Scottie Scheffler is the most backed golfer for the Masters 2022 this year through oddschecker, but who joins the new world number one in the top five?
Masters 2022
Scottie Scheffler
New world number one Scottie Scheffler is the most backed golfer for the Masters 2022 through oddschecker in 2022. The 25-year-old, without a PGA Tour win to his name as recently as February, has since racked up three wins in just five starts to take the top spot from Jon Rahm.
Interestingly, 23 of 25 players to reach world number one took over a year to get to #1 after breaking into the top 10, while Tiger Woods took only nine weeks and Scheffler did it in just six. Since the start of the year, Scheffler has taken 7.37% of the winner bets on the tournament.
| POSITION | PLAYER | % BETS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 7.37 |
| 2 | Cameron Smith | 7.25 |
| 3 | Viktor Hovland | 6.59 |
| 4 | Jon Rahm | 5.62 |
| 5 | Rory McIlroy | 3.87 |
| 13 | Tiger Woods | 2.49 |
Cameron Smith
Heading into the Valero Texas Open, only Scheffler had collected more world ranking points than The Players Champion Cameron Smith. His Sawgrass success followed a record-breaking display at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, where the 28-year-old finished on a PGA Tour best 34-under. The world number six (best price 16/1) has accounted for 7.25% of the bets through oddschecker.
Viktor Hovland
Continuing the theme of golf’s breakout stars to receive top Masters backing through oddschecker, number three in the list takes us to Norway's Viktor Hovland. The 24-year-old is now a near shoo in to make his Ryder Cup debut for Europe in Rome next year after collecting the third most world ranking points in 2022.
He has a win on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour this season, but it is his remarkable consistency that shines through. Hovland has four top fives (five top 10s) in his last eight starts, which explains why 6.59% of the Masters Winner bets have gone his way since the turn of the year.
Jon Rahm
The recently deposed world number one Jon Rahm (10/1 favourite) stands fourth on our most backed list despite not recording a PGA Tour win since the US Open in June - his maiden major triumph.
A decline on the greens is the go-to explanation for why Rahm has failed to add more trophies to his collection this season, although he has been at pains to point out that his putting stats inevitably suffer as a result of his tee to green excellence.
Rahm has been ultra-consistent at the Masters since 2018, racking up top 10 finishes in each of the four events. 5.62% of those of you to place winner bets through oddschecker clearly believe that 2022 is the year he finally slips into the green jacket.
Rory McIlroy
Last, but certainly not least, is the Grand Slam-seeking Rory McIlroy (16/1). The Northern Irishman has suffered his fair of heartache at Augusta, most famously blowing up on the 10th hole in the final round back in 2011, but he has recorded six top 10 finishes since 2014.
In fact, the key betting trends put forward by our golf expert Niall Lyons in this article suggest it might be McIlroy's time. The 32-year-old has been backed in 3.87% of the betslips through oddschecker, as he bids to end a near eight-year wait for his fifth major title.
Tiger Woods, if you were wondering, sits 13th in the most backed list for 2022 despite not playing competitively since a near fatal car crash in February 2021. If we had filtered it for bets placed across the last week, the 46-year-old would be in third place.
