The first golf major of the year tees off on Thursday, April 5th. 84 years ago this famous tournament was launched and throughout its entire history, it has been held at one of the most recognisable courses in the world, Augusta National. The winner will walk off with the famous green jacket and hold on to it for the following year. What has made US Masters 2018 betting a little more interesting was the recent return to form of Tiger Woods, who has won it four times before and still holds the joint tournament record. Woods has been priced up relatively short at 11/1 odds with bet365* (betting odds taken on March 29th, 2018 at 3:08 p.m.). The returning champion this year is Sergio Garcia.
Reigning Champion
Sergio Garcia had the biggest moments of his great golf career twelve months ago. It was such a dramatic conclusion to the tournament as he had to face off against Justin Rose in a sudden-death play off. Both had finished 9-under par for the tournament. The play off started on the 18th, Rose went into the trees from the drive, Garcia was safe on the fairway and ended up with two putts to win it. He sunk it at the first attempt to give him his first ever Major championship title.
US Masters 2018 odds*
Rory McIlroy 9/1, Justin Thomas 10/1, Dustin Johnson 11/1, Jordan Spieth 12/1, Justin Rose 14/1, Bubba Watson 16/1, Phil Mickelson 18/1, Rickie Fowler 20/1, Jon Rahm 20/1, Paul Casey 22/1, Hideki Matsuyama 35/1, bar 40/1* (betting odds taken on March 29th, 2018 at 3:08 p.m.)
Qualification
The Masters has the smallest of all four Majors in terms of field size. There are a whole bunch qualification criteria needed to get invited to the tournaments, such as being a past Masters champion, one of the last five winners of any of the other three Major tournaments. The last three winners of the Players Championships also get a place along with a whole bunch of amateurs and the top twelve finishers from last year’s Masters, who haven’t already qualified by a different route.
Among this year’s past champions in the field, Sergio Garcia is back along with 2016 champion Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer and of course, this year, Tiger Woods is in the mix as a former Champion.
The main contenders
Rory McIlroy is heading up the market then as he goes in search of that Green Jacket to complete a career Grand Slam for himself. He will probably though always be remembered for his 2011 final round meltdown where he was on cruise control holding a four-shot lead going into the final day. He was still leading the tournament after the front nine but ended with a round of 80 to drop down to T15. To his credit, he has recovered well since then and has been a top ten finishers in each of the last four editions of the Masters. He is a great horse for the course and has been steady this year, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational recently, his first title since the 2016 Tour Championship.
After his breakout year in 2017, it will be interesting to see where Justin Thomas goes this season. He took a top ten finishes at the US Open last season and famously won the PGA Championship for his first major. From his two previous visits to the Masters, he has a T39 and a T22. He is carrying a high world ranking into the tournament though and has been in traffic from winning the Honda Classic, a second place finish at the WGC Mexico City and reached the semi finals recently of the Dell Match Play. If his short game around the green is working, he has to be in the picture.
Dustin Johnson is still top of the world rankings and was in blistering from nice again at the start of the season. He hasn’t been quite as prolific since though but still is a steady ship that can be pretty much banked on to make a genuine run at a top ten or even a top finish at the Masters. He has the long game to tear up the course and he was favourite here last year before falling down the stairs and putting his back out. His short game has just been letting him down a little, but a strong contender regardless.
Former Masters champion Jordan Spieth is just a great fit for Augusta National but will need to pick himself up a little after what will have been a disappointing finish for him last year. He hasn’t yet got a win on the board in the 2018 season but has carded three top ten finishers. His usual sharp-eye for putting has probably been his biggest let down this season. The putter was not working for him here last year either really. He is a former winner, with a win, a second place and a T11 in his last three Masters visit.
After coming so close last season, Justin Rose still looks a pretty solid fit here and he has two previous second-place finishes at the Masters in the last three years. He was solid down the final third of last season and he has started well too in 2018, his notable performance coming in a win at the WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He has been knocking out top ten finishes on the PGA too and will be a steady, solid performer again at a course where he has created a lot of memories without winning so far.
A player who has been taking a lot of backing in the last week at Bet365 in US Masters 2018 betting* (betting odds taken on March 29th, 2018 at 3:08 p.m.) is Bubba Watson. That was on the back of his recent success at Riviera and he is the former 2014 Masters champion as well. He is going to smash the course to pieces with his driving of course and he seems to love the entire event. He will be much happier, more focused and relaxed after his Riviera success. That basically makes him a huge threat if his head is in the right place.
Tiger Woods
Yes, we have to take a look at Tiger Woods now. He is still making his way back to form in the game and that was showing early on this season where he was all over the place at Torrey Pines and then didn’t make the weekend at the Riviera. But he started to come on strong as he posted a top fifteen finish at the Honda Classic and then got that T2 at the Valspar. He is a four-time winner of the Masters. He doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with the distance off the tee, but his accuracy isn’t there consistently enough to throw together four strong days under pressure. He is there at 5/6 odds at bet365* (betting odds taken on March 29th, 2018 at 3:08 p.m.) for a top ten finish and 9/4* (betting odds taken on March 29th, 2018 at 3:08 p.m.) for a top five. They are probably better options than expecting him to put it all together and win for the fifth time.
US Masters 2018 Predictions
There is a really competitive evenness between a lot of the main contenders heading out in 2018 US Masters betting at bet365. There are a lot of interesting names in there from McIlroy, who at single figures is hard to take on, to former winner Spieth and Justin Thomas. Of them all though we are going to lean on Rose to put together another strong performance at the event. He has the knowledge, the versatility and steadiness to put another good performance here. Surely a green jacket will come his way in his career, why not in 2018? As for Woods, it’s a big ask for him to sweep back in and get another Masters. He has a clear affinity for the course, but there are too many players on top of their game at the moment to prevent him.
