Rory McIlroy The Early Favorite To Win The 2023 Masters

The 2023 golf season is well underway and the first major championship of the year is less than three months away. A tradition unlike any other returns to Augusta National Golf Club April 6-9 as the world’s best golfers compete at the Masters. Given the current odds being offered by sportsbooks, only five golfers have better than a five percent chance to win the Green Jacket.

2023 Masters Champion Futures

Rory McIlroy first reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) more than a decade ago and returned to the top of the rankings following his win at the CJ CUP in South Carolina in October 2022. His ascent up the rankings was fueled by three wins in 2022 and another dozen Top 10 finishes while only missing the cut once. McIlroy has four Top 5 finishes at Augusta, including a runner-up showing in 2022. The 33-year-old Northern Irishman is currently the favorite at +900 to win his first Green Jacket and complete the career Grand Slam.

Jon Rahm is currently +1100 to win his first Green Jacket. The 28-year-old Spaniard is No. 4 in the OWGR after winning three times in 2022 and collecting another ten Top 10 finishes, but none of those came in major championships. Rahm’s lone career major win came at Torrey Pines in the 2021 U.S. Open, and while he had four consecutive Top 10 finishes at August National from 2018-2021, he finished T-27 in 2022 after entering the event as the odds-on favorite at +900.

Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02) are the only repeat champions in Masters history. Scottie Scheffler could join that list with a win in April. In addition to his dominant performance at Augusta National, the 2022 PGA TOUR Player of the Year won three other times in 2022 and finished as runner-up in three more events. The 26-year-old American is currently ranked No. 2 in the OWGR and is currently +1400 to win his second consecutive Green Jacket.

McIlroy, Rahm and Scheffler, along with Cameron Smith (+1400) and Justin Thomas (+1600) are the only golfers with better than a 5% chance to win in April. In 2022, only nine golfers finished the tournament under par. Five of them entered the event with +2000 odds or better: Scheffler (+1200; 1), Thomas (+1200; T-8), Smith (+1400; T-3), McIlroy (+2000; 2), and Collin Morikawa (+2000; 5). Two of the other four were Will Zalatoris (+3500; T-6) and Shane Lowry (+5500; T-3).

The 2019 Open Championship winner, Shane Lowry played in the penultimate pairing during both weekend rounds at Augusta in 2022. The experience he gained en route to his career-best finish at the Masters last year makes him an interesting option at +4000.

Will Zalatoris arrived at Augusta National for the first time in 2021 and left as the tournament’s runner-up – losing by a single stroke to Hideki Matsuyama. He followed that up with a solid T-6 finish in 2022. The 26-year-old American went on to finish second at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open last year as well. Zalatoris returns to Augusta with a career-best No. 7 OWGR and +2200 odds to win the Masters.