The Masters begins on Thursday and our final pre-tournament preview features selections for the three-balls and first-round leader markets.
Golf betting tips: Masters three-balls
1pt treble English, MacIntyre and Davis at 10/1 (General)
2pts double Johnson and Cantlay at 7/2 (General)
0.5pt five-fold on the above selections at 50/1 (General)
English to beat Pendrith and Couples
Taylor Pendrith is favourite here but the Canadian is a debutant who, despite having found form with the putter the last twice, could be found out by these greens. Regardless, first-timers are always risky propositions and while his overall body of work over the past 12 months does give him an edge on HARRIS ENGLISH, the latter ought to be favourite under these conditions.
English hasn't necessarily cracked Augusta but after missing the cut on debut, he's made it in all four subsequent visits. That's hugely valuable experience, 18 rounds to Pendrith's zero, and it's not as if he's playing badly. English won at Torrey Pines earlier in the year and after a quiet week at Pebble Beach, he's since gone 24-MC-30-18, latterly defying a slow start in Houston, which played too soft for him really.
We're long past Fred Couples being a viable option in Masters three-balls and his round one scoring average since 2019 is in excess of 76, which leaves English looking like excellent business at around 11/8.
MacIntyre to beat Horschel and Dunlap
The players I was looking for to take on with some confidence were Thriston Lawrence and Nick Dunlap and while the former is not in an ideal group, Dunlap takes out a decent chunk of a market he won't get close to winning unless his driving improves drastically. It's hard to know what's going on with the youngster, already a two-time PGA Tour winner, but he's been abysmal off the tee of late.
That leaves Billy Horschel and ROBERT MACINTYRE and while Horschel isn't one I'd have been rushing to take on, the fact is he hasn't broken 70 here in 32 rounds. MacIntyre did on his most recent of eight and, in two Masters appearances to Horschel's nine, his T12 on debut represents the best form on offer.
MacIntyre's scoring average is more than 1.5 strokes per round lower than Horschel's and in a match, odds-against therefore has to be taken.
Davis to beat Eckroat and Campos
We were on CAM DAVIS in the first round last year and he duly delivered by taking care of Denny McCarthy. Now in a weaker three-ball, the Aussie looks a good bet to land the money again despite four missed cuts in a row coming in.
Yes, those performances do raise concerns but he struck the ball better last time and, here at Augusta, his positive experiences both on debut and particularly last year count for plenty. After making that solid start we were hoping for he was an excellent 12th and while that's probably asking too much this time, his high ceiling makes it possible.
Austin Eckroat had a miserable time of things on debut, going as far as saying that come Friday he didn't want to make the cut and endure another round at Augusta. The whole experience overwhelmed a player I do like, but one who lacks Davis's top-level experience. Davis, remember, placed for us at a massive price in the 2023 PGA Championship and a year earlier impressed at the Presidents Cup.
Eckroat's form is even worse than that of Davis, anyway, so it's clear to me who should be the strong favourite for a three-ball completed by a badly out-of-sorts Rafael Campos, who in 13 starts since winning has zero top-30s and only four cuts made. He looks set to struggle.
Johnson to beat Taylor and Hastings
DUSTIN JOHNSON is far from the player he was, but the former world number one and 2020 Masters champion is very well drawn and has to be given the benefit of the doubt at odds-against.
Johnson's record here probably doesn't need going over and while he's failed to fire in the last couple of renewals, there are some signs his game is in decent shape. Certainly, he's been starting well and showing enough over 18 or 36 holes: three times in his last five LIV Golf starts he's been inside the top four after round one, including positions of first and second in his last couple of appearances.
Having led here in 2020, started fast as recently as 2022 when third and built up such a strong bank of Masters form, he should be capable of putting together a decent score and I suspect that really is all we'll need against amateur Justin Hastings, and multiple PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor.
Hastings is a bit of an unknown but amateurs are generally overwhelmed by this task and as for Taylor, he shot 77-81 here last year. Two wide-margin missed cuts across Sawgrass and Houston were no way to prepare for another crack at a course which doesn't look a good fit on paper.
