After a great start to the 2026 season, we’ve reached the first major championship of the year as the PGA TOUR Heads to Augusta National for the 2026 Masters Tournament. It’s one of the best weeks of the year for golf fans, and this year’s tournament is wide open with plenty of storylines to monitor. The 91 players in the field will tee off on Thursday after Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hit the ceremonial tee shots off the first tee in one of the many Masters traditions. The first two players tee off at 7:40 a.m. ET as John Keefer and Haotong Li play as a duo before 15 groups of three. Sam Stevens and Sungjae Im are the other twosome at 11:03 a.m. ET before 14 more groups of three. All 91 players will start from hole No. 1 and play the course in order. Let’s take a look at the wide variety of markets available on DraftKings Sportsbook and pinpoint some of my best bets for Round 1 of the Masters.
The weather this week is fairly favorable for most of the week. It has been dry overall in the area, which should make fairways and greens fast and bouncy. There’s also some wind in the forecast for Thursday, with the gusts increasing later in the day. The course may be slightly more favorable early in the day, but scoring should be fairly consistent throughout Round 1.
In this post, we’ll focus on my three best bets for Round 1 of the Masters on Thursday, April 9. Let’s tee it up!
Matt McCarty under 72.5 (+106)
McCarty gets the boost from being a lefty at Augusta National, which has historically led to slightly less difficult routing and shot-shaping. The 28-year-old made his Masters debut last year, and he was under par (under 71.5) in three of his four rounds on his way to a T14.
He started and finished the week last year with rounds of 71 and had a 68 on Friday as well. His only down round was in Round 3, when he had a three-over 75. He finished the week with 15 birdies, eight bogeys and two double-bogeys.
This year, the lefty started the year with a T2 at The American Express and posted three top-25 finishes in his first five events. He missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and the Valspar in March but bounced back with a T39 at the Valero Texas Open, including finishing under 72 in each of his last three rounds.
All he has to do to hit this prop is finish at even par or better. Since he’s in one of the first groups out, teeing off at 8:38 a.m. ET.
Bryson DeChambeau/Matt Fitzpatrick/Xander Schauffele – Total Number of Birdies or Better Round 1 – o13.5 (+140)
In one of the marquee groups in the morning Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Xander Schauffele tee off at 10:07 a.m. ET. This threesome brings plenty of potential to go low, and this prop offers strong plus-money odds for them combining for at least 14 Birdies or Better.
All three come in with good form and the potential to catch fire. DeChambeau has won each of his last two events in LIV Golf, while Fitzpatrick won the Valspar Championship in his last start after finishing runner-up at THE PLAYERS. Schauffele hasn’t won since last fall at the Baycurrent Classic, but he has three top-10 finishes in his last four events, all of which were on difficult courses like this one.
In his last start, Bryson racked up 27 total Birdies or Better in South Africa, plus one in the playoff to defeat Jon Rahm. He won the week before in Singapore in a playoff as well, totaling 23 Birdies or Better. Fitzpatrick had 15 Birdies or Better at Copperhead after an even more impressive 24 Birdies or Better at TPC Sawgrass. Schauffele also had 15 Birdies or Better at the Valspar after 19 Birdies or Better at THE PLAYERS. In their eight rounds in their last two events, the three players have averaged a total of 15.4 birdies or better per round. Some of those rounds were on easier courses, but those numbers show the number is reachable for this group.
Last year at Augusta, Schauffele had 15 birdies, DeChambeau had 21 birdies, and Fitzpatrick had 12 birdies and an eagle. The threesome averaged 12.3 birdies or better per round last year, and since they come in with much better form this year, they have a good chance to get started even faster this year. Last year, DeChambeau had seven birdies in Round 1 alone, Xander had five, and Fitzpatrick had three, meaning they combined for 15 birdies or better.
While any one of the three could carry most of the work if he stays hot, the other two should have meaningful contributions as well, giving this plus-money prop multiple paths to victory. I further highlighted Fitzpatrick in my top cash game plays for the week, and included Bryson in one of the legs of my SGP:
Jason Day (+102) Over Sam Burns
Jason Day tees off next to Dustin Johnson and Shane Lowry at 9:43 a.m. ET while Burns is playing with Cameron Smith and Jake Knapp, two groups ahead of Day. Whether you love or hate Day’s fashion choices (including the bird shirt highlighted above), his previous play at Augusta is strong enough to earn him plenty of attention.
Burns has struggled at Augusta, missing the cut twice and finishing T29 in 2023 and T46 last year in his two made cuts. He has been over par in five of his last six rounds at Augusta. This season, Burns finished T13 at THE PLAYERS and T21 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open after missing the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Genesis Invitational.
Day has a much stronger course history at Augusta with 11 made cuts in 13 events, including eight top-25 finishes. He finished T8 last year for his fifth career top-10 finish. His best finish was a runner-up back in 2011, and he also won a major at the PGA Championship in 2015, while Burns has only two career top-10 finishes in the 22 majors that he has played.
Day’s form this season has been a little uneven, with a couple of missed cuts alongside Burns at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Genesis Invitational before bouncing back with a T59 at THE PLAYERS and a T6 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Both players can be boom-or-bust in their style of play, but since Day has been so much better at Augusta, where course history is so predictive, I’ll take him to win this head-to-head matchup for Round 1.
