PGA Betting – The 2012 Masters Predictions
Ahhh the Masters – finally. Every major is highly contested but it has been a very long time since a major was so anticipated.
US Masters Golf Odds 2012
The Masters and the Famous Green Jacket
Dates: April 2 – 8, 2012
Course – Location: Augusta National Golf Club Augusta, GA USA
Defending Champion: Charl Schwartzel
Signature Hole: 13th Hole: 510 yards, par 5
Purse: US$7,500,000
The Green Jacket and the most coveted prize in golf awaits the winner of the Masters and with a ton of players heading into Augusta playing very well it promises to be quite the weekend! Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson head the list of favorites with a large contingent looking to make a name for themselves on golf’s biggest stage.
The course is reportedly in remarkable shape and the greens are apparently as quick as ever for the field that tees off on Thursday. Enough of the preamble – let’s get to the picks for what should be a most memorable edition the legendary Masters.
The Favorites:
Tiger Woods 4/1
Many left Tiger for dead but an impressive win at Bay Hill has the sports world buzzing once again. Tiger knows this course better than anyone on the planet having won four Green Jackets and having had more success in history at Augusta of anyone other than Jack Nicklaus. At present he leads the PGA TOUR in the all-around and birdies or better on par 5s.
Tiger is healthy, he finally appears comfortable with his swing, his iron play has been consistent as any player on tour and yes, his putter is a difference maker once again. To show how much Tiger loves this course one need not look further than his results the last two years – 4th place finishes when he had apparently hit rock bottom!
Rory McIlroy 5/1
We haven’t heard from Rory the last month but the numbers don’t lie – top fives in 12 of his last 13 starts worldwide including a win at the Honda a month ago. Only a brutal 80 in the final round of last year’s tournament prevented him from claiming his first Green Jacket – something that simply won’t happen again. Rory is a Stud – plain and simple but his relative inactivity could be the difference this week.
Phil Mickelson 11/1
Phil has won this tournament twice and has nine top 5s in13 career appearances. He has won already this season on TOUR at Pebble Beach and is coming off a T4 last week in Houston. He ranks second on TOUR in Strokes Gained-Putting and is playing extremely well on all aspects of his game.
The Contenders:
Luke Donald 16/1
Donald is the number 1 player in the world for a reason and has had some success at Augusta – three top 10s in seven starts, including last year’s T4. His putter is a magic wand which should serve him very well at this event. Donald is quietly a serious contender this week.
Lee Westwood 16/1
Westwood had a 2nd place finish here in 2010 and finished T11 last year and has a knack of playing very well at majors – three top 5s in his last nine majors. He has two fourth place finishes already this season and would love to win his first major this week. A marginal chipping game is the one hole in his game and could be the difference this week.
Hunter Mahan 28/1
Mahan has looked brilliant at times and average at others. Last week he looked brilliant in his win at Houston. He has done well at Augusta as well – top 10s in 2009 and 2010.
Adam Scott 33/1
Scott has been somewhat disappointing but was second here last year finishing with a 67 on Saturday and a 67 on Sunday. Scott has the game but unfortunately doesn’t have any momentum going into this week.
Justin Rose 33/1
Rose won the WGC-Cadillac Championship four weeks ago, his first in a WGC and has yet to miss a cut in six starts at the Masters including four top 25s, and a T11 last year. He is 16th on TOUR in greens hit and seventh in the all-around – both attractive traits heading into Augusta.
Keegan Bradley 33/1
Is there any hotter and more consistent player on TOUR? He has top 25s in all nine of his starts this year, including top 10s in the last two. He has played in one major – a win at the PGA last year and is currently top 25 on TOUR in distance, greens and Strokes Gained-Putting. The only factor working against Bradley is the fact that this is his first start at the Biggest Tournament in golf.
Charl Schwartzel 33/1
Won the Masters last year but has missed the cut in his last two events. I like his game but not the way he is playing at the present time.
