The world's top three golfers head our most backed list for the Masters 2023 this year through oddschecker, but who joins them in the top five?
Masters 2023 - Winner
Rory McIlroy
Grand Slam-seeking RORY MCILROY (8/1) is the most backed golfer for the Masters 2023 through oddschecker so far in 2023.
The Northern Irishman has suffered his fair share of heartache at Augusta, most famously blowing up on the 10th hole in the final round back in 2011, but he has recorded an impressive seven top 10 finishes since 2014, including his best result at the tournament 12 months ago (2nd) when he tore through the field with a final day 64.
Much of McIlroy's success at Augusta, according to golf expert Niall Lyons, owes to the higher importance on tee to green (T2G) stats vs putting. The 33-year-old only ranked 34th on the greens last year, but sits inside the top 10 for proximity to the hole from 175-200 yards.
Only world number one Scottie Scheffler outperforms McIlroy's T2G stats over the last three months of PGA Tour action. McIlroy has been backed in 8.8% of the betslips through oddschecker as he bids to end a near nine-year wait for his fifth major title.
Scottie Scheffler
Defending champion SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (8/1), a six-time winner on the PGA Tour since last February, is only marginally 'out-backed' by McIlroy by the oddschecker community in 2023.
The 26-year-old's hot streak originally started in February 2022 when he won the Phoenix at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona - a run which saw him reach the summit of the world rankings just six weeks after breaking into the top 10. By contrast, 23 of the previous 25 top ranked players had taken over a year to make that jump.
If we consider some of the key trends for finding the Masters winner since 2012, Scheffler becomes the obvious frontrunner. Nine of the last 11 winners had posted a top 10 across their three previous starts prior to winning the Masters, all winners this century had a top 40 at Augusta, seven of the last 11 had a top 10, six had won that season and eight hadn't missed a cut that season.
Only Scheffler ticks all of those boxes among this year's top five T2G performers - Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. Since the start of the year, Scheffler has taken 8.6% of the winner bets on the tournament.
Jon Rahm
The third most backed golfer for the Masters 2023 is, unsurprisingly, the third player who carries an 8/1 price to win the tournament next Sunday.
Spaniard JON RAHM, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour since the turn of the year, has been ultra-consistent at the Masters since 2018, racking up four straight top 10 finishes before closing inside the top 30 (T27) 12 months ago.
In the 2021 Masters, 22.8% of approaches were hit from 150-175 yards and 20.6% from 175-200, representing a huge percentage of the irons for the week. A similar story played out in 2022 with a combined 38% being hit from those brackets once again.
| Approaching 150-175 | Approaching 175-200 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Xander Schauffele | 22' 8" | Jon Rahm | 29' 6" |
| Cameron Young | 22' 11" | Will Zalatoris | 29' 11" |
| Jon Rahm | 23' 5" | Collin Morikawa | 30' 6" |
| Tom Kim | 23' 9" | Xander Schauffele | 30' 9" |
| Jordan Spieth | 24' 1" | Si Woo Kim | 30' 10" |
| Si Woo Kim | 24' 7" | Cameron Young | 31' 1" |
| Gary Woodland | 24' 10" | Scott Stallings | 31' 2" |
| Tom Hoge | 25' 2" | Keegan Bradley | 31' 4" |
| J.T. Poston | 25' 6" | Rory McIlroy | 31' 9" |
| Corey Conners | 25' 8" | Tony Finau | 31' 10" |
Looking at the table above, Rahm ranks third from 150-175 yards with an average proximity of 23' 5" (only Schauffele and Cameron Young are better), while he tops the tree from 175-200 yards with an average result of just 29' 6" from the hole.
5.9% of those of you to place winner bets through oddschecker clearly believe that 2023 is the year he finally slips into the green jacket.
Jordan Spieth
JORDAN SPIETH (18/1) is the first of two players outside the world's top 10 to feature in our most backed list for golf's major of the year, but he certainly has the right Augusta resume to prosper.
The 29-year-old, the champion in 2015, has been inside the top three on five occasions since 2014 when he finished second to Bubba Watson aged just 20.
Adding weight to Lyons' point about the reduced importance of performance on the greens, Spieth finished T3 in 2021 despite ranking outside the top 50 with the flat stick. Interestingly, in that tournament he was the best ATG and T2G.
Also returning to our table above, the Texan sits inside the top five for proximity to the hole from 150-175 yards. The world number 16 has accounted for 5.3% of the bets through oddschecker.
Jason Day
Last but certainly not least for this most backed list is the resurgent Australian and former world number one JASON DAY (best price 25/1).
The 35-year-old, winner of the PGA Championship in 2015, sits inside the top 10 T2G across the last three months - ranking as the tour's best player ATG. He is up to 33 in the world rankings having closed 2022 at 112.
The only obvious deterrent to backing Day at the Masters 2023 would be his performance with the irons. Of the top 20 T2G, Day sits at the bottom of the pile for approach play.
However, we should note that he has racked up four top five finishers at Augusta since 2011, when he narrowly missed out on the title to South African Charl Schwartzel. 4.9% of the Masters winner bets have gone his way since the turn of the year.
