Masters 2026 Picks, Best Bets and Golf Odds:
“A Tradition Unlike Any Other” is here this week as the year’s first major takes place with the 90th edition of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. For the first time since July at the British Open, all the world’s top golfers are at the same venue.
Scottie Scheffler (+550) hopes to continue his trend of winning the green jacket in even-numbered years (2022, 2024 winner). The reigning PGA and British Open champion had a historic season in 2025, and he has been a little down from that to start the 2026 campaign. Nevertheless, he is still the World No. 1 player and arrives with some new precious cargo in tow as his second son Remy was born just 10 days ago.
Rory McIlroy (12-1) arrives with his own cargo in tow, his green jacket and Champions Dinner menu as McIlroy finally completed the career Grand Slam and won the Masters for the first time last year. Rory does not arrive in Augusta on the impeccable form that he did last year, having withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational five weeks ago after tweaking his lower back before Saturday’s round and then finishing 46th in defense of his title at The Players Championship.
Speaking of form, perhaps no one is in better form than 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm (11-1), who has played only five events overseas to start the LIV Golf season. However, he does have a victory and three runners-up in five events with an average finish of 2.4.
Bryson DeChambeau (11-1) got his first taste of what it was like to be in contention on Masters Sunday and briefly held the lead last year while in the final pairing with McIlroy before finishing T-5. DeChambeau has won back-to-back LIV events in Singapore and South Africa, where he defeated Rahm in the playoff.
Ludvig Åberg (14-1) was one shot off the lead held by McIlroy and Justin Rose (35-1) with two holes to play before a bogey/triple bogey finish dropped him to T-7. His talent is obvious, but Åberg has had trouble closing it out on Sundays, as was on display last month at The Players Championship when a three-shot lead beginning the back nine ended up in a four-shot deficit to eventual winner Cameron Young (20-1).
Last year was essentially a lost season because of injury setbacks for Xander Schauffele (16-1), who has five top-10 finishes in his last seven Masters appearances and has started 2026 in much better shape, plus comes in off finishes of third (Players) and fourth (Valspar).
After finally winning on American soil and on the PGA Tour last year at the Tour Championship, Tommy Fleetwood (22-1) is certainly near the top of the “best player to never win a major” list.
Matt Fitzpatrick (22-1) nearly won The Players last month and then dusted off that disappointment to win the Valspar the next week.
One of the more interesting handicaps this week involves Collin Morikawa (33-1). He has a victory (Pebble Beach) and has played as well as anyone in 2026, but he withdrew with a back injury after one hole at The Players and subsequently pulled out of last week’s Valero Texas Open.
Several former Masters champions are in the mid-range of the market, including Hideki Matsuyama (35-1), Patrick Reed (35-1), Jordan Spieth (45-1) and Adam Scott (70-1).
Other notable former major champions in the field include Brooks Koepka (40-1), Justin Thomas (66-1), Shane Lowry (66-1), plus last year’s U.S. Open and this past weekend’s Valero Texas Open winner, J.J. Spaun (70-1).
Other players looking to win their first major include Robert MacIntyre (37-1), Min Woo Lee (40-1), Viktor Hovland (50-1), Akshay Bhatia (60-1), Patrick Cantlay (70-1) and Tyrrell Hatton (70-1).
The Event
The Masters began in 1934 and has been held at the Augusta National Golf Club each year. Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the champion who must return it to the clubhouse one year after his victory, although it remains his personal property and is stored with other champions’ jackets in a specially designated cloakroom. The winner also receives a sterling replica of the Masters trophy and a gold medal.
The Masters was started by amateur champion Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts. After his Grand Slam in 1930, Jones acquired the former plant nursery and co-designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie.
The Masters is the only major championship played at the same venue each year.
The greatest legends in the history of golf have graced these grounds over the years. Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters with six. Tiger Woods has won five green jackets, while Arnold Palmer has been champion four times. Five have won three titles at Augusta: Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson. Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament, in 1961; the second was Seve Ballesteros of Spain, the champion in 1980 and 1983.
