Five months after Dustin Johnson sauntered to his second major title with a record-breaking 20 under par total, the US Masters returns to its traditional April slot at Augusta National.

The world number one won by five shots in November and consequently starts as the 17/2 favourite in the US Masters odds to successfully defend his title.

Bryson DeChambeau is next in the US Masters betting at 10/1 while the resurgent Jordan Spieth, fresh from his first victory since 2017 at last week’s Valero Texas Open, is third favourite at 11/1 to repeat his success from six years ago.

Tournament information

When is the US Masters? Thursday-Sunday, April 8-11

What time does the US Masters start? 1300

Where is it being played? Augusta National, Georgia

Which channel is the US Open on? Sky Sports

US Masters betting tips

We have picked out five US Masters tips for the first major of the year and make Justin Thomas our headline selection at 12/1 this week.

The 27-year-old from Kentucky recently won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass with an impressive closing 68 and he has improved year on year in his five appearances at Augusta.

Thomas finished 39th on his debut in 2016, since when his record reads 22-17-12-4, so if he continues to progress as he has been a Green Jacket won’t be far away, especially as he stands third in the strokes gained: approach to the green stats this season, which will be a crucial skill set over the four days.

Taking care of the four par-fives is also seen as crucial to success at Augusta and although he shot eight under on the long holes in autumn, there were still a couple of bogeys on the card so if he can eliminate those this supreme ball-striker certainly has an excellent chance of winning a second major following his success at the US PGA four years ago.

Cameron Smith was runner-up to Johnson in the last renewal, giving us an each-way pay-out at 90/1, and his form and record here suggest he can go close again.

The 27-year-old Australian was just one behind Johnson when he birdied the ninth in 2020 but played the back nine in level par to finish in a tie for second to follow up on his fifth-placed finish two years earlier.

A closing 69 meant he became the first player in the history of the tournament to shoot four rounds in the 60s, so the evidence suggests he loves this course.

Smith, available at 40/1, has been playing solidly in the last few weeks, finishing fourth at the Genesis Invitational, and interestingly he leads the stats in par-five averages this season alongside DeChambeau.

The 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii champion also ticks a lot of the trend boxes for success at Augusta having not played the previous week, being inside the world’s top 30, producing a top five earlier in the season and posting a win on US soil in the past two years, so hopefully Smith will go well once more just like the other runner-up in November, Im Sung-jae.

Im shot -11 on the par-fives to finish in a remarkable second place on his tournament debut and while there is a danger of his next appearance being a case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’, the South Korean has made the cut in all nine strokeplay events this season, five of which were top-20s and two top 10s, including eighth three weeks ago at the Honda Classic where he was the defending champion.

The world number 19, like Smith, took the week off after winning just one of his three pool matches at the WGC Match Play but that should be viewed positively not negatively having played five weeks on the bounce.

The indications are that after a dry spring the course is playing fast and firm, so we’re expecting much more difficult conditions than the cool atmosphere and receptive greens of November, but Im is a decent putter and also matches a lot of the trends over the last 10 years.

Im led the field in par-four birdie percentage in November, was fifth in putts per greens in regulation, top in strokes gained around the greens and sixth for scrambling, all of which would serve him well this week, especially with tougher conditions expected.

His 15 under par total last year would have been good enough to win 80 of the previous 84 tournaments, so Im makes the grade at 33/1 as the third of our US Masters betting tips.

At the same price, Daniel Berger looks an interesting prospect despite making his first appearance in three years and going backwards since finishing 10th on his tournament debut in 2016.

The world number 15 followed that with 27-32 and although he has missed the last two editions of the Masters, his form meant he should have played in November but the qualifying criteria had already been set in March.

This season, Berger won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am having posted two top-10s at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Sentry Tournament of Champions from which he qualified as the winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge in the previous season.

Berger was ninth at TPC Sawgrass last month and he has played solidly at majors in the last few years, especially at the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock where he led heading into the final round but finished sixth. 

 

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We like to pick out at least one player at triple figures and one that fits the bill is Dylan Frittelli, who enjoyed an excellent debut in November when he tied for fifth with Rory McIlroy.

The South African reached the knockout stage of the World Match Play a fortnight ago and should be nice and fresh having skipped the Texas Open.

Co-leader after an opening-round 65, Frittelli shot a five-under-par 67 on the Saturday to be five shots off the lead but a level-par 72 meant he was never in contention.

It would be a lot to ask of Frittelli to repeat that performance in more difficult conditions but he has performed well in his last three majors and with his memory still fresh from Augusta five months ago, another decent display is not out of the question as the last of our US Masters tips at 125/1.

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