The wait is over! We have arrived at the first Major of the year, and it unofficially starts the season. The Masters is undeniably the most anticipated golf event of the year. People from all walks of life tune in to witness the unparalleled beauty, hoping to witness one of the household names rise to the top of the leaderboard and don the green jacket. While the course remains a beautiful stage, the drama and battle for supremacy are experiencing a bit of a changing of the guard in the last 12 months.
Golf is seeing the emergence of young players who aren’t household names competing against veterans who may only have one or two more shots at capturing one of golf’s ultimate achievements. Augusta National has always favored a player with local knowledge and experience. I’m not seeing a ton of surprises on the horizon, but we are just one year removed from Ludvig Aberg almost winning on his first trip at the age of 24. I’ll walk through a healthy mix of veterans and up-and-comers to help fill out your card this week.
Here are my picks and full breakdown for The Masters 2025.
(Odds and salaries courtesy of DraftKings)
Who Dons the Infamous Green Jacket? | The Masters 2025 Picks
Course Layout
The Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., is home to the 91st Masters Tournament. This par-72, 7,555-yard golf course has fairways and greens filled with bentgrass.
Augusta National Golf Club is as difficult as it is beautiful. The course truly tests every aspect of the game, not the least of which is the mental side. Every type of shot is required here, and knowing where and when to hit those shots is at a premium. The modern iteration of Augusta National plays much longer and has proved favorable to the players with adequate distance off the tee. Outside of that slight edge, there isn’t any one thing in particular that can be pinpointed other than every part of the rest of the game. Many different archetypes work here, but one thing is consistent: you have to play great golf in every regard and do it for all four days.
Augusta National’s Uniqueness
The course itself has many defenses. The fairways are tree-lined through the entire complex. The trees are utilized to narrow fairways and obstruct sightlines. Even the wider fairways require precision to set up your second shot correctly. There is a precision piece that impacts all parts of this course. Augusta National has more elevation changes and uneven lies than any other course on Tour, so even good shots can set up for tricky subsequent shots. At Augusta, the greens play firm and fast and have more undulation and subtle breaks than anywhere else. The greens and the shot positioning into them highly favor those with experience. Knowing what pins you can go for and which ones you need to lay back from is a difference-maker.
If that isn’t enough, Augusta becomes even more challenging when the wind conditions kick it up a notch. The wind swirls and shifts, and seldom do you have time to adjust to it before it changes. The weather is somewhat tame, but we will still see conditions early in the tournament with winds sustained 12-15 mph and gusts into the high teens and low 20s.
Building Our Betting Model
- Shots Gained Tee-to-Green (Both at Augusta and leading into this week)
- Shots Gained Approach
- Shots Gained Around-the-Green (Both at Augusta and leading into this week)
- Par-4 Scoring (400-450)
- Par-5 Scoring
- Bogey Avoidance
- Shots Gained Putting (Lightning Fast, Bentgrass)
- 3-Putt Avoidance
- Driving Distance
Players to Target for The Masters Tournament 2025:
Rory McIlroy (+650) | ($11,100)
Is it finally time to claim the career grand slam? Will Rory McIlroy finally get his green jacket? He has been close with seven T10 finishes, including his second-place finish in 2022. McIlroy is the scariest bet I will make this week. He is at short odds, and I’m going in heavy. The looming stigma of his inability to get the job done here weighs on me yearly. I believe in him and not just as a super fan. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen this more collected and calculated version of him than how he is coming into Augusta.
It’s impossible to deny that he should have won The Masters multiple times in his career. He was, and in my opinion, is the best golfer on the planet. He has the complete game necessary for Augusta National and has lately added a deadly short iron and wedge game to his arsenal.
There are no holes to be poked in his game this time around. The only person who can beat McIlroy this week is himself. This may be the last best chance for him to win here, and I expect him to do just that.
Justin Thomas (+2500) | ($9,600)
Justin Thomas has never finished better than fourth at The Masters and is coming off of two years of consecutive missed cuts. That sounds scary on a course where players benefit from experience. The last two years have been a slight roller coaster ride for “JT,” so I’m not holding it against him. The season he is putting together is the type of play I expected last season. It took him a little longer to get here, but he is here now, and this could set up nicely for him. Thomas is the type of player I would expect to play well at Augusta.
With his ability to move the ball in both directions and his elite and creative iron play, he is also one of the most creative wedge players on Tour. Despite not always putting well, he ranks in the top 10 for three-putt avoidance. Thomas has four T10s this year, including his two runner-up finishes. He rates out second overall in my modeling this week, with his stellar play this season to thank. He’s in good form, and this could be his week.
Russell Henley (+5500) | ($8,400)
I have been betting and playing Russell Henley off and on all year. Had I stuck to him every week, I’d have won outright and probably done substantially better in PGA DFS pools. He continues to play high-level consistent golf week in and week out. There aren’t any glaring holes in his game. The Georgia native is one of the more accurate players on Tour, and it doesn’t matter what club is in his hands.
