Bryson DeChambeau has the best odds to win the Masters.
Ninety-five other players might have better ones.
Since the PGA Tour returned from its coronavirus hiatus in mid-March, 23 tournaments have been played. Twenty-one have been won by someone other than the betting favorite, according to the odds from golfodds.com. Twenty-two if you drop the Tour Championship, where favorite Dustin Johnson entered with a two-shot lead.
‘Dogs have had more than just a day.
Eight of the tournaments have been won by a player with odds of 50-1 or higher. Jim Herman, at the Wyndham Championship, had the worst starting odds of a winner, at 600-1. Four players – Stewart Cink at the Safeway Open, Hudson Swafford at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Martin Laird at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and Brian Gay at the Bermuda Championship – all were listed at 200-1.
Of course, there was the other player who started as a favorite and won. Or, the only one, if you do exclude the Tour Championship.
DeChambeau, at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Should you be searching for a sleeper, look no further.
As the Masters begins Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., 12 members of our staff have picked a player who is receiving +12,500 odds or higher to win on the Chirp Golf app, which is available in the App Store and at Google Play. This is the same group who has been making picks since the PGA Tour restarted in mid-June, and the Masters selections can be found here. (Should the sleeper pick win, it will count toward that game.)
The picks (in order of odds)
Jonathan Wall
Sleeper pick: Marc Leishman, +15,000. I’m getting a guy who’s finished fourth and ninth at Augusta in the past six years at +15,000?! I’ll take that any day.
Sean Zak
Sleeper pick: Marc Leishman, +15,000. The guy has a lot of good experience here. Why not?
James Colgan
Sleeper pick: Francesco Molinari, +17,500. It’s easy to forget that, if not for his implosion on the 12th hole in 2019, we might be talking about Molinari as the defending champion. Sure, a lot’s happened since then, but for a player with long odds, I’ll roll the dice with Frankie.
Dylan Dethier
Sleeper pick: Francesco Molinari, +17,500. Remember when this dude almost won the Masters — last year? He may not have figured everything out in his half-year away from the game, but he might have figured out just enough to conjure up some Masters magic again.
Nick Piastowski
Sleeper pick: Francesco Molinari, +17,500. Redemption.
Josh Sens
Sleeper pick: Francesco Molinari, +17,500. Why is the man who played in the final group with Tiger last year regarded as a longer long shot than Brandt Snedeker, Matt Wallace, Bernd Wiesberger and Christian Bezuidenhout, among others? Good question. I have no good answer for it. Hence this wager.
Alan Bastable
Sleeper pick: Corey Conners, +20,000. Supreme ball striker, finished 12th on Tour in 2019-20 in SG: Approach. And everyone knows at Augusta, you gotta hit greens.
Andrew Tursky
Sleeper pick: Kevin Na, +20,000. While he’s at a bit of a distance disadvantage on the long Augusta setup, Na is an absolute gamer who finds a way to get the ball in the hole and win events. He’s never cracked the top-10 in the Masters, but he has finished T12 twice (2012 and 2015).
Jessica Marksbury
Sleeper pick: Charl Schwartzel, +20,000. Love those odds for a former champ.
Tim Reilly
Sleeper pick: Brendon Todd, +20,000. This is Todd’s first appearance at Augusta since becoming one of the most consistent players on Tour. I’m not saying I’m 100 percent confident in Todd making a run this week, but I would take a flier at those odds on a steady performer who proved he can compete in majors with a Top 25 finish at Winged Foot.
Josh Berhow
Sleeper pick: Justin Harding, +35,000. Had to scroll way down the list to find Mr. Harding, who had golf fans everywhere Googling his name last year when he was in the mix and ultimately finished T12. He’s had an up-and-down season making the majority of his starts on the European Tour, but he made the most of his first Masters start, and we’re about to see if last year was a fluke or not.
Zephyr Melton
Sleeper pick: Mike Weir, +100,000. You wanted a sleeper, and this might be as long shot as they come. He recently said he’s feeling the “best he’s felt in a long time,” and plus, it’s 2020 – let’s get Weir(d).
