2015 Masters Golf Tournament Betting Preview

2015 Masters Golf Tournament Betting Preview

The 79th edition of the prestigious Masters Tournament will begin on April 9th and conclude on April 12th in Augusta, GA. Bubba Watson took home the win last year at a price of 20:1 for his second Masters victory in the last 3 years.

The table below shows the last five Masters champions and their pre-tournament consensus odds:

This year Rory McIlroy is playing the part of old Tiger Woods as a big favorite for a wide open field and oddly enough, Tiger is still attracting more bets to win it than Rory. The table below shows the 2015 Masters odds from offshore sportsbook 5Dimes:

Picks to Win:

Dan M: I’m picking Henrik Stenson (+1750) and even though he withdrew from last week’s tournament because of the flu, I’m not shying away from the Swede like everyone else. His preparations may be a little thrown off this week but lower expectations aren’t always a bad thing in golf. He has played solid everywhere this season and can handle rainy conditions which may be a factor. If he can’t notch a win, a Top-5 finish at +325 is well within reach.

Travis: I looked at four factors when determining my Masters pick this year: driving distance, par 4 scoring, par 5 scoring, and strokes gained tee-to-green.  Ryan Palmer ranks 6th, 5th, 27th, and 8th respectively in those four categories.  Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker also rank highly in these categories but Palmer at +8000 gives the highest payout of the trio.  At $6600, he is also a great value play for those of you entering daily fantasy contests this weekend.

PJ: I’m going with experience and consistency this week by taking Matt Kuchar, currently +3785 to win the Masters. Kuchar has made the cut in each of his last five Masters appearances, highlighted by three consecutive Top 8 finishes. While Augusta National certainly sets up well for bombers like Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy, Kuchar ranks 14th in scrambling and 25th in total putting this year, two crucial skills needed to score well around these demanding greens. Based on current futures prices, I’ll let others bet on players who drive for show and grab the value with Kuchar to putt for the dough.

Prop Bets:

In addition to odds to win the tourney, there are some other props like the Winning Region of the Masters winner. Here’s how those odds look at a couple books around the market:

Sportsbook:         USA -140  |  Europe +210  |  Rest of World +400

BetOnline:            USA -110  |  Europe +150  |  Rest of World +350

There has been a prop bet available since the end of last season regarding the total # of majors won by either Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods in the 2015 calender year (odds via 5Dimes):

McIlroy:  0 majors +100  |  1 major +125  | 2 majors +400  | 3 majors +1800  | 4 majors +5000

Woods:   0 majors -400  | 1 major +250  |  2 majors +2000  | 3 majors +8000  | 4 majors +25000

Despite Tiger Woods’ game taking a massive drop over the last few years, he still attracts the most attention, especially at a major tournament like the Masters. On Friday afternoon once Tiger officially announced he’d be part of the field, Sportsbook and Bovada released a prop regarding the cut:

Will Tiger Woods make the cut?

Sportsbook:   Opened Yes -115  |  No -115        Current Yes -135  |  No +115

Bovada:         Opened Yes -225  |  No +170        Current Yes -135  |  No +105

Bovada obviously mispriced this prop at first with bettors hammering the ‘No’ for Tiger to make the cut. Since then, the market has adjusted and most sportsbooks are listing ‘No’ at slight price money.