2025 Masters Golf Betting Preview & Tips – JP
2025 Masters Golf Betting Preview
James Punt tipped up Scotty Scheffler to win The Masters last year, find out who he is backing for glory this year in his 2025 Masters Golf betting preview.
2025 Masters Golf
The US Masters means that Spring has sprung, the golf season has started and it is time for another tilt at trying to pick the winner of the first major of the year.
As the only major played at the same venue each year, and with the smallest field of any of the majors (including a lot of no hope past winners), in theory it should be the one that is easiest to find the winner. But it rarely is. We got Scotty Scheffler last year, but at 5.50 it was hardly like finding a diamond in the rough.
The Course
A 7555 yard, par 72 course, with no real rough, but very undulating fairways and fiendishly quick greens. It puts a premium on accuracy, for knowing where to put the ball on the fairways and on the greens. Discretion is the better part of valour when playing Augusta. Better to be further away from the hole, but with an uphill putt. Better to lay up than attack the green with a long iron.
Experience of playing the course is a prerequisite, and ideally you want a player who has played it a lot. Patience is a virtue and that virtue can be rewarded at Augusta. The course will hurt you and players that can handle that and just move on to the next hole are better suited to the demands of the course.
Longer Track
The course has been lengthened over the years, first of all trying to ‘Tiger proof’ it, and more recently trying to stop the new breed of muscle men trying to blast the course into submission. We now have a 520 yard par 4 and all it does is to play to the strengths of the bombers.
Oh yes, and the grass is mown so that the knap of the grass is towards the tees, so that when the ball lands, it doesn’t roll out more than a few yards. The effect of this is to make the 7555 yards closer to 7900.
Needless to say, short hitters might as well not bother coming. As the course has grown longer and longer, the trend has been for big hitters to win the title. Not just long drivers, but high-flyers of the golf ball. Remember, the ball doesn’t run out much, so those that hit the ball high and long have the biggest advantage.
2025 Masters Golf Pointers
As with any tournament, being in good form is a must. There has been the odd winner who has turned up with not a lot of form to recommend them, but most have won earlier in the season or had a few high finishes.
Defending champions do not have a great record, with the last player to defend their title being, who else, Tiger Woods in 2002. Debutants also have a poor record. It has only been done three times and the last was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
It is said that mastering the par 5s around Augusta is where the scoring is done, but history shows that it is the players who play the par 4s well are the ones that rise up the leader board. The par 4s are tough. And it is as much about not getting bogeys as it is picking up birdies. Par 4 performance is important. Rory McIlroy has said that the key to playing Augusta is to play boring golf, and that is not his kind of mind set.
Weather Watch
The weather is not going to be great, but it is not going to be bad either. The practice round on Monday was cancelled due the heavy rain. That may mean the course plays longer, certainly in the early rounds, if the fairways remain soft. However, they have spent a lot of money on improving drainage over the years, and the greens have a sub-air system which sucks the water away to leave them firm and fast.
Showers are possible for the final three days after a dry and sunny Thursday. Friday looks almost certain to see some rain. Saturday sees a 50% chance of showers. The final day sees some morning showers and light rain for the afternoon.
However, the wind will be light for all four days and the temperatures in the low twenties, so all in all, very playable conditions, even if the umbrellas may be required at time.
2025 Masters Golf Selections
The betting markets are dominated by the big two, Scotty Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Scheffler has won two of the last three Masters, with a tenth place sandwiched in between. He has had three top 10 finishes in his last six tournaments in 2024, but his form is not that of a favourite.
The fact that he is the defending champion is not good, according to the history books, but he is unlikely to finish far away from the winner. Odds of 5.50 are only fair at best and no value this time around.
Rory McIlroy is in better form, winning two of his last six tournaments, with two other top fives. It is arguable that McIlroy is the best player in the world right now. He has had seven top ten finishes at Augusta and he really should have converted at least one into a win. No less than eight of his career wins have come on bentgrass greens and that is the grass of choice on Augusta’s fierce putting surfaces.
Psychological Scars
The question mark is not about his game, or his course form, it is about his head. He hasn’t won a major title since 2014 but he has had had twenty two top ten finishes. He has problems converting his chances into wins in majors, and his odds of 7.50 means taking a leap of faith that he will be able to get one over the line this time.
That being said, he is in superb form and he ticks a lot of the right boxes. He is backable, but you will be biting your nails and not sleeping well for three nights. Is he value? Well that is in the eye of beholder, and in my view, there are better options.
Rahm Not What He Was
Jon Rahm is not the player he was before he took the Saudi millions. He said before he jumped ship that he thought the format of LIV golf was less competitive and not for him. His head was turned by a massive sign-up fee and frankly, he doesn’t need to win anymore. The Ryder Cup gets his juices flowing, but playing the LIV golf format may just have dimmed his competitive spirit and turning it on is not easy.
