Masters betting: Scottie Scheffler is the overwhelming favorite to win his second green jacket

Would you take Scottie Scheffler or the field at the Masters?

The No. 1 golfer in the world is the big favorite ahead of the first golf major of the season. Scheffler is +400 to win his second green jacket. No other golfer has odds better than +1100 at BetMGM.

Scheffler hasn’t finished lower than second in his last three starts and hasn’t finished outside the top 20 this year. Scheffler’s worst finish in 2024 is a tie for 17th at the American Express in January.

He got his first win of the season at Bay Hill in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then won The Players a week later after Wyndham Clark’s putt to force a playoff somehow didn’t go in the hole. Scheffler could easily be on a three-tournament win streak entering the Masters, but he missed a putt to force a playoff on March 31 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and finished in a tie for second.

Scheffler is the top-ranked golfer in the world, according to Data Golf, and it’s not even close. Scheffler is the best second-shot golfer on tour and is also excellent around the greens.

Why isn’t Scheffler unbeatable? His putting is the easy answer. It’s improving, however. Scheffler made the switch to a mallet style putter earlier in the year and has gained strokes putting in five of his past six tournaments. Not coincidentally, he hasn’t finished lower than sixth in those five starts. In the one start where he lost strokes on the green — the Genesis Invitational — Scheffler still finished in a tie for 10th.

Per DataGolf’s probability model, Scheffler has almost a 15% chance to win the Masters. And the No. 2 favorite at both DataGolf and BetMGM is Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy is +1100 to win his first Masters after he finished third at the Valero Texas Open this past weekend. McIlroy has been open about recent work with renowned swing coach Butch Harmon in an attempt to tighten his game. McIlroy gained nearly two shots on the field on approach in San Antonio. That’s the most shots he’s gained in that category in the (limited) history of the site’s rankings.

Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm is the No. 3 favorite at +1200 in his first major tournament since defecting to LIV after the 2023 PGA Tour season. Rahm, last year’s runner-up Brooks Koepka (+2000) and Joaquin Niemann (+2800) are the three LIV golfers ranked among the top 10 favorites ahead of the tournament.

Xander Schauffele is the top-ranked golfer on the board and is looking for his first major title. Schauffele has been very consistent so far in 2024, though his play Sunday at The Players wasn’t good enough to keep Scheffler at bay. The only other golfer in the top 10 who doesn’t have a major title is Swedish phenom Ludvig Aberg at +2800. If Aberg gets a handle on the tricky Augusta National greens, he should be near the top of the leaderboard Sunday.

We're also obligated to mention Tiger Woods' odds to win as he makes his second start of the season. Woods is a real long shot at +15000 as he looks to complete his first tournament of 2024. Woods had to withdraw from the Genesis in February because of flu-like symptoms and withdrew from the 2023 Masters because of a lingering ankle injury. Woods had surgery on that ankle in May.

2024 Masters favorites

• Scottie Scheffler (+400)

• Rory McIlroy (+1100)

• Jon Rahm (+1200)

• Xander Schauffele (+1400)

• Brooks Koepka (+2000)

• Hideki Matsuyama (+2000)

• Jordan Spieth (+2200)

• Joaquin Niemann (+2800)

• Ludvig Aberg (+2800)

• Wyndham Clark (+3000)

• Bryson DeChambeau (+3300)

• Matt Fitzpatrick (+3300)

• Viktor Hovland (+3300)

• Patrick Cantlay (+3500)

• Cam Smith (+4000)

• Dustin Johnson (+4000)

• Justin Thomas (+4000)

• Tony Finau (+4000)

• Will Zalatoris (+4000)

• Cameron Young (+4500)

• Sahith Theegala (+4500)

• Shane Lowry (+4500)

• Tommy Fleetwood (+4500)