10 players who can still win at halfway point of Masters

Only 10 players remain with a chance to win the 2024 Masters.

Trends are king at Augusta National when it comes to Masters champions, and if history is our guide, a mammoth Friday at Augusta National has given us a clearer picture of those who remain a chance to don the green jacket.

Firstly, the opening round wrapped up. The last 18 champions, and 71 of the 87 winners, were all inside the top 11 after 18 holes of play.

This left us with the Lucky 13: Bryson DeChambeau (7-under 65), Scottie Scheffler (66), Nicolai Højgaard (67), Max Homa (67), Danny Willett (68), Cam Davis (69), Ryan Fox (69), Matthieu Pavon (70), Cameron Young (70), Corey Conners (70), Joaquin Niemann (70), Byeong Hun An (70) or Will Zalatoris (70) as those left in the mix.

When the grueling second round ended, with six-hour rounds due to severe wind gusts throughout the day, just 10 of those players found themselves inside the top 10 of the leaderboard at the halfway point.

An incredible 36 of the last 37 Masters winners were inside the top 10 at the 36-hole mark, and the outlier was T12. And 30 of the 37 were inside the top five at this point in play.

The current leaderboard sees three of the above – Conners (T24), Niemann (T30) and Zalatoris (T35) – fall out of those still in the mix.

World No. 1 Scheffler, former U.S. Open champion DeChambeau and six-time PGA TOUR winner Homa are tied at the top on 6-under.

Højgaard is fourth alone at 4-under with Australian Cam Davis and trend interloper Collin Morikawa at 3-under in a tie for fifth.

Major debutant Ludvig Åberg is seventh at 2-under, another outside the trend from round one, but inside the 36-hole trend. Pavon, Young, Willett, Fox and An were all part of a tie for eighth at 1-under, joined by England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Australian Cam Smith from outside the round one group.

Will someone be able to make a big move on Saturday? Winds are due to be calmer in the morning before gusting up towards 20mph after midday. The final group tees off at 2:45 p.m. local time, meaning most lead groups will be in the windy wave.

Here are the latest odds via BetMGM Sportsbook.

• +140: Scottie Scheffler (6-under, T1)
• +450: Bryson DeChambeau (6-under, T1)
• +550: Max Homa (6-under, T1)
• +1400: Collin Morikawa (3-under, T5)
• +1800: Ludvig Åberg (2-under, 7th)
• +2500: Nicolai Højgaard (4-under, fourth)
• +3000: Xander Schauffele (even-par, T15)
• +3000: Cameron Smith (1-under, T8)
• +4000: Tommy Fleetwood (1-under, T8)

DRAWS

Scottie Scheffler (+140)

The 2022 Masters champion is the prohibitive favorite having already been the shortest pre-tournament favorite since Tiger Woods in 2013. Scheffler managed his way through the tough winds, something the Texan is accustomed to. He is coming off wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS while also being one putt short of a playoff at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Scheffler leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and is second around the greens. He has room to improve from 12th in approach play, his usual strength.

Max Homa (+550)

The winner is likely coming from the top three on the leaderboard and if given a coin toss to see who joins Scheffler I’m going to take Homa – mainly because you get a bit more juice. His previous Masters appearances have been dismal, and his first ever major top-10 came at the Open Championship last year, but perhaps the six-time PGA TOUR winner is finally figuring out the big events. He’s third in approach, fourth tee-to-green and fifth in putting.

Nicolai Højgaard (+2500)

The European Ryder Cupper was one of the big surprises of the opening 36 holes, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and ranking second Tee-to-Green. I have doubts he can maintain the rage so to speak but if you are looking for a longer odds shot, he is close enough if good enough. Already a multiple-time DP World Tour winner, he was a runner up at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. At 23 is perhaps young enough to relish the pressure rather than fold to it.

FADE

Collin Morikawa (+1400)

My Golfbet colleague Will Gray is buying Morikawa at this point, but I’m selling. I know he’s a multiple-time major winner and has returned to some of his better ball-striking so far, but I’m not convinced he can make the charge needed to catch the leaders. At 27th Off-the-Tee and 63rd around the greens I can’t trust Morikawa to keep the large numbers off the scorecard, and he has no room for that sort of error. And last of all… he is not one of the magic 10!

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