With THE PLAYERS Championship in the rearview window, golf season is in full swing.
Now’s the time to turn our eyes to the next big tournament on the schedule: The Masters, which tees off in about a month.
As always, the field at Augusta National Golf Club will feature all of the sport’s biggest stars, but there’s reason to believe the tournament may be a little more open than at first glance, giving bettors some early value to target now before excitement ratchets up as this spring carries on.
Arguably, the two best golfers in the world – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy – both have questions surrounding them as The Masters looms.
On paper, Scheffler’s results so far this season – one win and two more top-five finishes – are about as good as one can expect, but he’s been plagued by problematic Thursday rounds and has recently flip-flopped drivers, signaling that he’s not all that comfortable with his long clubs at the moment.
McIlroy, the defending champion, dropped out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury and barely made the cut at the PLAYERS Championship.
Then there are the stars of LIV Golf, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, who are playing well but will always face questions about their preparation as long as they remain part of the rebel league.
Enter Patrick Reed, who is quietly dominating on the DP Tour and has been excellent at The Masters over the years.
Reed left LIV in late January and has been playing on the DP Tour to improve his status in an attempt to get back on the PGA Tour.
While he’s facing off against much lighter competition, Reed is taking care of business, winning two tournaments and placing second in another, and finishing no lower than T-29 in six starts this season.
As of this writing, Reed is well outside the top-tier of Masters contenders in the eyes of oddsmakers, sitting at 33/1 to win the tournament at FanDuel Sportsbook, which is tied for the 12th-best odds.
Reed has proven over the years, to say nothing about how he’s playing of late, that he deserves more respect than that.
Last April, Reed finished alone in third place at The Masters behind McIlroy and Justin Rose during that epic tournament.
His success at Augusta goes back much further.
Reed has finished in the top 12 in five of the past six Masters and made the cut in 10 of 12 starts.
Betting on golf?
In 2018, of course, Reed won the Green Jacket for his first and only major championship win.
With Reed flying under the radar in Europe, bettors would be wise to get some exposure to a golfer who plays Augusta as well as anyone.
The play: Patrick Reed to win The Masters (+3300, FanDuel Sportsbook), to finish top-10, and finish top-20
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.
