The Masters isn’t until April of next year, but sportsbooks were ready to take golf fans’ futures bets on who will win the big major at Augusta National in the spring when it was announced this week that qualifying LIV Golfers will be invited to the event.
With big names from the rival circuits going toe-to-toe, who is projected to come out on top? And are any of the possible LIV invitees projected to be in the running for the green jacket on Sunday?
No surprise here, but DraftKings — and pretty much every major sportsbook — is projecting Rory McIlroy to win it all on April 9. The Irishman and World No. 1 is listed as the 9-1 favorite at DK, with fellow PGA golfers Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Justin Thomas listed next at 12-1.
The LIV Golfer with the best odds is — also, not surprisingly — Cam Smith, who is also listed at 12-1. The Australian still holds the No. 3 spot on the OWGR despite defecting to the Saudi Arabia-funded league following last season’s FedEx Cup playoffs. He is also still considered one of the biggest losses for the PGA tour since players started leaving for LIV Golf.
Dustin Johnson is the next LIV Golf defector to be listed high at DK at 16-1 odds, while the next golfer from the rogue circuit to be listed is Brooks Koepka, who is currently a 25-1 longshot.
But perhaps there is no LIV Golf defector that fans are interested to see back at Augusta more than Phil Mickelson, who won three Masters titles during his long tenure on the PGA Tour. Lefty is currently listed as a 130-1 longshot.
While odds will ebb and flow in the coming months, there is no denying the anticipation for this year’s Masters is at an all-time high. We’ll just have to wait and see what other storylines unfold ahead of the first tee times on April 6.