Last year, Rory McIlroy became the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as winners of all four major championships. McIlroy also became the first player to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta National since Sarazen in 1935.
Participation in the Masters is by invitation only, and the tournament has the smallest field of the major championships. There are several criteria by which invitations are awarded, including all past winners, recent major champions, leading finishers in the previous year’s majors, leading players on the PGA Tour in the previous season, winners of full-point tournaments on the PGA Tour during the previous 12 months, leading players in the Official World Golf Ranking and some leading amateurs.
The Field
The list below details the qualification criteria for the 2025 Masters and the 91 players who have qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players qualified are indicated in parentheses.
1. All past winners of the Masters
Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Sergio García, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson (13), Hideki Matsuyama (18,25), Rory McIlroy (5,18,25), José María Olazábal, Jon Rahm (2), Patrick Reed (13,25), Scottie Scheffler (3,4,5,13,17,18,25), Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Danny Willett
Past winners not expected to play: Tommy Aaron, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Trevor Immelman, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, Jack Nicklaus, Mark O’Meara, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Ian Woosnam.
2. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2021–2025)
Wyndham Clark (15,25), Bryson DeChambeau (13,16,25), Matt Fitzpatrick (15,17.25), J.J. Spaun (17,18,25,26)
3. Recent winners of the British Open (2021-2025)
Brian Harman (18,25), Collin Morikawa (17,18.25), Xander Schauffele (4,13,25), Cameron Smith
4. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2021–2025)
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas (17,18,25)
5. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2024-2026)
Cameron Young (14,17,18,25)
6. The winner of the gold medal at the Olympic Games
7. The winner and runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship
Jackson Herrington (a), Mason Howell (a)
8. The winner of the 2023 Amateur Championship
Ethan Fang (a)
9. The winner of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
Fifa Laopakdee (a)
10. The winner of the 2024 Latin America Amateur Championship
Mateo Pulcini (a)
11. The winner of the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship
Brandon Holtz (a)
12. The winner of the 2023 NCAA Division I men’s golf individual championship
Michael La Sasso forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
13. The leading 12 players, and those tying for 12th place, from the 2025 Masters
Ludvig Åberg (18,25), Corey Conners (18,25), Jason Day, Harris English (15,16,18.25), Max Homa, Sungjae Im (18.25), Justin Rose (17,18,25)
14. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2025 U.S. Open
Tyrrell Hatton (25), Viktor Hovland (18.25), Robert MacIntyre (18.25), Carlos Ortiz
15. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2025 British Open
Chris Gotterup (17,18,19,25), Haotong LI
16. The leading four players, and those tying for fourth place, in the 2025 PGA Championship
Davis Riley
17. Winners of tournaments on the PGA Tour between the 2025 Masters and the 2026 Masters
Akshay Bhatia (18,25), Keegan Bradley (18,25), Jacob Bridgeman (18), Brian Campbell, Nico Echavarría, Tommy Fleetwood (18,25), Ben Griffin (18, 25), Ryan Fox (25), Kurt Kitayama (25), Aldrich Potgieter, Sepp Straka (18,25)
18. All players who qualified for and are eligible for the 2025 Tour Championship
Sam Burns (25), Patrick Cantlay (25), Harry Hall, Russell Henley (25), Shane Lowry (25), Maverick McNealy (25), Andrew Novak (25), Nick Taylor
19. The winner of the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open
20. The winner of the 2025 Open de España
Marco Penge (25)
21. The winner of the 2025 Japan Open Golf Championship
Naoyuki Kataoka
22. The winner of the 2025 Link Hong Kong Open
Tom McKibbin
23. The winner of the 2025 Crown Australian Open
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (25)
24. The winner of the 2026 Investec South African Open Championship
Casey Jarvis
25. The leading 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of Dec. 31, 2025
Michael Brennan, Ryan Gerard, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Højgaard, Johnny Keefer, Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, Alex Norén, Aaron Rai, Kristoffer Reitan, Sam Stevens, Sami Välimäki
26. The leading 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 30, 2026
Daniel Berger, Nicolai Højgaard, Jake Knapp, Matt McCarty
27. Special Invitations
The top 50 (plus ties) will make the weekend cut.
