The 2019 Masters is nearly here, starting off the 83rd edition of this storied event at Augusta National. While this tournament does have the smallest field of any of the four golf majors, it boasts all the best talent on tour. In addition to the 20 past champions that will tee off beginning on Thursday—these players secure the right to compete in the Masters for life by earning a green jacket—there are 67 other contenders all seeking the glory that winning this tourney brings. It’s a tough major to predict a winner for, but some players are currently standing out as having the most potential to win the Masters in 2019.
Before seeing who pro handicapper Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com has pegged to top the leaderboard at the conclusion of Sunday’s final round at Augusta National, have a look at the full schedule, tee times, pairings, TV and live stream coverage information, updated odds for the field and more for the Masters 2019.
The Masters 2019 TV Coverage
| 2019 Masters Schedule | Live Coverage (EST) | TV Network |
| Thursday, April 11 | 8a-3p / 3p-7:30p | GOLF/ESPN |
| Friday, April 12 | 8a-3p / 3p-7:30p | GOLF/ESPN |
| Saturday, April 13 | 9a-3p / 3p-7p | GOLF/CBS |
| Sunday, April 14 | 9a-2p / 2p-7p | GOLF/CBS |
The Masters 2019 Live Stream Schedule
| Date | Live Stream Site | Simulcast | On The Range | Featured Groups | Amen Corner | Holes 15/16 |
| Thursday, April 11 | Masters.com/WatchESPN | 3p-7:30p | 8:30a-10:30a | 9:15a-7:30p | 10:45a-6p | 11:45a-7p |
| Friday, April 12 | Masters.com/WatchESPN | 3p-7:30p | 8:30a-10:30a | 9:15a-7:30p | 10:45a-6p | 11:45a-7p |
| Saturday, April 13 | Masters.com/CBSSports.com | 3p-7p | 11a-1p | 11a-7p | 12:30p-6p | 1:30p-6:30p |
| Sunday, April 14 | Masters.com/CBSSports.com | 2p-7p | 11a-1p | 10:45a-7p | 12p-6p | 1p-6:30p |
All times EST. Live streaming via WatchESPN, CBS Sports and/or Masters.com
Odds For The 2019 Masters Field
| Golfer | Odds |
| Rickie Fowler | +800 |
| Rory McIlroy | +800 |
| Dustin Johnson | +1100 |
| Justin Rose | +1400 |
| Jon Rahm | +1800 |
| Tiger Woods | +1800 |
| Justin Thomas | +2000 |
| Jordan Spieth | +2500 |
| Brooks Koepka | +2800 |
| Francesco Molinari | +2800 |
| Paul Casey | +2800 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +2800 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | +3300 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +3300 |
| Jason Day | +3300 |
| Bubba Watson | +3500 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | +4500 |
| Matt Kuchar | +4500 |
| Xander Schauffele | +4500 |
| Adam Scott | +5000 |
| Marc Leishman | +5000 |
| Phil Mickelson | +5000 |
| Tony Finau | +5000 |
| Sergio Garcia | +5500 |
| Gary Woodland | +8000 |
| Henrik Stenson | +8000 |
| Kevin Kisner | +8000 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +8000 |
| Patrick Reed | +8000 |
| Cameron Smith | +10000 |
| Charley Hoffman | +10000 |
| Ian Poulter | +10000 |
| Brandt Snedeker | +12500 |
| Si-Woo Kim | +12500 |
| Webb Simpson | +12500 |
| Charles Howell III | +15000 |
| Haotong Li | +15000 |
| J.B. Holmes | +15000 |
| Keegan Bradley | +15000 |
| Matt Wallace | +15000 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | +15000 |
| Rafa Cabrera Bello | +15000 |
| Alex Noren | +20000 |
| Billy Horschel | +20000 |
| Branden Grace | +20000 |
| Charl Schwartzel | +20000 |
| Danny Willett | +20000 |
| Eddie Pepperrell | +20000 |
| Lucas Bjerregaard | +20000 |
| Shane Lowry | +20000 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | +20000 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | +20000 |
| Zach Johnson | +20000 |
Courtesy of BetOnline
Jeff Sherman revealed the golfers found on the most betting slips and who have drawn the most overall money to win the Masters:
Masters wagering stat leaders @SuperBookUSA
ticket count
1) R Fowler
2) T Fleetwood
3) T Woods
4) R McIlroy
5) T Finaumoney wagered
1) T Woods
