SportsLine golf expert David Bearman just locked in his best bets for the 2026 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club
By Daniel Kohn Apr 4, 2026 at 1:07 pm ET • 3 min read 
Imagn Images Rory McIlroy won his first Masters in 2025, completing the career grand slam. He had come close 11 times before finally winning at Augusta National Golf Club. Now, he returns with a chance to win his second consecutive Masters, sixth major and 30th PGA Tour event. He enters the Masters 2026 at +1100, behind only Scottie Scheffler (+550), Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm (+1000) in the latest 2026 Masters odds.
The Masters 2026 gets underway at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 9. The tournament, with a $21 million Masters purse, will be played on a par-72 course measuring 7,555 yards. Before making any 2026 Masters picks, you need to see the 2026 Masters predictions and best bets 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 bets (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 best bets, 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 (+900), avoiding him in outright and head-to-head bets.
"Fading Rory McIlroy is not an easy thing to do," Bearman told SportsLine. "We are talking about the defending champion with eight top-10s and many narrow misses here. But a few things are working against him here. First off, he withdrew while tied for 9th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago with a back injury. Yes, he returned for The Players Championship, but finished T46 and never had a round under par. That's the physical part.
"Now the emotional part. How do you follow up on last year's historical win and completion of the sport's elusive Grand Slam? It wasn't just a guy who had come close, finally cashing in. It was a guy who had ELEVEN 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 who hasn't won an event in more than three years. 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 bets 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 +1100 Xander Schauffele +1500 Ludvig Aberg +1600 Matt Fitzpatrick +2000 Cameron Young +2000 Tommy Fleetwood +2200 Patrick Reed +2700 Justin Rose +2700 Collin Morikawa +2700 Brooks Koepka +3000 Jordan Spieth +3300 Hideki Matsuyama +3500 Min Woo Lee +3500 Robert MacIntyre +4000 Viktor Hovland +4000 Shane Lowry +4500 Chris Gotterup +5000 Tyrrell Hatton +5500 Russell Henley +5500 Patrick Cantlay +5500 Akshay Bhatia +5500 Si Woo Kim +5500 Sepp Straka +6000 Joaquin Niemann +6000 Sam Burns +6500 Justin Thomas +6500 Corey Conners +6500 Jason Day +6500 Adam Scott +6500 Sungjae Im +7000 Marco Penge +7000 Jacob Bridgeman +7500 Gary Woodland +7500 Nicolai Hojgaard +8000 Cameron Smith +8000 Sahith Theegala +8000 J.J. Spaun +8000 Harris English +8000 Daniel Berger +8000 Maverick McNealy +10000 Thomas Detry +10000 Brian Harman +10000 Tony Finau +10000 Max Homa +10000 Will Zalatoris +10000 Ben Griffin +10000 Casey Jarvis +10000 Aaron Rai +12500 Wyndham Clark +12500 Tom Kim +12500 Dustin Johnson +12500 Ryan Gerard +12500 Ryan Fox +12500 Alex Noren +12500 Anthony Kim +12500 Keegan Bradley +15000 Rasmus Hojgaard +15000 Billy Horschel +15000 Max Greyserman +15000 Taylor Pendrith +17500 Byeong Hun An +17500 Davis Thompson +17500 Sergio Garcia +17500 Kurt Kitayama +17500 Aldrich Potgieter +17500 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +17500 Nick Taylor +17500 Matt McCarty +17500 Nico Echavarria +17500 Jayden Schaper +20000 Tom McKibbin +20000 Haotong Li +20000 Phil Mickelson +25000 Davis Riley +25000 Andrew Novak +25000 Pierceson Coody +25000 Carlos Ortiz +25000 Harry Hall +25000 Michael Kim +25000 Sam Stevens +25000 Johnny Keefer +25000 Denny McCarthy +30000 Danny Willett +30000 Bubba Watson +30000 Charl Schwartzel +30000 Michael Brennan +30000 Sami Valimaki +30000 Kristoffer Reitan +30000 Naoyuki Kataoka +30000 Zach Johnson +40000 Brian Campbell +40000 Angel Cabrera +50000 Fred Couples +100000 Vijay Singh +100000 Mason Howell +100000 Fifa Laopakdee +100000 Ethan Fang +100000
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