It’s almost time for the world’s best golfers to tee off at Augusta National Golf Club for this year’s edition of the Masters. The top players from both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will hit the course Thursday in the first major championship of 2025.
Last year’s winner and current No. 1-ranked player, Scottie Scheffler, is unsurprisingly the favorite but is being followed closely by Rory McIlroy, who is playing some of the best golf of his career.
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The famous names top the headlines, but here are value picks for your Masters pool. Here’s how it works: One player is selected from each tier of 10 inside the Official World Golf Rankings Top 50. Masters fantasy picks will be noted in parentheses after the golfer’s name.
Odds from BetMGM.
Tier 1 (1-10): Collin Morikawa (United States)
Odds: +1400
The first draft of these picks had Rory McIlroy as the Tier 1 pick for good reason. McIlroy is playing great golf. He hasn’t finished lower than T17 in a tournament this season. But that exact thing can be said for Morikawa, who leads the PGA Tour in true strokes gained (2.93), according to datagolf.com.
No putter needed!@Collin_Morikawa leads by two after a birdie at the first @APInv.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/C2FFRtdm4G
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2025
Morikawa has been particularly sharp on approach, picking up a tour-leading 1.47 true strokes in that range. Golfers who are accurate with approach shots tend to do well at Augusta National.
Morikawa was good with the irons in his last three Masters starts, and his worst finish was T10. He’s heading into this year’s tournament with those sticks working and the tour’s fourth-highest driving accuracy percentage (71.48).
With the exception of some forecasted rain on Friday, things seem to be in line for Morikawa to make a run at his first green jacket.
Birdie
Par
Birdie
Birdie
Eagle@Collin_Morikawa takes the lead @TheSentry 🔥📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/shYrukbPrX
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 4, 2025
Tier 2 (11-20): Keegan Bradley
Odds: +10000
The mustache he’s sporting is only part of the reason for this pick. Bradley has been very good with his approach shots this year.
His worst finish (T65) at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am was the only tournament in which he didn’t gain true strokes on approach this year, according to datagolf.com. Outside of that event and the Genesis Invitational, where he finished T34, Bradley hasn’t placed outside the top 20 in his starts this year.
Oh captain, my captain! 🇺🇸@Keegan_Bradley with the only hole-in-one at THE PLAYERS 2025.#THEPLAYERS | @RyderCupUSA pic.twitter.com/NFsFnvMcLc
— THE PLAYERS (@THEPLAYERS) March 18, 2025
Tier 3 (21-30): Min Woo Lee (International)
Odds: +4000
Lee is coming off his first PGA Tour win — a victory at the Texas Children’s Houston Open — so expect him to be confident heading into the week.
There’s a lot to like about the way Lee is playing. His putting has been terrific so far this year with .96 true strokes gained, the second most of any player on the PGA Tour, according to datagolf.com.
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He’s picking up strokes with the rest of his clubs, which hasn’t been the case for much of his career.
It was very tempting to pick the lefty Akshay Bhatia for this tier. He’s played well over the last month and a half and has frankly been more accurate, but Lee seems to be developing a more well-rounded game and has momentum heading into the first major.
CALL THE DOCTOR ☎️@MinWoo27Lee chips in to tie the lead @TCHouOpen! pic.twitter.com/OoHnqSmZds
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 29, 2025
Tier 4 (31-40): Denny McCarthy
Odds: +12500
This is a value pick as McCarthy was No. 40 in the Official World Golf Rankings prior to the Valero Texas Open but No. 22 in datagolf.com’s.
McCarthy’s results have varied so far this year, but he has consistently gained strokes on approach and with his putter in most of his starts.
We have ourselves a new solo leader.
Denny McCarthy eagles the 6th to get to 10-under. pic.twitter.com/BZZ87nbWPD
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) February 16, 2025
Tier 5 (41-50): Daniel Berger
Odds: +10000
Berger was ranked 44th in the World Golf Rankings ahead of the Valero. After missing two out of three cuts in January, he finished in the top 25 in five straight starts, including T2 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
He boasts the sixth most total true strokes gained (2.20) of any player in this year’s field since the start of February and has been the third most accurate driver of the group, according to datagolf.com.
Not your average par 👀
After losing his tee shot in a palm tree, Daniel Berger makes an eagle on his provisional ball @The_Cognizant.
(Presented by @CDWCorp) pic.twitter.com/bRZmyDpnPu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2025
That’s a good reason to be confident that Berger will be playing on Saturday and Sunday, which is key to contending in any tournament.
Wild cards
Jon Rahm (Past champion)
Odds: +1400
Thanks to Rahm playing on the LIV tour, he falls outside the Top 50 in the rankings, making him eligible to be a wild-card pick. Rahm won at Augusta in 2023 and is playing well. His 2.14 total true strokes gained on the LIV tour this year ranks eighth among the field in this week’s event.
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Matt McCarty (First timer)
Odds: +35000
McCarty has won on tour despite this being essentially his first full season. He also had a couple of top-20 finishes in March (T20 at The Players Championship and T16 at the Valspar Championship), indicating trending upward play.
Betting/Odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Min Woo Lee: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
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