US Masters Golf 2019: Betting and Odds Preview

Those who follow the US PGA Tour Golf will have witnessed an exciting start to the season but that excitement is expected to intensify from this Thursday onwards. The best golfers on the planet will be assembling in Augusta, Georgia for the first of this year’s Major tournaments.

It’s the US Masters and almost without exception, all of the high ranking players are here to contest one of the most thrilling events on the golfing calendar. America’s Patrick Reed is our defending champion but in a strong field, there are a host of contenders at the top of the outright markets.

Event Date: April 11-14, 2019

Out in Front

With two days to go until the first tee shot is hit in anger, the bookies have listed a clear favourite. Rory McIlory is the man who leads the chasing pack and you can currently pick up the Northern Irishman at best industry odds of 7/1 with William Hill and 10Bet. Rory is a four-time Major Championship winner but his last success came in 2014 and he has yet to win the Masters. Form is on his side however and he comes into this tournament on the back of a win at the prestigious TPC Players Championship last month.

We only have to move back a couple of points to find Dustin Johnson. The 34 year old is another player who is yet to win the Masters but he has a good record here. DJ is on offer at a top price of 10/1 with Betway and Royal Panda and there will be plenty of takers at that figure.

Current Odds

Chasing Golfers

Rory McIlory

Gaps start to emerge beyond the top two golfers but there are tight prices among the chasing pack. They are lead by Justin Rose at best odds of 14/1 with BetFred and the Englishman came so close to landing the Masters Trophy in 2017 – losing out in a playoff to Sergio Garcia.

Moving through the list, four-time winner Tiger Woods is available at a top price of 16/1 with SportingBet and BetFred while Jon Rahm is being talked up among the tipsters and he is on offer at a best of 18/1 with William Hill. Justin Thomas is also quoted at that same top price of 18/1 and then we move back slightly to former Masters Champion Jordan Spieth and also Rickie Fowler who are at the same best odds of 20/1.

Already, we can see that there is a world class field in prospect and the quality just keeps on coming. At the far edge of the chasing pack is reigning British Open champion Francesco Molinari at best odds of 25/1 with SportingBet. England’s Paul Casey is a recent winner on Tour and he is on offer at a top price of 28/1 with Betway while double US Open Champion Brooks Koepka is also at that best of 28/1 – this time with Unibet and 888Sport.

Outsider Punts

We can have shock results in this tournament and, as recently as 2016, England’s unfancied Danny Willett came through to win by three strokes having started as a genuine long shot. There wasn’t too much support for 2018 Masters Champion Patrick Reed either so don’t rule out anyone from the outside bunch.

Reed is one of those names as he starts his title defence at 60/1 with 888Sport and Unibet. Elsewhere, England’s Tommy Fleetwood has arrived at Augusta in determined mood and he is quoted at best odds of 30/1 with Ladbrokes.

There’s barely a top class name missing from this list: We keep going through this impressive list of names and it includes players of the calibre of two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson at best odds of 35/1 with Unibet and 888Sport. Then we have Phil Mickelson whose third Masters title came in 2010. ‘Lefty’ is available at a top price of 45/1 with SportingBet while other names to consider from this list include Tony Finau, Adam Scott and Xander Schauffele who are all at the same best odds of 40/1 with William Hill and Ladbrokes and then we have Henrik Stenson at 66/1 with Unibet, Ian Poulter at 90/1 with SportingBet and Webb Simpson at 100/1 with BetFred.

We could go on but there simply isn’t enough time to list all of the names so we’ll start now by seeing what it would take to become a US Masters Champion.

Course Insights and Winning Trends

Justin Rose

The course at Augusta continues to be lengthened and as it approaches 7,500 yards, the Power Hitters will come into the event with some confidence. Wider fairways are forgiving for those stray tee shots while one of the key stats to come through in recent renewals relates to GIR. We can therefore start our search by looking for a distance hitter who has great numbers in regards to Greens in Regulation.

We’ve a few multiple champions since the turn of the century with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson all completing doubles or higher so don’t rule out players such as Reed or Garcia this week.

Verdict

Like any Major golfing tournament, the field for the 2019 US Masters is an exceptional one. It may therefore be more advisable to look at Top Ten bets or Each Way options as an alternative to picking the outright winner. There are lots of promos about with many bookies paying Each Way terms down to seven places while Coral extend that further by paying down to ten.

However, there are lots of trends and stats that you can take on board as we’ve seen from the above section. In the recent past, big hitters such as Bubba Watson have enjoyed immense success here so a player such as Tony Finau could well come through from the back of the pack.

As we consider our options, one name that continues to stand out is that of Brooks Koepka. Somehow, his length off the tee isn’t widely discussed but here is one player who certainly has the distance to compete with this lengthened Augusta course. Koepka is in decent form and he also has the mental toughness to come through having won back to back US Opens.

Koepka for victory is the tip while we can throw in a host of top ten options. It’s such a tough contest to predict but hopefully we can add these in and claim a sound overall profit at the end of four days.

Best Bets for US Masters 2019:

• Brooks Koepka to win at 28/1 with Unibet
• Phil Mickelson for a Top Ten finish at 7/2 with William Hill
• Webb Simpson for a Top Ten finish at 7/1 with 10Bet
• Keegan Bradley for a Top Ten finish at 11/1 with William Hill