The first major championship of the 2025 season is finally here as it’s officially Masters week. Augusta National Golf Club will of course be the host, and measures as a 7,555-yard par 72 with Bentgrass greens.
The Masters is unique in that it boasts smaller field than the other majors (96 golfers this year), while only the top 50 and ties make the 36-hole cut. Scottie Scheffler is the current betting favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook at +400, followed by Rory McIlroy at +650 and Jon Rahm at +1300.
Below I have outlined my two favorite bets for the week.
Robert Macintyre to win (+6000)
Macintyre has very quietly become one of the elite golfers on the PGA TOUR. He’s gotten himself all the way up to No. 17 in the world, and now has two wins to his name, after taking down both the Scottish Open and RBC Canadian Open last year. The big Scotsman is off to a terrific start in 2025 as well, posting four top-11 finishes across his past five starts, including a T9 at THE PLAYERS and T6 at the Waste Management.
He will return to Augusta for a third time, having finished T12 and T23 in his first two trips. Lefties like Macintyre always seem to have success at the Masters, e.g, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Mike Weir. Bobby Mac has the requisite skillset to handle Augusta as well, as he’s both very long and has elite touch around the greens.
Across his past 24 rounds in this field, Macintyre ranks 10th in SG: Ball-Striking, ninth in SG: Tee-to-Green and fifth in SG: Off-the-Tee. This is one of the stranger Masters that I can remember, as you can poke holes in many of the top players on the odds board right now, leaving the door firmly open for a surprise winner. At 60/1, Macintyre has already shown enough in other big time events/majors to warrant backing him this week.
Daniel Berger to win (+1100)
It almost never happens that a longshot wins this tournament, but as I mentioned above, this does not feel like a normal year. Scottie Scheffler has not looked right since his hand injury, nor has Xander Schauffele since he returned from his rib injury. Rory McIlroy of course has his Augusta demons, while guys like Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas have not been winning much lately. All this to say, I believe it’s quite possible someone from down the board takes this thing down this year.
Enter Berger, who does not really feel like a normal 110/1 selection. He missed the better part of 18 months with a back injury and is only now starting to find his groove. He’s looked like his vintage self so far in 2025, posting nine top-25 finishes dating back to the fall, including three top-10s in that stretch.
Berger’s Augusta history is also pretty solid, as he finished T10 in his debut back in 2016, before going T27, T32 across his next two trips. He really has no weakness in his game right now, as he ranks fifth in Total Strokes gained over his past 24 rounds, trailing only McIlroy, Scheffler, Russell Henley, Morikawa and Shane Lowry in that time frame.
It’s obviously a tall task for Berger to make his first win since 2020 a major championship, but that is already baked into the price here. He’s simply playing too well this season in all facets of the game to be sitting in this range.