The Course
Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., was designed in 1933 by Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones. It is a par-72 of 7,565 yards that plays longer than its listed yardage. The average round score last year was +0.81 over par (seventh toughest of 50 courses on tour). Augusta National usually plays to its standard firm and fast conditions. It is a classical, undulating meadowlands track. Water is in play on four holes. The wide (54 yards average — widest on PGA Tour) fairways are Overseeded Perennial Ryegrass with Bermudagrass base. The Ryegrass rough isn’t very thick (1.38 inches), but trees and pine straw provide obstacles after errant tee shots.
Meanwhile, the greens are Bentgrass that will be fast and slick and run 13-15 feet on the stimpmeter, and shots not in the right spots can fall into tough, shaved run-offs. The lack of rough around the green complexes creates indecision both with approach shots and recovery chips. Longer hitters certainly benefit here, and players must take advantage of the par-5s, but on-target approach shots are what put you in position to win.
There are 44 bunkers (third fewest on tour), but they are difficult (under 50% sand saves), and a whole lotta pine straw scattered across the grounds. Unless a tree is in the way, the pine straw isn’t the end of the world. The Bentgrass greens are around tour-average in size (6,486 square feet); the major differences lie within the wild undulations. These are some of the hilliest and fastest putting surfaces the players will encounter all year. Furthermore, the course is a long walk, and the rounds are mentally and physically demanding.
Here are the course layout and scorecard for Augusta National Golf Club (courtesy of the official Masters website).
No one course is an exact facsimile of Augusta National. However, some courses share some characteristics if you are looking for course correlations. Quail Hollow (long, tree-lined course in Southeast), Muirfield Village (Jack Nicklaus’s ode to Augusta), Torrey Pines South (length and scoring difficulty), Bay Hill (length and scoring difficulty), Memorial Park (non-penal rough, wide fairways, fast greens), Riviera (shot-shaping in both directions, several champs have also won at Augusta) and Plantation Course at Kapalua (wide fairways, several champs have also won at Augusta).
Who better than defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy to take us through his final round last year, hole-by-hole at Augusta National Golf Club, in this video.
Weather
This week’s AccuWeather forecast looks ideal with sunshine and light wind (slightly heavier for Thursday’s opening round). It has been dry in Augusta, so the course should play firm and fast and the ball should travel a bit further with the warmer temperatures.
Masters Recent History/Winners
2025: Rory McIlroy (-11/277); +650*
2024: Scottie Scheffler (-11/277); 4-1
2023: Jon Rahm (-12/276); 9-1
2022: Scottie Scheffler (-10/278); 16-1
2021: Hideki Matsuyama (-10/278); 45-1
2020: Dustin Johnson (-20/268); 9-1
2019: Tiger Woods (-13/275); 16-1
2018: Patrick Reed (-15/273); 50-1
2017: Sergio Garcia (-9/279); 40-1**
2016: Danny Willett (-5/283); 66-1
2015: Jordan Spieth (-18/270); 10-1
2014: Bubba Watson (-8/280); 25-1
2013: Adam Scott (-9/279); 28-1***
2012: Bubba Watson (-10/278); 50-1****
2011: Charl Schwartzel (-14/274); 90-1
2010: Phil Mickelson (-16/272); 10-1
Playoff win over Justin Rose – *
Playoff win over Justin Rose – **
Playoff win over Angel Cabrera – ***
Playoff win over Louis Oosthuizen – ****
Masters Recent Trends
- 13 of the last 14 Masters winners ranked 16th or better in the Official World Golf Rankings coming into the tournament. Matsuyama in 2021 was the lone exception — ranked 25th.
