With the opening of the 2017 Masters set for Thursday morning, it’s Dustin Johnson who leads the way as the +550 betting favorite to claim the green jacket at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Johnson has been a force to be reckoned with this season, claiming victory in his past three PGA Tour events ahead of the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
Since missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, Johnson has been nearly unbeatable. The 32-year-old followed up a third-place finish at Pebble Beach by shooting five total rounds of 66 or less en route to wins at the Genesis Open and WGC-Mexico Championship, both as betting chalk. As well, he paid out on healthy +900 odds in his recent victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play tournament.
Johnson enjoys familiar company at the top of the 2017 Masters odds, with Rory McIlroy pegged at +700, followed by Jordan Spieth at +800.
McIlroy participated in his first tournament of 2017 at the WGC-Mexico Championship, charging to the top of the leaderboard with a second-round 65 before finishing four strokes back of Johnson as a +1200 wager for his second fourth-place finish of the season.
Spieth has been dueling with Johnson on the PGA Tour throughout the season, joining Johnson as +750 chalk at the Genesis Open, and closely trailing at +750 on the WGC-Mexico odds. But the 2015 Masters champ finished well back of the leaders in both those events and failed to make the cut at last week?s Shell Houston Open despite teeing off as +650 chalk.
Golfers gunning for their first major tournament victory are also well represented at the top of the odds, including Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama, who join Australian Jason Day at +1800, while Jon Rahm sits alongside Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson at +2500.
Fowler has struggled at Augusta since finishing fifth at the 2014 Masters, settling for 12th place in 2015 and missing the cut at last year?s event. However, he posted a third-place finish last week in Houston on the strength of an opening-round 64 and claimed a four-stroke victory at the Honda Classic in February at +1600 odds on the golf betting lines.
Matsuyama finished in the top seven in his past two appearances at Augusta, and has two tour victories this season, but has finished better than 25th just once in his past seven events. And Rahm makes his first appearance at the Masters after earning his first career PGA Tour win at the Farmers Insurance Open while sporting long +4500 odds.
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