The Masters 2019 Golf Betting Preview
The Masters is many golf fans’ idea of heaven. It’s the combination of history and pageantry with world-class sporting drama that makes this a golf tournament like no other and always attracts a huge amount of betting action with the online bookmakers.
Although the Masters is still the first men’s major championship of the year the golfing season has built up more of a head of steam than usual as the world’s best players head to Augusta National.
The PGA Tour made some significant changes to the schedule for the 2018/19 season. One of the biggest was moving the Players Championship from May to March. The Players is viewed as the fifth major and always has the strongest field of the year so the performances of Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and most notably Rory McIlroy in that massive event very much whet the appetite for the Masters.
McIlroy a Worthy Favourite
It’s been too long since Rory McIlroy got his hands on a major championship. The former world number one has had some problems with his game since winning the 2014 PGA Championship but heads into the Masters on the back of arguably the best golf of his career.
McIlroy has always been one of the very best drivers in the game of golf. Nothing has changed in that regard as he ranks first on the PGA Tour this season for strokes gained off the tee. Where he’s really improved this season is from 150 yards and in.
For a player who puts himself in such great positions so often, McIlroy doesn’t take advantage as often as he should. He has worked very hard to sharpen up his sometimes sloppy wedge play and is also much more confident with his putting than he has been for a long time.
Approach play (for which McIlroy ranks 12th in strokes gained on the PGA Tour) and putting are both vital at Augusta National. His improvement in these areas give his chances a real boost as does the heavy rain in the forecast for much of the Masters week. He made the most of a damper than usual TPC Sawgrass to win the Players Championship and may well do the same at Augusta National.
The only downside to backing McIlroy for the Masters is his price. The biggest odds you’ll get are the 7/1 that Ladbrokes are quoting. Clearly that’s short given the quality of his opposition, but you just get the feeling that McIlroy is approaching the best and when that happens on a damp course it’s difficult for anyone to stick with him, so he does look a worthy favourite.
Each Way Betting Makes Perfect Sense for the Masters
McIlroy is joined at the top of the bookies’ betting markets with some huge names. Any of them has the class to win the Masters but the last 10 years have seen several shock winners at Augusta. Charl Scwhartzel (90/1 in 2011), Bubba Watson (55/1 in 2012) and Danny Willett (66/1 in 2016) all won against the odds with other long shots finishing among the places.
For that reason, it makes perfect sense to have a couple of each way bets for the Masters with Louis Oosthuizen (40/1 with bet365) and Paul Casey (28/1 with BetVictor) fitting the bill nicely. Both men have had their injury problems over the years which still require careful management, but they’ve each played some very good golf this season.
Oosthuizen and Casey also have very good records at Augusta with a host of top 20 finishes between them. Although not up there with the biggest hitters in the game, they both have ample power to cope with even very wet conditions, they’re both excellent iron players and can each putt the lights out on their day so may well be right in contention come Sunday.
Betting Tips
Rory McIlroy to win at 7/1 with Ladbrokes
Louis Oosthuizen each way at 40/1 with bet365
We hope you have found our The Masters 2019 Golf Betting Preview interesting and helpful when it comes to picking your bet selections and taking on the online bookies. There certainly is plenty of potential betting value with some great bet odds offered by the bookmakers, but you can take this further by using the bookies free bets and betting offers to get even more value. All the best free bets are reviewed like the BlackType £10 free bet and £100 Betfair betting offer so make sure you grab some bookmakers offers to make your betting go further. If you are reading this in Ireland though you would probably want to see your betting offers in Euros so there is also a section to find the best free bets in Ireland so hopefully as many people as possible will be catered for. Good luck.