- 20 of the past 21 Masters winners have finished Round 1 tied for 10th place or better (McIlroy was 27th after R1 last year).
- 12 of the last 16 Masters winners had played in at least three Masters before getting the victory. Going back further, this trend used to be at least six trips to Augusta before winning. The point is that experience matters here.
- 10 of the last 16 Masters winners had posted a win earlier that same season.
- 16 of the last 16 Masters winners have posted a top-10 finish that same season.
- 13 of the last 14 Masters winners had at least two top-15 finishes in their three events leading up to the tournament. Matsuyama in 2021 is the lone exception.
- 9 of the last 12 Masters winners had at least one top-five finish in their Masters careers before donning the green jacket.
- 10 of the 12 most recent Masters winners had at least a major runner-up result already to their name, with all 12 having a T-6 finish or better.
- The Masters defending champion has not successfully defended his title since Tiger Woods (2002).
- In 2020, Dustin Johnson became the first World No. 1 to win the Masters since Tiger Woods (2002). Scottie Scheffler repeated the same feat in 2022 and 2024.
- Dating to 2007, only two event winners the week before the Masters finished top 10 or better at Augusta (Anthony Kim — third in 2010; Jordan Spieth — winner in 2021).
- 7 of the last 12 Masters winners were age 29 or younger.
- 16 of the last 17 Masters winners ranked top 50 or better for Driving Distance in the year before their wins.
Statistical Analysis
The last three Masters winners ranked first for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green during their victories.
Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Jon Rahm 1.670
- Si Woo Kim 1.665
- Matt Fitzpatrick 1.646
- Rory McIlroy 1.594
- Scottie Scheffler 1.593
- Tommy Fleetwood 1.490
- J.J. Spaun 1.204
- Bryson DeChambeau 1.187
- Cameron Young 1.169
- Xander Schauffele 1.162
- Min Woo Lee 1.137
- Nicolai Højgaard 1.082
- Adam Scott 1.076
- Russell Henley 1.062
- Bubba Watson 1.035
- Sergio Garcia 1.019
- Kurt Kitayama 0.999
- Viktor Hovland 0.997
- Collin Morikawa 0.988
- Hideki Matsuyama 0.964
- Patrick Reed 0.953
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 0.946
- Ryan Gerard 0.909
- Carlos Ortiz 0.902
- Ludvig Åberg 0.846
With very few water hazards or thick rough and the widest fairways all year, players are free to bomb away off the tee.
Sixteen of the last 17 winners of the Masters ranked inside the top 50 for Driving Distance during the year leading up to their victories.
Driving Distance (Last 50 Rounds)
- Carlos Ortiz 324.8
- Jon Rahm 324.7
- Michael Brennan 324.5
- Aldrich Potgieter 323.6
- Bryson DeChambeau 323.5
- Jake Knapp 322.0
- Marco Penge 319.6
- Bubba Watson 319.4
- Gary Woodland 319.2
- Chris Gotterup 318.9
- John Keefer 318.7
- Nicolai Højgaard 316.9
- Rory McIlroy 315.4
- Ryan Fox 314.8
- Min Woo Lee 314.7
- Dustin Johnson 314.6
- Kurt Kitayama 314.1
- Charl Schwartzel 313.9
- Ludvig Åberg 313.2
- Xander Schauffele 313.2
- Rasmus Højgaard 312.9
- Scottie Scheffler 312.9
- Brooks Koepka 312.2
- Cameron Smith 312.2
- Sam Burns 311.9
Players will hit the greens at Augusta National around just 60% of the time, so the short game will be tested, particularly with chipping from tight lies.
