2025 Masters betting tips: Our expert’s top picks for Augusta National
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Our resident betting expert picks out his top Masters betting tips ahead of the highly anticipated first major of 2025.
Last week, we revealed our Masters Power Rankings to try and steer us toward who will be awarded the 89th Green Jacket after the final putt drops on Sunday.
But with Thursday’s opening drives now just days away, the odds have started to settle, and we can make a bit more of an informed judgment on where we feel the real value lies in this year’s Masters.
So, without further ado, here are my top picks for the week.
Once you’ve picked your winner, why not head over to my Masters Specials page for some alternative Augusta betting tips?
2025 Masters betting tips
The Banker: Bryson DeChambeau
18/1 e/w (Paddy Power 8 Places)
Bryson has been on my mind since last year’s Masters (yes, truly), and while I was a beneficiary of his US Open win, I am not stopping there. Many will focus on Bryson’s lack of touch around these Augusta greens. I will instead focus on the positives, and there have been plenty for the now-popular-again major winner.
With two major wins under his belt already, Bryson has found himself in the heat of the battle more often than not in recent majors, finishing T6 or better in four of his last six U.S.-based majors. (I say U.S. based because I am not too worried about his performances in the Open Championship, a completely unique test that doesn’t play to his strengths.) Instead, let’s look at his form in the American majors since a missed cut at the Masters two years ago:
2023 PGA Championship – T4
2023 U.S. Open – T20
2024 Masters – T6
2024 PGA Championship – 2
2024 U.S. Open – 1
That is some run, and while the missed cut at the 2023 Masters is an obvious negative, he bounced back last year with his best-ever Masters finish, as he led for the first two rounds. Last year, he posted the first-round lead at The Masters for the second time, showing he’s capable of shooting the best score of the day. While a tournament is four rounds, and the Masters does present challenges all week, I am still buoyed by the fact that on more than one occasion, he’s been the best player in the field on Thursday. Getting off to a fast start is crucial here, and this time, I think he has learned enough to hold on.
Sure, we are going to worry about him around the greens, but last year he improved in that department, hence why he held on for his best finish to date.
Considering Bryson has been the best player on the opening day twice, he was 8th at halfway here as an amateur (finishing Low Amateur in T21) and has now served his apprenticeship with eight starts and his first top-10 here, I think now is the time for him to slip on a Green Jacket.
His form in majors is extremely encouraging the past couple of years, and while he would have liked a better run of form on LIV this season, he did lead for the first two rounds at Doral last week, and ended up as just one of just six players who finished the week under par there, four of them being Masters champions…
He can hit the shots needed here, and while there will always be some level of discomfort if he does miss the greens, I am willing to bet that he doesn’t find himself in too much trouble that often, and also that he can lean on his improving performances around the green at Augusta to post his best week in that department, yet.
At 18/1, I will take a shot on the player who finished 6th, 2nd, and 1st in the last three majors in the U.S. and continually seems to be more and more at ease with himself both on and off the golf course.
The Outsider: Shane Lowry
25/1 e/w (12 Places Betfair, SkyBet)
There is 33/1 about Shane Lowry if you want to sacrifice a couple of places, but I will take the 25/1 knowing a top 12 will offer some return on the Irishman this week at Augusta.
Lowry has only finished inside the top 10 once here, and that was a T3 finish in 2022, but he’s been so steady at this golf course over the last five years, something he, in part, attributes to playing with Tiger Woods in 2020.
On top of his 3rd in 2022, he was inside the top 10 for three rounds a year later, eventually finishing 16th, and those two years have shown enough to suggest he could win around here. If he can marry together the best approach play he’s shown around here with his putting performance back in 2022, he’s going to be a firm contender.
Of course there are some ifs, buts and maybe’s in there, but that is always going to be the case when discussing a potential Masters winner, and with Lowry we are at least backing someone who ranks 6th on the PGA Tour in Approach this season, so we know the foundations are sound in that department. I would love for him to be putting better, but we can’t have it all, and given he ranked 4th in SG Tee to Green, his all-around game is in stellar shape, and his results have been strong.
Perhaps unfortunate to run into an inspired Rory McIlroy at Pebble Beach, Lowry was an impressive 2nd there, and he has posted three more top-11 finishes since at the Cognizant Classic (11th), the Arnold Palmer Invitational (7th), and the Valspar Championship (8th). He was better placed at Bay Hill, leading at the halfway stage, and he was also in the top 5 at the Valspar heading into the final round, but he hasn’t quite put all four rounds together yet.
Some will argue that’s his weakness, that he simply doesn’t win enough, and that is fair, especially in America. The upside is that we know he can do, as he has won a major at The Open, a WGC very early on in his career at Firestone, and a couple of big events in Europe, including the BMW PGA Championship, where he held off both McIlroy and Jon Rahm. So we know he can do it on the big stage; he’s done so on multiple occasions, and he’s now got to do it at Augusta.
Note: I will also be betting on Lowry at 20/1 on Sky Bet in their “W/O the Big 6” market. Here you can get 5 places each way at quarter-odds and take Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Ludvig Aberg out of the equation!
