2022 Masters: Prop Bets & Picks

It’s finally here. Masters week, one of the best of the year for golf betting.

Tiger Woods will rightfully so garner most of the headlines heading into Thursday’s first-round as he will play a PGA Tour event for the first time since his car crash in February of 2021. Woods is attempting to tie Jack Nicklaus for the most Masters wins (6).

Jon Rahm currently has the best Masters odds at +1100.

Below is a Augusta National overview, as well as some predictions for the tournament.

Augusta National Course Overview

This 7,510-yard par 72 course has added 35 yards this year as the par-4 11^th hole has been lengthened 15 yards and the par-5 15^th hole has added 20 yards, which is sure to make things more interesting for those attempting to go for the green in two.

Hitting approach shots to the right location of these luscious greens is often the most important aspect of contending in The Masters and those with tournament experience are usually the players in the mix come late Sunday afternoon.

The tradition of skipping at No. 16 continues. #themasters pic.twitter.com/63tyKubtgD

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 5, 2022

Masters 2022 Picks

Backing debutants at Augusta National is always a risky proposition, but when a “Top Debutant” prop is offered, everyone is on a level playing field.

Cameron Young at +700 seems like fantastic value. He has made six of his last seven cuts, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Young is an elite driver of the golf ball, ranking sixth in this entire field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee. He is also an above-average putter, so he should fare better than most making their first trip around this track.

Webb Simpson has finished inside the top 20 in each of his last four starts at Augusta National and if we believe what he says about his back injury being fully healed, we are getting a fantastic price on a player of his caliber.

In only his third start since his return from the injury, he flashed streaks of elite iron play and birdie making at the Valspar and should now benefit from being at a familiar course where he also has a top-5 finish to his name.

As of this writing, it looks like the heavy wind will be in the forecast for multiple days at Augusta and this will benefit Simpson as well. When filtering Strokes Gained in windy rounds, Simpson ranks sixth in approach, eighth around the green, and 10^th off the tee.

The 2013 Masters Champion, Adam Scott, is another player who not only dominates in windy conditions but has caught a hot putter of late, which is quite an abnormality for the 41-year-old Australian.

Scott isn’t bashful when it comes to his comments on keeping a short schedule of events and how only a handful of tournaments “matter,” which he backs up by playing his best golf in the biggest spots.

Scott has made the cut in each of the last nine Masters tournaments and has three other top-10 finishes in that span, in addition to the 2013 win. Scott on an outright bet at 50/1 as well as the Top “Rest of the World” player at 10/1 are among the picks.

For better or for worse we tend to have short memories when it comes to golf betting.

It was not all too long ago that Patrick Cantlay was dominating the FedEx Cup playoffs. Having pegged him for this spot for nearly a calendar year now, I am thrilled to be getting priced outside the top 10 in betting markets. If you toss out last month’s Players Championship result, where he caught the wrong starting wave, it will have been a calendar year since Cantlay has lost strokes off the tee or around the green.

His recent iron play is why he comes in under the radar this week, but when you dive into the numbers you will see his wedge play is what is struggling the most. He is hitting it well from 175-200 yards nd that is where most of the approach shots will come from at Augusta.

Although not yet a major championship winner, he has more than enough world-class victories to prove he can slip on the green jacket this week in Augusta.

Dustin Johnson (2020 champion ) is another star who hasn’t been on the top of his game in 2022 but seems to be starting to peak back towards form as we head into this week.

Johnson’s ever-dominant off-the-tee game has now gained two-plus strokes in each of his last four starts after taking a hiatus from him during the FedEx Cup playoffs. He also has his irons back where they need to be, highlighted by the best round on the final day of The Players Championship last month.

A horse-for-the-course, Johnson leads the field in bogey avoidance at Augusta National and ranks as the top player in total ball striking on difficult scoring golf courses that are over 7,400 yards in length.

Without the pressure of securing his first green jacket that so many will feel coming down the stretch on Sunday, I love his chances to grab his second in three tries.

2022 Masters Predictions

First-Round Leaders:

• Luke List (+6600)
• Webb Simpson (+5000)
• Corey Conners (+4000)

Make-The-Cut Parlay (+695)

• Dustin Johnson
• Patrick Cantlay
• Adam Scott
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Corey Conners
• Max Homa
• Cameron Young

Cameron Young Top Debutant (+700)

Webb Simpson Top 10 (+600)

Webb Simpson Top 5 (+1600)

Adam Scott Top Rest-of-World Player (+1000)

Adam Scott Outright (+5000)

Patrick Cantlay Outright (+2000)

Dustin Johnson Outright (+1800)