We finally head into the first Major of the season. “A tradition unlike any other,”  the 2025 Masters!!!

Augusta National is probably the most famous golf course on the planet with the Masters tournament being considered the most prestigious tournament in golf.

Last year Scottie Scheffler won his 2nd green jacket in three years. He won by four strokes over Ludvig Aberg shooting 11 under. He gained a ridiculous 16.5 strokes tee to green. Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood tied for 3rd place. There were four LIV golfers in the top 12 including, Cam Smith and Bryson DeChambeau who tied for 6th place. Tyrell Hatton tied for 9th and Patrick Reed finished in 12th place.

Jon Rahm won his 2nd Major at the Masters in 2023. He shot 12 under and won by four strokes over now fellow LIV golfers, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. Phil was never really in contention but shot 65 on Sunday to prop up his finishing position. Koepka matched Rahm with the low round of 65 on Thursday but fell back on the weekend shooting consecutive rounds over par. Patrick Reed also joined as one of the four LIV golfers in the top six.

In 2022, Scottie Scheffler took the lead after round 2 and never looked back. He won his first Major with a score of 10-under and won by three strokes over Rory Mcllroy who stormed back shooting a 64 on Sunday.

In 2021, Hideki Matsuyama edged out Will Zalatoris by one stroke to win his first Major and become the first Japanese golfer to win a Major. Matsuyama led by four strokes at the start of his Sunday round but the lead evaporated quickly after he bogeyed his first hole. Xander Schauffele was in contention until he hit his ball in the water on the par 3 16th hole and triple-bogeyed.

Augusta National is a 7,555 yard par 72 with fast, tiered, undulating bentgrass greens. Many holes have elevation changes with uphill/downhill tee and approach shots. This results in many uneven lies. Golfers will be tested in every facet of their game. There are 41 bunkers and 6 Water Hazards that come into play.

There are four par threes, four par fives and ten par fours. The par fives are the four easiest holes on the course with an average of 560 yards and birdie rate of 37 percent.

The 240 yard par three fourth hole plays as one of the more difficult holes on the course and boasts a 28% bogey rate. The other three par threes range from 155-180 yards and generally don’t play as difficult as the fourth hole.

The par fours have an average distance of 456 yards. Five of the most difficult holes on the course are par fours with the 520 yard 11th hole being the most difficult. It boasts a 30% bogey rate and a 5.4% double or worse rate.

Augusta is home to the famous 3-hole stretch from holes 11 to 13 known as “Amen Corner”. 

It starts with the 11th hole which is a 520 yard par 4 which plays as the hardest hole on the course. It’s followed by the 12th hole, a 155 yard par 3 with water in front of the green and often swirling winds.
Last is the 13th hole, a 510 yard Par 5 with a creek across the front of the green. It plays as the 2nd easiest hole on the course but is very much a risk/reward hole. Amen Corner is often the make-or-break stretch for many contenders.

Off the tee golfers will see many elevation changes. A strategic approach is required at Augusta. Hitting fairways is more likely at Augusta compared to tour average with fairways hit at a 68% clip. However, with a few doglegs just hitting fairways is not good enough. There isn’t much rough around Augusta but golfers that miss wildly will have to contend with pine straw and trees.

The proper location/lie will go a long way to hitting approach shots to the desired location. Being in the rough in certain spots compared to the fairway in others could help set up the optimal second shot. It places even more emphasis on knowledge of this course. Driving Accuracy is important but don’t underestimate Driving Distance. Golfers who can “bomb” it to the proper spot will have a sizeable advantage.

The stiffness and speed of the greens makes it difficult for approach shots to hold these greens. Especially considering the amount of approach shots that require mid to long irons. Greens in regulation percentage comes in lower than tour average at 60 percent. Which increases a need for around the green play. Scrambling plays a big part in getting around Augusta National with these tricky greens and tightly mown runoff areas. Scrambling is difficult around the greens here with scrambling percentage coming in below tour average.

Approach shots are key as with most courses, but many of Augusta’s greens are tiered with heavy undulations which requires a knowledge of hitting the correct spots in order to create scoring opportunities and more importantly; prevent 3 putts.

