Outside of the Ryder Cup, this is without a doubt the best golfing weekend in the year. It’s even up there with the best sporting weekends full stop. The feeling of warmth we get as the Masters’ music plays and Ewen Murray welcomes us to Augusta, is hard beat. The sight of Magnolia Lane or Tiger in his Sunday red is enough to bring any person back to looking like they are watching cartoons on Saturday morning as a child. This is the big one that everyone wants to win and dreams of winning as an aspiring golfer. Matsuyama took home the spoils last year with a winning score of -10, but the same old stalwarts were there or thereabouts, with Zalatoris, Schauffele, Spieth, Rahm, Leishman, Rose and Conners all finishing within the top ten. The Masters is definitely one for the favourites and with the form some of the top guys are in, it’s hard to look too far outside the head of the market.

Current Market Leaders as of 05/04/22 (PP):

• Jon Rahm – 10/1
• Justin Thomas – 12/1
• Dustin Johnson – 14/1
• Cam Smith – 14/1
• Scottie Scheffler – 14/1
• Brooks Koepka – 16/1
• Victor Hovland – 18/1
• Collin Morikawa – 18/1
• Jordon Spieth – 18/1

Honourable mentions: Patrick Cantlay 20/1, Xander Schauffele 22/1, Corey Conners 40/1, Tiger Woods 40/1 (obvs).

Current Leaders Past Five Trips to Augusta (Augusta.com):

• Jon Rahm – T5, T7, T9, 4, T27.
• Justin Thomas – T21, 4, T12, T17, T22.
• Dustin Johnson – CUT, 1, T2, T10, T4.
• Cam Smith – T10, T2, T51, T5, T55.
• Scottie Scheffler – T18, T19.
• Brooks Koepka – CUT, T7, T2, T11, T21.
• Victor Hovland – T21, T32 (amateur).
• Collin Morikawa – T18, T44.
• Jordon Spieth – T3, T46, T21, 3, T11 (also had T2, 1, T2 the three year’s previous).

Some Interesting Stats:

• No pre-tournament favourite has won the Masters since Tiger in 2005.
• No player outside of the Top 30 of the official world rankings has won wince Angel Cabrera in 2009. (The Argentinian is currently leading the Buenos Aires prison golf society).
• No rookie has won it since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Sam Burns is a rookie.

The last five winners tore up the par fives. Matsuyama won with a score of -10 but was -11 on the par fives. Dustin Johnson was also -11 on the par fives on his way to victory in 2020 with a score of -20. Keep going back and you’ll see the same. The leaders of the shots gained on par fives over the last 36 rounds (NY Post, Apr 22) can be seen below:

1. Patrick Cantlay.
2. Matt Fitzpatrick.
3. Scottie Scheffler.
4. Bryson DeChambeau.
5. Cameron Smith.

Key Players Review:

Jon Rahm – 10/1

Rahmbo is currently the betting favourite and is only shortening in price, dropping from 11/1 to 10/1 yesterday. Rahm has crazy good course form with four top tens in his last five appearances at Augusta. He looks a sure thing to finish within the top ten and with Paddy Power paying ten places, seems to be at least worthy of an each-way shout. He is also bringing in decent general form, racking up a T9, T55, T17, T21, T10 and T3 in his last six starts. The T55 was at the Players and down to a 77 blowout in the last round. He is sure to be hanging around the top five on Sunday like a bad smell.

Justin Thomas – 12/1

Sauce Daddy has been knocking on the doors of big tournaments ever since his first major win at the 2017 PGA Championship. To go along with his one major victory, he has a Players, WGC and a BMW Championship to his name. He performs best on the big stage but needs to take that next step at Augusta. He has solid-ish performances at the Masters, but only one top five in the last five appearances. In terms of general form, he has a T3, sixth and T8 in his last five starts on tour. He is also 5th in SG (strokes gained) approach to the green, 2nd in SG Tee to Green and 3rd SG total. He is in form, has the tools to win and the experience around the track, so shouldn’t be out of the mix come the back nine on Sunday.

