) in any major and it is hard to see it happening here.
Min Woo Lee 65/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-14th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 1
Min Woo Lee’s 6th at THE PLAYERS last month cemented him in the OWGR Top 50 and earned him a return appearance to The Masters. He is a highly talented prospect who had a run on the DP World Tour, where he is already a two-time winner, from last October to January finishing in the Top 4 in five of eight starts.
Min Woo is long off the tee and very solid on the greens, but the irons need to improve for him to reach his full potential. He is worth a look in Top 10/Top 20 placement markets.
Shane Lowry 55/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 7/4
Best Career Finish: T-3rd (2022)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 1
Lowry was in the mix for the first time at The Masters last year and rallied for a T-3 finish. He had a great 2022, but it was not until September that he earned a win at the BMW PGA Championship holding off Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. However, other than a Top 5 at the Honda Classic, Lowry has not been in good form largely due to his short game being down a full stroke per round. The T-3 from last year may end up being an outlier.
Sandy Lyle 5000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 40/17
Best Career Finish: 1st (1988)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 4
1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle will retire from competitive play this week at Augusta. He has not made the cut here since 2014.
Hideki Matsuyama 40/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 11/10
Best Career Finish: 1st (2021)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 7
Matsuyama arguably has the best, or at least one of the best, course form records here at Augusta where he has finished inside the Top 20 here in seven of his past eight starts. However, like last year, it is always a concern that he could withdraw at any moment due to various injuries.
The elite ball striking has taken a small decline, but Matsuyama, who has long struggled with the flat stick, is having the best putting season of his career. He finished 5th at THE PLAYERS last month and although incoming form is a bit erratic, Matsuyama is a dangerous contender in the mid-tier price range.
Matthew McClean (A) 2500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Matthew McClean is a 29-year-old optometrist from Belfast, Ireland, who secured his invitation to this year’s Masters after winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Erin Hills back in September. McClean joined Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open 2010), Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open 2011), and Pádraig Harrington (U.S. Seniors Open 2022) as Irish golfers to have won a USGA championship.
Rory McIlroy 7/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 14/12
Best Career Finish: 2nd (2022)
Top 5s: 4
Top 10s: 7
Top 20s: 9
Rory McIlroy makes his annual pilgrimage to The Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. He has been making this trip each year since 2015, so perhaps the ninth time is a charm. McIlroy’s best career finish at Augusta came last year when he shot a Sunday 64 to rally and finish 2nd alone behind Scottie Scheffler. Last year was McIlroy’s seventh Top 10 in his last nine appearances.
He has come up short here largely due to slow starts (first-round scores of 73-75-76-73 over the last four renewals). Nevertheless, all the pieces seem to be coming together. McIlroy has his best Strokes Gained: Approach numbers since 2012 when he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. His new driver setup seemed to pay dividends at the Dell Match Play where he finished 3rd. Plus, he went back to the Scotty Cameron model putter like the one that he used to win all four of his major championships.
While there are other storylines heading into this year’s Masters – Tiger Woods as always, how LIV and PGA TOUR players will mix in the event – but the top story remains Rory and if he can finally join Tiger, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, and Ben Hogan as Grand Slam winners? This year feels like Rory’s year, but then again it always feels like Rory’s year.
Adrian Meronk 300/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Adrian Meronk showed Polish Power (not to be confused with 1970’s pro wrestler Ivan Putski) in 2022 with two DP World Tour victories (Irish Open and Australian Open) to vault himself into the OWGR Top 50 and earn his first Masters invitation.
He bombs it off the tee and his long driving and ability to hit a draw both make him an interesting candidate in the top debutant market. Meronk is in the mix to make the European Ryder Cup team later this year and a solid finish here this week would go a long way toward making that happen.
Phil Mickelson 180/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 29/26
Best Career Finish: 1st (2004, 2006, 2010)
Top 5s: 11
Top 10s: 15
Top 20s: 17
A little less than two years ago, Phil Mickelson made history by becoming the oldest major champion and winning the 2021 PGA Championship at age 50. Now his golf game seems to be history considering he was finished in the Top 10 just once in nine LIV Golf events and has finished in the bottom half in seven of those nine events.
The most interesting part of Mickelson’s week could be how he is received at Tuesday night’s Champions Dinner. Mickelson’s focus also could be what is soon to be revealed about him in Billy Walters and Armen Keteyian’s book to be released later this summer.