Cantlay to beat Fitzpatrick and R. Hojgaard
Alarm bells have been ringing for a long time now where Matt Fitzpatrick his concerned, his Ryder Cup prospects looking bleaker by the round. His approach play has been consistently poor, his driver up and down, his short-game likewise and not even his trusty putter as effective as we've come to expect.
Seven starts this year show a best of 22nd, that at a course he loves and in a small field, when putting the lights out. Since that effort at Bay Hill he's missed two cuts by a distance and having parted ways with caddie Billy Foster, there are very few positives.
With debutant Rasmus Hojgaard struggling from tee-to-green, the way looks clear for PATRICK CANTLAY, often close to the lead at Augusta despite never putting well. That's the one doubt I had in terms of an outright bet on the American, who I think can win a green jacket if he ever does figure out these greens, but his ball-striking is very good right now and he should be too solid for two struggling Europeans.
Golf betting tips: Masters first-round leader
1pt e.w. Xander Schauffele at 33/1 (Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
1pt e.w. Viktor Hovland at 40/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
- Scroll down for first-round three-balls
Last year, the leaderboard after day one of the Masters followed a familiar pattern: world-class golfer after world-class golfer, perhaps the odd debutant who has enjoyed a dream start and, in this case, a truly remarkable 68 from past champion Danny Willett on his first start for seven months.
Bryson DeChambeau led by one from Scottie Scheffler, with Max Homa and Nicolai Hojgaard sharing third. It was the second time DeChambeau had led, the first coming in 2019 alongside the dominant major championship golfer of the time, Brooks Koepka, and DeChambeau had led the 2023 PGA Championship, too.
WATCH: BEN COLEY ON THE LEADING CONTENDERS AND THE LIV CHALLENGERS
Koepka led the Masters again in 2023, this time sharing that honour with Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland. Jordan Spieth has done it three times, Justin Rose four. Sungjae Im and Charley Hoffman are the other two names from the past decade and only Hoffman, a course specialist, could be labelled any kind of surprise. Those only really came in the lower-scoring November renewal.
This pattern of world-class golfers still managing to showcase their skill advantage over just 18 holes extends beyond Augusta, too. Ignoring the Open, which should be treated differently given the variable weather and demands of links golf, and the other names from the last couple of years are Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler.
These are golf's biggest stages of all and focusing on the very best and most comfortable players, knowing in this case that a smallish field negates the risk of a significant draw bias, has to be the way to go. That, or ignore golf's version of a greyhound race, which in itself is a perfectly reasonable approach to take.
Truth be told just about all of the players on my shortlist are out late, the exception Dustin Johnson who is in the middle of the pack. He's been starting well on the LIV Golf circuit and is looking to join DeChambeau, Koepka and Spieth as a multiple first-round leader here, albeit the first of those came in that lower-scoring November edition.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE and VIKTOR HOVLAND are two of the hardest players to rate in the field, one returning from injury and one having produced everything from the abysmal to the electric in the last month alone. They are paired together and, at 30/1 and 40/1 respectively, it is quite appealing to give them the benefit of the doubt over one round having felt unable to do so over four.
Hovland of course led here two years ago and was excellent during the Valspar, not only putting better after returning to an old favourite, but striking the ball well. To hit the shots he did under the gun, particularly at holes 16 and 17, was deeply impressive and while his chipping remains a persistent Masters worry, if he's chipping regularly then the first-round lead will be beyond him regardless.
As for Schauffele, his Monday interview was quite taking I felt and he's long been a fast starter in majors, something we saw en route to victory in the PGA Championship. He has an Augusta best of 65, has twice been in the top six after day one and, on class grounds, is certainly a fair price. Had he not been injured at the beginning of the year he'd almost certainly have been third favourite in both outright and round one markets.
The others I considered were Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay and providing Scheffler hasn't gone out and shot 64 in the morning, I'd expect one or two of these classy late starters to be keeping us interested late into Thursday. I've landed on two who play together and are offered at prices which reflect some additional risk, but certainly give us upside.
Posted at 2120 BST on 08/04/25
More Masters content
- Outright betting preview and tips
- Player-by-player guide to the field
- First-round leader and three-balls
- Specials bets from Ben Coley
- Expert picks from other writers
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