If we are looking for a player who is in good form, has some decent course form, hits the ball high and long and plays par 4s well, there is one player who stands out for me. Min Woo Lee.
Woo Lee Looks Likely
The Aussie recently picked up his first PGA title at the Texas Houston Open. He now has five professional titles, including the 2021 Scottish Open, the 2023 Macau Open on the Asian Tour, followed shortly after by the Australian PGA.
Lee finished fourteenth on his Masters debut in 2022 and was twenty second last year. His best finish in a major was 5th in the 2023 US Open.
Lee is ranked 3rd for driving distance and has the second highest ball flight off the tee. He hits it long and high, just what you need off the tee at Augusta. He is seventh for shots gained around the green and is a good scrambler, which again, you need around this course. 5th for shots gained in putting is handy and he is ranked 17th for par 4 performance.
In form, with decent course form, and the ‘right’ sort of game for the course. His odds look decent.
2025 Masters Golf Tip: 0.5 point e/w Min Woo Lee to win the Masters @ 46.00 with Livescorebet (1/5 the odds 1-7)
He may be a very unpopular player, but Patrick Reed is an Augusta specialist. He won it in 2018 and has had a further three top ten finishes. Reed was twelfth last year.
Reed joined the LIV tour in 2022 but does play some DP World and Asian tour events and he had two top ten finishes earlier this year. At least he has played some real golf with a cut and four days of play.
On the LIV tour he has had three top 10s in his last four events. He looks a reasonable price to get his fifth top ten in eight years.
2025 Masters Golf Tip: 1 point Patrick Reed to finish in the top 10 @ 6.50 with Ladbrokes, Betfred, Livescorebet
In terms of those players nearer the top of the betting markets, I like the look of Colin Morikawa. Many may say that he doesn’t have the power off the tee to win at Augusta, but his course record suggests otherwise. In the last three seasons, with all the extra length added, he has finished 5/10/3.
His form in 2025 sees two runner up spots and a tenth place at the Players Championship last time out. He is a two time major winner so knows how to win the big ones. His approach play into the greens is excellent, with great accuracy, important when having to put the ball in the right place on these big, fast greens.
Morikawa may not hit it big off the tee, but he will be able to find the right part of the fairway and he is ranked first for shots gained tee to green. Outside of that lack of length, the rest of his game is in excellent shape, including being ranked second for total shots gained.
2025 Masters Golf Tip: 1 point e/w Collin Morikawa to win @ 15.00 with Betfred (1/5 the odds 1-8)
There are eighteen former winners in the field. The likes of Scheffler and Rahm are in the running to win it again. Reed, Matsuyama and maybe Spieth are capable of having a good run. The old guys like Couples, Weir, Olazabal, Cabrera and Langer are just there for the dinner and the fun of it.
Then there are the still active players hoping to make some money. Garcia is a LIV golfer now but still harbours dreams of getting back into the Ryder Cup team and he is making an effort this year, ditto Patrick Reed.
DJ’s Best Days Behind Him
One player who looks like his best days are behind him is Dustin Johnson. He was quick to take the Saudi money. It is a lot easier to play cruise and collect golf, without the jeopardy of missing the cut. He is effectively semi-retired, but with a nice little earner playing exhibition golf with LIV.
Johnson said at the time of switching to LIV, ‘I want to play less golf and make more money’. He wants the easy life. His desire to compete isn’t what it was. He doesn’t really care, the money is rolling in and he does have to play as much.
This weekend he is playing for real ranking money, probably not as much as the Saudis throw at him, but money that keeps him on the wider radar and the chance to play in majors.
Easy Money
The LIV boys want to have their cake and eat it. Lots of easy money, but the right to play in the highest profile events. The ones that people actually watch, but as of now, they have to earn their place.
Johnson gets in here as a former winner. If he wants to get into the other three, and the Ryder Cup, he needs to earn the points. That means playing with pressure, and the LIV players don’t really have that. They are used to getting paid for turning up to play. Now they have to work to get the ranking money.
Johnson has missed two of the last four cuts in the Masters and missed three of his last five major cuts. His results on the LIV tour recently have seen a lot of finishes way down the final leaderboards, but of course, he can’t miss the cut. He is a 126.00 shot to win the tournament and it is reasonable to say that his career is heading in one direction.
2025 Masters Golf Tip: 1 point Dustin Johnson to miss the cut @ 2.30 with Betfair
In terms of a great fall from grace, Max Homa takes the biscuit in 2025. The six time PGA winner and former world top ten player, he finished third here in 2024. Twelve months later he is ranked 81st in the world rankings and 160th in the FEDEX rankings.
Homa has played in eight events in 2025. He made the cut in his first, withdrew in his second, made the cut in his third, but has missed his last five cuts. In those last five, his first round scores have seen scores of 76, 76, 81, 79 and 76.
He split with his long time caddy a few days ago and he also changed his club supplier at the start of the season. That sounds like desperation has kicked in and that is unlikely to be the right frame of mind for this course.
