The Masters is almost here, with all signs pointing to an epic Sunday showdown between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
While world No. 1 Scheffler hasn’t won a tournament this year, he remains favoured to win a third green jacket. World No. 2 McIlroy, meanwhile, enters the week in top form as he seeks his first Masters title and the career Grand Slam. Scheffler and McIlroy are the only two players with odds shorter than 10-to-1, leaving plenty of other enticing betting options on the board.
Let’s break down all that and more in our 2025 Masters betting guide.
Masters betting guide
Full Masters Betting Markets: CLICK HERE
2025 Masters schedule and course preview
The Masters will be held April 10-13. The field will include 96 golfers.
Before we dig into the field, you probably want to know a little about the course. Check out these key stats about Augusta National, which measures 7,555 yards and scores as a par 72.
All data is provided by Data Golf’s Course Table, which measures every Shotlink-equipped course played (majors and PGA Tour events) since the 2015 season. There are 100 total courses in this table, for reference:
- A stern test: Augusta’s +2.12 average score to par is the ninth highest on the course table.
- Room off the tee: Its fairways are 50.7 yards across on average, the fourth-widest.
- A second-shot course: Finding not only the fairway, but the right side of the fairway, is critical for success at Augusta. Only 57.9% of greens are hit in regulation (13th-lowest rate), and players lose an average of 0.057 strokes on every approach shot (second-most).
- Short game is key: Augusta ranks as the third-most difficult course for strokes gained putting and around-the-greens.
- Try to survive the Par 4s: The 10 par 4s play at an average of 0.24 shots over par (third-hardest). Playing these at a neutral and capitalizing on the par 5s is key to success.
More 2025 Masters coverage
- Top 5 picks to win
- Best long shot picks
- Odds to win the Masters
- Full Masters betting markets
- Who’s hot and cold ahead of Masters
- Corey Conners odds and best bet
- First-round best bets
A heavyweight fight
I wouldn’t go as far as to call this year’s event a two-horse race, but it’s pretty close.
Scheffler and McIlroy hold the same ranking in DataGolf’s strokes gained tool over the past 12 months. In that time, they have combined for 12 wins (13 if you count Scheffler’s Olympic gold medal), and are contending week in and week out on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy has been the better of the two lately, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and the Players Championship in March, while posting outrageous season-long strokes gained: off-the-tee numbers.
It’s worth noting that Collin Morikawa ranks first in strokes gained over the last three months (+2.93), though he has no wins to show for it.
Despite the edge in recent form, it’s hard to give McIlroy the edge over Scheffler.
The Northern Irishman hasn’t won a major since 2014 and has fallen excruciatingly short in recent years, posting four top-three finishes in the last three seasons alone. McIlroy has six top-10 finishes at Augusta in his past 10 starts — but one has to wonder if the scar tissue will be too much to overcome.
Scheffler, meanwhile, has won the Masters twice in five career starts while never finishing outside of the top 20. His +3.25 average strokes gained at Augusta National is the best of anyone with more than one start since 1981. McIlroy’s +1.94 average strokes gained at Augusta ranks 17th in that time.
And don’t look now, but Scheffler is coming off his best start of the season, a T2 at the Houston Open, where he straightened out the flat stick and finished sixth in strokes gained: putting (+1.77).
Full Masters Betting Markets: CLICK HERE
Masters betting guide: The best of the rest
I’m fairly confident that Scheffler and McIlroy will be in the mix come Sunday. But that doesn’t mean they’ll win, and it doesn’t mean bettors have to flock toward their outright markets.
Six players hold odds between +1,400 and +2,500 as of April 5, and each one of them can win.
Ludvig Aberg, who finished runner-up to Scheffler last year in his Masters debut, broke through with a win at the Genesis Invitational this season.
The others — Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, and Justin Thomas — are all major champions.
Let’s look at how this group has performed at the Masters and in the run-up to this year’s event:
| SG: Total (last three months) | SG: Masters | Majors won | Best masters finish | |
| Morikawa (+1,400) | +2.93 | +2.30 | 2 | T3 (2025) |
| Aberg (+1,400) | +1.25 | +4.09 | 0 | T2 (2025) |
| Rahm (+1,600) | +1.56 | +2.50 | 2 | Win (2024) |
| DeChambeau (+1,800) | +1.65 | +0.70 | 2 | T7 (2025) |
| Schauffele (+1,800) | +0.21 | +1.90 | 2 | T2 (2019) |
| Thomas (+2,200) | +2.00 | +1.63 | 2 | Fourth (2021) |
Of these studs, Morikawa seems to be the safest bet. He’s been in the best form lately, has performed well at the Masters, and is coming off a career-best finish in 2024.
Thomas missed the cut at the past two Masters, but is playing his best golf in a long time.
Then you have Rahm, DeChambeau, and Schauffele, all of whom are slightly unpredictable. Rahm and DeChambeau have an elite ceiling, but it’s hard to say how well they’re truly performing, given they play on the LIV tour.
Schauffele would be one of my picks had he not been injured at the beginning of the season. He won two majors last year but is struggling to find form, as indicated by his just-above-average +0.21 strokes gained.
Full Masters Betting Markets: CLICK HERE
What about Canada’s chances?
Could there be a better time for a Canadian to win the Masters?
Corey Conners is on a roll, logging three consecutive top-10 finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (third), Players Championship (T6) and Valspar Championship (T8).
The Listowel, ON native has always been a great iron player and has now logged positive strokes gained: putting in four consecutive starts… a very encouraging sign. Connors has three top-10 finishes at the Masters, and his pinpoint accuracy off-the-tee plays well here.
Nick Taylor and Taylor Pendrith are long shots but have flashed in 2025, with the former winning the Sony Open in Hawaii and the latter logging two top-10 finishes at signature events.
Canada’s lone Masters champion, Mike Weir, is also in the field, having just narrowly missed the cut last year at the age of 53.
Full Masters Betting Markets: CLICK HERE
Masters betting guide: Winner trends
Let’s take a look at a few betting trends for the Masters:
- No Masters debutant has won since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
- The past 10 winners have averaged at least +0.60 SG: OTT in the calendar year of their victory, per CBS Sports.
- Each of the past 12 winners has ranked within the top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings before winning (take this with a grain of salt for the likes of LIV players such as Rahm and DeChambeau currently outside the Top 25).
- 10 of the last 11 winners at Augusta had at least a top-15 finish at a major the year prior, and nine of them had at least a runner-up.
- The average winning score has been 10.75 shots under par since Dustin Johnson broke the course record in 2020. Each of the last four winners has shot between 10 and 12-under par.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.