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The Masters begins Thursday at Augusta
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 4/11/2015  at  4:12:00 AM
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The Masters

Tees Off: Thursday, April 9th
Augusta National GC – Augusta, GA

Odds to Win Tournament

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Here is the BetDSI Sportsbook betting preview for this matchup:

The first major of the year is finally here as the top players from around the world hit the hallowed grounds of Augusta for the Masters this week. They will be chasing the green jacket for the 81st year and the par-72, 7,435-yard course has given up a decent amount of scoring in recent years with the winning score being in double-digits under par at four of the past six installments. There will be plenty of multiple time victors playing here this year with the most recent being Bubba Watson, who won his second Masters last year with a score of eight-under par. He defeated his next closest opponent by three strokes despite a Saturday 75 and added to his 2012 playoff win over Louis Oosthuizen. Tiger Woods is another multiple-time winner here, taking the green jacket four times in his career, but he hasn’t played since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open in early February and has not won this event since 2005. There will be 20 players in this year’s field that have never played in this famous tourney before and will be joined by 78 returning pros. Let’s look through everybody to find a few who could win this week, getting their names forever etched in the lore of the event.

Rory McIlroy: McIlroy has yet to win the Masters in his impressive career, but has won each of the past two majors while showing up for his best finish in Augusta last year when he carded an even-par over the four days and placed eighth. The world’s top golfer hasn’t exactly torn up the PGA in his three events this season, but has an 11th and a ninth in his past two tourneys and has the length off the tee (305.0 yards per) to put himself in a great position at these tough holes. This is the one big event that has eluded him in the past, but he also hasn’t been all that bad, making the cut in five of his six visits as he added four top-25 finishes. He should have all the drive in the world to get a green jacket and complete the majors grand slam.

Jason Day: Day is one of the best players in the world who has not earned a major in his career despite having seven career top-10s in them. Twice he was right at the top of the leaderboard in this event, finishing third in 2013 with a score of seven-under and second in 2011 after going 12-under par. Last year he also put up a solid performance with a 20th in Augusta but had just one round better than par. His season so far has also been quite impressive with a win and two other top-10 finishes in his six outings. Day has a massive driver (305.1 yards per, 9th on tour) and should be able to navigate this tough course with his tremendous scrambling skills (66.7%, 7th on tour). He has come close to wearing the green jacket in the past and has the skills to win here, so don’t be surprised to see him as the victor come Sunday.

Patrick Reed: Reed is an emerging superstar and has the makeup of a multiple time winner of majors in the future. He’s shown up with a solid putter this year (0.515 strokes gained putting, 24th on tour) and is amazing around the greens with a sand save percentage of 66% (8th on tour) and scrambling percentage of 69.4% (3rd on tour). These numbers have led to seven top-25s, including a win and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, in 10 events this year and he has yet to miss a cut. Reed didn’t perform well here last season, posting a 79 on Friday and missing the cut, but will surely be more comfortable in his second go around and be a factor at week’s end.

Keegan Bradley: Bradley knows what it takes to win in big events after being the victor at the PGA Championship back in 2011 and since then he has four top-20s in majors. Unfortunately, the Masters has been his worst of the four tournaments, but he has still made the cut in 2-of-3 attempts and is coming off a fifth-place showing at the Shell Houston Open last week. Being long off the tee is often needed to compete here and he is averaging 302.8 yards per drive (12th on tour) as he ranks third in total driving. If he can string together some better putting this week there is no reason why he can’t take aim at winning his second career major.

Jamie Donaldson: Donaldson seems to dot the top of the leaderboard in tons of major events and that was no different last year in Augusta with a 14th at his second visit to the course. If he does make a run this week it will be because of his short game as he ranks in the top-30 at strokes-gained putting (0.315, 30th on tour), scrambling (66.9%, 6th on tour) and sand save percentage (63.5%, 18th on tour). Donaldson has yet to grab a win on the PGA tour and he could break out for his first in his third Masters appearance.


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