Masters Golf Betting - Loads of Options for Augusta
by Charles Jay
If you are going to do some Masters betting this week on the world's most prestigious golf tournament, you'll be pleased to know that there are plenty of options at your disposal.
Ninety-nine players tee it up this week, including 58 of the top 60 ranked players in the world, although, realistically, the dimensions of the Augusta National course itself and the advantage created by familiarity with it dictate that only a few dozen players have a very realistic chance to win.
Don't despair, because when it comes to Masters betting, you are certainly not limited to betting on the outright winner. The tournament gets underway on Thursday and runs through Sunday, to be televised, as always, on CBS.
As it stands now, the favorite in Masters betting is defending champion Phil Mickelson at +600, and of course he is coming off his win at the Houston Open (where he shot 63 and 65 in the last two rounds), which means he is in pretty good form.
Tiger Woods, who does not have a win since the 2009 BMW Championship, is +850. Together, if you wanted to convert the combined odds of those two into percentages, you'd get about 24.5%, which if you converted back to odds literally, you would come up with a price of about +300 that either guy would win. Yet it's interesting to note that since Woods won his first Masters in 1997, either he or Mickelson has won this tournament seven times, or in 50% of those years.
Playoffs always provide some of the best drama at Augusta, and it is currently -350 in Masters betting that there will be no playoff, with the "takeback" at +250 that there will be. Out of the 74 times this tournament has been played, there have been fourteen playoffs, which means it has happened about 19% of the time. However, playoffs have happened with much more frequency lately; in fact, there have been three playoffs in the last eight years.
Eventually someone's going to win, and then the only question will be, by what margin? Masters betting odds offer a number of choices here. The one-stroke victory margin, which has happened 22 times but just once in the last twelve tournaments, is priced at +250. A margin of five strokes or more has occurred eight times, but not since 1997 and only twice since 1976, and it is priced at +700 in Masters betting.
Did you know that there have been only two occasions when there were holes-in-one in the same round at the Masters? Padraig Harrington and Kirk Triplett did it in 2004, and accomplished it while playing in the same group. And it happened last year too, as both Ryan Moore and Nathan Green had aces at the 16th hole on Sunday.
The Masters has produced 21 holes-in-one in 74 years, and twelve of those have come on the 16th hole. This year it is -150 in Masters betting that there will NOT be a hole-in-one and 110 that there WILL be.
One great Masters tradition is that the champion from the year before gets to choose what is served at the annual Champions' Dinner, so Mickelson will set the menu. Another "tradition" of this tournament is the Par 3 competition which takes place on Wednesday. It has been played every year since 1960, and two players, Padraig Harrington and Sandy Lyle, have won the contest in consecutive years.
Many winners of the Masters have also been winners of the Par 3, not to mention winners of other majors; in fact, Louis Oosthuizen won it last year, then went on to win the British Open. But never, and we mean NEVER, has the Par 3 winner gone on to win the Green Jacket the same year. Never. You will lay -2000 in Masters betting that this "tradition" will continue for another year, and can cash in at +850 that this "Masters jinx" will finally be broken.
No European has won the Masters since Jose-Maria Olazabal did it in 1999. A European may not win it this year either, but that doesn't have to faze you, because you can wager on which European player is going to finish highest. There's an outstanding collection of talent, as you might imagine. Lee Westwood is the favorite at +400, with PGA champion Martin Kaymer at +600 and Luke Donald at +700. Olazabal is at +9000, with former Masters champions Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam at 175/1 and 200/1, respectively, in Masters betting.
Plenty of emerging talent is included in the "Top Debutant" category. Martin Laird and Rickie Fowler are the co-favorites at +400 apiece, and other players who have won tournaments already this year are vying to win this category, such as Jhonattan Vegas (+1200), Mark Wilson (+1000), D.A. Points (+1500) and Gary Woodland (+800). This one's lively, as is every proposition for Masters betting on this historic golf weekend!
