US Masters Golf Betting Tips Guide

US Masters Betting Preview

When is the 2026 Masters Tournament ?

The 2026 Masters tournament tees off on Thursday 9th April and concludes on Sunday 12th April.

Where is the 2026 Masters Tournament ?

The 2026 Masters will take place at it's annual venue the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, U.S.A.

Who are the favourites to win the 2026 Masters Tournament ?

World number one Scottie Scheffler is already in winning form in 2026 and is the current bookies favourite to win this year's Masters. Rory McIlroy is the defending Masters champion, winning his first 'Green Jacket' which completed the grand slam set of winning all four major golf tournaments.

US Masters 12 Apr @ 22:45 - Win Tournament
Scottie Scheffler	4.00
Rory McIlroy	10.00
Jon Rahm	15.00
Xander Schauffele	17.00
Bryson DeChambeau	17.00
Ludvig Aberg	17.00
Tommy Fleetwood	21.00
Collin Morikawa	23.00
Justin Rose	26.00
Patrick Reed	31.00

Don't forget to check out OLBG best performing golf tipsters Masters golf betting tips over on the Best Golf Tipsters page.

In the following sections of the Masters Betting Guide, we will take a look at past Masters winners trends and stats to see if we can narrow the field for tournament winner predictions, First Round Leader picks and other popular Masters betting markets.

Augusta National Golf Club - Home of the Masters

Golf trends bettors can at least rely on the fact the Masters is the only golf major which is held at the same course year on year so apart from how the greens, fairways and rough areas are prepared each year we can at least correlate the previous winners stats and draw comparisons for potential Masters betting picks.

Augusta National is a Par 72 course and 7555 yards in length:

Front 9, 3775 yards, Par 36:

• Hole 1 (Tea Olive) - 445 yards, Par 4
• Hole 2 (Pink Dogwood) - 585 yards, Par 5
• Hole 3 (Flowering Peach) - 350 yards, Par 4
• Hole 4 (Flowering Crab Apple) - 240 yards, Par 3
• Hole 5 (Magnolia) - 495 yards, Par 4
• Hole 6 (Juniper) - 180 yards, Par 3
• Hole 7 (Pampas) - 450 yards, Par 4
• Hole 8 (Yellow Jasmine) - 570 yards, Par 5
• Hole 9 (Carolina Cherry) - 460 yards, Par 4

Back 9, 3780 yards, Par 36:

• Hole 10 (Camellia) - 495 yards, Par 4
• Hole 11 (White Dogwood) - 520 yards, Par 4
• Hole 12 (Golden Bell) - 155 yards, Par 3
• Hole 13 (Azalea) - 545 yards, Par 5
• Hole 14 (Chinese Fir) - 440 yards, Par 4
• Hole 15 (Firethorn) - 550 yards, Par 5
• Hole 16 (Redbud) - 170 yards, Par 3
• Hole 17 (Nandina) - 440 yards, Par 4
• Hole 18 (Holly) - 465 yards, Par 4

The notorious stretch of holes (11th, 12th & 13th) known as "Amen Corner" renown for being the most difficult on the course has had a significant impact on Masters tournaments down the years.

Jordan Spieth's Masters defence in 2016 was on course until coming a cropper when approaching Amen Corner on the final day, first bogeying the 11th and then a quadruple bogey at the 12th sealed his fate:

For a detailed layout of the course setup at Augusta, head over to the official Masters website.

Masters History

Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus holds the Masters record for most wins which currently stands at six and spanning 23 years, winning his first in 1963 and the last in 1986. Jack's final Masters win in 1986 set a record for the oldest Masters winner at the age of 46 years and 2 months.

Tiger Woods' victory in 2019 was his 5th Masters win and first for fourteen years, his first four were obtained within an eight year period (1997 to 2005). Tiger's maiden Masters win in 1997 set the record for the youngest Masters winner at the age of 21 years and 3 months.

There have been 18 multiple Masters winners, another golfing legend Arnold Palmer with four victories sits in 3rd behind Nicklaus and Woods. Five golfers have won thrice, these include England's Nick Faldo (1989, 1990 & 1996) and more recently Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006 & 2010).

