Masters tournament betting advice and matchup picks

It's nearing tee times for the opening round of The Masters, and the 2024 event and 88th edition of The Masters Tournament is drawing major wager action at the leading online sportsbooks. It's not just on the prohibitive favorite Scottie Scheffler (+400), who leads all golfer in handle and money bet to win. That despite the lowest odds to win since Tiger Woods in 2013. That's not a betting strategy we endorse at low odds. But speaking of Woods, Tiger is a most popular player in wagering as well. Not only to win (no chance) at sucker odds of +6000 bet down from more than +15000, or 150/1, but in tournament matchups (vs. Mickelson) and to make/miss the cut with additional Tiger props below.  

Tiger still sells like no other...

TO MAKE/MISS CUT
44% of all the Make/Miss Cut bets are on Tiger. All the other golfers add up to the other 56%

MATCH-UP
His matchup with Mickelson by far the most popular matchup. 6 times more bets on them than next most popular bet matchup pic.twitter.com/GYg8Fl36zA

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) April 9, 2024

Also, last chance to register for the Betonline The Masters contest, and it's free to enter. 

The Masters Odds and Stats

As you watch and wager on the first major of the year, review my initial Masters odds article on OSGA, which includes coverage of more than two dozen players and profiles with stats and information you can bet on. You can utilize the info in the player profiles for betting daily or tournament matchups, along with this data below.

12 of the last 12 winners of The Masters had strokes gained of at least 18 total strokes Tee-To-Green in the four events before their Masters win. There are 9 players in this year's field are entering the week gaining at least 18 strokes T2G in their last four tournaments.

1. Scottie Scheffler (47.2)
2. Hideki Matsuyama (38.1)
3. Xander Schauffele (28.9)
4. Shane Lowry (23.8)
5. Corey Conners (23.3)
6. Si Woo Kim (22.7)
7. Rory McIlroy (22.3)
8. Cameron Young (21.8)
9. Ludvig Aberg (19.5)

Others: Wyndham Clark (16.7), Will Zalatoris (15.9), Tony Finau (15.7), Brian Harman (14.5), Sahith Theegala (10.0), Justin Thomas (7.6), Matt Fitzpatrick (5.8)

Tournament Matchups And Picks

The online sportsbooks offer even more tournament matchups for The Masters and majors. You can check out some of the tournament matchups and offerings at top online sportsbooks like Bookmaker and below, which is just some of the offerings. Another option that select leading online sportsbooks like Bookmaker and BetOnline offer are to lay or take 1.5 strokes in a matchup. That allows you to wager on a favorite, say Rory McIlroy (-120) vs. Jon Rahm (+100), and instead bet McIlroy (+112) to win the tournament matchup by at least 2 shots. Be sure to check the rules at your sportsbooks regarding matchups, ties, cut and/or withdrawls, and other prop bets at OSGA.  

Not as many picks posted here as our 9-0 result on the 2018 Masters with matchup picks, and matchup offerings and odds vary at the online sportsbooks, as do adjusted odds to win after each round. 
- Scottie Scheffler (-178) vs. Rory McIlroy (+141)
- Scottie Scheffler (-188) vs. Jon Rahm (+149) or Xander Schauffele (+149)
- Rory McIlory (-120) vs. Jon Rahm (+100) or Xander Schauffele (+100)
- Hideki Matsuyama (-132) vs. Jordan Spieth (+102)
- Joaquin Niemand (-132) vs. Wyndham Clark (+102)
- Patrick Cantlay (-133) vs. Will Zalatoris (+103) - Bet Zalatoris (Pick)
- Phil Mickelson (-140) vs. Tiger Woods (+110)
- Viktor Hovland (-150) vs. Will Zalatoris (+120) - Bet Zalatoris (Pick)
- Tony Finau (-134) vs. Justin Thomas (+104)
- Viktor Hovland (-145) vs. Patrick Cantlay (+115)
- Bryson DeChambeau (-123) vs. Dustin Johnson (-107)
- Cameron Young (-119) vs. Justin Thomas (-111)
- D. Johnson (-125) vs. C. Smith (+105)- Bet Johnson -1.5 shots (+105) Pick
- Matt Fitzpatrick (-118) vs. Tommy Fleetwood (-112)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (-155) vs. Shane Lowry (+124)
- Tommy Fleetwood (-150) vs. Shane Lowry (+124)
- Will Zalatoris (-120) vs. Jason Day (-110)  
- Sahith Theegala (-148) vs. Max Homa (+118)
- Russell Henley (-125) vs. Sam Burns (+105)
- Corey Conners (-131) vs. Jason Day (+101)
- Tyrrell Hatton (-128) vs. Patrick Reed (-102)
- Denny McCarthy (-117) vs. Aksha Bhatia (-113) 

Zalatoris (10:18 am), Schauffle (10:42 am) are among the players I'm higher on this week, but they may have the worst if it in Round 1 with the rain/thunderstormes in the morning. Same with Scheffler, McIlroy, Thomas, Matsuyama, Conners, Cantlay, Rahm, Fitzpatrick, Smith, Hovland.
Golfers with later tee times should have an advantage as the rain and winds softens after 12 or 1 pm. We'll see. Tee times for players in the afternoon Thursday.

12:24 p.m.: Akshay Bhatia, J. T. Poston, Shane Lowry (Ireland)
12:36 p.m.: Bubba Watson, Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark), Adam Schenk
12:48 p.m.: Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im (Korea), Kurt Kitayama
1:00 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Matthieu Pavon, Tyrrell Hatton (England)
1:12 p.m.: Adam Scott (Australia), Sam Burns, Cameron Young
1:24 p.m.: Tiger Woods, Jason Day (Australia), Max Homa
1:36 p.m. Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka, Tom Kim (Korea)
1:48 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Sahith Theegala
2:00 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood (England) 

Will an LIV Golfer win 2024 Masters? Yes +300, No -400
72-hole winning score: O/U 276.5 (over -150) - Par 72 at Augusta National

A few Top Finishing Position Picks: (BetOnline)

- Xander Schauffele (+120) - Top 10
- Cameron Young (+160), Zalatoris (+160), Fleetwood (+150), Conners (+185) - Top 20

Tiger Woods

Will Tiger Woods make the cut? One leading online sportsbook reports that among all bets placed on golfers to miss the cut, > 64% of the tickets and > 73.0% of the handle have come in on Woods. Woods has racked up > 60% more tickets and > 80% more handle to miss the cut (-130) compared to making it (-105). Remember, Tiger has withdrawn or missed the cut in 4 of his last 6 PGA Tour events, and has played less than 2 full rounds of golf on Tour this season. 

Pick: Woods misses cut (-130).

Many other Tiger Woods props available at sportsbetting.ag include those below: 

- Round 1 score: Over/Under 73.5 
- Round 1 total birdies: O/U 2.5
- Birdie (+130) or Bogey (-160) first?
- Withdraw from 2024 Masters: Yes +550, No -800
- Finishing position: Over/Under 42.5 

Pushing hard with more coverage, so check back later as we shoot for more birdies and green(s).

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is 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 X: @FairwayJay