SportsLine golf expert David Bearman just locked in his predictions for the 2026 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club with Tiger Woods (personal) not in the field
By Daniel Kohn Apr 8, 2026 at 9:47 am ET • 3 min read 
Imagn Images April symbolizes new beginnings, and for golf fans, there's no beginning better than the start of major season, which opens on Thursday, April 9, when the 2026 Masters tee off from Augusta National Golf Club. For Rory McIlroy, the Masters 2026 marks the beginning of his playing at Augusta as a Masters and a Grand Slam champion, so what should you expect from the 36-year-old when making 2026 Masters bets? McIlroy is outside the top-three favorites and is listed at +1300 in the latest 2026 Masters odds. Before last year's win came 15 straight Masters losses, so he will be a polarizing option in 2026 Masters betting strategies.
Scottie Scheffler, who has won two of the last four Masters, is the +550 favorite to win the Masters 2026, followed by Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau at +1000 odds. Rahm won the 2023 Masters and has finished in the top 10 in four of his eight career Masters tournaments, so is he someone to use in 2026 Masters bets? Before making any 2026 Masters picks, you need to see the 2026 Masters predictions from golf expert David Bearman.
Bearman joins SportsLine after serving as ESPN's golf researcher from 2008-11 and as the Deputy Editor of ESPN Chalk from 2019-23, where he authored the weekly golf betting column for that site. This year, he has cashed 28 placement golf betting picks (top 5/10/20) in the first 11 tournaments and hit Cam Young outright at The Players Championship.
Now, Bearman has focused on the 2026 Masters field and locked in his predictions, sleepers and golfers to avoid. You can only see them here.
Top 2026 Masters expert picks
One of Bearman's 2026 Masters predictions: He's fading Rory McIlroy (+1300), avoiding him in outright and head-to-head picks. Bearman notes the physical challenges McIlroy has been dealing with, including withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer due to a back injury and then finishing T-46 at the Players Championship with four rounds over par the week after. McIlroy hasn't played since that poor showing a month ago. But it's not just the physical woes that have Bearman concerned.
"How do you follow up on last year's historical win and completion of the sport's elusive Grand Slam?" Bearman told SportsLine. "It wasn't just a guy who had come close, finally cashing in. It was a guy who had 11 shots at the grand slam and in every way imaginable didn't get there, until last year. You saw it in his emotional release after he won and everything that followed. As much as he "needed" that win to fulfill his career, he does not need it this time around. Oh, and only three golfers (Nicklaus, Faldo, Tiger) in the history of golf have won back-to-back green jackets, so history isn't on his side either." See who Bearman is backing at SportsLine.
How to make 2026 Masters picks
Bearman has revealed his best bets, and his top outright pick is a surprising longshot around 60-1 who missed eight cuts last year. He's a perfect course fit, and anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who it is at SportsLine.
What are the best bets for the 2026 Masters, and which overlooked golfer should you target? Check out the 2026 Masters odds below, then visit SportsLine to see David Bearman's top picks for the 2026 Masters, all from the expert who has cashed 28 placement picks in the first 11 tournaments of the year.
2026 Masters odds, field
See Masters picks, best bets and predictions here.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +550 Bryson DeChambeau +1000 Jon Rahm +1000 Rory McIlroy +1300 Xander Schauffele +1500 Ludvig Åberg +1700 Matt Fitzpatrick +2200 Cameron Young +2200 Tommy Fleetwood +2200 Hideki Matsuyama +2700 Robert MacIntyre +2700 Justin Rose +3000 Min Woo Lee +3000 Patrick Reed +3500 Collin Morikawa +3500 Si Woo Kim +4500 Jordan Spieth +4500 Brooks Koepka +4500 Chris Gotterup +5500 Russell Henley +5500 Nicolai Højgaard +5500 Viktor Hovland +5500 Akshay Bhatia +6500 Maverick McNealy +6500 Jake Knapp +7000 Shane Lowry +7000 Patrick Cantlay +7000 Justin Thomas +7000 Adam Scott +7500 Jason Day +7500 Sepp Straka +8000 Tyrrell Hatton +8000 Corey Conners +8000 J.J. Spaun +8000 Jacob Bridgeman +8000 Sam Burns +10000 Harris English +10000 Rasmus Højgaard +10000 Cameron Smith +10000 Marco Penge +10000 Sungjae Im +12500 Gary Woodland +12500 Kurt Kitayama +15000 Daniel Berger +17500 Ben Griffin +17500 Alex Noren +17500 Ryan Gerard +17500 Sam Stevens +20000 Keegan Bradley +20000 Harry Hall +20000 Aldrich Potgieter +20000 Kristoffer Reitan +22500 Max Homa +22500 Ryan Fox +25000 Casey Jarvis +25000 Aaron Rai +25000 Wyndham Clark +25000 Brian Harman +25000 Sergio Garcia +30000 Dustin Johnson +30000 Nicolas Echavarria +30000 Carlos Ortiz +30000 Michael Kim +30000 Max Greyserman +40000 Nick Taylor +40000 Haotong Li +40000 Matt McCarty +40000 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +40000 Andrew Novak +40000 Tom McKibbin +40000 Sami Valimaki +50000 Michael Brennan +50000 John Keefer +50000 Bubba Watson +75000 Charl Schwartzel +75000 Zach Johnson +75000 Davis Riley +100000 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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