Augusta National averages almost 35% more 3 putts than the tour average.

Because so much strategy is required at Augusta we will want to rely on golfers with good course history far more so than at most courses. An understanding of the greens can not be understated.

All in all golfers with experience at Augusta who have some distance tend to fair well. Sticking approaches, scrambling and putting well on these fast undulating greens is key for anyone looking to contend.

* The field consists of 96 golfers and the top 50 and ties will make the cut after 36 holes

2025 Masters Tournament: Key Stats and Figures

• Strokes Gained Approach
• Strokes Gained Off the Tee
• Driving Distance
• Course History
• Scrambling
• 3 putt avoidance

Historical Cut Line

• 2024: +7
• 2023: +4
• 2022: +5
• 2021: +3
• 2020: +3
• 2019: +4
• 2018: +6

Recent Masters Champions

2024: Scottie Scheffler -11
2023: Jon Rahm -12
2022: Scottie Scheffler -10
2021: Hideki Matsuyama -10
2020: Dustin Johnson -20
2019: Tiger Woods -13
2018: Patrick Reed -15
2017: Sergio Garcia -9
2016: Danny Willett -5
2015: Jordan Spieth -18
2014: Bubba Watson -8

Golfers to Consider

*We’ll break this section into a few sections. Generally a top tier golfer is going to Don the green jacket but from time to time we see some outliers.

Cream of the Crop

Scottie Scheffler and Rory Mcllroy are in a tier of their own and seem like the clear class of the tournament. It’s difficult to bet them at their current numbers but also hard to make an argument against it.

Scottie Scheffler +400

Scheffler has won two of the last three Masters and is the world number 1 for a reason. However he has not won yet this year. After suffering a laceration in his hand and having surgery Scheffler’s 2025 campaign was delayed. He made his season debut at Pebble Beach and finished in 9th place. He’s only contended for a win twice this year with a 3rd place finish at the Genesis and most recently just came up short finishing 2nd in Houston.

Scottie is the best ball striker in the world and it’s possible the hand injury has affected his short game. Simply put if he makes putts on any given week he’s going to win. He gained an average of 2.35 strokes putting in his two Masters wins and has gained 12.8 strikes or more tee to green in each of the last three years at Augusta.

Rory Mcllroy +650

Rory has been on an absolute heater in 2025. He’s already won two tournaments. He won at Pebble Beach which was an elevated event and won the PLAYERS. His worst finish was a 17th at the Genesis. Most recently he finished 5th in Houston. He’s been putting very well only losing strokes on the greens at the Genesis.

A Masters win is huge for Rory and has seemed to affect him mentally in past years. He needs the Masters to complete the career grand slam. Rory has played at Augusta 16 times and has only missed the cut three times. He has seven top-10 finishes here with a 2nd place in 2022 being his best finish. While Rory hasn’t been able to get the monkey off his back here it looks like the current state of his game makes this his best chance by far to be wearing the green jacket come Sunday.

Next Best Chance

Jon Rahm +1400

Rahm has played well to start the LIV season. His worst finish in four tournaments is 6th place. He finished 2nd at LIV Riyadh shooting 67 in all three rounds. He followed that up with back to back 6th place finishes at Adelaide and Hong Kong. He came 5th most recently in Singapore. As of writing this he currently sits t6 entering the final round in Miami.

Rahm seemed to have some issues adjusting to life on LIV last year but has had a full year to acclimate and should be better prepared for the Majors this year. Rahm obviously won the Masters in 2023 but he also has four other top 10 finishes at Augusta and had never finished worse than 27th prior to last year.

Collin Morikawa +1600

Outside of Rory, Collin is probably having the best year despite not having a win. Morikawa has two 17th place finishes but has otherwise finished top ten in all of hisbother three tournaments. He’s had chances to win at the Sentry and the Arnold Palmer but was unable to pull it out down the stretch.