Bubba Watson 40/1
Bubba has played well this year but doesn’t have the greatest track record at Augusta – a T20 in his debut in 2008 being his best finish. So far this year Watson has top 20s in all of his seven starts with three top fives. He leads TOUR in both distance off the tee and greens hit – two stats that will serve him well this week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Jason Day 40/1
Has been quiet this year so far but has top 20 finishes in his last two starts on TOUR. He did shoot an incredible 64 here last year on his way to a T2 finish.
Steve Stricker 40/1
Won the season opener at Kapalua and has two top 10s in his last four starts. But Stricker has not fared well at Augusta – only two top 10s in 11 career starts.
The Sleepers:
Angel Cabrera 80/1
Loves this course as demonstrated by his win in 2009 and five top 10s in 12 career starts at Augusta. He finished seventh last year and has two top 25s in three starts this season on TOUR.
Johnson Wagner 125/1
Wagner is definitely coming into Augusta under the radar. He seems to be in every tournament he enters and is playing with a ton of confidence at the moment. Wagner is consistent and confident and could be the surprise of this week’s Masters
The Pick:
It is hard not to love Tiger Woods 4/1 this week. He will prove that he is indeed back with yet another win on his favorite course. Those betting against him are in denial – Woods is back to his dominant self – proof will be Sunday afternoon.
My sleeper pick is Johnson Wagner at an astounding 125/1. He is a battler and has been a fixture on leaderboards this season. Expect much of the same this week.
2012 Masters Betting Lines & Future Odds
| Tiger Woods | 4/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 11/2 |
| Phil Mickelson | 11/1 |
| Luke Donald | 16/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 20/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 22/1 |
| Justin Rose | 28/1 |
| Adam Scott | 28/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 28/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 40/1 |
| Jason Day | 40/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 50/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 40/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | |
| Nick Watney | 50/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 50/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 60/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 50/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 66/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 66/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 60/1 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 80/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 100/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 100/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 90/1 |
| Angel Cabrera | 90/1 |
| Bill Haas | 90/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 66/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 66/1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 80/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 100/1 |
| Kyle Stanley | 125/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 100/1 |
| Trevor Immelman | 100/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 90/1 |
| Paul Casey | 150/1 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 150/1 |
| Alvaro Quiros | 150/1 |
| Martin Laird | 150/1 |
| Sean O’Hair | 150/1 |
| Fred Couples | 150/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 125/1 |
| Y-E Yang | 150/1 |
| Robert Karlsson | 150/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 150/1 |
| Johnson Wagner | 125/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 175/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 175/1 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 200/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 200/1 |
| Peter Hanson | 175/1 |
| David Toms | 175/1 |
| John Senden | 175/1 |
| Sang-Moon Bae | 150/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 175/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 200/1 |
| Ben Crane | 200/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 150/1 |
| Jonathan Byrd | 250/1 |
| Mark Wilson | 200/1 |
| Ross Fisher | 250/1 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 200/1 |
| Kevin Na | 200/1 |
| Simon Dyson | 250/1 |
| Paul Lawrie | 250/1 |
| Lucas Glover | 250/1 |
| Kyung-Tae Kim | 300/1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 200/1 |
| Edoardo Molinari | 200/1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 300/1 |
| Stewart Cink | 300/1 |
| Jose Maria Olazabal | 400/1 |
| Darren Clarke | 400/1 |
| Anders Hansen | 300/1 |
| Tim Clark | 400/1 |
| Tom Watson | 500/1 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 500/1 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez | 400/1 |
| Harrison Frazar | 400/1 |
| Chez Reavie | 500/1 |
| Scott Verplank | 500/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 500/1 |
| Bernhard Langer | 500/1 |
| Mike Weir | 500/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 600/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 600/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 400/1 |
| Mark O’Meara | 750/1 |
| Kelly Kraft | 1000/1 |
| Bryden Macpherson | 1000/1 |
| Larry Mize | 1500/1 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 1000/1 |
| Craig Stadler | 1000/1 |
| Ian Woosnam | 2000/1 |
| Sandy Lyle | 2000/1 |
| Randal Lewis | 2000/1 |
| Corbin Mills | 1500/1 |