Can The Defending Masters Champion Win Again ?

Only three golfers have won back to back Masters tournaments:

• Jack Nicklaus (1965 & 1966)
• Nick Faldo (1989 & 1990)
• Tiger Woods (2001 & 2002)

Although Tiger Woods has been the only back to back winner this century in 2001 & 2002, there have also been three other multiple Masters winners along with Tiger since 2000:

• 4 - Tiger Woods (2001, 2002, 2005 & 2019)
• 3 - Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006 & 2010)
• 2 - Bubba Watson (2012 & 2014)
• 2 - Scottie Scheffler (2022 & 2024)

Record Winning Score

• Dustin Johnson's 20 under par (268) in 2020 eclipsed the previous Masters best of 270 set by Tiger Woods (1997) and more recently Jordan Spieth in 2015.

Biggest Winning Margin

• When Tiger set the best Masters winning score of 270 strokes (-18) in 1997 he also recorded the widest winning margin of 12 strokes with Tom Kite back in 2nd on 282 (-6).

Sergio Garcia currently holds the record for most attempts before winning the Masters, he was making his 19th Masters appearance when winning in 2017.

Winners on Masters Debut

• There have been three debutante Masters winners, Horton Smith was the inaugural winner in 1934, Gene Sarazen won the 2nd Masters tournament at his first attempt in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller was the latest in 1979.

Hole In One

• There have been 34 Hole In One's recorded in the history of the Masters tournaments.
• The first 'hole in one' was recorded in the very first Masters tournament in 1934 by amateur Ross Somerville at the Par 3, 16th.
• The most recent 'hole in one' was on the Par 3, 16th by Stewart Cink in the 2022 Masters tournament.

Most Hole In One's at a Masters Tournament

• The record for most Hole In One's at a Masters is 3 in 2004 & 2016.

Here is a breakdown of the Hole In One's by hole (present yardage):

• 24 - 16th, Par 3 (170 yards)
• 6 - 6th, Par 3 (180 yards)
• 3 - 12th, Par 3 (155 yards)
• 1 - 4th, Par 3 (240 yards)

For more Masters stats and facts take a look at the historical stats area on the official Masters website.

Last Ten Masters Winners

Who won the 2025 Masters Tournament ?

Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters, his first 'Green Jacket' success enabled Rory to complete the career grand slam of winning all four major tournaments in golf.

Here is a table showing the last ten Masters winners, their nationality, official world golf ranking (OWGR) heading into the tournament and winning score:

*Won in a play-off (defeating Justin Rose)

• Since 2015, the following six winners Scottie Scheffler (2022), Hideki Matsuyama (2021), Patrick Reed (2018), Sergio Garcia (2017), Danny Willett (2016) and Jordan Spieth (2015) were not only winning their first Masters 'Green Jacket' but were also recording their maiden major win.

 Will the knowledgeable OLBG Golf Tipsters be predicting a first time 'Green Jacket' and major winner at Augusta with their Masters tips ?

Masters Ten Year Trends & Winning Profiles

So what factors will the OLBG golf tipsters and punters be looking for when selecting their Masters betting picks ?

Previous trends that appear to be pointing towards success can help narrow a short list of fancies, but it's also worth mentioning just because something has happened previously it doesn't mean it is guaranteed to happen again.

However, using a strategy that appears to be trending in the right direction can at least help provide a nucleus of players to focus your Masters betting picks. Here's a look at the most recent winners and their rankings:

Masters Ten Year Trends

• 10/10 were ranked inside the top 25 in the world going into the tournament

Focusing on the world's top 25 in the past ten years has been a good starting point for Masters betting tips. Dustin Johnson (2020) and Scottie Scheffler (2022 & 2024) were ranked number 1 in the world and Hideki Matsuyama was the lowest at number 25 in 2021, the average world ranking of the last 10 winners is 9.2 (9/10).

