The Masters Golf Betting Tips 2022
It’s Masters week (as if you didn’t know) with the Grand National on Saturday, toss a dramatic comeback by Tiger Woods into the mix, and we’re heading for a little piece of sporting heaven.
Stand by for the most intense competition ever for the pound in your pocket from the bookmaking fraternity on the year’s first men's Major with two firms paying down to 11th place, three more going down to 10th, and eight and nine places available elsewhere. So if punters can’t make it pay in the one Grand Slam event that’s always played on the same iconic layout with course and current form all there laid out on the table, they never will.
MAIN BETS
- 2pts each-way Cameron Smith at 16/1 with William Hill (9 places)
- 2pts each-way Jordan Spieth at 20/1 with Bet365 (8 places)
- 2pts each-way Jon Rahm at 11/1 with Betfair (10 places)
- 1pt each-way Xander Schauffele at 22/1 with William Hill (9 places)
- 1pt each-way Scottie Scheffler at 16/1 with William Hill (9 places)
It often pays to wait until the last moment when each bookmaker tries to trump the other on top price. Rule out seven ceremonial ex-champions, six amateurs, the first-timers (as it’s 43 years since a debutant won) and those who never do well there - like Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood - and the number of potential top-ten finishers in an already limited field of 91 is halved.
With JJ Spaun the final name in the draw after his 175/1 Texas Open victory on Sunday, all we’re waiting for is the confirmation from Woods that he’s good to go after his crippling dice with death and that defending champion Hideki Matsuyama is fit to do himself justice after pulling out with a neck problem at San Antonio.
Tiger wouldn’t be playing if he didn’t believe he could be competitive and as it’s only three years since he pulled off his last Masters miracle, his chance has to be respected. At 46 he’s the same age as Jack Nicklaus was when the Golden Bear surprised the world by winning his last Masters but Tiger is a far more physically damaged 46 and Augusta National, fiercely undulating and 7510 yards long - the downhill par-four 11th now extended to 520 and the 15th not such a gimme birdie at 550 - will surely take its toll on any suspect limbs if he survives to the weekend.
It will be a tall order for Woods to compete this week in his first competitive start since November 2020
This is the tallest order yet in his improbable life story and I question whether he can be good enough without any competitive prep to contend against rivals no longer afraid of him. Making the cut would be a feat in itself and Bet365 go 8/11 he won’t be there on Saturday and 60/1 he wins his sixth Green Jacket.
In ducking the Tiger question because it’s simply guessing, I’ll go for the S-Factor, Players champion Cameron Smith, Augusta specialist Jordan Spieth, new world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, to fight out the finish with the favourite, Jon Rahm.
Expect the burly Spaniard to come hurtling back to peak form, motivated by losing his coveted top ranking spot to Scheffler whose three victories in seven weeks have turned the golfing world upside down.
And while not doubting that the big American, who impressed with top-20s on both Augusta starts, is the real deal, I am among those who still believe Rahm is the best golfer in the world. Why he is at double-figure odds is because a) he’s failed to win this year despite creating several clear chances and b) the putter has gone to pot on his two latest outings, resulting in a rare down-the-field effort at Sawgrass and a last-16 exit from the Match Play.
I still believe Rahm is the best golfer in the world
On the credit side is Augusta form of 4-9-7-5 on his last four visits and the fact that he’s been in the top-ten in his last five Major starts, highlighted by his 2021 US Open triumph. It’s another plus that he’s arguably the best driver in the world even though Augusta’s generous fairways pander to those like Seve, Woods, Mickelson and Spieth not noted for their off-the-tee accuracy. With Woods taking all the media heat, Rahm can concentrate on business and each-way places at 11/1 looks money for old rope.
Most likely to turn Rahm over? My fancy is the gutsy Aussie Smith who putts like a demon and is all heart. Not long off the tee but long enough at 297 yards, he’s a double winner in just four starts this year and has an enviable Masters record reading 5-51-2-10, the second coming behind Dustin Johnson in the delayed 2020 edition.
Outside a Pebble Beach second, Spieth has been poor this year but left San Antonio with a spring in his step after a closing 67 and becomes a different golfer when he drives down Magnolia Lane. Nobody since Woods in his pomp plays Augusta better as his 2-1-2-11-3-21-3 record emphatically tells you and although his once-sublime putting shows worrying signs of wear and tear, he reads these glassy greens better than anybody.
Schauffele, quiet so far this campaign, get into the S squad on the back of a second and third in just four attempts. And his 2022 form, a third at Phoenix and three other top-13s, is solid enough to give him the nod over DJ for the final selection.
Although a loser of semi-final and third-place playoff at the Match Play, Johnson showed plenty of good stuff among the dross to suggest he’ll be a player in a tournament where he often contends.
A first Masters for Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa or Viktor Hovland would come as no great surprise but DeChambeau was awful at the Match Play and in Texas and while some think Rory McIlroy has been playing better golf than his finishes suggest, the additional pressure of trying to complete a career Slam with confidence far from peak makes him a shaky betting proposition.
Will Zalatoris almost won at the first attempt last year which will give supporters of Valspar winner Sam Burns encouragement as he bids to be the first debutant to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
My best outsider is Justin Rose, twice a Masters runner-up and a man who led after day one last year. In fact, he’s led after each of the first three days on different occasions and twice after 70 holes but the W has always eluded the Englishman. There’s only one piece of 2022 form to recommend him but his putting is sound and the driving may be less of a problem this week given all the space, so at 80/1 a seventh Masters top-ten is not out of the question and 16/1 a place is not to be sneezed at.
Thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday will soften the fairways and lead to a drop in temperature to 17-18C on Friday and Saturday. Best weather on sunny Sunday. No major wind problem.
Rose has a fantastic Masters record
Padraig Harrington, runner-up on the Champions Tour on Sunday, qualifies for his first Masters since 2015 by dint of his fourth place in last year’s PGA and should be a winning favourite on the Top Senior market where 60-somethings Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples provide the main opposition.
And the S-Factor can also provide the Aintree solution where Snow Leopardess at 9/1 is the suggestion. Happy punting!
The Masters Golf Betting Tips 2022
MAIN BETS
- 2pts each-way Cameron Smith at 16/1 with William Hill (9 places)
- 2pts each-way Jordan Spieth at 20/1 with Bet365 (8 places)
- 2pts each-way Jon Rahm at 11/1 with Betfair (10 places)
- 1pt each-way Xander Schauffele at 22/1 with William Hill (9 places)
- 1pt each-way Scottie Scheffler at 16/1 with William Hill (9 places)
BEST OUTSIDER
TOP SENIOR
- 3pts win Padraig Harrington
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