The greenest fairways, the freshest roses, the most pristine greens. The 2022 Masters are nearly here, a tradition unlike any other. The 2021 Masters were historic as Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese golfer to win golf’s most prestigious major. The field is back and stacked as the best in the world are gunning for a green jacket. So, what are the Masters odds for the tournament this year?
There are plenty of fun storylines to watch as the 72 holes at Augusta National gets closer, but none is more fun to fantasize about than whether Tiger Woods will make an epic return at a club he has dominated so frequently in the past. Woods has not played in an individual PGA-sanctioned event since his auto wreck in February 2021. The only time we saw him perform was at the PNC Championship with his son Charlie.
Woods is officially listed in the field, but not publicly stating whether he will play in the tournament. If he does decide to play, there will be no bigger story of the week. All the cameras will be on Tiger as golf fans will rejoice to see one of the all-time greats return to the game. He has admitted in recent interviews that the prime of his playing days are over but that he still anticipates hand-selecting certain events to play in moving forward.
Outside of the Tiger talk, there are plenty of fun players to watch out for in this year’s tournament. Jon Rahm is the leader in the field at sportsbooks across the country as the Spaniard looks to capture his first green jacket. Rahm hasn’t won since he took home the trophy in the U.S. Open in June of 2021.
My favorite pick to win each year is Rory McIlroy. It is purely selfish as I hope to see McIlroy complete a career grand slam. Augusta has always seemed to have his number and he is far from playing his best game right now. A more likely star to slip on their first green jacket would be Justin Thomas who plays the course extremely well. He has finished in the top-25 in each of the last five years.
This might be a year where we see an epic youth movement gunning for the jacket. We saw Will Zalatoris nearly take home the green in his rookie season in 2021 and he has been playing exceptionally well recently. The two names that are right there with Zalatoris are Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa. Hovland’s game is nearly complete in all facets, he’s one of the top drivers on tour and is deadly with his irons. But he has struggled mightily with his chipping around the green, something even he admits.
Morikawa might be the most intriguing pick. He is the fastest player in the modern era to already put two majors under his belt and he has what looks like a stroke of Tiger in him. Morikawa is the best player in the field with his irons and has great composure in majors. His biggest issue is also chipping around the green. If he can dial it in, he could slip on his first jacket.
Masters Odds Prediction: Collin Morikawa