One of the most popular and prestigious events in all of sports will get underway this Thursday when 94 of the top golfers in the world begin their quest for a Masters Championship at the fabled Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia.
Over four rounds of play, with the final round set for Sunday, veteran players such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be looking to add another Green Jacket to their collection while the up and coming studs in the world of golf, such as Rory Mcilroy, will be seeking their first. These three superstars of the game are the top three favorites on Bovada’s futures odds board with Woods sitting at 3/1, McIlroy at 8/1 and Mickelson at 10/1 to best a very talented field.
When it comes to wagering on this event, you must always keep in mind that the betting public plays a huge part in how the odds are set. Current form and past performance in previous Masters and Majors in general are important factors, but the perception of which player the bettors think will win is just as important. This tends to sap much of the value out of the odds for the favorites. If you are looking for value when wagering on the Masters the best place to look is in any number of prop bets that are available along with the straight-up odds to win.
Just concentrating on the top three favorites, you would have to risk $175 on the money line to make $100 betting that Woods finishes in the top five. However, you can make $1000 if you bet $100 that he does not even make the cut. There is not a tremendous amount of value in either of these bets. Now, if you bet $100 that McIlroy finishes in the top five the return would be $162. Even better is the return on Mickelson finishing in the top five with a $225 payout on a $100 bet.
Another prop with value are bets on the top overall finisher from a particular country. While Woods is the prohibitive favorite at 7/4 to finish as the top American, you can get Jason Day at +162 on the money line as the top Australian or Justin Rose at +175 as the top Englishman. Day’s odds to win this event are fairly long at 50/1 but Rose is actually the fourth overall favorite to win at 20/1.
In an overall field that is this talented, a hole-in-one during one of the four rounds of competitive play is not a major stretch. So much so, that it will cost you $120 either way (yes or no) that someone cards one this week.