VSiN’s golf experts give their second-round observations and third-round predictions for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Course.
Kelley Bydlon
Round 2 of the Masters is in the books! It was a wild one with brutal winds in the afternoon, and never really easy the whole day. Only eight golfers actually shot under par in their second round. The conditions do appear to lighten up Saturday with no rain in the forecast, not much wind in the morning, and only up to about 10 mph in the afternoon.
It’s Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau atop the leaderboard at -6 and it sure feels like that’s going to be a tough group for anyone else to top. I did add a live outright on Max Homa while he was on the 17th hole at +650, but that’s when I thought the wind might be so bad, that the day could end with him one or two shots clear of the pack. Tip of the cap to DeChambeau and Scheffler, though, who kept things tight.
Patrick Cantlay had a brutal back nine, but he’s still leading the field on approach stats and is someone I’ll consider adding a live top 20 in at +115. I was hoping to get a longer price on Tiger in the same market to be able to root him on this weekend, but +125 is too short for me. Other than that, I’ll be waiting on third round matchups to be released by the books here in Vegas. Anything I add will be up at vsin.com/picks
Matt Youmans
A bet on Scheffler +120 at this point is similar to betting UConn before the Final Four a week ago. The favorite is probably going to win. I didn’t want to spread too much around the futures board before this major simply because Scheffler is too good. I bet Scheffler in two pre-tournament matchups and finally on Friday put a bet on him to win.
It makes little sense, based on recent form in 2024, that DeChambeau, Homa and Morikawa are in the hunt and on the leaderboard. If any of those players outduel Scheffler on the weekend, it would be very surprising.
The only longer shot I lean to now is Ludvig Aberg, a first-time player at Augusta. Aberg shot the lowest score (69) on the course in the second round. Aberg is 20-1 on the adjusted odds, and I’ll probably look to play Aberg and Xander Schauffele in third-round matchups.
Listen to Long Shots, VSiN’s golf betting podcast, on the Masters after the cut.
Wes Reynolds
Going into the beginning of the 89th Masters Tournament, OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was the betting favorite. Going into the weekend, he still is. 2022 Masters champion Scheffler (+125) shares the lead at -6 with Max Homa (+500) and Bryson DeChambeau (+450), who will be Saturday’s final pairing.
Scheffler will be in penultimate group with Nicolai Højgaard (25/1), who is two strokes back at -4 and is the current low debutant in the field.
Cam Davis (45/1) and Collin Morikawa (12/1) share 5th at -3.
Ludvig Åberg (20/1), like Denmark’s Højgaard, is another debutant from a Nordic country (Sweden) playing in his first Masters and sits at -2.
Seven players are tied at -1 including Cameron Smith, Matthieu Pavon, Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood, 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, Ryan Fox, and Byeong Hun An.
I personally do not want to take on the best player in the world, Scheffler, at the moment with an additional outright play. Furthermore, since 1996, only one Masters winner was outside the Top 11 going into the weekend (Charl Schwartzel was 12th in 2011). In addition, only three Masters winners since 1996 were 3 or more shots behind the leader after 36 holes – Adam Scott (3 back in 2013), Willett (4 back in 2016), and Hideki Matsuyama (3 back in 2021). Needless to say, it is highly difficult and rare for a big comeback on the weekend at Augusta National.
If I were to make any recommendations for outright adds to come from behind, it would be the two Cams – Smith (40/1) and Young (50/1).
