The US Masters Tournament is the first of the four professional men’s golf major tournaments of the year, generally considered to signal the traditional start to the PGA Tour television viewing season. It’s the only major championship that’s annually hosted at the same course, the Augusta National Golf Club founded by legendary amateur golfer Bobby Jones in 1934.
With the familiar layout, televised by CBS and its stable crew of announcers, the tournament has almost a family feel to it and typically enjoys among the highest television ratings for a golf tournament every year. The event has a field of between 90 and 100 qualifiers, including the top 60 players in the world as well as past Masters champions and tournament winners from the prior year.
The tournament, despite being a limited-field event, has a 36-hole cut, so players need to have a solid opening two rounds to survive for play over the weekend and to have a chance to win the event. Since 1997, the Augusta National layout has been frequently modified and lengthened, now playing at 7,475 yards as a traditional par 72.
Hideki Matsuyama became the first Asian player to capture a major championship when he survived a tumultuous final round after seeing a five-shot lead cut to a winning one-shot margin over Will Zalatoris following a bogey on the 18th hole. Even though it was a close call, Matsuyama was able to close out the historic victory for one of the most popular Tour players among his peers.
Not only is the US Masters Tournament a very popular television event, but with the increase in sports wagering activity, it has also gained interest in the gambling world. As a major tournament, the Golf Odds for the Masters are posted very early, often immediately following the conclusion of the prior year’s event.
The US Masters is traditionally held on the second weekend in April, with the 2022 event taking place April 7-10, the 2023 U.S. Masters played April 3-9, and the tournament will be on April 8-14 in 2024. Those dates allow the Augusta National Golf Club to play in a way that maximizes the challenge to players and generally showcases the beautiful foliage, especially the famed azaleas.
The first Golf Odds that a bettor will find are futures, primarily those for an individual player winning the event. These odds are mostly the only Golf Odds available until the US Masters actual date approaches and the field is finalized.
Other wagers are also available, depending on the sportsbook, such as whether a player will finish in the top five, the top ten, or make the cut. There are also head-to-head matchups on which to place wagers, normally pairing top players against each other even if they aren’t actually playing in the same group on the golf course.
Prop bets show up on a number of online sites and in retail sportsbooks, such as who among prior winners will finish in the highest position or which continent the winner is from. Round by round low scores, over/under wagers on that the leader will have at the conclusion of each round and even what the winning player will shoot for the tournament.
