The 89th Masters: Finishing Position, Top American And Debutant Best Bets
It's almost as hard picking the winner of a golf tournament as actually winning one. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But, still, it's pretty effing hard. I mean, some of these PGA TOUR events have 150+ golfers in the field. Granted, The Masters 2025 has only 95 players teeing it up. Regardless, the best thing about betting golf is that you can win money without picking the winner.
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Since I haven't hit an outright yet this season, I need to diversify my Masters 2025 betting portfolio to profit. In that spirit, I've added three finishing position and two "Top Group" bets to my Masters 2025 betting card. Disclaimer: Make sure your top five, 10, 20, etc. bets "include ties" because "dead heat scoring" in golf is legal thievery by the sportsbooks.
The Masters 2025: Placement, Top Group Best Bets
The odds are the best available at the time of writing.
- Rory McIlroy Top-5 (+130) including ties via BetMGM, risking 1 unit (u).
- Collin Morikawa Top USA (+1000) via FanDuel, risking 0.25u.
- Kevin Yu Top Debutant (+1200) via DraftKings, risking 0.25u.
- Will Zalatoris Top-20 (+130) including ties via BetMGM, risking 0.75u.
- Sepp Straka Top-20 (+175) including ties via DraftKings, risking 0.75u.
Rory McIlroy: Top-5 (+130)
This is insurance for my bet on Rory to win The Masters (+650). It's hard to put together four good rounds at Augusta. Hence, McIlroy has never won a green jacket, but three good rounds should put you on the first page of The Masters' leaderboard. The 2025 PLAYERS champion has 34 rounds under par in 58 career rounds at Augusta.
Rory McIlroy putts on Hole No. 3 in The Masters 2024 at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo credit: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)
Rory has four top-five finishes in The Masters since 2015. He led by four strokes entering Sunday of the 2011 Masters before shooting a final-round 80 to finish T15. Also, since the 2024 TOUR Championship, McIlroy has eight top-five finishes in 11 international events, including three victories.
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Collin Morikawa: Top USA (+1000)
Collin is the second-betting favorite in this market behind reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler (+260), with a bunch of major winners behind him, such as Bryson DeChambeau (+1100), Xander Schauffele (+1200), Justin Thomas (+1400), Jordan Spieth (+1800), and Brooks Koepka (+1800).
If I didn't load up on McIlroy to win the 2025 Masters, I would've led my card with 2023 green jacket winner Jon Rahm and Morikawa. Yet, this "Top American" market allows me to win money on Rory and Collin. The two-time major champion has gained strokes on the greens in four straight Masters. He finished fifth in 2022, T10 two years ago, and T3 last year.
Finally, Morikawa is the best player in the world without a win this season, including Scottie. Collin is second in total Strokes Gained (SG) on TOUR in 2025 behind Rory, first in SG: Approach (APP), and first in SG: Tee-to-Green (T2G). He finished second at The Sentry in his first start this year, thanks to a historic performance by Hideki Matsuyama, and second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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Kevin Yu: Top Debutant (+1200)
This is a "value bet" because Yu is sixth on my 24-round model at Bet The Number (minimum of five starts on TOUR this season). Over that span, Yu is 12th in this field for SG: Off the Tee, 13th in driving distance, seventh in SG: APP, second in APP shots from 175+ yards, and 16th in Par 5 scoring.
Furthermore, 13 of the last 13 Masters champions have gained at least +18.0 strokes T2G in their four starts before their Masters win, per Betsperts' golf writer Ron Klos. Well, Yu checks that box; he is +18.1 SG: T2G over his last four starts. He is awful on and around the green (ATG), but Yu has the ball striking to outperform these odds in a random market.
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Will Zalatoris: Top-20 (+130)
Willy Z fits the trend above, gaining 19.1 strokes T2G over his last four starts, including three "big-boy" events: The Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer, and THE PLAYERS. Plus, Zalatoris always plays well at Augusta, finishing 2nd in the 2021 Masters, T6 in 2022, and T9 last year. He has a weak short-game but has gained strokes in two Masters appearances and ATG in all three.
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Sepp Straka: Top-20 (+175)
The 2023 European Ryder Cupper is having a career year so far this season. Straka has six top-20 finishes in 10 starts in 2025, with a win at The American Express, T5 at the Arnold Palmer, and T14 at THE PLAYERS. He fits the trend above and is seventh in SG: T2G (+24.6) in the 2025 Masters field over his last four starts.
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Other Masters 2025 Content
Bryson DeChambeau Explains Why He Hit Nearly 400 Golf Balls During Masters Practice Session
Cam Smith Turns Heads While Wearing A Suit Jacket During Practice Session At The Masters
Masters Tee Times Announced And We're In For Some Entertaining Pairings
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Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my PGA Tour 2025 betting record via X all season.