Masters outright bet — Will Zalatoris (+4000, BetMGM)
BetMGM offers:
There’s a lot of opportunity to bet in the outright market for the Masters because Scottie Scheffler (priced between +400 and +450) takes so much win probability at the top of the oddsboard. The 2022 Masters champion is being priced like Tiger Woods in his prime after back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship last month. Scheffler’s presence leads to other players priced at longer odds.
The standout pick this week — because of price and major championship history — is Zalatoris at +4000. Before undergoing back surgery 12 months ago that kept him out of all four 2023 majors, he thrived in the most prestigious tournaments with three second-place finishes and three additional top-eights on his resume. One of Zalatoris’ runner-up showings was a solo second at the 2021 Masters in his tournament debut, and he followed that up by finishing tied for sixth at Augusta in 2022.
The Owen Wilson look alike has had a strong return from injury in 2024, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Genesis Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The knock on Zalatoris is his struggles with the putter, but he has performed best on the greens at majors, including his two Masters starts.
After losing in a playoff at the 2022 PGA Championship and falling one putt short of forcing a playoff at the 2022 U.S. Open, Zalatoris gets it done this week at Augusta.
Masters outright bet — Cameron Young (+5500, FanDuel)
FanDuel offers:
I’m also going to bet on Zalatoris’ college teammate from Wake Forest — Young. While he hasn’t won an event on the PGA Tour, he has the all-around game to contend at any major.
Young broke onto the scene in 2022 when he finished second at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. The Los Angeles course and Augusta National have produced several crossover winners, so success at Riviera is an indicator for success at the Masters.
Young missed the cut at his Masters debut later that year, but he turned up his game at other major tournaments by finishing third at the PGA Championship and second at The Open Championship. He had a better showing at Augusta in his second attempt by finishing tied for seventh last year. The 26-year-old came close to winning his first PGA Tour event last month at the Valspar Championship in Florida, but he was once again the bridesmaid by finishing second.
Young’s game is trending in the right direction with strong approach stats during the Florida swing of the season. If he can get hot with his putter this week, he’ll be in title contention on Sunday in Georgia.