Preview

Starts: 11^th April 2024
Course: Augusta National, USA
Par: 72
Length: 7,545 yards
2023 Champion: Jon Rahm

The Masters Picks 2024

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Masters 2024 Course Info

Designer: Alister MacKenzie
Used Since: 1934
Fairways: Bentgrass
Rough: Bentgrass
Greens: Bentgrass
Water Hazards: On five holes
Par 5's: 2nd, 8th, 13th, 15th
Premium on: Approach play

2024 Masters Essential Info

Augusta National is the annual host of The Masters tournament. It was originally designed by Alister MacKenzie but underwent a lengthening process in the early 2000's under the guidance of Tom Fazio. Augusta is a long course, made somewhat longer because the roll on the fairway is minimised due to the grass being cut into the player.

A player comfortable hitting a draw off the tee (or a fade for a left hander) is favoured given it offers a big advantage on holes 2, 10, 13 and 14. Augusta has severe greens, being extremely contoured and lightning fast. The conditions in 2020 were somewhat different to a normal Masters so treat those results with caution.

2024 Masters Trends

Winning Score
The last sixteen Masters tournaments have seen winning scores range from -5 to -20. However, only two of these years have seen a score better than -16.

Correlating Courses
Riviera CC, home of the Genesis Invitational, correlates nicely with Augusta.

Event Form
Ten of the last fifteen winners had posted a top 10 at Augusta prior to winning. Course form is essential.

Recent Form
Counts for a lot at the Masters, 12 of the past 15 champions had recorded a top 30 finish in their two events prior to winning. Jon Rahm bucked this trend last year with a 31st place finish in his final start before the Masters.

Nationality
Americans have won eight of the past 15 but we've seen a range of nationalities succeed.

Age
Fourteen of the last fifteen winners were under the age of 40. The exception? Tiger Woods in 2019.

Defending Champion
In the past thirteen years, only four defending champions (Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott) have posted a top 25 finish. Spieth and Scheffler the only players to have posted a top 10 when defending champion in the past thirteen years.

Major Virgins
Nine of the past fifteen players to don the Green Jacket were claiming their first Major. However, it's not an event to record your first ever win in America. Only two of the past fifteen champions did not have a previous PGA Tour/Major win.

Masters Exposure
Only two players in the last 44 years have won the Masters having not played at Augusta on the weekend the previous year. They were Patrick Reed in 2018 and Tiger Woods in 1997, two players who are pretty well versed in dealing with pressure situations. It's definitely preferential to back someone who has recent experience of a weekend at The Masters.

Debutants
"I can't think of another course in the world that the more you play, the more you learn." Jim Furyk
No Masters debutant has donned the green jacket since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Experience counts for a lot round Augusta. However, debutants can contend, particularly if they are a special talent. Jason Day and Jordan Spieth have both gone on to be World Number 1, and both finished 2nd on their Augusta debuts. Will Zalatoris finished 2nd in 2021 on his debut.

World Ranking
Fourteen of the past 15 champions have ranked inside the top 30 at the time of winning. Don't look too far down the rankings for a winner but bear in mind a number of LIV Golf players are now outside the top 30 in the world rankings when they really should be well inside the top 30.

The Masters 2024 Trends Shortlist

Using the information above, we have taken into account the three most relevant trends to establish a shortlist of potential winners and make golf picks. Masters trends used were:

✅ Played the weekend at the 2023 Masters
✅ Under age of 40
✅ Previous PGA Tour win
✅ Top 30 finish in last two starts
✅ Top 10 finish at The Masters previously

Scottie Scheffler
Jon Rahm
Brooks Koepka
Xander Schauffele
Jordan Spieth
Hideki Matsuyama
Cameron Smith
Dustin Johnson
Matt Fitzpatrick
Tony Finau
Shane Lowry
Sahith Theegala
Patrick Reed
Russell Henley

2024 Msters Tournament Stats Analysis

For many years there were no Strokes Gained stats available from The Masters but we have had access to Strokes Gained stats in recent years.