Keith Mitchell 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-43rd (2019)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Mitchell’s strong west coast swing, including Top 5s at Riviera and Pebble Beach, moved him into the OWGR Top 50 and gives him his second Masters appearance. He has been an elite ball striker all season and ranks No. 1 on the PGA TOUR in Total Driving (Driving Distance Rank + Driving Accuracy Rank). His tee-to-green game makes him a legitimate dark horse this week and a solid Top 10/Top 20 placement market bet.
Larry Mize 5000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 38/20
Best Career Finish: 1st (1987)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 7
Larry Mize made the cut in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017 but has failed to make the weekend in 16 of the past 21 seasons. This will be the 1987 champion and Augusta native’s final appearance as a player at The Masters.
Francesco Molinari 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 11/7
Best Career Finish: T-5th (2019)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 3
When Francesco Molinari hit his tee shot on the 12th hole into the water while leading the 2019 Masters, it opened the door for Tiger Woods to win his fifth green jacket. Molinari is far from the player he was 4-5 years ago and just making the weekend would be an accomplishment.
Taylor Moore 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
A strong late-summer push from Taylor Moore turned into a solid swing season and culminated recently at the Valspar, Moore’s first win on the PGA TOUR. As with most debutants, making the weekend should be the goal here.
Collin Morikawa 22/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/3
Best Career Finish: 5th (2022)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 2
Even though he hasn’t won in nearly 18 months, Collin Morikawa is a threat to win whenever he tees it up. He’s been incredibly close to ending his winless drought multiple times this season, but a few poor putting rounds in big spots have been his undoing.
The irons, the strength of Morikawa’s game, seem to have returned to world-class form and last year he figured out how to play his preferred fade shot here at Augusta and that led to a finish of 5th, his best in three appearances.
Eventually, Collin Morikawa should win a green jacket. He has cooled off a bit from an early-season hot start but could be sneaking under the radar this week.
Kevin Na 300/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 11/8
Best Career Finish: T-12th (2012, 2015, 2021)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 5
Kevin Na has played surprisingly well at Augusta National of late, despite his lack of distance. He has done it in different ways, as well, making every putt in 2021 despite a lackluster performance on approach and then doing the opposite in 2022.
Like many others, Na has not really shown much since joining LIV Golf last summer and it is difficult to know what to expect here this week out of a player who has finished 15th or better in five of 11 appearances.
Joaquin Niemann 55/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/2
Best Career Finish: T-35th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
He had a tough pairing here at Augusta last year playing with Tiger Woods as a two-ball with Paul Casey’s withdrawal. Still, he shot 69 in the first round with a packed gallery cheering and rooting for Tiger every painful step of the way.
Niemann has played solid since joining LIV Golf and does have a win from 2022 at Riviera, which strongly correlates to Augusta. He is one of the few LIV players who may have some value and bettors could be getting him at a discount in the market. A Top 10/20 placement bet would be the safer option.
Alex Noren 180/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/1
Best Career Finish: T-62nd (2019)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Alex Noren finds himself inside the top 50 of the OWGR, and he qualified for his first trip to Augusta since 2019. His best result of the three appearances he has made here so far was a T-62 in 2019.
Noren had an outstanding swing season, with three straight Top 5 or better finishes. Most of his recent successes have been tied to exceptional putting performances, but his approach play has been inconsistent, and he’s lost strokes off the tee in five straight starts. That is the profile of a player that likely misses the weekend.
José María Olazábal 5000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 33/19
Best Career Finish: 1st (1994, 1999)
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 8
Top 20s: 13
The two-time Masters champion out of Spain has been kicking it around on the Champions Tour a bit, but not well. His T50 here in 2021 was his first made cut at the event since 2014.
Louis Oosthuizen 90/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 14/9
Best Career Finish: 2nd (2012)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 5
Oosthuizen had made eight straight cuts at The Masters before a WD last year. He has battled an elbow injury which led him to only make the cut in one major (60th in the PGA). He should have won the green jacket in regulation back in 2012, but he ended up losing to Bubba Watson in the playoff. The South African was a runner-up in the last LIV event a month ago, but making the cut could be his limit this year.
Mito Pereira 130/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
By way of finishing T-3 in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills last May, Pereira earned an invitation to this year’s Masters. However, that is obviously not the whole story as Mito led going to the 18th hole tee box on Sunday, but he found a hazard off the tee.
Pereira has played solidly since joining LIV Golf, but like many others, he has slipped out of the OWGR Top 50 and has to make the most of his Masters appearance. He is a good ball striker but could have trouble on the slick Bentgrass greens this week.
