Odds Outlook: Scottie Scheffler seizes top spot for first major of season

Fore, please! Now driving, the first major championship of the season, the Masters. And on the odds board, everyone is looking up at the world No. 1.

Scottie Scheffler (+400) leads the field of 89 down Magnolia Lane to the 88th edition of the Masters Tournament. Scheffler has reinforced his position as the man to beat with a fantastic Florida Swing that bled into a week in Texas. Winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the fourth Signature Event of the season, he then made history at THE PLAYERS Championship the following week. Becoming the first player to successfully defend the title, he cemented his position at the top of the Masters' board at BetMGM Sportsbook. Sharing second at the Texas Children's Houston Open, the 2022 green jacket recipient has been beaten by exactly one player (Stephan Jaeger) in his last three outings.

Scheffler’s odds are the shortest for a Masters favorite since Tiger Woods in 2013, when he finished T4, and they’re the shortest for any major since Jordan Spieth narrowly missed winning his third straight major at the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Winning the Masters would complete the career Grand Slam for Rory McIlroy (+1000). Ten years in the making, the prodigy has grown into a world star but has not won a major championship since the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. The annual trip to Augusta is always met with the same expectation: to win. This season, he has adjusted his tournament preparation, and last week he cashed his first top-10 payday on TOUR in 2024. Gaining almost two shots on approach at TPC San Antonio while finishing third last week, maybe he has found the formula.

After moving the tee box on hole No. 2 ("Pink Dogwood"), the 2024 edition will tip at 7,555 yards (par 72), 10 more yards than Jon Rahm (+1200) conquered last year. The reigning champion won on his sixth visit to become the third consecutive winner under the age of 30. Trailing by two shots entering the final round, Rahm shot 69 on Sunday and comfortably won his second major championship by four shots.

From 2015 through 2018, first-time major champions donned the green jacket. Xander Schauffele (+1600) would like to start a new streak. Making his 27th start in a major, the Californian has made the cut 23 times. The runner-up in 2019 shared third here in 2021 and cashed T10 last year. Posting six top-10 paydays from eight starts in 2024, form is not the issue. Without a victory since the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open, the 54-hole leader at THE PLAYERS Championship finished T2 and closed with 65 at Innisbrook to share fifth place in his last start at the Valspar Championship.

Brooks Koepka (+2000) led Rahm by two with 18 holes to play last year before settling for T2. The five-time major champion would go on to win his third PGA Championship the following month at Oak Hill. Playing in his 39th major championship, he’s hit the top five 14 times, more than a third of his attempts.

Hideki Matsuyama (+2000) became the first Asian winner in 2021 and the first former low amateur to don the green jacket. The Japanese star won on his 10th attempt, well short of the record 19, set by Sergio Garcia (+9000) in 2017, and has played the weekend in 11 of 12 starts. The winner at The Riviera Country Club in mid-February, he added T12, T6, and T7 last week in San Antonio to the ledger as he looks for his second green jacket. Not many are better around the greens.

Experience around Augusta National goes a long way. When Jordan Spieth (+2000) arrived in 2014 on his first visit, he just missed joining Fuzzy Zoeller (1979) as the only winner on debut. Finishing tied for second, he returned for the 2015 edition and tied the tournament scoring record of 18-under-par 270 set by Tiger Woods in 1997. Looking to add his sixth podium in 11 starts, the Texan has flashed early season form with top-10 paydays at The Sentry, WM Phoenix Open, and last week in San Antonio (Valero), but has not won since the 2022 RBC Heritage almost two years ago.

Joaquin Niemann (+2500) will attempt to join Matsuyama as a former amateur champion to be celebrated in Butler Cabin. The Chilean won the 2018 Latin American Amateur Champion to qualify but missed the cut. Returning as a professional for the 2021 tournament, he began a run of three straight made cuts with T16 last year, the best of the trio and the best payday of his career in the major championships.

There is a first time for everything. Ludvig Åberg (+2500) made his first Ryder Cup team before he qualified for a major championship or won a PGA TOUR event. Plenty has changed for the Swedish star since September. After winning The RSM Classic in November, he has continued to shine with T30 or better paydays in seven of eight starts in 2024, including T2 at AT&T Pebble Beach and solo eighth at THE PLAYERS Championship. Preparing for the big stage, the former Texas Tech Red Raider signed for T14 in San Antonio last week after leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.

And whenever we talk Masters, attention focuses on Tiger Woods (+12500). The five-time champ is five years removed from his memorable comeback victory at Augusta National, and he’s expected to make just his second start of the year after withdrawing at Riviera because of illness. Woods has never missed the Masters cut as a pro, and would break the all-time record for consecutive cuts made if he sees the weekend this week.

Here's a look at other notable odds in this week’s field, including Akshay Bhatia (+10000) who snagged the final invite with his playoff win over Denny McCarthy in Texas:

• +2800: Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, Wyndham Clark
• +3000: Patrick Cantlay
• +3300: Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Cam Smith, Bryson DeChambeau
• +4000: Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Tony Finau
• +5000: Collin Morikawa, Jason Day, Max Homa, Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood
• +6000: Min Woo Lee
• +6600: Brian Harman, Corey Conners, Patrick Reed, Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton
• +8000: Sungjae Im
• +9000: Sergio Garcia, Si Woo Kim
• +10000: Adam Scott, Denny McCarthy, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Akshay Bhatia
• +12500: Stephan Jaeger
• +15000: Byeong Hun An, Chris Kirk, Harris English, Nick Taylor, Nicolai Hojgaard, Phil Mickelson, Sepp Straka
• +17500: Adam Hadwin, Adrian Meronk, Keegan Bradley, Taylor Moore
• +20000: Bubba Watson, Cam Davis, Eric Cole, Erik van Rooyen, J.T. Poston, Jake Knapp, Kurt Kitayama, Matthieu Pavon, Ryan Fox, Thorbjorn Olesen
• +25000: Austin Eckroat, Emiliano Grillo, Gary Woodland, Lucas Glover, Luke List, Nick Dunlap
• +30000: Adam Schenk, Charl Schwartzel
• +35000: Danny Willett, Lee Hodges, Ryo Hisatsune
• +40000: Peter Malnati
• +50000: Camilo Villegas, Christo Lamprecht (a), Grayson Murray
• +75000: Zach Johnson (2007 winner)
• +100000: Jasper Stubbs (a), Neal Shipley (a), Santiago de la Fuente (a), Stewart Hagestad (a), Vijay Singh
• +150000: Fred Couples, Mike Weir
• +300000: Jose Maria Olazabal

How the Masters works:

• A field of 89 players will be cut to the top 50 and ties after 36 holes.
• The purse and first prize check will be announced later in the week. Last year, Jon Rahm won $3.24 million from a purse of $18 million.
• The winner receives 750 FedExCup points plus a five-year exemption into all the major championships and THE PLAYERS Championship, plus a five-year exemption on TOUR.

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.