SG: Off The Tee
Jon Rahm was 2nd in 2023 and Scottie Scheffler ranked 9th in 2022.

Driving Distance
The last eight winners have ranked 9-8-6-44-6-6-32-52 (most recent first).

Driving Accuracy
Tiger Woods in 2019 was the only player to rank outside the top 30 for Driving Accuracy in the last eight years.

SG: Approach
Data from 15^th Club (15thclub.com) indicates that winners here have excellent SG: Approach stats. Rankings of winners from 2019 to 2015 were 1-3-2-1-1. Data from the past two years tells us that the winners, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, both ranked 6th in this metric.

Greens In Regulation
Only Dustin Johnson (13th) and Patrick Reed (21st) have finished outside the top 10 for Greens In Regulation in the past eight years.

Putts per GIR
Every winner in the last six years has ranked inside the top 20.

SG: Putting
Jon Rahm ranked 22nd in this category in 2023 and Scottie Scheffler ranked 13th for SG: Putting at the 2022 Masters.

2024 Masters In-Play Advice

Tough Holes
The 11th is usually the hardest hole on the course. The 18th and 5th often cause problems too.

Birdie Holes
The four par 5s score the four easiest every year and it is vital to make a score on these holes.

Closing Stretch
The 17th and 18th were 8th and 2nd hardest at Augusta National last year.

Fast or Slow Start
Augusta is not a course to play catch up so a good start is vital. Every winner in the past 12 years has been inside the top 11 after round one. The position of the last 12 winners after round 1 was: 1-2-1-11-4-4-9-1-2-10-4-7 (most recent first).

The last 33 winners have been inside the top 5 going into the final round. Even then, if you are more than 2 shots back it's going to be an uphill struggle as 23 of the last 26 winners have been within 2 going into the final round. Twenty nine of the last 32 winners have played in the final group on Sunday.

Will The Weather Be A Factor at The Masters 2024?

Heavy rain will fall on Thursday but the rest of the tournament looks to be dry. The first two rounds are expected to be breezy, with winds in excess of 15mph forecast.

Previous Masters Tips & Blogs

You can access our historical Masters tips, previews and in-play blogs using the links below:

2023 Masters Picks and Preview

2022 Masters Picks and Preview

2021 Masters Picks and Preview

2020 Masters Picks and Preview

2024 Masters Picks

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In-play

The Masters 2024 In-Play Picks & Blog

14 April 2024, 11.15am (UK time)

Player	Total
Scheffler	-7
Morikawa	-6
Homa	-5
Aberg	-4
DeChambeau	-3
Three Players Tied	-2

2024 The Masters Round 3 Conditions

The wind eased from Friday but still blew enough to cause the players problems. The greens became faster as the course began to firm up.

2024 The Masters Round 4 Weather Bias?

No bias expected as the course should play firm for everyone today and much less wind forecast, reaching a max of 8mph.

Round 3 Outright Market Summary

Scottie Scheffler has shortened to 10/11 favourite after recovering from falling three shots behind at one point yesterday. It was an up and down round, much different to the first two days, but he showed why he is world number one in a different way, battling back from setbacks like a champion. Scheffler not only holds the advantage of a one shot lead, he is the only man on the leaderboard with a previous green jacket, but he does now have a two time major winner tucked in behind him.

We advised Morikawa to subscribers yesterday at 14/1 so it was nice to see him play his way into the final group today and is a best price of 7/2 now. The worry now is that he suffers from contention rust, having not challenged for a win all year, but it was only last October he won the Zozo Championship with a final round 63 from two shots back. He's had the 'old Morikawa' look about him the last couple of days and if someone is going to stop Scheffler it will likely be him.

Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg are both trying to win their first major and this will be a new experience for them. They have both showed no fear winning regular events but this will be a different type of pressure and we couldn't back them at single figure odds currently.

