Picks for 2026 Masters golfers and the Masters favorite to win ahead of the year's first major at Augusta National
By Ross Kelly Apr 5, 2026 at 11:26 am ET • 4 min read 
Imagn Images Scottie Scheffler became the 18th golfer to win multiple green jackets two years ago, and several players are looking to become No. 19 at the Masters 2026. Reigning champion Rory McIlroy is among them, as are Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. Some will make their debuts at Augusta National when the 2026 Masters tees off Thursday, April 9. Chris Gotterup and Ben Griffin are hoping to join the three-man club of golfers to win the major in their first appearance.
The top-ranked player in the world, Scheffler is the +500 favorite in the latest 2026 Masters odds. Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are both at +1000. McIlroy is +1200 to go back-to-back, with Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Aberg at +1600, as the latter seeks his first major championship. A pair of past winners will not be in the field as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have both opted not to play for personal reasons. Before locking in any 2026 Masters picks, making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, or entering any 2026 Masters one-and-done picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters -- its fourth Masters in a row -- as well as that year's PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
Now that the 2026 Masters field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 Masters predictions for Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm
One shocker the model is calling at the Masters 2026: Rahm (+1000), the 2023 Masters champion and one of this year's favorites, stumbles and doesn't even crack the top five of the leaderboard. That 2023 victory is the Spaniard's only top 10 over his last four starts at Augusta, and he followed it up with a 45th (2024) and then a 14th-place finish (2025). On majors as a whole, Rahm hasn't been in the best of form, with just one top five over his last 10 major starts, as opposed to four finishes 34th or worse. Add in that Rahm has just one 72-hole tournament victory in the three years since slipping on the green jacket, and he's one to steer clear of given his short PGA odds.
The model has also locked in its projection for Scheffler (+500), a two-time Masters winner who is this year's favorite. Scheffler won in 2022 and 2024 with top 10s in each of his last four Augusta starts. He also won the PGA Championship and Open Championship last season as he was the PGA Tour Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career. However, Scheffler hasn't matched his 2025 success thus far and seems to be going in the wrong direction. He won his first start of 2026 and then had top fives in his next two, but he fell outside the top 10 in his ensuing start before not even placing in the top 20 in his last two starts. He then withdrew from the Houston Open, robbing him of potentially his last tune-up before the Masters 2026.
The model has also examined McIlroy's (+1200) chances of becoming the fourth golfer to win back-to-back green jackets. Not only was last year's victory the crowning achievement of McIlroy's career, but it was his first major victory in 11 years. This year, his long game metrics are strong as he boasts top-5 rankings in strokes gained: total, SG: tee-to-green and SG: off-the-tee, but he's lagging on the greens by ranking outside the top 100 in SG: putting. The Irishman has had limited exposure to PGA events this year, having completed just three tournaments with varying success. He was runner-up at the Genesis and placed 14th at Pebble Beach but was 46th at the Players after winning the event in 2025. See the full Masters projections from the model here.
How to make 2026 Masters picks
The model is also targeting two more longshots of +3000 or greater, including one of at least +5000 that could bring strong returns. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Masters, which massive longshots will stun the golfing world, and where will Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy finish? Check out the 2026 Masters odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025, and four straight Masters.
2026 Masters odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Masters picks, best bets and predictions here.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +500 Bryson DeChambeau +1000 Jon Rahm +1000 Rory McIlroy +1200 Xander Schauffele +1600 Ludvig Åberg +1600 Matt Fitzpatrick +2200 Cameron Young +2200 Tommy Fleetwood +2200 Justin Rose +3000 Robert MacIntyre +3300 Patrick Reed +3300 Collin Morikawa +3500 Hideki Matsuyama +4000 Jordan Spieth +4000 Brooks Koepka +4000 Min Woo Lee +4000 Si Woo Kim +4500 Chris Gotterup +5000 Viktor Hovland +5000 Russell Henley +5500 Shane Lowry +6000 Akshay Bhatia +6000 Adam Scott +6500 Justin Thomas +6500 Sepp Straka +7000 Tyrrell Hatton +7000 Patrick Cantlay +7000 Jason Day +7000 Jake Knapp +8000 Jacob Bridgeman +8000 Marco Penge +8000 Sungjae Im +10000 Sam Burns +10000 Harris English +10000 Corey Conners +10000 J.J. Spaun +10000 Cameron Smith +10000 Nicolai Højgaard +10000 Maverick McNealy +10000 Gary Woodland +10000 Max Homa +10000 Daniel Berger +12500 Ben Griffin +12500 Rasmus Højgaard +15000 Kurt Kitayama +15000 Aaron Rai +15000 Wyndham Clark +15000 Ryan Gerard +15000 Brian Harman +15000 Sam Stevens +17500 Max Greyserman +17500 Ryan Fox +17500 Jarvis Casey +17500 Keegan Bradley +17500 Haotong Li +17500 Dustin Johnson +17500 Alex Noren +17500 Harry Hall +17500 Nicolas Echavarria +17500 Sami Valimaki +22500 Nick Taylor +22500 Sergio Garcia +22500 Carlos Ortiz +22500 Kristoffer Reitan +25000 Matt McCarty +25000 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +25000 Andrew Novak +25000 Aldrich Potgieter +25000 Tom McKibbin +25000 Michael Brennan +35000 Michael Kim +35000 Davis Riley +50000 Bubba Watson +50000 John Keefer +50000 Zach Johnson +50000 Charl Schwartzel +75000 Angel Cabrera +100000 Mason Howell +100000 Fifa Laopakdee +100000 Ethan Fang +100000 Brian Campbell +100000 Vijay Singh +100000 Jose Maria Olazabal +100000 Brandon Holtz +100000 Naoyuki Kataoka +100000 Danny Willett +100000 Jackson Herrington +100000 Fred Couples +100000 Mateo Pulcini +100000 Mike Weir +100000
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