2025 Masters Specials: My top (alternative) Augusta betting tips
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Our resident tipster has picked out his potential winners at Augusta, now he’s turning his attention to a couple of Masters specials.
Now that you’ve seen my outright picks for the 89th Masters at Augusta National this week, I thought I’d share some alternative market specials that I really like the sound of.
I will update this page throughout the week, so check back in regularly for my latest betting specials. Now, let’s dive straight in…
2025 Masters specials
Robert MacIntyre to beat Billy Horschel and Nick Dunlap (11/10 General)
Nick Dunlap is in terrible form, and even had he been in the form he was when earning his Masters berth, he’d be a tough grab in this group. With three straight missed cuts coming into the event, I’m happy to take him on in this opening round.
That then leaves MacIntyre versus Billy Horschel. Firstly, MacIntrye is playing the better golf of the two. Four top 11 finishes in his last five starts make the Scotsman an appealing option anyway, even with Horschel finishing 4th last time out – but it’s their Masters record that sets them apart.
In two Masters starts, MacIntyre has finished 12th and 23rd, with three under par rounds in eight – breaking 70 for the first time in his most recent round here.
Horschel, on the other hand, has never matched MacIntyre’s best of 12th over his 9 starts, and his 17th-place finish in 2016 was the only time he bettered MacIntyre’s second finish of 23rd as well. In 32 rounds at Augusta, Horschel has never broken 70, and there’s no reason to think that will happen this time around, other than talent just eventually winning out for one round. Chances are, Horschel shoots level-par or worse, and MacIntyre can better that.
Patrick Cantlay to beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Rasmus Hojgaard (6/5 Sky Bet)
Last year, Matt Fitzpatrick headed into the Masters as the World No.10. He now returns as the World No.74. That level of regression cannot be ignored, and he’s yet to finish inside the top 10 since his 5th at the Memorial last June.
With Fitzpatrick we are taking on one of the most out of form golfers in the field, and the other member of this three ball that we are opposing is Rasmus Hojgaard , who makes his debut at Augusta this week, but will drive down Magnolia Lane having missed 3 of his last 5 cuts.
So then there’s Patrick Cantlay. It’s been a steady but unremarkable start to 2025 for Cantlay, yet he’s finished 5th twice and posted a 12th-place finish at the Players. Add in his course form and experience, which includes four top 22 finishes, including a 9th in 2019, where he actually had a small chance of winning, and you have a rock-solid favourite in this three-ball.
Charl Schwartzel Top South African 7/5 (Sky Bet)
There are only three South African’s in the field this week, and given the form of debutant, Thriston Lawrence, it feels like this is a two-horse race, between former Masters winner, Charl Schwartzel, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who is still yet to win on the PGA Tour, or make any impact in the majors.
Bezuidenhout is 3/3 for made cuts at the Masters but has he not finished better than T38 here, despite starting fast on two occasions. Looking at his overall record, his best major finish is T30 in the PGA Championship, and it might take better than that to win this market.
Lawrence played very well as a surprise contender at the Open Championship last year, and there’s always a risk that he does something similar this week, but he’s missed 8 of his last 10 cuts, with a best finish of T54 in Puerto Rico. It’s fair to say he’s struggling to adapt to the PGA Tour.
Schwartzel, on the other hand, has just finished runner-up to Marc Leishman at Doral, and no matter what your thoughts are on LIV, it seems to be have been good preparation for this week. Only 6 players broke par in the field last week, and three of them were former Masters winners, and the two others (Leishman and Bryson DeChambeau) have both played well there.
It’s been a while since Schwartzel won here (2011) or even contended again (3rd in 2017), but he’s also finished T25, T26, and T10 between 2020 and 2022. Last week was good preparation, and I think he can win this market by finishing 30th this week.
Zach Johnson Top 40 4/1 (Sky Bet)
Sure, Zach Johnson will be eligible for the Champions Tour in 2026, and he’s certainly not winning any popularity contests these days, but like Schwartzel, he’s another former winner who I think could be in for a steady week.
It’s important to note that if he were to finish inside the top 40 this week, it would only be the sixth time in the last 15 years here at Augusta, and he hasn’t been on the first page of the leaderboard since 2015, but that’s the negatives out of the way.
Last week, Johnson finished T18 at the Valero Texas Open, and that was his best finish since his T21 finish at the Sony Open. Both times, though, he was better placed, sitting in 6th place at the halfway mark at the Sony, and in 10th place last week after 54 holes.
Looking back to earlier in the season, Johnson just missed this mark in two events, finishing 48th at Torrey Pines, where he was 4th after round 1, 25th going into Sunday, and 42nd at the Cognizant Classic, where he was 7th going into the weekend and still 14th after 54 holes.
All of this to say the signs are there for a wily veteran who could plot his way to a made cut this week, and then you’re not asking much from him over the weekend to hit this mark.
Will there be a Hole-in-One at the 2025 Masters?
Hole-in-ones, especially at the 16th hole, have become a hallmark of the Masters, but will we see someone make an ace for the first time since 2022?
Yes, you need to go back to Stewart Cink’s hole in one in 2022 for the last time this bet hit, but before that they were reasonably regular in the more recent history.
In 87 Masters renewals, there have been 34 holes-in-ones, and 24 of those came at the 16th hole. In 2021, Tommy Fleetwood and Corey Conners both made an ace, and that was two years after Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas made them in 2019. One in 2018, another in 2017, and two in 2016. There was a spell where these were regular, but they do seem to have dried up, and that was the case between 2013 and 2015 as well, where we went three renewals without one.
Recent history suggests we are due a hole-in-one, but we also went seven years without one between the last one made in the 90s (1996) and the first of the 2000s (2004), and there were none in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 renewals. It wouldn’t be that surprising if we went a third year in a row here without a hole-in-one, given the ultra-reliance on the 16th hole delivering, and I would fall on that side of the bet if I had to, given that’s the odds-against option.
Bet365 are pricing it as 4/7 that one is made which implies there is a 63.6% chance of it happening, which I think is a bit strong.
At 5/4 there is only a 44.4% chance that we go another Masters without a hole-in-one, according to bet365, and I think that’s the slightly better bet of the two.
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Tom Jacobs picks out his top Masters specials.
