Sam Panayotovich
FOX Sports Betting Analyst
For many American sports bettors, The Masters is the first real dip in the golf pool every calendar year.
Sure, bettors might have followed the sport from afar, but with football season and the NCAA Tournament over, it’s time to fire.
It’s also the first tournament where all the big names from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf play together, which does wonders for interest at the window.
As I’ve always said, the biggest sporting events serve as a magnet for betting handle because of all the options on the menu. A historic event like The Masters offers the most candy at the candy store, so there’s always a greater chance the customer leaves the store with something, even if it’s your buddy ripping an eight-leg “make the cut” parlay.
“It’s just the sheer volume of wagering options that we have up,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman told FOX Sports. “It’s almost like when we post our Super Bowl props. I get head-to-head matchups, group matchups and propositions all ready, then price everything out.
“We have a [Masters] packet that’s like a mini-Super Bowl packet for golf. There are more wagering options than we have for any golf tournament throughout the season, and you end up getting a lot of support.
“This is the one tournament where you see action on everything that you put up. It’s a great response from bettors, and we love doing it.”
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the consensus favorite at Augusta National, but most sharp bettors are scoffing at his price, which is around 9/2. Scheffler hasn’t won an event yet in 2025, although he did tie for second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open just two weeks ago.
As we’ve learned, Scheffler’s game is built for Augusta.
I avoided betting Scheffler’s outright price as long as I possibly could, then saw his impeccable Master’s dinner menu and completely broke.
Three appetizers, a Texas-style chili, a cowboy ribeye and four sides?!
Sheesh.
My good friend Jeff Sealey is a very solid golf handicapper, and he taught me many years ago about parlaying Scheffler outrights with other things. For example, Scheffler to win the Masters and the Texas Rangers to win the American League pennant pays out at 40/1.
Hey now.
If you’re not feeling Scheffler, you can attack top-five at plus-money and wheel that with other markets. Scheffler has gone 1-10-1 in his last three Augusta appearances. And while the payouts might not be as enticing, it’s much more realistic that he’s in contention for a top-five finish.
The other top favorite is Ireland’s own Rory McIlroy at +650. As most of you know, McIlory has won three of golf’s four majors, with a Masters title being the only one he hasn’t been able to secure.
McIlory is extremely popular at the betting window, and he’ll make plenty of cards across the USA.
“It feels like this is Rory’s best shot to do it,” Sherman admitted. “He’s got two large wins this season at Pebble and The Players. Even when he hasn’t won the other tournaments, he’s been right there knocking on the door or making strong charges on Sunday afternoons.
“It really feels like this is his best opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Sherman’s shop has written a decent amount of sharp McIlroy money in the SuperBook’s head-to-head matchup against Scheffler.
“We wrote sharp action on McIlroy against Scheffler in matchups,” Sherman reported. “That opened Scheffler -145, and it’s down to -135. [Bryson] DeChambeau against Joaquin Niemann has gone from -130 to -150. And Adam Scott is down to +110 from +130 against Sergio [Garcia].”
If you’re eyeing any of the LIV golfers this week, BetMGM has a market on any of them winning The Masters. The “Yes” is currently +350, so a $10 bet would net you $45 if Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Brooks Koepka, Tyrell Hatton, etc. finish atop the Sunday leaderboard.
One player that will certainly not be victorious is five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods. He’s sidelined with a brutal Achilles injury, a blow that’ll affect the bottom line at most sportsbooks around the country.
“Tiger’s cut prop “yes” or “no” was our biggest one,” Sherman said. “That prop dominated. It would write as much handle as a low-level NFL game. Without him in the tournament, it’ll probably be the winning score prop. You have a lot more history because it’s always at Augusta and the course never changes.
“I expect that to write the most money with Tiger out of the mix.”
But enough beating around the bush. Let’s get to business.
I am certainly not phased by Scheffler’s watered-down prices. If you don’t want to bet him to win his third green jacket, I get it, but thinking he’s not going to be in the mix on Sunday is crazy.
I’ll be betting him and Ludvig Aberg in parlays and placement markets.
Let’s go with three wagers for this week:
PICK: Scottie Scheffler (+110) top five
PICK: Ludvig Aberg (+175) top 10
PICK: Jordan Spieth (+105) over Russell Henley
P.S. I also placed a three-leg parlay on Scheffler top-five, the Texas Rangers to make the World Series and Kansas City Chiefs to reach the Super Bowl.
That’s a 64/1 bet worth some pizza money.
Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and the BetMGM Network. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. Follow him on Twitter @spshoot.
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