Masters Odds History: Using Past Odds to Predict the 2026 Masters Champion

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here . The Masters is a tradition unlike any other, so with the 2026 edition at Augusta National set for Round 1 on Thursday, it’s the perfect time to take a stroll down memory — or Magnolia — lane and dissect historical betting trends for the season’s opening major championship.

Bettors and golf enthusiasts can look to past Masters odds as a window of insight to make their Masters picks for bets and pools, and even assist in predicting the 2026 Masters champion. Here are a number of trends from the odds at Sports Odds History that helped me find two of my first bets for the 2026 edition. Opening odds of the past 20 Masters winners Year Golfer Odds 2025 Rory McIlroy +675 2024 Scottie Scheffler +500 2023 Jon Rahm +1000 2022 Scottie Scheffler +1600 2021 Hideki Matsuyama +6000 2020 Dustin Johnson +1000 2019 Tiger Woods +1200 2018 Patrick Reed +4000 2017 Sergio Garcia +3000 2016 Danny Willett +5000 2015 Jordan Spieth +1000 2014 Bubba Watson +2000 2013 Adam Scott +2500 2012 Bubba Watson +5000 2011 Charl Schwartzel +10000 2010 Phil Mickelson +1200 2009 Angel Cabrera +12500 2008 Trevor Immelman +15000 2007 Zach Johnson +12500 2006 Phil Mickelson +800 The longshot era is long gone From 2007 through 2012, five of the six winners had odds of +5000 or above, and four were +10000 or higher.

In the 13 years since, Danny Willett won at +15000 in 2016, and Hideki Matsuyama won at +4000 in 2021. The Masters champion had odds of +2000 or lower eight of 13 years, too. As a result, I focused on players below +4000 and closer to the top of the board.

Chalk talks The winner of the Masters has closed with odds at +1600 or lower before Round 1 in six of the past seven years, and Rory McIlroy (+675) and Scottie Scheffler (+500) have closed well below +1000 the past two. It’s reminiscent of the 2001-2006 stretch of winners: ● 2006: Phil Mickelson (+800) ● 2005: Tiger Woods (+350) ● 2004: Phil Mickelson (+1200) ● 2003: Mike Weir (+3000) ● 2002: Tiger Woods (+200) ● 2001: Tiger Woods (+150) The 2026 Masters odds list has multiple guys at the top who have minor question marks, so while I want to have one chalky player on my betting card, I also didn't want to restrict myself to the players below +1600 odds because the betting favorites obviously don't always win. The second bet I made this week was Xander Schauffele to win at +1850.