The 2023 Masters at Augusta National will feature a never-before-seen storyline as golfers on the rival LIV Golf tour compete against their former PGA brethren on the sport's most hallowed grounds in pursuit of the famed green jacket.
Awesome, right?
It's expected to carry a heighten sense of competitiveness for those representing LIV Golf and the PGA. And LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman furthered that storyline when he said he hopes to have all 18 LIV golfers on the 18th hole Sunday should one of LIV's representatives be in line for the victory.
LIV Golf will make up more than 20% of the field with 18 representatives in the 2023 Masters, six players who are former winners at Augusta. Admittedly, it's hard to feel super confident in backing any of the LIV players largely because they're re-entering a 72-hole event after playing in 54-hole events with no cuts. And we haven't seen them recently against the world's best -- Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, among others -- with the competition on the LIV Tour being, well, questionable.
However, it feels like there are one or two LIV players with valuable prices and chances to win. Sorry, Phil Mickelson, but it comes down to Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith. FanDuel Sportsbook has 2020 Masters champion Johnson at 25-1 while Smith is 28-1.
We feel more inclined to roll with Smith, who has the second-shortest odds at FanDuel to be the top LIV finisher. Smith (5-1) is behind only Johnson (+450). Elsewhere at FanDuel, Smith represents the second-shortest prices to be the top Australian player behind only the favored Jason Day (+120).
Smith is coming off a win at the last major tournament as he edged Cameron Young and McIlroy in the Open Championship on The Old Course at St. Andrews. Smith also finished tied for third place at the 2022 Masters after teeing off in the final group with the eventual champion Scheffler. His record at Augusta is just as good as anyone without a green jacket, earning top 10 finishes four of the last four years and top 5 finishes in three of his last five trips.
That experience and Smith's skillset on the course makes him worthy of having tied for the 10th shortest odds on the board. But there's still value. After all, Smith is a world-class putter and his accuracy off the tee isn't as big of an issue at the Masters given Augusta's short rough and wide fairways. The fact he's never missed the cut in six appearances proves just that.
Smith has respectable backing from the betting public. He represents 5% of the tickets and 5% of the handle at BetMGM along with 4% of the handle and 4% of tickets at DraftKings Sportsbook. And chances are the public has Smith at the top of mind when betting the prop for any LIV golfer to win the Masters at 5-1, which is available at BetMGM.
Smith will tee off at 10:54 a.m. ET on Thursday and 2 p.m. ET on Friday.
