2025 Masters expert picks, odds, sleepers, best bets: Golf insider doesn’t like Jon Rahm at Augusta National

Along with the PGA Championship, the Masters 2025 is the only other major which gives all past winners a lifetime invitation. If you have a green jacket, then you can tee off at the 2025 Masters, and as many as 20 former champions are expected to be in the 2025 Masters field. Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Bubba Watson are among those nostalgic names looking to add to their major wins tally, while recent champs like Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama are projected 2025 Masters contenders.

The year’s first major will tee off Thursday, April 10 from Augusta National Golf Club where Scheffler prevailed last year. Accordingly, Scheffler is the +400 favorite in the latest 2025 Masters odds after moving as high as +480. Rory McIlroy (+650) is the only other golfer at single-digits in the latest Masters odds 2025, as the Irishman seeks to complete a career Grand Slam. McIlroy is getting over 16% of the handle at BetMGM, while Scheffler is getting 13.6%. Jon Rahm is +1400, followed by Collin Morikawa (+1600) and Ludvig Aberg (+1800). Before making any 2025 Masters picks, you need to see the 2025 Masters predictions and best bets from golf insider Sia Nejad.

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He’s had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, going 52-37-5 and returning 11.67 units over that span. That’s a $1,167 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.

Nejad also nailed Wyndham Clark, a +7500 longshot, as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship 2023. That year, SportsLine debuted “The Early Wedge,” and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners. Anyone who followed his betting picks could have been way up on betting apps and sportsbooks.

Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2025 Masters field and locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.

Top 2025 Masters expert picks

One surprise: Nejad is completely fading Jon Rahm, even though he’s the 2023 Masters champion with one of the shortest 2025 Masters Tournament odds. Nejad points out that Rahm has been consistent in recent starts, but the price point at +1500 scares him off. “His odds are too short compared to the names I like around him. In short, I’m unwilling to speculate on how he sizes up against the top talent on the PGA Tour at such a short number,” he said.

While the two-time major winner has been consistent in his worldwide starts in 2025, he’s lacked consistency in majors since winning a green jacket two years ago. In his six major starts since, Rahm has the same number of finishes in 45th place or worse as he has top 10s (three). He followed up his 2023 Masters win with a 45th place at last year’s event, which was then followed by a missed cut at the PGA Championship that ended his majors cut streak at 18. He then had to withdraw at the U.S. Open and missed out on a medal at the 2024 Olympics, so he hasn’t had the best run in big events as of late.

Instead, Nejad is high on the chances of Collin Morikawa, even though he’s a longshot at +1600. A two-time major winner, Morikawa has three straight top-10 finishes at Augusta National and sat one-shot back entering the final round at last year’s event. A double-bogey on the ninth hole knocked him out of contention, but he still finished tied for third, his best finish at the Masters. He then followed that up with a fourth place at the PGA Championship and has excelled this year on tour, sitting fourth in the FedEx Cup standings.

No one is striking the ball better than Morikawa, who leads the PGA Tour in both strokes gained: tee-to-green and approach the green, while ranking second in SG: total. Nejad thinks the adversity that Morikawa faced in last year’s final round at the Masters will serve him well for this year’s edition. “I’m really not worried about Morikawa’s inability to ‘close’ as he is continuing to put himself in positions to win. His ball striking has been phenomenal for the last 12 months and he’s shown an ability to spike with the short game. His Masters history is even better from a pure metrics standpoint as he’s consistently gained across all four strokes gained categories for four years in a row,” he said. See who else to back here. 

How to make 2025 Masters picks, bets

Nejad has locked in his 2025 Masters best bets, including a longshot who’s priced over 20-1. Nejad said, “We are getting the benefit of a number that is simply too long,” so anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see the picks at SportsLine.

So, which players should you target for the 2025 Masters, and which golfer could bring a huge payday of more than 20-1? Check out the 2025 Masters odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad’s top picks for the 2025 Masters, all from the expert who has returned $1,167 for $100 bettors since May 2023.

2025 Masters odds, field

See the full Masters picks, best bets and predictions

Scottie Scheffler +400
Rory McIlroy +650
Ludvig Aberg +1500
Jon Rahm +1500  
Collin Morikawa +1700  
Bryson DeChambeau +1700  
Xander Schauffele +2100
Hideki Matsuyama +2300
Justin Thomas +3000
Brooks Koepka +3100
Jordan Spieth +3200
Patrick Cantlay +3200
Tyrrell Hatton +3300
Joaquin Niemann +3300
Shane Lowry +3800
Tommy Fleetwood +3900
Will Zalatoris +4900
Cameron Smith +5000
Tony Finau +5000
Dustin Johnson +5500
Maverick McNealy +5500
Russell Henley +6000
Jason Day +6000
Viktor Hovland +6500
Tom Kim +6500
Sahith Theegala +7000
Akshay Bhatia +7000
Robert MacIntyre +7000
Wyndham Clark +7500
Sungjae Im +7500
Corey Conners +7500|
Max Homa +7500
Sam Burns +7500
Matt Fitzpatrick +8500
Cameron Young +8500
Min Woo Lee +8500
Rickie Fowler +8500
Patrick Reed +9000
Sepp Straka +10000
Justin Rose +10000
Max Greyserman +10000
Nicolai Hojgaard +12000
Davis Thompson +12000
Rasmus Hojgaard +12000
Adam Scott +13000
Si Woo Kim +13000
Brian Harman +13000
Taylor Pendrith +14000
Billy Horschel +15000
Thomas Detry +15000
Jake Knapp +16000
Nick Dunlap +16000
Thriston Lawrence +16000
Keegan Bradley +18000|
Byeong Hun An +18000
Cameron Davis +19000
Harris English +19000
Phil Mickelson +20000