The Big Three Top the Betting Odds at the 2023 Masters

The first major of the PGA Tour season has arrived. It's Masters week, and 'A Tradition Unlike Any Other' is set to begin on April 6 at Augusta National in Georgia. Masters odds have been available at online sportsbooks for many months, and odds have adjusted since posted at top online sportsbooks last year. Something that hasn't changed is the three top favorites - defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. Those three have odds between +650 and +900 as the clear betting favorites for the 87th Masters Tournament starting this week. 

Two weeks after they met in match play, Rory McIlroy & Scottie Scheffler head into tournament week as consensus co-favorites for The Masters.

Current price ranges at the top of the board:

McIlroy/Scheffler: +700 to +750
Rahm: +900 to +950
Spieth: +1600 to +1800 pic.twitter.com/6xOyz3JQXw

— Golfbet (@Golfbet) April 3, 2023

Last year there were a dozen golfers with odds to win the Masters of 25/1 or less. This year there are 6-7 depending on the sportsbooks you wager at for your golf betting and top payouts. Many ways to watch and wager with more props and tournament match-ups posted as the week moves forward closer to tee times Thursday.  BetOnline even offers Masters insurance if your golfer falls just short of cashing your bet. 

The 2023 Masters: Betting advice, tips and predictions

Augusta National Golf Club:

Par 72 and 7,545 yards (longest ever)

Field: 88 golfers - PGA Tour (52), LIV Golf (18), Amateurs (8), Senior Past Champions (7), DP World Tour (3)

I provide weekly PGA golf tournament coverage with odds, picks and information you can bet on in Forbes. I chip-in additional coverage, picks and golf insight for other leading online sportsbooks as well. I plan to add more here at OSGA for the Majors and FedEx Cup Playoffs. So, to assist you with your golf betting on the Masters, I've provided some additional early Masters coverage in Forbes with a hole-by-hole betting guide and the 18 golfers leading the way in betting odds.

The big three will take the most bets, despite offering no value when wagering to win. McIlroy and Rahm top the list of best players to have not won a green jacket in this field, along with Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, who now plays on the LIV Golf Tour, but saw his odds to win the Masters cut in half to near 30/1 with his LIV Golf win in Orlando this past weekend.

But behind World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the next 14 ranked golfers in the world in front of No. 16 Jordan Spieth (2015 Masters champion) have never won the Masters Tournament, and nine have never won a major. That makes this an interesting event with so many top ranked and talented golfers shooting for their first green jacket.

In my additional coverage in Forbes, I outline players results and history at the Masters Tournament, as course history at Augusta National is more predictive of future success than any other course on the PGA Tour.

I also note that rain and scattered thunderstorms are in the advance forecast with at least a 60% chance on Friday and Saturday.

Here's the top ranked golfers and best odds to win from my research of outright odds at leading online sportsbooks. 

- BetOnline (BOL)
- BookMaker (BM)
- My Bookie (MB)
- BetUS (BUS)

1. Scottie Scheffler (+845, BM)
2. Rory McIlroy (+800, BOL)
3. Jon Rahm (+1015, BM)
4. Patrick Cantlay (+2200, BOL)
5. Max Homa (+3550, BM)
6. Cameron Smith (+2200, BOL)
7. Xander Schauffele (+2800, BOL)
8. Will Zalatoris (+5050, BM)
9. Viktor Hovland (+4500, BOL, BM)
10. Justin Thomas (+2200, BOL, BM)
11. Sam Burns (+3800, BM)
12. Collin Morikawa (+3000, BOL, BM)
13. Tony Finau (+3000, BOL)
14. Cameron Young (+3000, BOL)
15. Matt Fitzpatrick (+5500, BOL)
16. Jordan Spieth (+2050, BM)

No, Tiger Woods (+6500, BOL, +10100 BM) is not winning the 2023 Masters or his sixth green jacket. Save your money and wagers on Woods to win. He made the cut last year, but favor +130 that he misses the cut this year. 

I've evaluated strokes gained stats for determining other strengths of players in Approach play, Tee-to-Green, Short Game and Around the Green strength along Par-5 scoring, Par-4 scoring from 450+ yards and some added intuitive feel based on years of researching and betting on The Masters. That includes recent years when I posted a 2-0 tournament matchups result in 2021 and just missed cashing in a small bet on runner-up Will Zalatoris in his Masters debut at 125/1. 

And in 2018, I outlined how I dealt with some shenanigans with a sportsbook while betting on the Masters. I proceeded to crush it in Masters tournament match-up bets posting 4-0 winners and adding more opinions that went 5-0.   

I've had most success betting golf tournament match-ups, and once they are posted, I'll try to chip-in some opinions and picks as able. So follow along on Twitter and check back here for updates as I chip-in and shoot for more fairways and greens at Augusta and the Masters, along with some live betting and adjusted odds as the Masters Tournament progresses. 

For now, I've added a pair of Fairway's Foursome's below for outright win betting picks and those I've bet already that you can consider and/or add to top finishing position bets as well. That includes some dark horses longer than 25/1 to win their first green jacket and deliver some bonus cash. None of these golfers are major longshots, outside of Fleetwood, and only McIlroy was below 25/1 when I bet. 

Fairway's Favorites: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Xander Schaffele, Jason Day
Fairway's Longshots: Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, Sungjae Im, Tommy Fleetwood. 

Additional prep on the practice range, but there will be others I add into the Masters betting portfolio with the most focus on matchups and other props of interest. 

You can bet on it.

FairwayJayis a proven sports handicapper and has a history of winning at golf betting including in the more predictable PGA tournament match-ups. FairwayJay chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Read more great insights from FairwayJay and follow him on Twitter:@FairwayJay