Thomas Pieters 150/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/1
Best Career Finish: T-4th (2017)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 1
If looking for more erratic course history at Augusta, look no further than Thomas Pieters who finished T-4th here on debut and has missed the cut in both appearances since. Pieters has always had the talent to be a big-time player in the game, but he left for LIV Golf earlier this year and has finished 32nd and 33rd in 48-man fields for his first two events.
J.T. Poston 200/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/0
Best Career Finish: MC (2020)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Poston makes his second appearance in The Masters courtesy of a victory last summer in the John Deere Classic. He won his group at the Dell Match Play and finished Top 10 in the Valspar the week prior. His approach game is very good, but he is not long enough off the tee to contend here.
Aldrich Potgieter (A) 2000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Aldrich Potgieter won the 127th British Amateur in convincing fashion last year and earned himself a spot in this year’s Masters. What’s even more impressive is that he did so at just 17 years old while making his debut on a links course. That win also earned him a spot on one of the most famous links courses on the planet, St. Andrews, for last season’s 150th Open Championship, where he missed the cut and likely does the same here.
Séamus Power 130/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-27th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Power made the cut in three of the four majors in 2022 (T-27 at The Masters, T-9 at the PGA, and T-12 at the U.S. Open). He is currently searching for a bit of form in 2023 with five Top 25s, but zero Top 10s. The Irishman is currently amongst several potential European rookies trying to earn their way onto the Ryder Cup team later this fall.
Jon Rahm 17/2
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/6
Best Career Finish: 4th (2018)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 4
Top 20s: 4
While Jon Rahm has four Top 10s and two Top 5s here at Augusta, he has yet to really contend for the green jacket. Just a few weeks ago, Rahm was amid a ten-event stretch where he won five times (Open de España, DP World Tour Championship, Sentry Tournament of Champions, Farmers Insurance Open, and Genesis Invitational) and did not finish worse than 8th.
He has cooled off a bit from the torrid pace he set to end 2022 and begin 2023, but of the three favorites this week, he will be the forgotten one behind McIlroy having another attempt to win the grand slam, and Scheffler, who is ranked OWGR No. 1 and trying to defend his Masters title.
Rahm has always struggled on the greens here at Augusta but currently ranks No. 1 for Strokes Gained: Putting over the last 50 measured rounds. If he finally figures out these slick, Bentgrass greens, then he will be a Masters champion sooner rather than later.
Patrick Reed 70/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 9/7
Best Career Finish: 1st (2018)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 3
Unlike many of the LIV Golf defectors, Reed has some good recent form to hang his hat upon with his runner-up to McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic back in January.
Reed seems to relish being the villain and wearing the black hat with not only his stretching of the rules of the game but also his litigious nature. Unlike many of the LIV players, he cannot be ruled out because he seems to play his best when everyone is against him.
Justin Rose 60/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 17/15
Best Career Finish: 2nd (2017), T-2nd (2015)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 6
Top 20s: 10
Justin Rose missed the cut at The Masters last year for just the second time in 17 trips to Augusta. While most of his European contemporaries have left for LIV Golf, Rose stuck around on the PGA TOUR and was rewarded with his first victory in four years this past February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That victory put Rose in great position to make what might be his final Ryder Cup team later this fall.
Rose has improved in all of his strokes gained tee-to-green metrics this season and is up nearly a full stroke per round vs. last season’s numbers. He is certainly someone that should be considered for the Top 20/Top 30/Top 40 markets.
Gordon Sargent (A) 800/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
19-year-old Gordon Sargent is the reigning NCAA individual champion. The Vanderbilt University junior also currently ranks as the World’s No. 1 Amateur. Sargent received a special invitation from Augusta National Golf Club this past January. He is widely seen as one of the game’s future stars, but from a betting perspective, it is probably best to consider him along with Bennett to win Low Amateur honors.
Xander Schauffele 22/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 5/4
Best Career Finish: T-2nd (2019)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 3
Schauffele has six Top 5s and nine Top 10s in six years of playing majors, but his first major championship victory still eludes him. He has been Mr. Consistency, and like his fellow Southern California mate Patrick Cantlay, arguably shares the moniker of “best player to yet win a major”. The X-man won twice last summer (Travelers Championship and Scottish Open).
Only Hoge and Morikawa have better Approach numbers over the last 50 measured rounds. If Schauffele can get his game dialed in off the tee, then he is on the very short list of players that can win this thing.
