Who is favourite to win the Masters? Odds, expert picks & more to know

Jacob Camenker

Ed Chisholm

Who is favourite to win the Masters? Odds, expert picks & more to know image

Punters, rejoice. The first major tournament on the 2022 PGA Tour is here. The Masters will take place from April 7 to April 10, as Augusta National Golf Club looks to crown its newest winner.

Hideki Matsuyama earned his first green jacket — and first major win ever — in 2021. He will potentially look to defend that title but will face a stacked field of competitors featuring countless former major winners. Chief among them are Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth. Add in recent tour winners Scottie Scheffler and Australia's Cameron Smith for good measure and it's hard to predict who will win in 2022.

That said, bettors have one major advantage in predicting this event. The Masters are played at Augusta every year. As such, you can look back at performance in previous years and see which players are built to handle the course and which aren't. When pairing that with recent performance, savvy gamblers can usually predict which players may be near the top of the leaderboard.

There are some wildcards in 2022, of course. Matsuyama hasn't been fully healthy in recent weeks, so if he plays, he may not be at 100 per cent. Then, there's Tiger Woods, who seems likely to play in his first tour event since 2020 after a car crash he suffered in February of 2021. He probably won't win, but people love to bet on him, especially with his odds looking lower than usual.

The 7,475-yard Augusta course will pose a challenge to players. It's one of the longest on the tour, but it won't automatically favour the bigger swingers. Instead, it will favour the golfers with the best combination of power and an approach game, as avoiding long putts at Augusta is critical.

Here's everything you need to know to bet on the 2022 Masters, including the latest tournament odds and best bets for the event.

READ: HOW TO WATCH THE MASTERS IN AUSTRALIA

Masters Tournament Odds 2022

Jon Rahm ($13) and Justin Thomas ($13) enter the Masters as the favourite to win, per odds from TAB. Rahm won his first major tournament, the U.S. Open, in 2021. It is his only one to date, but he has 13 professional wins and has finished inside the top 21 in five of the six events he has participated in this year.

Cameron Smith ($15), Scottie Scheffler ($17) and Dustin Johnson ($17) round out the rest of the top-five golfers in terms of odds to win the tournament. Scheffler is the current world No. 1 after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his second victory this season. Thomas and Johnson have also been ranked No. 1 in the world during their careers.

If Tiger Woods plays, he'll enter the tournament with $41 odds to win despite it being his first PGA Tour event since suffering major injuries in a February 2021 car accident.

Those looking for veteran golfer Phil Mickelson will not find him on this list. He is not participating in the Masters for the first time in 28 years.

Below are the odds for the top golfers in this year's Masters tournament as per TAB's winner market. Only competitors with $105 or better odds are listed.

Note: Australian players are highlighted in bold.

Golfer Odds to win
Jon Rahm $13
Justin Thomas $13
Cameron Smith $15
Dustin Johnson $15
Scottie Scheffler $17
Rory McIlroy $21
Brooks Koepka $21
Viktor Hovland $23
Collin Morikawa $23
Patrick Cantlay $23
Xander Schauffele $24
Jordan Spieth $26
Will Zalatoris $41
Tigers Woods $41
Louis Oosthuizen $51
Matt Fitzpatrick $51
Shane Lowry $51
Hideki Matsuyama $51
Sam Burns $51
Adam Scott $61
Daniel Berger $61
Tony Finau $61
Marc Leishman $61
Joaquin Nieman $61
Corey Conners $67
Tyrrell Hatton $67
Paul Casey $81
Bryson DeChambeau $81
Tommy Fleetwood $81
Sungjae Im $81
Rusell Henley $81
Justin Rose $101
Abraham Ancer $101
Patrick Reed $101
Billy Horschel $101
Lee Westwood $101
Harold Varner III $101

AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS NOT LISTED ABOVE

Golfer Odds to win
Lucas Herbert $126
Min Woo Lee $251
Cameron Davis $301

Masters expert picks

The 2022 Masters will be played at Augusta National Golf Club, as always. The course has hosted the event since its inception in 1934, though it has undergone countless renovations and changes over the years.

Augusta National is one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour. The course used to be just 6,985 yards in length but has expanded to 7,475 yards over the last 20 years.

Because of the length of the course, strokes gained off the tee (SG:OTT) will be important. Twelve of the 18 holes are at least 440 yards in length, so big hitters will be able to shorten the course a bit and set up easier approach shots.

As such, strokes gained approaching the green (SG:APR) will also carry significant importance. Why? Because it is fairly easy to putt at Augusta inside of 10 feet, per Mark Broadie of Golf.com. But outside of it, golfers can get themselves into trouble, as Augusta has the highest three-putt rate of any PGA Tour course. So we'll keep an eye on the best putters inside 10 and the ones with the lowest 3-putt rate as well.

With those key stats in mind, Justin Thomas ($13) looks like the best bet of the favourites. Thomas has the fifth-best approach game on the PGA Tour this season in SG:APR but he has also been a top-15 performer off the tee. His weakness so far this season has been putting inside of 10 feet, but as mentioned, it is fairly easy to execute inside of 10 feet at the Masters. The harder part is getting there, but Thomas is equipped to do that.

