The Masters kicks off the men’s major season at Augusta National on Thursday but before it does so there is just enough time to take a look at the many side markets which have been priced up for the event before the first tee ball is hit.
We have markets for all the various nations and regions in the competition as well as finishing positions and whether a player will make or miss the cut and a whole lot more. I’ve had a good look through them and come out with three picks that I like.
Top Irishman
There are four Irish players in the field this year and as ever all eyes will be on Rory McIlroy to see if this is the week that he completes his personal Grand Slam. I’ve already mentioned in the outright preview that I don’t see that happening and I actually think in trying he is worth taking on in this market.
The other three men are Shane Lowry. Seamus Power and Padraig Harrington so three major champions and Power who is a player on the up. It is him I’m happy to chance too. This place is too long for Harrington while Lowry should go well here but he has three missed cuts and three mid-range efforts in his six visits. There is clearly something he doesn’t like about this place. That makes me think the 9/2 on Power has a shot here. The negative is that he is a debutant but they seem to go much better than they did 10 years or so ago. Power is striking the ball lovely right now and we saw at the WGC Match Play that is short game is there. The greens might not run as fast in the early stages of the week with all the rain around so they might not fool him as much as they might. I think he’s the value alternative to McIlroy.
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Top Asian
There is another fairly warm favourite in the Top Asian market, one which has six runners. That favourite is the defending champion Hideki Matsuyama but I’m always more than happy to take a defending champion on around here because there is way too much going on in the lead up to the tournament for them to possibly be at their best.
Sungjae Im is the nearest challenger to Matsuyama in the betting but it is Si Woo Kim I like the look of. Matsuyama pulled out of Texas last week with an injury and he would have had to be injured too because he skipped the Match Play to prepare for this week at San Antonio. Im was second here in 2020 but that was the November edition. I’m not convinced he’s a horse for the April course. K-H Lee, Takumi Kanaya and Keita Nakajima make up the sextet but Kim has a fair record around here with three top 25 finishes in four April starts including a T12 last year. He looked in decent enough nick in the Texas Open last week and looks the value shout in a three runner market as far as the odds are concerned.
To Miss the Cut
Near enough every player is priced up to miss the cut this week. We have to remember that it is less than half of the field who get cut in this tournament after 36 holes. The top 50 and ties go through and when you consider only 91 are starting out and they include around 10 former champions who are here for the limelight and champers that isn’t many genuine runners who get chopped.
The 8/5 that Bryson DeChambeau is one of them has to be considered though. DeChambeau has a poor record here. He has never broken the top 20 and while he’s never missed the cut here he only has three rounds in the 60s in the 20 rounds he has had. His form figures this year read 25-MC-W-58-MC. The 25 was at the Tournament of Champions where there were less than 40 runners and the 58 was the Match Play where there were 64. It is well known he is having problems with injury and you would imagine if this wasn’t the iconic event that it is he might not even tee it up. DeChambeau has never got on with these greens and his long game was all over the shop at Austin and San Antonio. That doesn’t mean he can’t use the par 5s to make the cut but he should be shorter than 8/5 to miss the cut this time around. While there is no punishment for missing the fairways here you just can’t play this course injured unless you’re name is T.Woods.
Tips
Back S.Power Top Irishman for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Sky Bet
Back S-W.Kim Top Asian for a 2/10 stake at 3.80 with Bet365
Back B.DeChambeau to miss the cut for a 2/10 stake at 2.60 with Coral
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