Scottie Scheffler 7/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 3/3
Best Career Finish: 1st (2022)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 3
Scheffler capped off his dominant early 2022 season with his first major championship victory here at Augusta. He reached OWGR No. 1 but his putter went a bit cold. It still could improve, but he already has two 2023 victories (WM Phoenix Open and THE PLAYERS Championship) courtesy of ranking No. 1 over the last 36 rounds for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, and Strokes Gained: Tee To Green, and Bogey Avoidance. Scheffler also ranks No. 2 for Strokes Gained: Approach for good measure.
On Scheffler’s Champions Dinner menu are Cheeseburger Sliders served “Scottie-Style.” If he continues to play “Scottie-Style,” then Scheffler will be presenting the green jacket to himself in Butler Cabin.
Charl Schwartzel 350/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 13/9
Best Career Finish: 1st (2011)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 3
In 2011, Schwartzel won The Masters with four straight birdies after trailing McIlroy (who collapsed shooting 80) by four strokes to begin Sunday.
Schwartzel, in arguably the worst form of his career, finished T-10 for his first made cut of the season last year. That made cut propelled Schwartzel to winning the inaugural LIV Golf event last summer in London.
Adam Scott 80/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 21/19
Best Career Finish: 1st (2013)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 5
Top 20s: 8
Adam Scott finished the 2022 calendar year well, including T5 finishes in the first two events of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but that form has been missing in 2023. He’s made the cut in each of his six 2023 starts but has finished no better than T31 at Bay Hill. He has just one Top 10 here since his 2013 win, which was all the way back in 2017.
Steve Williams is back on the bag as he was ten years ago when Scott won the green jacket. However, Scott is tough to back outside of Top 20/Top 30/Top 40 placement markets because he continues to miss more short putts than about anyone in the game.
Vijay Singh 2500/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 29/19
Best Career Finish: 1st (2000)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 6
Top 20s: 10
The 2000 champion last made the cut in 2018 and has since carded three rounds of 80 from seven, and nothing better than 75. Singh, now 60, is playing sparingly on the PGA TOUR Champions and it would be a surprise if he made the weekend.
Cameron Smith 20/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 6/6
Best Career Finish: T-2nd (2020)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 4
Top 20s: 4
Cameron Smith won the Claret Jug at St. Andrews to win The Open Championship last summer and then immediately left for LIV Golf. Despite the fact that he has very limited reps of late, Smith is still near the top of the odds board because he has four Top 10 finishes in his last five appearances at Augusta.
The Australian won the Chicago LIV event last September and the Australian PGA Championship last November. He is a surefire contender and certainly is the clear-cut favorite in the “Best LIV Golfer Finish” market, and if he was closer to 30/1, he would be a lock on anyone’s outright card.
Jordan Spieth 16/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 9/8
Best Career Finish: 1st (2015)
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 5
Top 20s: 6
Spieth missed his first-ever cut last year here at Augusta before winning the following week at the RBC Heritage. His 2023 form is much better, with three T6 or better finishes in his past six starts.
He has been in contention a few times already this season, but missed several short putts at Bay Hill and then lost the Valspar with one wild swipe off the 16th tee and still remains winless for 2023. The price looks short on the surface, but he should have multiple green jackets and could have multiples come Sunday.
Scott Stallings 350/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 2/1
Best Career Finish: T-27th (2012)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Stallings last played in The Masters back in 2014 and earned a return appearance making a great run in the FedEx Cup Playoffs to reach The Tour Championship. However, that form is not there right now as he has missed four of seven cuts in 2023.
Sepp Straka 350/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-30th (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Straka won his maiden PGA TOUR event last year at the Honda Classic and nearly had a second victory in 2022 before losing the FedEx St. Jude Championship in a playoff to Will Zalatoris, and also a potential third having finished runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
The Austrian posted a Top 5 in defense of his title at the Honda Classic, but he is a streaky player and is not exactly on a hot streak at the present time.
Adam Svensson 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Svensson is not only making his debut at Augusta but in major championships altogether due to his maiden PGA TOUR win in the 2022 finale at the RSM Classic. He has played solid golf since with a Top 10 at Riviera and 13th at THE PLAYERS.
His approach play and driving accuracy are solid but can a longtime journeyman make the cut on his first appearance at Augusta?
Sahith Theegala 110/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 0/0
Best Career Finish: Debutant
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Theegala had a couple of close calls last year in Phoenix and Hartford to get his first PGA TOUR victory but made some costly mistakes at the end to fall short. He has six T6 or better finishes in his past 25 starts but hasn’t been able to piece it all together for four rounds yet, so he is a bit of a boom-or-bust player now. Theegala is very talented and it would not shock to see him play well here on debut, but he is probably best used in Top 20/Top 30/Top 40 placement markets.
