Those whom oddsmakers deem to be the favorites to win the 2023 Masters at Augusta National unsurprisingly are the most popular in the eyes of the betting public.
It just so happens the top three players in the world — World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm — represent the most tickets and most money at a majority of sportsbooks.
Scheffler, the defending Masters champion, represents the most money everywhere. He’s responsible for 15% of the handle at DraftKings Sportsbook, 13.5% of the handle at BetMGM and 8.6% at PointsBet Sportsbook. Those sums represent 12% of the tickets at DraftKings, 8.7% at BetMGM and 6.8% at PointsBet, respectively.
McIlroy, who is eyeing his first green jacket in hopes of completing his career grand slam, is not far behind Scheffler as it relates to the public’s money or bets. McIlroy owns 11% of the handle at both DraftKings and BetMGM along with 6.7% of the money at PointsBet. It represents 11% of tickets at DraftKings, 7.5% at BetMGM and 7.6% at PointsBet.
The public also likes Rahm, the World’s No. 3, in a bounce-back effort. Rahm most recently finished T31 at Dell Technology’s Match Play event after he withdrew from the Players Championship and finished T39 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Nevertheless, if Rahm’s on, he’s as good as any. And that’s why he represents 8% of the handle at DraftKings and 6.7% of the money at PointsBet. Those make for 7% of DraftKings tickets and 6.5% of PointsBet tickets.
Jordan Spieth, the No. 16 ranked player, is gaining plenty of backing as well. At BetMGM, Spieth ranked behind only Scheffler and McIlroy in both money (9.3%) and tickets (7.2). Spieth has three top 10 finishes in his last six events.
Max Homa along with LIV Tour representatives Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka all represent some of the most popular tournament wagers.
Tiger Woods, who is anywhere from 66-1 to 90-1 to win the tournament, represents 5% of tickets and 4% of the handle at BetMGM as well as 4% of bets and 4% of handle at DraftKings. Tiger winning a sixth green jacket, while awesome for golf fans, wouldn’t be a good situation for bookmakers. “I’ll get chased off the property if he wins,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk management Jeff Sherman told NESN’s Sam Panayotovich. Woods, though, presents quite a long shot given the once overlooked challenge of walking 72 holes.
Bookmakers, though, have made it incredibly easy to bet different Woods-centric prop bets for those looking to stay away from his Masters future.
Be sure to follow along with all of NESN’s Masters coverage, including our pre-tournament power rankings of the top contenders, a breakdown of which LIV golfer could emerge victorious and other predictions for the major championship.
