5 Contenders Who Play Well at Augusta and Could Win the Masters

An elite field will gather at Augusta National to compete for the green jacket when the first major golf championship of the year begins on Thursday.

Reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is among the favorites with betting sites to defend his crown, along with Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

They are the top three players in the official world rankings right now, and some of the best sports betting apps make them joint favorites to win this tournament.

However, there is also a lot of each-way value on offer if you look further down the field, with several former champions and some intriguing dark horses lurking ominously.

We have rounded up our top tips for the Masters below.

Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler beat McIlroy by three strokes to secure a dominant victory in the Masters at Augusta last year.

It capped a remarkable rise to prominence for the young Texan, who had only clinched his first PGA Tour win two months before that famous triumph.

He ended up winning the WM Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay and the Masters in two months.

Scheffler is off to another blistering start, defending his Phoenix Open crown and then finishing five strokes ahead of the chasing pack at the Players Championship.

He is ranked No. 1 in the world, ahead of McIlroy and Rahm, so he has to be one of our favorites at Augusta.

You could easily make a case for McIlroy getting the better of Scheffler, but he has a habit of falling just short at the majors.

Rahm has already won three PGA Tour events this year, and he has four Top 10 finishes in his last five appearances at the Masters. Rahm will be dangerous, but the momentum is with Scheffler right now, so he looks like the best bet from golf’s Big Three.

Scheffler is one of the favorites with golf betting sites and various others to win this tournament, and he is likely to be in the mix on the final day.

Jordan Spieth

A resurgent Spieth could mount a serious challenge for the green jacket.

He burst onto the scene when he finished runner-up at the Masters at just 20 years of age in 2014.

The following year, he became the youngest Masters champion and the first wire-to-wire winner since Raymond Floyd in 1976.

Spieth cemented his status as the world’s most exciting player by clinching the U.S. Open in 2015 and The British Open in 2017, but he then started slipping.

Some pundits wrote him off as a spent force, but Spieth reminded everyone of his quality with a tie for first at the Masters in 2021.

He missed the cut last year, but he is back to winning ways after clinching the 2021 Valero Texas Open and the RBC Heritage in 2022.

Spieth also perfectly fits the profile of a typical Masters winner over the past decade: he is in his 20s, he is inside the Top 20 in the world rankings, he has a great deal of experience on the course and he has finished in the top three at Augusta on six previous occasions.

He scores highly for strokes gained around the green, which is important on this course, and he finished tied for third at the Valspar Championship last month.

Spieth is +1600 with DraftKings, which is an attractive price on a player with a good record at Augusta.

Cameron Smith

Smith will be flying the flag for the breakaway LIV Golf League.

He is unflappable under pressure, so the laid-back Australian should have no trouble drowning out the noise and concentrating on clinching that elusive green jacket.

Smith came within a whisker of grabbing it last year, only to see his attempts derailed by one wayward shot on the final day.Smith ultimately finished in a tie for third, and he was also tied for 10th at Augusta in 2021, second in 2020 and fifth in 2018, so he is very consistent on the course.

That is most part because of his putting, which should stand him in contention this week, so odds of +2000 at Caesars Sportsbook look tempting.

Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele is arguably the world’s best player without a major, and he will be desperate to get that monkey off his back this year.

The 29-year-old finished second and the Masters in 2019 and third in 2021, so he knows how to stay in contention at Augusta National.

He has finished inside the Top 10 on nine previous occasions at major tournaments, so it seems like only a matter of time before he wins one.

Schauffele is building momentum after securing four Top 10 finishes this season, and he is currently seventh in the official world rankings.

That makes the Masters betting sites' odds of +2200 look very appealing.

Will Zalatoris

Will Zalatoris is out at +3300 with bet365 Sportsbook, despite boasting a superb record at Augusta National.

He was the runner-up at the Masters in 2021 and he finished tied for sixth last year, so he is likely to be among the contenders this time around.

He is still blessed with the fearlessness of youth, but he will also be more experienced this time around, which will be important as he bids to flourish on the final day.

His tee-to-green play is outstanding, and his ball-striking is sublime. If he can tighten up his short game, he will be a major champion, and he certainly stands a great chance of success this week.