The Long(ish) Shot: Sepp Straka
50/1 e/w (Paddy Power 10 Places)
Sepp Straka has been unbelievable over the past couple of years, and he’s now in the same bracket as Gareth Barry and James Milner. That’s a rogue football analogy for American readers, but it essentially means that everyone talks about how underrated he is, to the point where he’s probably becoming “properly rated”. I still think he’s slightly overlooked, and many will still err on the side of him not winning a major, but I disagree.
We have seen surprise winners of this in the past, Danny Willett being the obvious one that comes to mind, and when you think about Willett, you think about him signposting something bigger with a T6 at the Open Championship the year before. Well, Straka finished T2 at the 2023 Open Championship, T7 at the 2023 PGA Championship, and T16 here last year, his best of three efforts at Augusta. This is all to say that Austrian (basically American) is now ready to step up on a bigger stage, and Augusta looks like a good venue for him.
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Straka is 3/3 for made cuts at Augusta and has never been outside the top 30 going into the weekend, so he’s never really been under threat of missing the cut either. That stress-free run has allowed Straka to play 12 rounds in three years here, and he’s clearly getting more comfortable with the layout. He’s yet to break 70, which is perhaps the one thing people will point to, but he’s broken par one time on each visit here, and I believe it’s a matter of time before he shoots in the 60s here and puts himself in the mix.
My main reason for believing this year is his incredible iron play, which sees him rank 4th in SG Approach and helps towards his ranking of 7th in SG Tee to Green as well. He’s been so incredibly consistent with his approach play this season, ranking inside the top 10 in the field in seven of his 10 starts in 2025, and with another win under his belt this year at The American Express, confidence will be high.
Straka led for two rounds at Pebble Beach on his next start after winning the Amex, and he bounced back from a terrible first-round 77 at Bay Hill to fight his way into the top-5 there, so he’s been in great form at the Signature events, and that is the formula unlikely major winners, like Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman followed in recent years. Play well with the best of the best all in the field in a PGA Tour event, and you will feel a lot better on major week. Now a three-time PGA Tour winner who has also lost in two playoffs, there is not much left to prove outside of these bigger events. After making his Ryder Cup debut in 2023, Straka will be keen to return, and a big week here will almost cement his spot, given his strong start to the season.
The Long Shot: JJ Spaun
100/1 e/w (10 Places Boylesports)
OK, look, it’s hard to envisage JJ Spaun as a Masters winner, but I wouldn’t have had him going toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy at Sawgrass either, and that was his third top-3 finish of the season.
Sometimes, you just have to respect form. Last year Matthieu Pavon finished T12 here after winning at Torrey Pines and finishing 3rd at Pebble Beach and 5th at the Singapore Classic. Spaun is on a very similar run of form, albeit he lost in a playoff at The Players and couldn’t convert his 54-hole lead at the Sony. Still, the form is incredibly impressive, and I can’t ignore it. It has not come out of the blue either, as he posted four top 10 finishes in the second half of 2024 as well.
What Spaun has over Pavon is that he’s played her before, finishing T22 on debut a week after the Valero Texas Open. This time around, he’s been able to enjoy a week off and prepare on his own terms, which could be a big factor.
The missed cut in Houston wasn’t ideal, but the general body of work this season, which includes him ranking 2nd in SG Approach and 7th for SG Tee to Green on the PGA Tour, is incredibly eye-catching. His short game is a worry, but that’s why we are eking out the extra places and counting on him to place in the top 10 rather than relying solely on him to win or get right in the mix.
I do think Spaun is the type that is capable of the unthinkable, and while ultimately I do think the Green Jacket will go to someone with bigger major credentials than Spaun, he is on an upward trajectory in his career, and his run at The Players was certainly a great platform to the next level.
Bonus Pick: Patrick Reed
55/1 e/w (Betfair 12 Places)
While there are far better odds out there for Patrick Reed (80/1 8 places with Betfred), I am using this section to point out what I think is a strong angle.
Reed is obviously a Masters winner, and the upside is a second Green Jacket (which is why I will also back him win-only at 100+ on the Exchange), but one thing he’s been excellent at is grinding out consistent results since his win.
Some players struggle here at Augusta after winning (notably Sergio Garcia, who’s missed five cuts in six since winning his Green Jacket), but not Patrick Reed. Reed has instead played in six Masters since his win in 2018, and he has finished inside the top-12 on four of those occasions. His worst effort came when defending, which is often the case with Masters winners, and even then, he safely made the cut and finished T38. Reed’s best effort since was his 4th in 2022 when he and Phil Mickelson made a great run on the final day, but he’s also posted three more top-12 finishes, and that’s all we are asking of him to fulfill the place part of this bet.
He’s also finding form at the very best time. After a so-so start to the season, Reed finished 2nd in Macau, where he was the leader for the first three rounds, and then last week at Doral, he led after Round 1, was still 3rd after 36, and eventually finished 7th and level par for the week on a tough golf course.
Reed won in November last year, backing up a 3rd round 59 with a final round 66 to win by three in Hong Kong, so he’s clearly got the bit between his teeth.
For a player of his calibre, he’s generally been a bit underwhelming, but at the Masters specifically, he’s been fantastic, and that is owed to his creativity. He has the perfect game for Augusta and can win a second Green Jacket this week, and at worst, can plot around to finish inside the top 12 again.
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2025 Masters betting tips from Today's Golfer.