2) R Fowler
3) J Spieth
4) J Rose
5) B Koepka— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) April 10, 2019
The odds for the 2019 Masters have shifted a bit since initially being released. Rory McIlroy opened as the top choice to complete a career Grand Slam by winning at Augusta National this week at +700, but has since seen his line slip slightly. The 29-year-old is now going off at +800, tying him with another elite golfer that has yet to win a green jacket in Rickie Fowler. Fowler, who despite having five PGA Tour wins under his belt is still seeking his first ever major win after turning pro more than a decade ago, has seen his odds improve significantly over the last few days, moving from 18-1 all the way to 8-1. It’s an interesting shift, as the 30-year-old has played decent but unspectacular this season, with his only top-10 finish coming when he placed second at the Honda Classic last month.
Fowler wasn’t the only mover and shaker leading up to the start of the 2019 Masters, as several notable stars have seen their betting lines adjusted downward. Dustin Johnson dropped back to No. 3 on the odds table after originally being slotted in at No. 2, with his odds falling from +1000 to +1100. Tiger Woods has also slipped a bit, as the four-time green jacket winner is now tied for the fifth-best odds at +1800 after opening at +1400 and having Vegas pencil him in as the third-most likely to win this weekend. Jordan Spieth, a player that has a history of doing exceedingly well at Augusta National, finishing no worse than third on the leaderboard four of the five years he has competed here, fell out of the top-five when his odds changed from +2000 to +2500. Patrick Reed, the reigning Masters champion, saw his odds of retaining the green jacket plummet from +5000 to +8000.
You can compare the opening odds to the current lines by clicking here.
Masters First Round Tee Times For Featured Groups
Scott Bell highlighted some of the top pairings at the 2019 Masters
There are some absolutely loaded groups for the first two rounds of this year’s #themasters.
T. Woods, H. Li, J. Rahm
R. McIlroy, R. Fowler, C. Smith
D. Johnson, B. DeChambeau, J. Day
P. Mickelson, J. Rose, J. Thomas
J. Spieth, P. Casey, B. KoepkaMore: https://t.co/3pMsKMDkvX
— Scott Bell (@ScottBellDMN) April 9, 2019
| Tee Time (ET) | Pairing |
| 8:15 a.m. | Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus (Honorary Starters) |
| 9:58 a.m. | Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson |
| 10:09 a.m. | Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Kyle Stanley |
| 10:31 a.m. | Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Viktor Hovland |
| 10:42 a.m. | Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman |
| 10:53 a.m. | Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffle, Gary Woodland |
| 11:04 a.m. | Tiger Woods, Haotong Li, Jon Rahm |
| 11:15 a.m. | Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith |
| 1:05 p.m. | Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar |
| 1:16 p.m. | Francesco Molinari, Rafael Cabrera Bello, Tyrell Hatton |
| 1:27 p.m. | Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira |
| 1:38 p.m. | Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day |
| 1:49 p.m. | Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas |
| 2:00 p.m. | Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka |
2019 Masters Predictions
Handicapping the PGA Tour can be one of the most difficult challenges out there, but there is no tougher tournament to nail down than the Masters. The star-studded field features a blend of up-and-comers, brand-name talent in their primes and wily veterans that have what it takes to make a run to the top of the leaderboard at Augusta National. It’s also a major that has seen a huge run of first-time green jacket winners over the last decade, with eight of the last nine champions fitting the bill.