Collin has faired well at the Masters finishing in the top-10 the last three years and making the cut in all five of his appearances. He finished 3rd last year gaining just under eight strokes tee to green. His elite iron play and much improved short game could translate well to Augusta but I worry about his killer instinct if it comes down to him pulling out a close win on Sunday. A top 10 bet for Morikawa makes a ton of sense to me.

Dark Horses

Will Zalatoris +5000

Zalatoris hasn’t exactly been lighting it up in 2025 but has played well. He’s made the cut in all six of his tournaments and has three finishes inside the top-25. His best finish was a 12th place at the Amex. He’s gained strokes on approach in six straight tournaments.

Zalatoris has performed well in the Masters regardless of his form. Last year he missed the cut at the PLAYERS then finished 74th in Houston before coming 9th at the Masters. He’s come top-10 in all three of his appearances at Augusta with his best finish coming in his debut in 2021 when he finished 2nd to Hideki. While I do worry a bit about his ability to win it’s hard to ignore the success he’s had at the Masters.

Min Woo Lee +5000

Min Woo comes in playing great golf. He just won in Houston showing some serious poise down the stretch. Despite finding trouble and seeing his four stroke lead evaporate, he was able to hold off Scottie Scheffler and come away with the win. He previously finished 20th at the PLAYERS and also has finishes of 11th at the Cognizant, 12th at Waste Management and 17that Pebble Beach.

The importance of a good caddie can not be understated. Min Woo’s caddie has plenty of Major experience. Brian “Bo” Martin was the caddie for Shane Lowry when he won the Open Championship in 2019. He also was Lowry’s caddie when he finished 3rd at the Masters back in 2022. He also was a caddie for Tyrell Hatton and has shown a calming presence especially around two golfers that have quite a temper in Lowry and Hatton.

Min Woo has an incredible combination of distance and an elite short game. Both of which translate well to the challenges of Augusta National. He finished 22nd last year despite recently having the flu and breaking a finger the week before the tournament. He missed the cut in 2023 but finished 14th in 2022 gaining 6.6 strokes putting. He’s playing well, the recent win should give him confidence and he’s already proven that an elite golfer breathing down his neck on Sunday won’t break him. I’ll 1000% be betting Min Woo to win.

Longshots

Corey Conners +6500

Conners has great form coming in with three straight top ten finishes. He came 8th at the Valspar, 6th at the PLAYERS and 3rd at the Arnold Palmer. He currently sits t10 at the Valero heading into the final round. We know that Conners is an elite ball striker but has been incredible with his short game recently. He’s gained strokes around the green and putting in four straight tournaments.

Conners has performed well at Augusta with three straight top-10 finishes. Spanning from 2020-2022 he came in 10th, 8th and 6th place. He came 38th last year and missed the cut in 2023. The current state of his game and prior success at the Masters point towards giving Conners a look.

Patrick Reed +8000

Reed started his year off well with a 10th in Dubai and an 8th at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. He’s had mixed results on LIV with finishes of 44th in Riyadh, 37th in Adelaide, 10th in Hong Kong and 25th in Singapore. He also has a 2nd place finish on the Asian Tour.

Reed has played the Masters eleven times and has faired rather well overall. He won a green jacket in 2018 and has finished in the top 10 three other times. Last year he finished in 12th place and has misssed the cut twice. He’s gained two or more strokes putting in five of his last six appearances at Augusta.

Phil Mickelson +15000

Phil has played three tournaments this year and has played pretty well. He finished 23rd in Adelaide, 2rd in Hong Kong and 19th in Singapore. He’s been striking the ball very well and has gained strokes off the tee in all three tournaments. He’s given up a bit of distance off the tee but has been very accurate hitting fairways at a 65% clip. He currently sits tied for 3rd place heading into the final round in Miami.

Phil has an incredible track record at the Masters. He’s won three times at Augusta although his most recent win was back in 2010. He has nine top five finishes, fifteen top 25 finishes and has only missed the cut twice in 23 appearances. He came 43rd last year. The current ball striking metrics for Phil look great and the fact that he’s been accurate off the tee and know Augusta so well make him an interesting option. If you have access to each way bets that’s probably your best bet.