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Masters betting specials: Schauffele, McIlroy and DeChambeau in line for strong Augusta performances?
Follow our golf betting tips as the Masters gets underway on Thursday
The Masters specials tips
The Masters returns this week as the first major of the 2025 season gets started on Thursday at Augusta National in Georgia, USA.
Scottie Scheffler aims to defend the title he won in 2024 having finish 11-under par across the four rounds and four shots ahead of Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
Scheffler made light work out of a particularly tricky week for the rest of the field with the United States’ Max Homa and Collin Morikawa tied for third place, alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood, at four-under par.
Rory McIlroy, who comes into the first major of the season having made a strong start to the year, finished in a tie for 22nd in 2024 and will hope to perform better this time around as he aims to complete a golfing grand slam.
Masters Predictions: Where To Look For Value?
Masters betting sites have a plethora of offers available for the most prestigious golf major of the year and it is no surprise to see Scheffler topping most markets.
The 28-year-old is in fine touch and finished second at the Houston Open a week ago having posted seven-under in the final round to come up one shot short of eventual winner Min Woo-Lee at -19 for the week.
A tie for 20th at the Players followed an 11th placed finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational but the two-time Masters champion has fond memories of Augusta National.
Scheffler won the tournament for the first time in 2022 having scored well across the opening two rounds. He held off a surging McIlroy on the Sunday to finish -10 and claim the green jacket for the first time before repeating his success last year.
But only Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus have won the Masters in consecutive years and despite golf betting sites having Scheffler as the outright favourite at 9/2 it is a difficult task to accommplish.
Scheffler himself was 10th when defending the green jacket in 2023, while Jon Rahm could only finish 45th last year. Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Danny Willett all missed the cut a year on from their Masters triumphs.
As such we’re looking in a different direction and who has potential to surpise. Enter Xander Schauffele.
The 31-year-old American has started the season poorly with a T30 finish in the Sentry in January before a T40 at the Arnold Palmer and a horrendous 72nd in the Players. Yet a five-under final round at the Valspar Championship in his most recent outing put Schauffele in a tie for 12th which hints at a possible uptick in form.
In his favour is a strong record at Augusta. He missed the cut for the first, and only, time here in 2022 but has only finished outside the top-10 once in his other five attempts. His best effort was a tie for second in 2019 but he finished third in 2021 and eighth last year making him a consistent top-10 finisher in the field.
The Masters prediction 1: Xander Schauffele for top-10 finish - 9/4 Unibet
Masters Betting Tips: McIlroy to lead way for Europe
Having focused on the American contingent let’s cast our eyes over the potential European contenders. Since the turn of the century there has only been three winners of the Masters from Europe.
England’s Danny Willet surprised everyone with his victory in 2016 while Spain’s Sergio Garcia took the title, and his only victory in a major, the following year. Fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm was the last golfer from Europe to win the green jacket having taken it from Scheffler in 2023 before returning it to the American last year.
All three are included in the 96-player field. Garcia and Rahm now feature in the LIV Golf league with Rahm winning the individual title in 2024. Though less strenuous than a card on the PGA or European tours, LIV players have proven capable of competing at major tournaments.
Betting sites, meanwhile, have Willet as a 150/1 outsider for this year meaning Europe’s hope of another winner may come from elsewhere.
Ludvig Aberg’s second place finish in 2024 means he is one to consider again while Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood have all been given odds of 12/1 to finish as the top European.
However, we’re giving that spot to Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. Other than a reported elbow niggle which may hinder him, McIlroy is the most in form European player on the PGA tour with top-20 finishes in each of his six tournaments this year including wins at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Players Championship.
He is determined to complete the grand slam set by winning the Masters and even if he fails to achieve that, it is likely you’ll see his name near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.
The Masters prediction 2: Rory McIlroy to be top European 5/2 BetVictor
Masters Betting: DeChambeau top trump from LIV Golf
Having mentioned a couple of the LIV golf players it may be handy to note that there is a market just for those who joined the breakaway tour. With only 12 players in the field who participate in LIV it makes selecting the best of the bunch a less stressful choice.
Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson, Charl Swartzel and Phil Mickelson have all won the Masters previously meaning they should be well versed with the trials and tribulations of Augusta National.
That leaves Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith and Tyrell Hatton all vying to win the green jacket for the first time. Of the 12 total, Rahm is the favourite to perform best with golf betting sites placing him at 16/5 while you can get a huge 18/1 for Mickelson to secure a fourth Masters title at the age of 54.
We’re punting for DeChambeau though. He’s settled into a nice rhythm over the start of the year and finished fifth in the LIV Golf Miami Individual tournament last week.
The Masters prediction 3: Bryson DeChambeau as Top LIV Golfer - 4/1 Betfred
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