2023 Masters Picks: Look To Bet Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa

Finally, we're making Masters picks.

In terms of Masters odds, it's surprisingly a LIV Golf player who's making a big charger up the board. Brooks Koepka was 75-1 at some books to win the Masters, but he's now as low as 35-1. The four-time major winner entered Sunday with a commanding lead at the LIV Golf event this weekend. He's becoming a popular pre-tournament add.

The potential for LIV Golf players to contend is an added dynamic this week. Any other year, Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and others would be at the top of many betting lists before the tournament.

This year, they'll come in to compete against a very clear top-three players in the world as defending champion Scottie Scheffler has been scorching hot, so much so that many seem to forget the run that Jon Rahm went on at the start of the season.

Rory McIlroy is likely third of this group, but by a margin made much smaller after he showed some great form at the Match Play in Austin. He also has the added attention of the Masters being the last checkpoint for his career grand slam.

All of this leads to a hype-filled week ahead for the first major of 2023, and we haven't even talked about Tiger making his return for his second tournament of the year.

While much of the talk over the past eight months or so has been negative about the state of the game of golf, this week will provide a quick reminder of just how strong it would be if we didn't have two tours competing against each other. It'll also provide a nice boost for all of us in betting markets since just the presence of these players, who were perennial contenders at the Masters, will give a little boost in odds to many others.

There's also quite a bit of unknown. We have little in terms of legitimate form or history for those coming over from LIV. As is always the case, course history is another really important factor at Augusta National.

My first look this week will come with some odds, but there are many players, even those at the top of my list, who may be worth waiting to bet as most sportsbooks will reset their odds from the futures market to the current week on Sunday night or Monday morning.

2023 Masters Picks for Early Best Bets

Xander Schauffele +2500 (FanDuel)

Schauffele is off to a bit of a sluggish start to 2023. Part of that may be attributed to a bit of a back issue that he had at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He's had three top-10 finishes in 2023, but he hasn't really been in contention for a win just yet and I think that turns this week at Augusta National.

We know Schauffele has the game for Augusta National, and it clearly fits his eye. He has two top-three finishes with one being at the 2021 event where he held the lead on the back nine before a water ball at the par-3 16th. He's well past the concerns I had of him closing events, and now it's time for him to take that next step to do it in a major championship.

Schauffele really showed some elite form at the Match Play event, battling back and forth in his match with Rory McIlroy in the quarterfinals. Either player could have won, and it was great play by both players through the final hole.

I'm looking for Schauffele to carry that form into this week and jumped at the +2900 on him at FanDuel that was up on Sunday morning. The odds reset saw him drop a few points.

Pick: Xander Schauffele +2500

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Collin Morikawa +2500 (FanDuel)

I won't be biting on this number just yet since I think we may see Morikawa drift some as the week progresses. He has shown flashes of his game being there to contend at the Tournament of Champions, where he led until late in the final round, The Players where he started fast and faded, then again at the Match Play.

We know it's in there and we know Morikawa can win anywhere, and his skillset is one that fits Augusta National. I believe it will lead him to having a green jacket on his track record at some point in his career.

I often like to be a touch early on players who have the quality of Morikawa. The volatility he has shown can often be a sign of them being close to putting it all together.

I'll take that shot this week as he looks to capture his third major title and become one tournament short of a career grand slam.

Pick: Collin Morikawa +2500

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Hideki Matsuyama +5000 (BetRivers)

It's been an interesting week as noted above for players showing they may have their game coming together ahead of the Masters. While most of the early attention is going to Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama is also putting together a great week at the Valero Texas Open.

The 2021 Masters champion improved with his ball striking across each of the first three rounds at TPC San Antonio and set himself up for an impressive finish entering Sunday.

This form is drawing me back in, despite Matsuyama's neck concerns that continue to pop up nearly a year after he withdrew from the 2022 Players Championship. Still, this flash of form and upside have me really interested going into the week.

Matsuyama is still available at +5000 at BetRivers and +4600 at FanDuel, as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.