Justin Thomas 22/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 7/7
Best Career Finish: 4th (2020)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 4
Thomas has never finished worse than 22nd in seven appearances at Augusta, but thus far has fallen short of winning the green jacket. He has gotten off to a disappointing start in 2023 and now has fallen out of the OWGR Top 10 for the first time since August 2017.
JT shot 76 to open his 2022 Masters and still finished T-8th last year. He is down a tick in every strokes gained metric, but skipped the Match Play and the Valero to prepare for this week.
There are times when a top-flight player drifts up to a price where you almost have to bet him and Thomas is getting close to that price. If there is an adjustment to 25/1, that might be the point to jump in on him just like at the 2021 PLAYERS Championship when his game was just a bit off and then rose to that magic number and won.
Harold Varner III 250/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/1
Best Career Finish: T-23rd (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Varner got into the OWGR Top 50 with his win at the 2022 PIF Saudi International and remained inside the Top 50 at the end of 2022 to earn a return appearance at The Masters. However, he only has one Top 10 finish in seven LIV Golf starts.
Bubba Watson 200/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 14/13
Best Career Finish: 1st (2012, 2014)
Top 5s: 3
Top 10s: 3
Top 20s: 5
The two-time Masters champion has competed in just six events since last year’s Masters. Bubba failed to finish inside the Top 20 in both of his 2023 LIV Golf starts. Even with very little form coming in, he probably finds a way to make the weekend but probably not much more than that.
Mike Weir 2000/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 23/12
Best Career Finish: 1st (2003)
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 5
Weir remains the lone Canadian winner at the Masters. He has missed 10 of his last 12 cuts here.
Danny Willett 130/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 8/4
Best Career Finish: 1st (2016)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
Top 20s: 2
The 2016 Masters champion does not have consistent form at Augusta, which is why his T-12 last year came as a bit of a surprise to most. Willett’s current form is much better, with three T10s since last year’s event and five consecutive made cuts, gaining strokes on the field in all five starts. He is probably best used in the Top 30/Top 40 placement markets or perhaps in the Low Englishman market with Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, and Ian Poulter not in this field.
Gary Woodland 200/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 10/5
Best Career Finish: T-24th (2011)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Gary Woodland, in this field courtesy of his exemption for winning the 2019 U.S. Open, missed the cut here last season despite entering with exceptional form after a strong Florida swing. It is a bit surprising that he has yet to even have a Top 20 at Augusta in ten appearances. He has gained strokes putting on the greens that one time in his last 13 starts. These greens at Augusta are not the optimal greens to solve putting woes.
Tiger Woods 60/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 24/23
Best Career Finish: 1st (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019)
Top 5s: 12
Top 10s: 14
Top 20s: 17
Woods made the cut here last year and sat inside the Top 20 heading into the weekend, which is remarkable considering it was his first official start in two seasons. Tiger looked great tee-to-green in his lone start this year in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. He finished T-45th posting a finish for the first time since his 47th last year at The Masters.
Tiger will get bet here regardless of the price because people love to root for Tiger and will spend the cash to do so. The ball striking was encouraging at Riviera, but that was one event. Probably the smartest way to bet on or against Tiger is via the make/miss cut prop or in individual matchups.
Cameron Young 28/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 1/0
Best Career Finish: MC (2022)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 0
Top 20s: 0
Young has finished 3rd or better in nine of his last 28 starts, so it is only a matter of time before he wins his first big event. He recently made a change at caddie bringing aboard Paul Tesori, who had major championship success with both Vijay Singh and Webb Simpson.
Young finished runner-up at the Dell Match Play in his first event with Tesori on the bag and his price shortened accordingly as he was around 50/1 and now finds himself in the mid to high 20s.
However, the putting is what is holding him back as he ranks 77th in this field for Strokes Gained: Putting over the last 50 rounds.
Will Zalatoris 35/1
Total Appearances/Cuts Made: 2/2
Best Career Finish: 2nd (2021)
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 2
Top 20s: 2
Zalatoris finished runner-up on debut here at Augusta in 2021 and then followed it up with a T-6 last year. He finally got over the hump at last year’s FedEx St. Jude, winning his first PGA Tour title. His 2023 has been less impressive, and he’s clearly battling something right now, especially on the greens. He has finished T-53, 79th, and T-59 in his last three starts.
The T-4 at the Genesis made us think that he was back to form after missing the back end of 2022 with a back injury. However, he does not look like an OWGR Top 10 player heading to Augusta.