• 8/10 were ranked inside the World's top 20

Patrick Reed (2018) ranked at 24 and Hideki Matsuyama (2021) ranked 25 are the only two winners outside of the world's top 20 in the last ten years, five were in the top ten which were all since 2020. There have been only two winners this century that were ranked outside the world's top 50 heading into the Masters, these were Zach Johnson ranked 56 when winning in 2007 and Angel Cabrera was ranked 69 when he won in 2009.

* The 2019 Masters saw 7 of the top 8 finishers (including ties) ranked in the top 15 in the world, the other Webb Simpson (T5) was ranked 24th.

* 2020 saw three of the world's top 5 (Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas & Rory McIlroy) fill the top five places including ties, the other three players were ranked 25, 44 & 100.

* Four of the top five finishers in 2022 were ranked inside the world's top ten (1, 9, 6 & 3), the top eight were all ranked inside the world's top 32, the 9th Charl Schwartzel (169) was a previous Masters winner in 2011.

Winners Profile

We have established 24 of the 26 Masters winners since 2000 were officially ranked inside the world's top 25 heading into the tournament but what else can we glean from a winning player's profile ?

The following factors are also worth considering in helping build a clearer picture of a likely candidate for Masters glory.

• Current form
• Previous Masters Record
• Key Attributes

This table shows the last ten Masters winners form heading into Augusta, their previous best Masters finish and the number of Masters appearances it took to register their first win:

Current Form

So seven of the last ten Masters winners had a recent tournament win heading to Augusta and eight out of ten had a top 2 finish in their seven most recent tournaments played thus emphasising the importance of good recent form. Scottie Scheffler had won three of his last five events prior to winning in 2022 and three of his last four events in 2024. Jon Rahm won five of his previous eleven events before winning the 2023 Masters.

Previous Masters Form

Two had won and five finished in the top 5 previously, all ten had finished inside the top 40, we have already highlighted the average number of Masters appearances before winning is six.

Key Attributes

• Are we looking for length or Accuracy off the tee ?
• Does the putter need to be red hot ?

Here's a breakdown of the last three winners tournament stats rankings:

Key Stats

Looking back at the last ten Masters, for the early part of that period the standout category for winners was 'Greens In Regulation' (GIR). When we now look at the last three winners the best performing category is:

• Birdies - the winner finished T3, 2nd & T4

2026 Birdie Or Better % (PGA Tour Stats)

This table shows the highest seven golfers for Birdie Or Better % stats on the PGA Tour this season and are likely to be playing at the Masters (correct at 4th March 2026):

Head over to the official PGA Tour and DP World Tour websites for more player stats heading into this 2026 Masters tournament.

Masters Winning Nationality

The Top American, Top European, Top GB & Ireland and Top Rest of The World (ROW) markets provide punters and OLBG golf tipsters with a condensed group of players by nationality or continent to pick from offering a greater probability of finding successful Masters tips.

These markets appeal to golf bettors as in some cases for example the top GB & IRE odds, we are talking about only a handful of players and as long as your top GB & IRE pick finishes in front of their GB and Irish rivals it does not matter if they are not in contention to win the tournament outright.

Players from the USA have won 64 of the 89 (72%) Masters tournaments. Here is a breakdown of the winners by continent:

1. U.S.A = 64 (72%)
2. Europe = 15 (17%)
3. Rest of The World = 10 (11%)

Top American

The Top American is still a very competitive market with players odds shorter than in the Masters Outright betting and usually four places available for each way bets. The historical US dominance may encourage punters to take their chance with the greater odds in the outright winner market and hope the home dominance continues.

Here is a table showing the top 4 American players (plus ties) in the last ten Masters tournaments:

Top European

• Europe have provided the Masters winner in 15 of the 89 (16%) editions to date, the latest being McIlroy's grand slam in 2025.
• England (4) and Spain (6) have supplied 10 of the 15 European winners, the other nations being Germany (including one as West Germany), Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

Here is a table showing the top 4 European players (including ties) in the last ten Masters tournaments:

Top GB & IRE

• England have provided 4 of the 7 GB & Ireland Masters winners, Nick Faldo was responsible for three of those wins and Danny Willett became the second English player to win in 2016.
• Scotland (Sandy Lyle) and Wales (Ian Woosnam) have one win apiece in 1988 and 1991 respectively.
• Rory McIlroy's 2025 victory was the maiden success for Northern Ireland.