Collin Morikawa ($23) is in a similar spot to Thomas in that he's excellent both off the tee and approaching the green. He ranks 20th in SG:OTT and 10th in SG:APR this season, so he ticks a lot of the boxes we'd look for in a high-end value. His one weakness this year is his putting, which has been below-average inside of 10 feet (111th-ranked overall). However, he has proven that he can get hot with the putter before, so feel free to trust him in this spot if you prefer his game to Thomas'.

If you're looking for a sleeper pick, Shane Lowry ($51) looks like an appealing option. Lowry missed the cut in three of his first four Masters appearances, but in each of the last two years, he has finished within the top 25.

It also helps that Lowry is playing some of his best golf to start the 2022 PGA Tour season. He finished second in the Honda Classic, 12th at the Players Championship and 13th at the Valspar Championship in his last three tournaments. He ranks inside the top 53 in each of the four main stat categories we're looking at for this tournament, as he is particularly good with his approach (14th in SG:APR) and putting (31st in putting inside 10 feet and seventh in 3-putt avoidance).

One final name to keep an eye on is Hideki Matsuyama ($51). His numbers suggest that he is a solid bet here, and he proved it last year by winning the tournament. That said, while he looks like a decent value pick, his status will need to be monitored in the lead-up to the tournament as he deals with a neck injury. As such, you probably shouldn't bet him to win now, but you can keep an eye on him to see if he makes the cut line. If he does and is within a few strokes of the leader, he could be a worthwhile weekend hedge bet.

MORE: Previewing the six Australians in the field at the 2022 Masters

Masters Tournament winners by year

The reigning champion at The Masters is Hideki Matsuyama. He won the 2021 event by one stroke over Will Zalatoris and will seek to become the first back-to-back champion of the event since Tiger Woods won it in 2001 and 2002.

No player has won more Masters titles than Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear won six times during his career, with the first coming in 1963 and the last in 1986. Woods isn't far behind him, having won his fifth Masters in 2019. Woods first won the Masters in 1997.

Year Winner Score
2021 Hideki Matsuyama -10
2020 Dustin Johnson -20
2019 Tiger Woods -13
2018 Patrick Reed -15
2017 Sergio Garcia -9
2016 Danny Willett -5
2015 Jordan Spieth -18
2014 Bubba Watson -8
2013 Adam Scott -9
2012 Bubba Watson -10
2011 Charl Schwartzel -14
2010 Phil Mickelson -16
2009 Angel Cabrera -12
2008 Trevor Immelman -8
2007 Zach Johnson +1
2006 Phil Mickelson -7
2005 Tiger Woods -12
2004 Phil Mickelson -9
2003 Mike Weir -7
2002 Tiger Woods -12
2001 Tiger Woods -16
2000 Vijay Singh -10
1999 José María Olazábal -8
1998 Mark O'Meara -9
1997 Tiger Woods -18
1996 Nick Faldo -12
1995 Ben Crenshaw -14
1994 José María Olazábal -9
1993 Bernhard Langer -11
1992 Fred Couples -13
1991 Ian Woosnam -11
1990 Nick Faldo -10
1989 Nick Faldo -5
1988 Sandy Lyle -7
1987 Larry Mize -3
1986 Jack Nicklaus -9
1985 Bernhard Langer -6
1984 Ben Crenshaw -11
1983 Seve Ballesteros -8
1982 Craig Stadler -4
1981 Tom Watson -8
1980 Seve Ballesteros -13
1979 Fuzzy Zoeller -8
1978 Gary Player -11
1977 Tom Watson -12
1976 Raymond Floyd -17
1975 Jack Nicklaus -12
1974 Gary Player -10
1973 Tommy Aaron -5
1972 Jack Nicklaus -2
1971 Charles Coody -9
1970 Billy Casper -9
1969 George Archer -7
1968 Bob Goalby -11
1967 Gay Brewer -8
1966 Jack Nicklaus E
1965 Jack Nicklaus -17
1964 Arnold Palmer -12
1963 Jack Nicklaus -2
1962 Arnold Palmer -8
1961 Gary Player -8
1960 Arnold Palmer -6
1959 Art Wall Jr. -4
1958 Arnold Palmer -4
1957 Doug Ford -5
1956 Jack Burke Jr. +1
1955 Cary Middlecoff -9
1954 Sam Snead +1
1953 Ben Hogan -14
1952 Sam Snead -2
1951 Ben Hogan -8
1950 Jimmy Demaret -5
1949 Sam Snead -6
1948 Claude Harmon -9
1947 Jimmy Demaret -7
1946 Herman Keiser -6
1942 Byron Nelson -8
1941 Craig Wood -8
1940 Jimmy Demaret -8
1939 Ralph Guldahl -9
1938 Henry Picard -3
1937 Byron Nelson -5
1936 Horton Smith -3
1935 Gene Sarazen -6
1934 Horton Smith -4

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.

Ed Chisholm

Ed Chisholm Photo

Ed Chisholm is a content producer for Sporting News Australia.