Further back, DeChambeau has to pick himself up from a poor round and it's Xander Schauffele who has some momentum after climbing the leaderboard each day. Chasing may well just suit him and should the leaders falter he looks a nice price at 30/1.

Eye Catching Niche Market Prices - The Masters

Tiger Woods over 73.5 - 1.86 @ Betfair Exchange - As has been the case with Tiger in most revent events, he is beginning to tire and it's a big ask for him to keep up over four rounds. A third round 82 in easier conditions and with the course only set to get firmer, we can't see him hitting 73 shots or less here.

The Masters In-Play Picks - Round 4 Bets

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13 April 2024, 5.15am (UK time)

Player	Total
DeChambeau	-6
Scheffler	-6
Homa	-6
Hojgaard	-4
Davis	-3
Morikawa	-3
Aberg	-2

2024 The Masters Round 2 Conditions

Strong winds made scoring extremely difficult and the lead is now a shot worse than it was after the opening eighteen holes.

2024 The Masters Round 3 Weather Bias?

Conditions will be dry and significantly less windy than round two. However, a consistent wind of 8-12mph will blow throughout the day, with gusts expected to be stronger.

Round 3 Outright Market Summary

Scottie Scheffler remains favourite at a general 5/4 following a round of 72. Aside from a visit to Rae's Creek on the 13th hole, the world number one looked comfortable throughout and he is very much the man to beat.

Scheffler leads the tee to green stats through the opening two rounds but co-leaders, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa, are also striking the ball nicely and shouldn't be dismissed given their winning pedigree.

The past five Masters champions have all been inside the top six at halfway and with the quality of the front three, it would appear that this could be a three horse race. Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg are capable of hunting down those at the top of the leaderboard but will need something special on moving day given 23 of the last 26 winners have been within two shots of the lead going into the final round.

Eye Catching Niche Market Prices - The Masters

Rory McIlroy (+2.5 shots handicap) v Camillo Villegas - 2 ball handicap @ Bet365
McIlroy struggled yesterday in the strong winds but is expected to bounce back in calmer conditions today and post a score to see him move up the leaderboard. He's paired with Villegas in round three who has been having problems with his back all week and stated in his post round press conference that "the back is not great, which sucks." The Colombian has a miserable record at Augusta generally and McIlroy is expected to overcome the three shot handicap.

The Masters In-Play Picks - Round 3 Bets

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12 April 2024, 10.15am (UK time)

Player	Total
DeChambeau	-7
Scheffler	-6
Hojgaard	-5
Willett	-4
Homa	-4
Three Players Tied	-3

2024 The Masters Round 1 Conditions

The course played soft after all the overnight rain but gusty winds caused the players some trouble.

2024 The Masters Round 2 Weather Bias?

With round one yet to be complete and the wind set to blow today, it looks a favourable draw for Scheffler and DeChambeau given they will play a large chunk of their round on Saturday in calmer conditions.

Round 2 Outright Market Summary

Scheffler has shortened to 6/4 favourite after a convincing performance where he had an average day on the greens and still made seven birdies. With incoming form figures of 1-1-2 and no sign of any weakness in his game in recent weeks, it would take a brave person to back against him now. DeChambeau is a respectable opponent but he had a dream day on the greens yesterday and scrambled well all day, the worry is if he can keep that up and we expect his scoring to drop as the course firms up. Overall our advice is to not get further involved in the outright market until we see what Scheffler does in round two.

Eye Catching Niche Market Prices - The Masters

Stephen Jaeger to beat Rickie Fowler - Round 2 Matchbet 17/20 @ VirginBet/LivescoreBet
Fowler was really poor yesterday and has been most of the year, whilst Jaeger did well in his first ever round at Augusta and should improve on his two over par round today. Jaeger won this match up by two yesterday despite Fowler putting much better than him.

The Masters In-Play Picks - Round 2 Bets

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