While there are plenty of players that could win the 2019 Masters, there are many more that are highly unlikely to. There’s a number of common threads that run between most champions at this major, such as being strong drivers—the last seven winners have all ranked inside the top-40 off the tee and most were near the top of that category—and slightly under the radar going into the event. While no winner over the last 10 years were longer shots than 50-1, only two—Jordan Spieth in 2015 and Phil Mickelson in 2010—had pre-tournament odds that put them amongst the top-five favorites. That means you certainly want to find a quality contender or two, ideally ones who are long off the tee, to get behind and not risk too much on dark horse participants with exceedingly long odds.
With that in mind, read on to see who Jon Price thinks you should consider backing at the 2019 Masters.
Best Bet To Win The Masters 2019: Jon Rahm (+1800)
Rahm fits the bill as a potential 2019 Masters champion for a plethora of reasons. The Spaniard is in great form going into the tournament, having placed sixth at the Valspar Championship a few weeks ago and has two other top-10 finishes—9th at the Genesis Open and 10th at the Waste Management Open—under his belt in 2019. He won the Hero World Challenge back at the start December and could finally take the next step by winning a major here at Augusta National. He’s seeking to become just the fourth Spanish native to wear the green jacket, following in the footsteps of great competitors such as Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.
When asked who he’d place $1,000 on to win the 2019 Masters, Rahm answered that he’d wager on himself, although he also thinks McIlroy is playing great going into this tourney (via SportingNews.com): “Who am I going to say besides me, really? I like to bet on myself. But that’s me just being confident. It’s tough to choose in a sport like golf, especially in this event.”
This will be only the third Masters appearance for Rahm, who finished T27 in his first outing in 2017—the year that countrymate Garcia won—and followed that up with a fantastic fourth-place finish last year. Many forget that the 24-year-old was right in the thick of things during last year’s Masters despite shooting an opening round 75. His quick mastery of the course was clearly on display after a shaky start, as Rahm didn’t shoot above a 70 for the remainder of the tourney, highlighted by a 65 on Saturday that put him within striking distance going into the final round. Had Rahm repeated that performance during Sunday’s championship round, he would have pushed eventual champion Patrick Reed to a playoff. Unfortunately, after getting to within two strokes of Reed down the stretch, Rahm’s approach shot on No. 15 landed in the water and ultimately cost him a chance to make things interesting at the end.
Here’s a look at Rahm’s scorecard from his two previous trips to Augusta National:
Masters Record – Jon Rahm
| Year | Finish | Score | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
| 2017 | T-27 | +3 | 73 | 70 | 73 | 75 |
| 2018 | 4 | -11 | 75 | 68 | 65 | 69 |
Mistakes proved too costly for the Arizona State product to overcome in years past, but you can bet Rahm will be right back in the mix at the 2019 Masters. He revealed that he received some sage words from Phil Mickelson, a fellow Sun Devil, who has captured three green jackets during his illustrious career. Here’s what Rahm said about Lefty’s advice, as per Augusta.com
Spent a lot time with [Phil] here the last few years and he told me once, from his experience, he repeatedly said, ‘You don’t have to play perfect at Augusta National to win.’ And I started thinking, I always thought you need to play really, really, really quality golf to win a major championship, and he said, ‘Yeah, but you don’t have to play perfect.’ Meaning that Augusta National is always going to allow you, is going to give you a chance to come back, and if you’re smart and know how to play the golf course, you’re going to have a chance to make pars or even birdies from some situations that you think you wouldn’t be able to.
At 18-1 odds, you’d be hard-pressed to find another candidate that has the same mix of talent, proven ability and breakout potential that Rahm possesses. He’s right up there with some of the greats in terms of his betting line, which should make potential backers even more confident that this young Spaniard is on the verge of breaking out at the 2019 Masters. He’s even grouped with an all-time legend in Tiger Woods for the first two rounds, which could push him to play even better ahead of the cut. There’s some great value here, so don’t be afraid to go in on it despite the fact that Rahm has yet to win a major during his short career. He’s certainly poised and this may just be the week he gets it done.