The last five Masters winners Around the Green during their winning weeks:
2025: McIlroy 9th
2024: Scheffler 1st
2023: Rahm 7th
2022: Scheffler 3rd
2021: Matsuyama 1st
Strokes Gained: Around The Green — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Cameron Smith 0.589
- Carlos Ortiz 0.559
- Hideki Matsuyama 0.506
- Harry Hall 0.487
- Jason Day 0.483
- Nick Taylor 0.473
- Sungjae Im 0.453
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.430
- Matt Fitzpatrick 0.413
- Justin Thomas 0.362
- Jon Rahm 0.361
- Min Woo Lee 0.353
- Keegan Bradley 0.346
- Scottie Scheffler 0.341
- Ben Griffin 0.312
- Bubba Watson 0.298
- Ludvig Åberg 0.281
- Russell Henley 0.263
- Sergio Garcia 0.255
- Viktor Hovland 0.251
- Alex Noren 0.249
- Rory McIlroy 0.243
- Wyndham Clark 0.224
- Danny Willett 0.219
- Charl Schwartzel 0.211
The Scrambling percentage is around 6% more difficult here at Augusta than the tour average.
Scrambling Percentage (Last 50 rounds)
- Hideki Matsuyama 74.9%
- Robert MacIntyre 72.9
- Bryson DeChambeau 71.3
- Cameron Smith 70.1
- Tommy Fleetwood 69.8
- Nick Taylor 69.7
- Ludvig Åberg 69.3
- Russell Henley 68.8
- Jake Knapp 68.6
- Rasmus Højgaard 68.5
- Scottie Scheffler 68.3
- Xander Schauffele 67.9
- Harris English 67.2
- Jason Day 67.0
- Harry Hall 66.9
- Ben Griffin 66.6
- Bubba Watson 66.4
- Viktor Hovland 66.3
- Nicolai Højgaard 66.3
- Keegan Bradley 65.9
- Sami Valimaki 65.7
- Cameron Young 65.7
- Min Woo Lee 65.6
- Si Woo Kim 65.3
- Haotong Li 65.3
Augusta National is one of the toughest courses to gain strokes on approach for not only finding greens but also having the shots be on the proper angles toward the pins.
Each of the past 10 years, the Masters winner has finished inside the top six in Strokes Gained: Approach for the week.
Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Patrick Reed 1.008
- Matt Fitzpatrick 0.919
- Adam Scott 0.894
- Si Woo Kim 0.878
- Shane Lowry 0.832
- J.J. Spaun 0.771
- Ryan Gerard 0.749
- Xander Schauffele 0.723
- Collin Morikawa 0.721
- Viktor Hovland 0.689
- Daniel Berger 0.680
- Kurt Kitayama 0.672
- Aaron Rai 0.671
- Akshay Bhatia 0.646
- Tyrrell Hatton 0.644
- Nicolai Højgaard 0.633
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.600
- Jon Rahm 0.579
- Justin Rose 0.566
- Scottie Scheffler 0.562
- Corey Conners 0.543
- Russell Henley 0.536
- Rory McIlroy 0.527
- Wyndham Clark 0.521
- Hideki Matsuyama 0.497
The overall bogey percentage at Augusta National is a little less than 40% higher than the average tour course.
Bogey Avoidance Percentage (Last 50 rounds)
- Jon Rahm 9.7% (percentage of time player makes bogey or worse)
- Rory McIlroy 9.9
- Scottie Scheffler 11.0
- Russell Henley 11.1
- Hideki Matsuyama 11.2
- Si Woo Kim 11.4
- Ben Griffin 11.5
- Jake Knapp 11.6
- Cameron Young 11.6
- Robert MacIntyre 11.8
- Harris English 11.9
- Jacob Bridgeman 12.1
- Ludvig Åberg 12.2
- Tommy Fleetwood 12.2
- Nick Taylor 12.2
- Matt Fitzpatrick 12.3
- Rasmus Højgaard 12.4
- Patrick Cantlay 12.5
- Cameron Smith 12.6
- Kurt Kitayama 12.7
- Nicolai Højgaard 12.8
- Ryan Gerard 12.9
- Sami Valimaki 13.0
- Bryson DeChambeau 13.0
- Sam Stevens 13.1
- Xander Schauffele 13.1
- Jason Day 13.1
Since 2010, nearly three-quarters of the scoring has come from the par-5s at Augusta National.