Here is a table showing the top 3 GB & Ireland players (including ties) in the last ten Masters tournaments:

Top Rest of The World

• 10 of the 89 Masters winners have originated from a continent other than North America (excluding Canada) and Europe, three of South Africa's five wins were by the legendary Gary Player between 1961 and 1978.
• Australia, Argentina, Canada, Fiji and Japan complete the set of ROW winning nations.

Here is a table showing the top 3 ROW players (including ties) in the last ten Masters tournaments:

Masters First Round Leader Odds & Betting Stats

Not only will the OLBG golf tipsters be making a case for their Masters betting picks to win the tournament, they will also be predicting the players they feel are likely to get off to a flyer on Thursday with their First Round Leader tips.

There have been six Masters winners who have gone wire to wire, leading at the end of the first round and holding top spot at close of play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Dustin Johnson shared the lead at the end of Days 1 and 2 before taking the outright 3rd round lead in 2020. Jon Rahm was in a three way lead after the first round prior to winning in 2023.

• 1941 - Craig Wood
• 1960 - Arnold Palmer
• 1972 - Jack Nicklaus
• 1976 - Raymond Floyd
• 2015 - Jordan Spieth
• 2020 - Dustin Johnson

First Round Leader Stats

• Jack Nicklaus holds the record for most First Round Leads including ties which stands at four, Jack led after the first 18 holes in 1966, 1972, 1982 and shared in 1993.

Lowest First Round Score

• Greg Norman holds the Masters record for the lowest first round score, shooting a 63 (-9) in 1996.

Last Ten Masters' First Round Leader

Here is a table showing the last ten Masters first round leader and their score:

• Former world number one Jordan Spieth has led the Masters field after day 1 on three occasions since 2015. 

Check out the 2026 Masters First Round Tee Times and pairings on the official Masters website, these are usually available on the Tuesday of Masters week.

Round 1 Scoring Average (PGA Tour Stats)

This table shows the highest seven golfers for Round 1 Scoring Average on the PGA Tour stats this season and are likely to be playing at the Masters (correct at 4th March 2026).

The Round 1 Scoring tour average this season is 69.95.

Masters In Play Betting Pointers

As already mentioned, the Masters is the only major golf tournament which is held at the same venue every year so winning trends are a really useful tool for compiling Masters betting picks pre-tournament and round by round scoring stats of previous winners are an important reference guide for in play betting strategies.

Betting in play on Golf events is extremely popular, you only need to take a look at the total monetary amount matched on the Betfair Exchange at the end of a golf tournament for proof. Amounts usually run into the millions and it's not surprising betting in play on the golf is so popular as so much can happen on one hole, Jordan Spieth's experience at Amen Corner here in 2016 in the final round is testimony.

If you are new to in play betting and would like to find out more before placing a bet then take a look at our Best Bookie Guide for In Play Betting.

The following table shows the biggest deficit and position of the Masters winner at the end of rounds 1 to 3 in the last ten years, this can be really useful in assessing whether your pre-tournament picks are close enough to still mount a challenge if not leading, and any in play betting opportunities perhaps under the radar who are also worth covering and hedging in your Masters betting portfolio.

How often does the overnight 3rd round leader go on to win the Masters ?

For a more detailed look at the facts and figures head over to our article on the How the 3rd round leader finishes in the major golf tournaments. Do they handle the pressure ?

If your 2026 Masters picks are still in with a shout approaching the back nine on Sunday or even if you are just looking to place In Play Masters bets to watch for the closing stretch then it's worth noting:

• The 2019 Masters saw 32 of the 40 'Eagles' over the four days recorded on the 13th (17 eagles) and 15th holes (15 eagles), both Par 5's.
• In 2020 the 'Eagles' count on the back nine over the four days was 22 from a total of 35, 13th (8 eagles) and the 15th (14 eagles).
• The 30 'Eagles' were evenly shared in 2021 with 15 on the front and 15 on the back nine.
• The 2021 Masters saw 70 of the 128 double bogeys occur on the back nine, the 11th (13), 12th (11) and 15th holes (11) accounted for 35 of the 70.
• There were 25 'Eagles' in 2023 with 8 apiece on holes 2 & 13 seeing the most.

