The first 2024 Masters tee times were pushed to 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday due to inclement weather. After failing to move into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and not qualifying under any other criteria, Akshay Bhatia needed a win last week at the Valero Texas Open to make it into the 2024 Masters field. With the pressure on, Bhatia put on the performance of his life, going wire-to-wire before surviving a late scare from Denny McCarthy to win in a playoff. Now, the field is set for the 88th Masters and play will begin on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.
Bhatia is a 75-1 longshot in the 2024 Masters odds, while world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the 13-4 favorite after collecting two wins and a runner-up finish in his last three starts. Other 2024 Masters contenders include Rory McIlroy (10-1), Brooks Koepka (11-1), Jon Rahm (12-1) and Wyndham Clark (15-1). Before locking in any 2024 Masters picks of your own, entering picks on sites like DraftKings or FanDuel, or finalizing Masters props and Masters Pick Six entries, be sure to see the 2024 Masters golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up nearly $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model predicted Scottie Scheffler would finish on top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship this season. McClure also included Hideki Matsuyama in his best bets to win the 2024 Genesis Invitational. That bet hit at +9000, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned nearly $1,000.
The model also predicted Jon Rahm would be victorious at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. At the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the third round, but the model still projected him as the winner. It was the second straight Masters win for the model, which also nailed Scheffler winning in 2022.
In addition, McClure's best bets included Nick Taylor (70-1) winning the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, Jason Day (17-1) winning outright at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson, and Rickie Fowler (14-1) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. This same model has also nailed a whopping 10 majors entering the weekend, including the past two Masters. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the Masters 2024 field finalized, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2024 Masters predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2024 Masters: Rory McIlroy, a four-time major champion and one of the co-favorites, fails to complete the career grand slam and barely cracks the top five at Augusta National. We're coming upon a decade since McIlroy's last major win, and he has nearly twice as many missed cuts (seven) at majors over that span than top-three finishes (four). Two of those missed cuts have come over the Irishman's last three Augusta starts. McIlroy has broken par in just two of his last eight rounds at the Masters.
This year hasn't been promising to McIlroy's chances at Augusta, as he has just one top-10 finish against a softer field at the Texas Open. McIlroy's short game has been a catalyst for his struggles, as he ranks 124th in strokes gained: around-the-green and 78th in total putting. His scoring average (actual) on the PGA Tour ranks just 61st, so those metrics don't line up with the second-shortest odds. Thus, the model is avoiding McIlroy in 2024 Masters bets since it doesn't see much value with him at 10-1.
Another surprise: Ludvig Aberg, a 25-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 24-year-old Swede was playing collegiately at Texas Tech this time last year, but he's already ascended to No. 9 in the world and has wins on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour to his credit in well under a year as a professional.
Aberg used the PGA Tour University Rankings to earn exempt status on tour through 2024 and immediately began putting results together before winning the Omega European Masters to earn a spot on the European Ryder Cup team. He added a PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic after helping Europe to a victory and has made the cut in all eight of his PGA Tour starts this year. That includes a t-14th start in Texas last week, an eighth-place finish at the Players Championship and a solo second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2024 Masters picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of 20-1 or longer to make a strong run at the green jacket. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2024 Masters, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the Masters 2024 odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected Masters leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 10 golf majors, including last year's Masters and Open Championship.
2024 Masters odds, field
Full set of Masters picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +325
Rory McIlroy +1000
Brooks Koepka +1100
Jon Rahm +1200
Wyndham Clark +1500
Xander Schauffele +1800
Will Zalatoris +2000
Hideki Matsuyama +2000
Jordan Spieth +2000
Viktor Hovland +2200
Ludvig Aberg +2500
Joaquin Niemann +2500
Cameron Smith +2800
Justin Thomas +2800
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Collin Morikawa +3000
Dustin Johnson +3300
Tony Finau +3500
Bryson DeChambeau +3500
Brian Harman +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Max Homa +4000
Cameron Young +4000
Jason Day +4000
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000
Min Woo Lee +5000
Sam Burns +5000
Sahith Theegala +5000
Tommy Fleetwood +5500
Sergio Garcio +6000
Tyrrell Hatton +6000
Byeong-hun An +6500
Chris Kirk +7000
Tom Kim +7000
Russell Henley +7000
Patrick Reed +7000
Rickie Fowler +7500
Akshay Bhatia +7500
Corey Conners +7500
Sungjae Im +7500
Si Woo Kim +8000
Denny McCarthy +9000
Adam Scott +9000
Justin Rose +9000
Phil Mickelson +10000
Tiger Woods +10000
Stephen Jaeger +12500
Sepp Straka +12500
Nick Taylor +12500
Erik Van Rooyen +15000
Eric Cole +15000
Adrian Meronk +15000
Jake Knapp +15000
Keegan Bradley +15000
Matthieu Pavon +15000
Nicolai Hojgaard +15000
J.T. Poston +15000
Emiliano Grillo +15000
Harris English +15000
Thorbjörn Olesen +17500
Lucas Glover +17500
Luke List +17500
Adam Hadwin +17500
Taylor Moore +20000
Ryan Fox +20000
Kurt Kitayama +20000
Bubba Watson +20000
Nick Dunlap +20000
Peter Malnati +20000
Cam Davis +20000
Austin Eckroat +22500
Ryo Hisatsune +25000
Lee Hodges +27500
Adan Schenk +30000
Danny Willett +35000
Charl Schwartzel +35000
Gary Woodland +50000
Grayson Murray +50000
Camilo Villegas +50000
Zach Johnson +75000
Christo Lamprecht +75000
Fred Couples +100000
Mike Weir +100000
Neal Shipley +150000
Vijay Singh +150000
Stewart Hagestad +150000
Jasper Stubbs +200000
Jose Maria Olazabal +200000
Santiago de la Fuente +250000
