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Over the last seven years, Masters winners have been evenly split between favorites and longshots at Augusta National. Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler won the last two green jackets and both below 20-1. However, in 2021, Hideki Matsuyama won as a 46-1 longshot, which marked the third time in a five-year stretch that a golfer with odds of 30-1 or higher won the green jacket. Patrick Reed won the Masters at 50-1 odds in 2018 and Sergio Garcia won at 30-1 the year before. The Masters favorites naturally generate the majority of the bets for major tournaments such as the 2024 Masters, but is there an intriguing longshot to use in your 2024 Masters picks when the 88th Masters tees off Thursday?
Scottie Scheffler is the 13-4 favorite in the latest 2024 Masters odds, which would make him the largest favorite entering the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2013. Scheffler has won two tournaments in March and is the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. Rory McIlroy follows at 10-1, with Brooks Koepka at 11-1 and defending champion Jon Rahm at 12-1 2024 Masters odds to win. Before locking in any 2024 Masters picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.
Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He’s had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets as well as betting head-to-head matchups. He’s been profitable with his head-to-head matchups since last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge, going 35-21-2 and returning 10.00 units. That’s a $1,000 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.
Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted “The Early Wedge,” and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.
Now, Nejad has focused his attention on the 2024 Masters field and has locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.
Top 2024 Masters expert picks
One surprise: Nejad is completely fading Rory McIlroy, even though he’s a four-time major champion and one of the top favorites in the 2024 Masters odds. McIlroy is 0-for-14 at the Masters, which remains the lone major the 34-year-old has failed to win. Last year was a new low for McIlroy, who missed the cut at the Masters for just the second time at Augusta National. But McIlroy has struggled to make the cut line more than you would expect for someone with the second-lowest odds in the 2024 Masters field, missing the cut six times in majors since 2016.
McIlroy has 10-1 odds to win the 2024 Masters as the second-favorite behind Scheffler. Nejad doesn’t see value in including McIlroy in 2024 Masters bets at those odds since McIlroy has failed to win any of his last 32 major tournaments. McIlroy dominated majors in 2014 with winning the PGA Championship and Open Championship, but he hasn’t won a major tournament since.
Instead, Nejad is high on the chances of Hideki Matsuyama, even though he’s a +2000 longshot. Matsuyama has finished seventh or better in three of his last four tournaments, including winning the 2024 Genesis Invitational. The 32-year-old shot a round of 66 at the Valero Texas Open last weekend to help him climb into the top 10 of the leaderboard. He had four rounds of 69 or better at the Players Championship in his last tournament before the Valero Texas Open. He’s third in the FedEx Cup standings to begin the 2024 PGA Tour season.
Matsuyama is 11th in total strokes gained this season and his scrambling has provided a lift to get out of potential danger this year. He ranks 17th on the PGA Tour in scrambling, including 10th scrambling from the rough. Augusta National is one of the toughest courses in the country, so Matsuyama may need to get himself out of challenging spots at times. He shocked the world by winning the 2021 Masters at 46-1 odds and also became the first golfer born in Japan to win a major title. Matsuyama enters the 2024 Masters playing some of his best golf over the last two months Nejad sees value in using Matsuyama in 2024 Masters bets. See who else to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Masters picks
Nejad has locked in his early best bets for the 2024 Masters and is backing several longshots, including one priced at more than 150-1. This player “has been playing well in 2024 and has a decent track record at the Masters.” You can see Nejad’s PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine.
So, which players should you target or avoid for the 2024 Masters, and which player in the Masters 2024 field could bring a huge payday at more than 150-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad’s top picks for the 2024 Masters, all from the expert who is 35-21 on golf head-to-head picks.
2024 Masters odds, field
See Nejad’s picks, best bets and predictions here
Scottie Scheffler +325
Rory McIlroy +1000
Brooks Koepka +1100
Jon Rahm +1200
Wyndham Clark +1500
Xander Schauffele +1800
Will Zalatoris +2000
Hideki Matsuyama +2000
Jordan Spieth +2000
Viktor Hovland +2200
Ludvig Aberg +2500
Joaquin Niemann +2500
Cameron Smith +2800
Justin Thomas +2800
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Collin Morikawa +3000
Dustin Johnson +3300
Tony Finau +3500
Bryson DeChambeau +3500
Brian Harman +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Max Homa +4000
Cameron Young +4000
Jason Day +4000
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000
Min Woo Lee +5000
Sam Burns +5000
Sahith Theegala +5000
Tommy Fleetwood +5500
Sergio Garcio +6000
Tyrrell Hatton +6000
Byeong-hun An +6500
Chris Kirk +7000
Tom Kim +7000
Russell Henley +7000
Patrick Reed +7000
Rickie Fowler +7500
Akshay Bhatia +7500
Corey Conners +7500
Sungjae Im +7500
Si Woo Kim +8000
Denny McCarthy +9000
Adam Scott +9000
Justin Rose +9000
Phil Mickelson +10000
Tiger Woods +10000
Stephen Jaeger +12500
Sepp Straka +12500
Nick Taylor +12500
Erik Van Rooyen +15000
Eric Cole +15000
Adrian Meronk +15000
Jake Knapp +15000
Keegan Bradley +15000
Matthieu Pavon +15000
Nicolai Hojgaard +15000
J.T. Poston +15000
Emiliano Grillo +15000
Harris English +15000
Thorbjörn Olesen +17500
Lucas Glover +17500
Luke List +17500
Adam Hadwin +17500
Taylor Moore +20000
Ryan Fox +20000
Kurt Kitayama +20000
Bubba Watson +20000
Nick Dunlap +20000
Peter Malnati +20000
Cam Davis +20000
Austin Eckroat +22500
Ryo Hisatsune +25000
Lee Hodges +27500
Adan Schenk +30000
Danny Willett +35000
Charl Schwartzel +35000
Gary Woodland +50000
Grayson Murray +50000
Camilo Villegas +50000
Zach Johnson +75000
Christo Lamprecht +75000
Fred Couples +100000
Mike Weir +100000
Neal Shipley +150000
Vijay Singh +150000
Stewart Hagestad +150000
Jasper Stubbs +200000
Jose Maria Olazabal +200000
Santiago de la Fuente +250000