2025: McIlroy -7 (-7 par-5s)
2024: Scheffler -11 (-9 par-5s)
2023: Rahm -12 (-10 par-5s)
2022: Scheffler -10 (-8 par-5s)
2021: Matsuyama -10 (-11 par-5s)
2020: D. Johnson -20 (-11 par-5s)
2019: Woods -13 (-8 par-5s)
2018: Reed -15 (-13 par-5s)
2017: Garcia -9 (-7 par-5s)
Strokes Gained Par-5s — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Carlos Ortiz 0.392
- Jake Knapp 0.277
- Scottie Scheffler 0.230
- Min Woo Lee 0.209
- Rory McIlroy 0.177
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.166
- Bryson DeChambeau 0.165
- Gary Woodland 0.159
- Adam Scott 0.154
- Matt Fitzpatrick 0.153
- Cameron Young 0.152
- Sergio Garcia 0.148
- Cameron Smith 0.144
- Xander Schauffele 0.140
- Rasmus Højgaard 0.136
- Charl Schwartzel 0.131
- Ryan Gerard 0.126
- Maverick McNealy 0.125
- Shane Lowry 0.124
- Kristoffer Reitan 0.120
- Ryan Fox 0.111
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 0.111
- Sepp Straka 0.108
- Nicolai Højgaard 0.107
- Jon Rahm 0.107
Six of the par-4s measure between 450 and 500 yards and two others are at 440. The par-4s at Augusta National play as the toughest set all season.
Strokes Gained Par-4s 450-500 Yards — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Jake Knapp 0.674
- Chris Gotterup 0.625
- Scottie Scheffler 0.618
- Patrick Cantlay 0.615
- Min Woo Lee 0.592
- Cameron Young 0.587
- Charl Schwartzel 0.548
- Justin Rose 0.522
- Kurt Kitayama 0.513
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.504
- Bubba Watson 0.483
- Viktor Hovland 0.482
- Rasmus Højgaard 0.481
- Haotong Li 0.445
- Jacob Bridgeman 0.431
- John Keefer 0.419
- Robert MacIntyre 0.418
- Corey Conners 0.389
- Si Woo Kim 0.369
- Maverick McNealy 0.365
- Jon Rahm 0.356
- Shane Lowry 0.350
- Jordan Spieth 0.350
- Xander Schauffele 0.349
- Collin Morikawa 0.348
- Bryson DeChambeau 0.348
Experience matters at Augusta. Those who play well here typically play well here regularly.
Strokes Gained: Total — Augusta National — Average Per Round
- Ludvig Åberg 2.875 (8 rounds)
- Scottie Scheffler 2.683 (24 rounds)
- Jordan Spieth 2.021 (44 rounds)
- Jon Rahm 1.908 (36 rounds)
- Collin Morikawa 1.684 (24 rounds)
- Justin Rose 1.594 (58 rounds)
- Rory McIlroy 1.574 (62 rounds)
- Xander Schauffele 1.453 (30 rounds)
- Matt McCarty 1.430 (4 rounds)
- Patrick Reed 1.334 (44 rounds)
- Hideki Matsuyama 1.293 (54 rounds)
- Sungjae Im 1.278 (20 rounds)
- Cameron Smith 1.256 (34 rounds)
- Davis Riley 1.175 (4 rounds)
- Jason Day 1.129 (50 rounds)
- Brooks Koepka 1.085 (34 rounds)
- Dustin Johnson 1.079 (52 rounds)
- Justin Thomas 1.032 (36 rounds)
Selections
Embed from Getty ImagesJon Rahm (+1050, Circa Sports)
Consider Rahm’s five starts this year include a form line of 2-2-1-5-2. That is an average finish of 2.4.
Rahm leads LIV for Total Birdies and Greens In Regulation, plus ranks fourth in Scrambling and Driving Distance.
