The 2024 edition of the Masters is almost upon us, and golf pundits and fans alike are racking their brains over who will be crowned this year’s champion.
There are several names that spring to mind instantly, perhaps the most notable being last year’s winner Jon Rahm — who rocked the sport when announcing that he would be joining LIV Golf.
The Spaniard is 12/1 in the Masters betting to join just a handful of players who have previously defended the title and become the first LIV representative to win golf’s most sacred tournament.
The breakaway league will have 13 players in this year’s Masters, including seven previous recipients of the green jacket, but the PGA players will be keen to stop any of them from winning at Augusta.
That said, read on as we look at some of the in-form players on the PGA Tour and assess their chances of being fitted into an iconic green jacket on April 14.
Scottie Scheffler
For avid followers of golf, it will come as no surprise that Scottie Scheffler is the first name on our list of in-form players.
The American has been at the top of the world rankings for over 70 weeks at the time of writing and is finding his rhythm at the perfect time as he seeks to regain his Masters title.
Scheffler has recorded top-10 finishes in six of his seven starts thus far and has picked up some big wins in recent weeks — landing the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship.
If he can carry on that form into the Masters, then Scheffler is very much the one to beat. So, it is no surprise that he is set to be the shortest-priced favourite (9/2) in the golf odds for more than a decade.
Wyndham Clark
Wyndham Clark is gearing up to play his first-ever Masters this year. However, the American is in the unique position of heading to Augusta for the first time with a major title already under his belt.
Clark stunned the golfing world last June when he won the US Open from massive odds of 80/1, beating four-time major winner Rory McIlroy by a single stroke at Los Angeles Country Club.
That was just the 30-year-old’s second win on the PGA Tour, following a victory in the Wells Fargo Championship just one month before, and he’s added a third in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this season.
Clark has gone close in the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship, finishing second behind Scheffler on both occasions, so could be good value at 28/1.
Xander Schauffele
It’s somewhat hard to believe that World No.5 Xander Schauffele is still on the hunt for the first major title of his career.
A 2021 Olympic gold medallist in golf and a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, Schauffele has been close on numerous occasions in the big four tournaments — finishing in the top five on six occasions, including twice at the Masters.
Aside from finishing deeper in the field at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Schauffele has had a consistent season thus far.
The 30-year-old has recorded top-10 finishes in his other five tournaments to date, with noteworthy finishes in The American Express (T3), The Genesis Invitational (T4), and the Players Championship (T2). He’s 20/1 to break his duck at Augusta.
