The opening round of The Masters is always one of the most enjoyable days of the sporting year, not just because we get to see the colours of Augusta National in all their glory but also because it is a signal that spring has arrived.
It takes place on Thursday with everyone in the field having the same intention – to get off to a good start to position themselves for a shot at the title and the Green Jacket over the course of the weekend.
First Round Leader
The first market we look at whenever a major comes around is the first round leader one. This is one of those two traditional majors where everyone goes off the first tee across tee times spanning six hours of play. The good thing for those getting involved in this market and indeed the players themselves is that there is no significant change in the weather expected throughout the day so nobody looks to have a significant advantage. I’ll play two against the field.
Jordan Spieth is no stranger to leading this tournament after 18 holes. He did so in 2015, 2016 and in 2018 and being last out on Thursday he will have the chance to watch some of the coverage and get a feel for the conditions before he goes to work. Speith usually gets himself up for these majors and his record around this golf course is remarkable. He was a little short in the outright market for me but 25/1 for him to get off to a flyer feels like a more acceptable price. Justin Rose has led this tournament at the close of the opening round on four occasions and given that he has won this season and is feeling good about his game I think he is worth taking once again. Rose has long since organised his schedule to peak for the majors so that improved form earlier in the year combined with a very strong early record around here makes him an obvious first round leader target.
Thursday 3 Balls
There are 88 players in the field this week and they will be out in three balls in the main on Thursday with a pair of two balls to make up an even look to proceedings. We have to wait until 15.18 BST for the first of the marquee groups to go out when Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele have the honour of going out alongside Tiger Woods while at 15.42 Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young set off on their quest for a first Green Jacket. Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama and Cameron Smith are an all-international three ball out 12 minutes later.
The committee at Augusta National like to leave some big groups towards the end of the day with their truncated main coverage not really covering much of the early starters. At 18.12 the Texas Open winner Corey Conners is out with former champion here Dustin Johnson and the Pebble Beach winner Justin Rose. US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick goes out with Collin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris at 18.24 BST while the defending champion Scottie Scheffler gets his title defence going alongside Max Homa and Sam Bennett at 18.36 BST with the penultimate group on the course at 18.48 seeing Sam Burns, Tom Kim and Rory McIlroy together. The final group goes off at 19.00 BST and will see Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Tony Finau getting plenty of attention. I’ll go with two bets from the three balls on Thursday.
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Fred Couples/Russell Henley/Alex Noren
Match tees off at 13.36 BST
I say it each year but the beauty of the opening two rounds and three ball betting is that often two current tour players get matched up with either an amateur or a legend of the game which can basically mean the group can be viewed as a two ball from a betting point of view. That is the case in match four where Fred Couples is out with Russell Henley and Alex Noren.
Couples has an excellent record around here not just as a winner in the past but plenty of other decent efforts but he isn’t getting any younger and he’ll have a tough time living with a couple of studs. Alex Noren might not be the one to beat him though. His record here is bang ordinary and his game looked a bit of a mess at the Match Play recently. The opposite is the case with Henley. He missed the cut in his first trip here but since then has played five times and finished no worse than T31. Those efforts include a couple of top 15 finishes which is encouraging. He was playing very nicely at the Match Play but couldn’t quite get the better of Lucas Herbert to make it through. A repeat of the way he was hitting the ball there should be enough to get the job done here. Couples has now missed the last four cuts here while Noren has gone MC-MC-T62 and hasn’t played here since 2019. Henley looks a good thing in this group.
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira/Seamus Power/Bubba Watson
Match tees off at 14.48 BST
Another group which should come down to basically a two ball is the one featuring the amateur from Argentina in Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Seamus Power and the former champion Bubba Watson who go out in match 10.
Amateurs have done ok here in the past but generally they have had a tough time of it and I expect that to be the case with Fernandez de Oliveira here so I’m focusing on the other two for a bet. Watson won this title in 2012 and 2014 and in his pomp he fit this course like a glove but since his last win nine years ago he has only cracked the top 25 twice. He is nowhere near his pomp anymore and has been way down the field in the three LIV Golf events in 2023 so you wonder how competitive he’ll be. Power might only need to stand up to win this group. He goes in here off the back of a pair of aces in the par 3 contest on Wednesday which should have got the adrenalin pumping and while Watson went well in that competition, an 18 hole bash up might just catch him out. Power put together an acceptable T27 on debut last season and a build on that should get it done here.
Tips
Back J.Spieth First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
Back J.Rose First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.0 0with Sky Bet (1/5 1-6)
Back R.Henley to beat F.Couples & A.Noren for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back S.Power to beat M.Fernandez de Oliveira & B.Watson for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Coral
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