The most-bet golf event of the year has such a wide-open feel to it this year that sportsbooks are seeing non-Masters winners getting bumps over legends.
While Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to capture his third Green Jacket at the 90th Masters, some operators reported other names taking action and pushing longer odds than usual on the world’s No. 1 golfer.
Key Takeaways
- Scottie Scheffler has competition with Bryson DeChambeau and others in bets and handle.
- Cameron Young is a very popular bet this year at DraftKings.
- BetMGM has seen Justin Rose dominate the first-round leader market.
Bettors are also passing on stars Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm heading into Thursday’s first round from Augusta National, while Bryson DeChambeau has risen as a popular Masters winner pick.
“The big boys aren’t being bet as heavily as some of the others out there,” DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello told Covers on Wednesday. “They’re betting the Cam Youngs and the (Akshay) Bhatias. They’re betting the (Ludvig) Abergs, (Brooks) Koepka, (Xander) Schauffele, (Bryson) DeChambeau. It’s wide open, and the odds show that it’s wide open.”
Scheffler opened as the Masters odds leader at +380 in DraftKings’ outright winner market. He’s up to +510 to win, ahead of Rahm (+900), DeChambeau (+1,050), and McIlroy (+1,225).
“He has been kind of laid off this tournament,” Avello said. “Not seeing the type of action on Scottie that we’re used to seeing. The bettors have seen as of late that he's not as dominant, and that’s reflected in the wagering.”
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Two at the top
The game’s most dominant figure for the last few years has won eight times since finishing fourth at last year’s Masters, but he hasn’t flashed that form recently, finishing outside the top 20 in his last two events. His wife also gave birth to their second child a couple of weeks ago, leaving bettors wondering if he’s at the top of his game this week.
Even where some bettors are sticking with Scheffler, he’s not running away with it.
“Scottie Scheffler leads the total ticket count, closely followed by Bryson DeChambeau,” Caesars Sportsbook lead golf trader Anthony Salleroli said. “Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele, and Justin Rose, maybe or maybe not surprisingly, also finish out the Top 5.
“A trend we typically see is just how much media coverage affects betting each year. When a player sits down for their press conference, they typically rise to be the ticket count leader for that timeframe.”
Scheffler has received the most money at theScore Bet, which reported a 14.9% handle on the golfer, but DeChambeau has taken more tickets.
The LIV golfer is the most-bet choice at BetMGM, with 10.3% of the tickets. He’s also getting a leading 14.7% of the handle, slightly ahead of Scheffler’s 14.3%.
Popular no-jacket golfers
Like DeChambeau, some of the most popular golfers in the outright market have never donned the Green Jacket. Avello said bettors are in love with Cameron Young.
“He’s one of the most-bet guys in this tournament so far,” Avello said. “He was 28-to-1 a couple of days ago. Now he’s down to 22-to-1. He continuously gets bet. He’s in great form, and the bettors are sensing it. That’s where a great portion of the money is at.”
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Ludvig Aberg (+1,400) has taken the third-most tickets, making him the third biggest liability for BetMGM behind DeChambeau and Scheffler.
DraftKings has seen significant money on Koepka (+3,700), Jordan Spieth (+4,200), and Bhatia, whose odds have shortened from +6,500 to +5,100 over the last few days.
A popular golfer bettors aren’t touching is Collin Morikawa (+3,100), who is dealing with a back injury that could greatly hurt his chances of completing a round, much less winning.
“Bettors are laying off,” Avello said. “He’s got one of the higher prices for him. He’s going north while some of the others are going south.”
Market mayhem
Golf has exploded onto the betting scene in recent years, fueled by a large selection of Masters props that go well beyond the outright winner.
“This is really the one tournament where the betting public shows up heaviest on markets like round, cut, and winning score, so it's always an exciting Over/Under tug-of-war on those,” Salleroli said. “We expect The Masters to be our largest handle golf tournament of the year.”
At BetMGM, Rose, who lost to McIlroy in a playoff at last year’s Masters, is the most-bet golfer to lead after the first round. The British golfer is getting 10.9% of the bets and 12.2% of the handle with odds of +2,500, making him the operator’s biggest liability in that market.
Scheffler (+110) has taken the most tickets to finish in the top five, with Aberg (+130) leading the top-10 finish market. With odds of +105, Reed is the most-bet golfer to finish in the top 20, while Max Homa is tops in tickets in the top 40 market at +120.
At theScore Bet, Bhatia leads in total bets to make the cut, followed by DeChambeau, Aberg, and Rose. DeChambeau has taken the most money in that market, with Dustin Johnson second, ahead of Tommy Fleetwood.