Henley is 12th in this field for strokes gained tee-to-green, and when he does miss the green, he is in the top 10 for scrambling around it. He plays steady golf and doesn’t give many strokes back. The five-time winner on Tour has popped at Augusta before with a fourth-place finish in 2023, which adds to the case of not overlooking the sixth-overall golfer in my modeling this week, who has a win this season and is playing great golf throughout his whole bag.
Cam Young (+20000) | ($7,000)
Cam Young literally only plays well at the Majors. He is Brooks Koepka, minus the attitude problem. He has an excellent course history here with finishes of a T-7 and a T-9. His form was spotty, leading in as it always is. To go with his Masters performances, he has five T10 finishes in Majors with a runner-up at The Open and T-3 at the PGA Championship.
Statistically, I can’t make a strong argument outside of that. Young is nearly impossible to figure out. He has great aspects of his game, but they rarely come together cohesively, except at the Majors. If you believe in the “big game hunter” label that gets put on other players, then you have to believe in it with Young, who has a track record to back it up. Despite no wins, he is a sleeper with extreme value and upside at 200-1.
Other Outrights To Consider:
- Collin Morikawa (+1800): Collin Morikawa has a great course history, great form coming in – everything you could ask for tee-to-green. He just needs the putter to show up, and he can easily win The Masters.
- Ludvig Aberg (+2000): Aberg was the runner-up in his first Masters appearance and has all of the talent in the world. He can be a little suspect with his short game here and there, but you can never discount him. He’s always live to win, and this number seems just about right.
- Patrick Reed (+9000): Patrick Reed seems to be the forgotten “LIV Tour” player. He hasn’t played particularly inspiring golf on that Tour, but it’s Reed, and it’s a Major. I really like his odds, considering his history at Majors and Augusta specifically. He has a green jacket, in case you forgot.
- Daniel Berger (+11000): There is no way I am quitting Daniel Berger at triple-digit odds. I’ve been on him all year and will reiterate that he is playing some of the best golf of his career. He has the complete game to win here, and if the score stays in the low teens, he becomes even more appealing. Berger isn’t going to shoot -20, but he can definitely compete if the scoring stays tougher.
- Michael Kim (+15000): Michael Kim qualified by the skin of his teeth, and we have been there for every start, both bad and good. This season has been excellent for Kim, and I don’t think he is getting the respect he deserves with this number. He has the tee-to-green game, plus the short game to come into Augusta National and shock the field.
Bonus Prop Bets To Consider:
- Justin Thomas: Top 5 Finish (+360)
- Russell Henley: Top 10 Finish (+300)
- Patrick Reed: Top 20 Finish (+210)
- Daniel Berger: Top 20 Finish (+260)
- Cam Young: Top 10 Finish (+1100), Top 20 Finish (+400)
- Brooks Koepka: To miss the cut (+200)
- Sergio Garcia: Top Spaniard (+230)
PGA DFS Plays for the Masters Tournament 2025:
High-Tier Plays ($9,000+)
- Scottie Scheffler ($12,400)
- Rory McIlroy ($11,100)
- Collin Morikawa ($10,500)
- Justin Thomas ($9,600)
High-Tier Fades ($9,000+)
- Jon Rahm ($10,400)
- Viktor Hovland ($9,200)
- Jordan Spieth ($9,000)
Mid-Tier Plays ($8,900 to $7,000)
- Shane Lowry ($8,800)
- Russell Henley ($8,400)
- Will Zalatoris ($8,300)
- Cam Smith ($8,200)
- Sepp Straka ($7,600)
- Patrick Reed ($7,300)
- Daniel Berger ($7,100)
- Cam Young ($7,000)
Mid-Tier Fades ($8,900 to $7,000)
- Akshay Bhatia ($8,100)
- Tony Finau ($7,800)
- Sahith Theegala ($7,700)
- Dustin Johnson ($7,500)
- Tom Kim ($7,500)
- Sungjae Im ($7,300)
Low-Tier Plays (Below $6,900)
- Billy Horschel ($6,900)
- J.J. Spaun ($6,800)
- Michael Kim ($6,700)
- Lucas Glover ($6,600)
- Denny McCarthy ($6,500)
- Joe Highsmith ($6,300)
Low-Tier Fades (Below $6,900)
- Brian Harman ($6,800)
- Taylor Pendrith ($6,700)
- Phil Mickelson ($6,700)
- Max Homa ($6,500)
- Stephan Jaeger ($6,300)
Good luck this week! Thanks for checking out our PGA Tour picks & predictions for who wins the Masters Tournament 2025.
Be sure to check out our golf crew every week on the 19th Hole for more golf betting and DFS analysis. Plus, follow me on Twitter/X at @CoughDFS for more content!
*Photo Credit: Aaron Doster – USA Today Sports*