When Rahm first joined LIV in 2024 and came back to Augusta National for the first time as defending champion, he was likely having second thoughts about the move and dealing with the pressure of being the defending champion. Last year, he was winless on the season. This year, he comes in with a victory and just might relish being back on the big stage, considering he has been playing all over the world in the middle of the night (U.S. time) with not many eyeballs watching him. Rahm should have a chip on his shoulder to ask the golf world, “Hey, remember me?” He has a great chance at his second green jacket.
Xander Schauffele (18-1, DraftKings)
Schauffele had an injury-riddled season in 2025 that did include a late-season win (Baycurrent Classic in Japan) and top-10s in the Masters and British Open.
He started slowly in 2026 but now has three top-7 finishes in his last four starts, including a third at The Players Championship.
He has finished inside the top 10 at Augusta National in five of the last seven years. It seems like he is starting to peak at the right time and that he is going to win another big one very soon, and it could be this week.
Cameron Young (23-1, DraftKings)
After finally earning that long-awaited maiden PGA Tour victory last fall, it was anticipated that Young would win a big-time event at some point in 2026, and he did just that, winning The Players Championship last month courtesy of the longest measured drive at the 18th in the long, storied history of the event.
Young enters on great form with not only The Players win but also a T-3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a T-7 at the Genesis Invitational, both in “Signature events.”
The World No. 3 player has six major championship top-10s in the last four years. The last two Players winners (Scheffler and McIlroy) went on to win the Masters that same year, so why not 3-for-3 with Young?
Matt Fitzpatrick (+2350, DraftKings)
Fitzpatrick showed tremendous resilience last month to win the Valspar Championship just one week after the disappointment of finishing runner-up to Young at The Players in an event that he thought he had won.
The Englishman ranks No. 3 for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green, 7th for Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Total and 19th for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee on the PGA Tour. Historically, Fitzpatrick is an elite putter but ranks No. 96 for Strokes Gained: Putting. However, he started to roll it better once the “West Coast Swing” ended.
He has a solid record at Augusta National but has never been in the mix at the end. However, he is playing his best golf in the last several years.
Min Woo Lee (35-1, FanDuel)
Unlike last year, Lee does not come to Augusta National on the back end of a victory like last year at the Houston Open.
However, he does arrive as a more consistent player. Dating to last September, Lee has six top-10s in his last two starts.
Currently, he ranks seventh for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and 11th for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green. Let Min Woo cook?
Patrick Reed (43-1, DraftKings)
Brooks Koepka’s departure from LIV back to the PGA Tour certainly got more publicity and coverage than Patrick Reed’s since Reed will not be returning to the PGA Tour until late August, with a full-time return delayed until 2027.
Nevertheless, Reed has not been sitting at home waiting to come back. He is playing a full-time schedule on the DP World Tour, where he is a lifetime member. He has taken advantage of that lifetime membership and has won twice — Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters — already in 2026.
The 2018 Masters champion has finished inside the top 4 here in two of the last three years when he was not playing near the quality of golf that he has thus far in 2026. Some guys just know how to get around this place, and Reed is one of them.
Akshay Bhatia (65-1, FanDuel)
Last month, Bhatia won the biggest event of his young career when he ran down Daniel Berger on the back nine to eventually win the Arnold Palmer Invitational “Signature Event” in a playoff.
Bhatia ranks eighth on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Approach and 10th for Strokes Gained: Putting.
It was a mistake to go play the Indian Open, where he missed the cut, in preparation, but the rest of the form looks great since Phoenix.
Jacob Bridgeman (+630 Top Debutant, DraftKings)
Chris Gotterup, already with two victories in 2026 and three in the last 10 months, is the justifiable favorite.
Bridgeman is the second choice, but he won the closest event to a Masters prep earlier this year at the Genesis Invitational held at Riviera.
He was also fifth at The Players and has not finished worse than 18th in any PGA Tour event for 2026.
Placement markets, matchups, and other futures will be available Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks
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