It’s the only golf betting week of the year that requires no introduction. Welcome to the Masters.

The season’s first major at Augusta National is upon us and the intrigue couldn’t be higher as Tiger Woods returns on the biggest stage of all. This is Woods’ first competitive tournament since he nearly lost his leg and suffered serious injuries in a car accident 13 months ago. The five-time Masters champ said Tuesday he believes he can win this week and goes off with +5000 odds for the Thursday morning tee time alongside Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann.

Woods’ return will be the biggest story in sports all week, but there’s an incredibly juicy list of additional names atop the board on betting sites and betting apps.

Jon Rahm is the favorite with golf odds of +900.

Newly-minted World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has won three of his last five events and is second on the board alongside Justin Thomas at +1200. Players Championship winner Cameron Smith (+1400) and 2020 Masters champ Dustin Johnson (+1600) round out the top five.

2022 Masters Odds

Odds via DraftKings and current as of publication.

2022 Masters Picks & Predictions

Tiger Woods to Make the Cut

Odds:

Forget about any gametime decisions. Tiger’s playing. End of story. And the man who has made the cut in 22 of 23 prior Masters starts is -110 to see the weekend at Augusta National.

Simply teeing it up Thursday will be an amazing accomplishment after Woods was hospitalized for three months and spent more than a year away from the game. Making the cut won’t be easy, but we’re confident this version of Woods can still get it around the course and hang in the top 50. He’s a spectacular irons player in the wind, everything looks good on the range and this is the easiest major cut to make by a mile.

We don’t know what to expect from Woods this week, but he wouldn’t be here unless he’s confident he can contend. We’d be very surprised if he’s not playing this weekend. We’re on Woods to make the cut with -110 odds at DraftKings.

Collin Morikawa Top-10 Finish

Odds:

Morikawa didn’t play well in his last two stroke-play events, but the guy has been a major killer ever since he arrived on Tour. Morikawa has three straight top 10s in majors, including a British Open win. This is his third start at Augusta National, so he’s not flying blind anymore. He also outlined a new mental approach this week and said he’s just going to play his game instead of trying to go against his natural fade and force a draw off the tee on certain holes.

We like that approach, we like the major credentials and we love Morikawa top-10 finish with +190 odds at BetMGM.

Corey Conners Top-10 Finish

Odds:

After sports betting in Ontario went live on Monday, we had to come ready with a Canadian to back. And we’re all in on Conners on this golf course and in these conditions. He’s one of the best ballstrikers in the field and has an ideal combo of distance and accuracy off the tee.

The game looked phenomenal at the Match Play, where he beat Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen and Abe Ancer, among others. He’s finished top 10 in each of the past two Augusta starts, and he has the 12th-lowest Masters scoring average among this year’s participants.

Don’t be surprised if Conners is in the mix on Amen Corner come Sunday. We like Conners Top-10 finish with +450 odds at DraftKings.

Tommy Fleetwood to Win

Odds:

We’re gonna have to touch this one and remain unsure why others aren’t talking about Fleetwood coming into the week. He has an outstanding short game and ranks second in Strokes Gained Around the Green, one of the most crucial stats at Augusta National.

Fleetwood hasn’t made a ton of noise in a while, but he’s been top-25 in his last three stroke-play events. All three were in difficult conditions at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship and Valspar.

The recent major appearances have been uneventful, but Fleetwood hasn’t played this consistently in a while and it could be his time – the average age of Masters winners since 2011 is 31.3, and the Englishman turned 31 in January.

We’re taking a flyer on Fleetwood to win the Masters with +6600 odds at BetMGM.

2022 Masters Betting Tips

Ballstrikers. Crafty short games around the greens. Excellent trajectory in the wind. Those would be our top three factors on the wish list this week at Augusta National.

This is always a second-shot golf course. Strong drives and on-point putting help, but the most important skill at Augusta is hitting the ball solid off awkward lies into tiny windows on these one-of-a-kind greens. Misses which settle 25-30 feet from the cup at a normal tournament could roll off the green entirely here. There’s simply no room for error on these putting surfaces and only the elite approach players can hold these greens in the right position consistently.

We’ve already mentioned Strokes Gained Around the Greens as a key factor – players will be missing a lot of greens based on the forecast and getting up and down is no easy task around here. It’s downright impossible in many spots. Creative, dialed-in short games will thrive – it’s why so many project Cameron Smith as a future green jacket owner.

Conditions could be quite difficult in the wind over the weekend, just as they were last year when the winning score was 10 shots higher than it was in November of 2020. The top 10 from last year’s Masters is a ballstrikers delight including guys like Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele, Rahm, Marc Leishman, Justin Rose, Conners, Cameron Smith – a who’s who of the best irons players in the game.

We expect more of the same this year. You just can’t fake it around this course and trajectory and distance control in these conditions will be the deciding factor.

2022 Masters Time, Date & TV

When: Thursday-Sunday, April 7-10

Where: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

TV: ESPN, CBS