Dustin Johnson – 14/1

Party animal Dusty J will be looking to win the coveted green jacket for a second time this weekend. He comes into the weekend on the back of a nice performance in the WGC Match-Play at Austin Country Club. He finished fourth, losing to Corey Conners in the 3rd/4th place playoff, but seemed to be mentally checked out after not making the final. He also made a slow start against Scheffler, going four down after eight and five down after eleven, but brought it back to only one down after 15. Johnson can turn it on like a light switch and with his elite Augusta form, which includes that win in the 2020 November Masters, he would be one of my top two picks. Once he can keep himself upright on the stairs at home…

Cameron Smith – 14/1

Johnny Mullet is currently sitting at 14/1 and looking mighty fine near the top of the market. The Aussie is in the form of his life, fresh off his victory in the Players at TPC Sawgrass on March 13th. That was his second win of the season and his biggest win of his career. He has been resting up since then, spending time with family, so no doubt he will be coming into the Masters with the mind and body well rested. Smith has good course form, finishing T10 and T2 in his last two starts at Augusta, and is the only person ever to finish with four rounds in the 60’s at a Masters Tournament. He has all the tools you need to succeed around Augusta; dominates the par fives, top 20 on the PGA Tour in the strokes gained tee to green, and top three on the Tour in strokes gained putting. He is also first in putting average. Could he follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman, Adam Scott? It is certainly a possibility and he would be my pick for the win.

Scottie Scheffler – 14/1

The new world number one is brimming with confidence after his dominant victory in the WGC Match Play a couple of weeks ago. The win at Austin Country Club takes him to three in the last five weeks and cements him as the in-form player of the 2021-22 PGA Tour season.. He has played at Augusta twice and has two top 20 finishes, so seems to like the track, and it’s very hard to pick holes in his game in the lead up to this year’s tournament. A fun fact is that he switched putters to a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS prototype right before the Phoenix Open, which was the first of the three wins this season. Seems to have worked out well.

Brooks Koepka – 16/1

He might win, but I don’t like him.

Viktor Hovland – 18/1

The 24-year-old Norwegian has been cooking in the 2021-22 season, racking up two victories before the end of 2021 and has a T4, T2 and T9 in three of his last five starts. He has a T21 and T32 at the Masters, which doesn’t seem overly impressive on paper, but that T32 was as the low amateur in 2019, where he recorded a score of -3, the lowest score by an amateur since 1961. He has been improving since then and with wins under his belt on the PGA Tour, has the capabilities to get the job done on any given Sunday. He is also one of the most liked players on tour, so will sure to have plenty of supporters going into the four-day event.

Collin Morikawa – 18/1

The University of Berkeley graduate was in blistering form starting off the 2021-22 season, logging a 2nd, T7, T5, T5, T2 in his first five starts. He has cooled down since then, registering a missed cut, T68 and T9 since then. As one of the best ball strikers on tour, he has the tools to get the job done at Augusta. On the tour this year, he is 9th in SG off the tee, 2nd in Eagles and 6th in birdies average. The world number three finished T18 in this last year. That was an improvement on the T44 the year before and he’ll look to improve again in the 2022 renewal. Hard to oppose each way.

Jordon Spieth – 18/1

I may be a little biased here since Spieth is my favourite golfer besides Tiger Woods, hands down. The 28-year-old veteran only has a second to his name this season, but his record at the Masters is up there with the best in the field. He has one win, two seconds and two thirds in eight starts. There are certain horses that love Cheltenham and there is Jordan Spieth who loves Augusta. His current form is a slight worry, but definitely not enough of one to oppose him.

Of the others, Cantlay would be my next best. I will be shouting for Lowry and Power, and hope to see McIlroy go well. And of course, if Tiger can somehow get himself in the mix on Sunday, I will be roaring for him. I could write a whole piece on Woods, but the photo below from Monday’s practice round will show you what he means to the game of golf and the Masters.

Image Credit: pgatour.com

J.