Official World Golf Rankings - Top 25

The last ten Masters winners were all ranked in the world's top 25 heading to Augusta so if the trend continues, the Masters winner (we hope!) will be amongst these players listed below. In addition to their previous Masters record, their best finish in their last seven tournaments is shown along with their last tournament win (correct at 4th March 2026):

1. Scottie Scheffler (Age 29)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won The American Express (Jan 26)
• Last win: Above

2. Rory McIlroy (Age 36) 

• Last 7 Events (best): 2nd DP World Tour Champ (Nov 25)
• Last win: Irish Open (Sep 25)

3. Tommy Fleetwood (Age 35)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won DP World India Champ (Oct 25)
• Last Win: Above

4. Justin Rose (Age 45)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Farmers Insurance Open (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Above

5. Collin Morikawa (Age 29)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Above

6. Chris Gotterup (Age 26)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Phoenix Open (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Above

7. Russell Henley (Age 36) 

• Last 7 Events (best): T2 Tour Champ (Aug 25)
• Last Win: Arnold Palmer Inv (Mar 25)

8. Robert MacIntyre (Age 29)

• Last 7 Events (best): T4 Sony Open Hawaii (Jan 26)
• Last Win: Alfred Dunhill Links Champ (Oct 25)

9. J J Spaun (Age 35)

• Last 7 Events (best): T4 Hero World Challenge (Dec 25)
• Last Win: US Open (Jun 25)

10. Xander Schauffele (Age 32)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Baycurrent Classic (Oct 25)
• Last win: Above

11. Ben Griffin (Age 29)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won WWT Champ (Nov 25)
• Last Win: Above

12. Hideki Matsuyama (Age 34)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Hero World Challenge (Dec 25)
• Last Win: Above

13. Sepp Straka (Age 32)

• Last 7 Events (best): T2 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Truist Champ (May 25)

14. Justin Thomas (Age 32)

• Last 7 Events (best): T7 Tour Champ (Aug 25)
• Last Win: RBC Heritage (Apr 25)

15. Harris English (Age 36) 

• Last 7 Events (best): T8 Hero World Challenge (Dec 25)
• Last Win: Farmers Insurance Open (Jan 25)

16. Alex Noren (Age 43) 

• Last 7 Events (best): 2nd Hero World Challenge (Dec 25)
• Last Win: BMW PGA Champ (Sep 25)

17. Viktor Hovland (Age 28)

• Last 7 Events (best): T5 BMW PGA Champ (Sep 25)
• Last Win: Valspar Champ (Mar 25)

18. Patrick Reed (Age 35) 

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Qatar Masters (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Above

19. Jacob Bridgeman (Age 26) 

• Last 7 Events (best): Won Genesis Invitational (Feb 26)
• Last Win: Above

20. Keegan Bradley (Age 39) 

• Last 7 Events (best): T7 Tour Champ (Aug 25)
• Last Win: Travelers Champ (Jun 25)

21. Cameron Young (Age 28)

• Last 7 Events (best): T4 Tour Champ (Aug 25)
• Last Win: Wyndham Champ (Aug 25)

22. Matt Fitzpatrick (Age 31)

• Last 7 Events (best): Won DP World Tour Champ (Nov 25)
• Last Win: Above

23. Ludvig Aberg (Age 26)

• Last 7 Events (best): T3 DP World Tour Champ (Nov 25)
• Last Win: Genesis Invitational (Feb 25)

24. Maverick McNealy (Age 30)

• Last 7 Events (best): 10th Farmers Insurance Open (Feb 26)
• Last Win: RSM Classic (Nov 24)

25. Tyrrell Hatton (Age 34)

• Last 7 Events (best): 2nd Alfred Dunhill Links Champ (Oct 25)
• Last Win: Dubai Desert Classic (Jan 25)

For the full list of world rankings head over to the Official World Golf Rankings website.