Scottie Scheffler Is The Favorite To Win The Masters Tournament At +650

The 2022-23 PGA TOUR season technically began with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, more than six months ago. However, for many, the season does not truly begin until the major championships get underway. As is the case every year, the first major championship of the year is a tradition unlike any other. The 2023 Masters Tournament returns to Augusta National Golf Club this week as 88 of the world’s finest golfers compete for the coveted Green Jacket. Given the current odds being offered by sportsbooks, there are only three golfers with a double-digit percent chance to win, but another half dozen have at least a five percent chance to be sitting in Butler Cabin with Jim Nantz on Sunday evening. 

The Masters Odds

No man has ever dominated the sport of golf like Tiger Woods in his prime. Woods’ 82 career PGA TOUR victories are tied with Sam Snead for the most all-time. His 15 career major championships and five Green Jackets both rank second all-time behind only Jack Nicklaus (18 and six, respectively). However, it has been more than a decade since Tiger was at his peak prowess, winning only one major championship since 2008 – the memorable 2019 Masters Tournament. "Here's the deal: Like I told you guys last year, I'm not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more. That's it, that's all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can't. That's just going to be my future,” Woods said at The Genesis Invitational in February. A record-breaking 83rd career PGA TOUR victory and a record-tying sixth Green Jacket would likely test Twitter’s capacity limits. However, at +6000, oddsmakers are assigning less than a two percent chance that it happens. Regardless, as has been the case since Woods turned professional in 1996, the eyes of the entire sports world are sure to be on him once again at Augusta National this week.

Viewed by many as Tiger Woods’ successor as the world’s next biggest men’s golfer, Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) No. 2 Rory McIlroy has accomplished nearly everything possible in the game of golf. McIlroy’s 23 career PGA TOUR wins rank in the top 30 all-time and he is tied for 20th all-time with four major championship victories to his name. He has been the World No. 1, a PGA TOUR Player of the Year, FedExCup champion and Ryder Cup champion. However, there is still one glaring omission from McIlroy’s resume: a Green Jacket. After famously collapsing in the final round at the 2011 Masters, the 33-year-old Northern Irishman has gone on to collect seven Top 10s at Augusta since, including a runner-up finish last year. In six PGA TOUR events played this season, McIlroy has registered one win (THE CJ CUP in South Carolina), one runner-up (the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard) and one third place finish (the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play). McIlroy currently ranks first on TOUR in driving distance, sixth in strokes gained off the tee, and seventh in strokes gained putting. With a new putter in hand, McIlroy reportedly completed a practice round with only 19 putts earlier this week. At +750, oddsmakers are assigning nearly a 12 percent chance that McIlroy puts it all together, secures his elusive Green Jacket and finally completes the career Grand Slam.

Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02) are the only repeat champions in Masters Tournament history. 2022 Masters Champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler seeks to join that list this week. Prior to breaking through and defeating Rory McIlroy by three strokes last year, the 26-year-old American finished T-18 and T-19 at Augusta National in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Scheffler has registered two wins (THE PLAYERS Championship and WM Phoenix Open) and seven Top 10s in his 10 PGA TOUR starts so far this season on his way to OWGR No. 1 and the No. 3 position in the FedExCup Playoffs Points List. He currently ranks first on TOUR in strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained tee-to-green and greens in regulation percentage (GIR %). There is a reason Scheffler is the current favorite at +650: he knows his way around Augusta National and is playing as well as any golfer in the world.

Jon Rahm entered the 2022 Masters Tournament as the odds-on favorite at +900. This year, Rahm enters the week with better odds (+800) but farther down the favorite list (third) to win his first Green Jacket. The 28 year-old Spaniard had four consecutive Top 10 finishes at Augusta National from 2018-2021 before finishing T-27 last year. So far this season, Rahm has registered more wins (three; Sentry Tournament of Champions, The American Express, and The Genesis Invitational) than any other golfer on TOUR en route to leading the FedExCup Playoffs Points List and holding the No. 3 position in the OWGR. He ranks first on TOUR in total strokes gained and scoring average, second in putting average and third in GIR %. For all his success in recent years, Rahm has only one major championship to his name – the 2021 U.S. Open. While he has a long career still in front of him, Rahm will be thinking about wanting to keep pace in that category with some of the game’s top players in and around his age range.