2014 US Masters Betting Preview Tips Predictions. Expert Picks

Favourites Ready steady, the 2014 Major season is almost upon us! Those of you who regularly read my previews know that I rarely tip favo...

Favourites

Ready steady, the 2014 Major season is almost upon us! Those of you who regularly read my previews know that I rarely tip favourites because the pre-tournament prices are just too short for me to risk my hard earned cash and I’m in the business of providing advice that makes you money.

Yes of course you can make a case for Rory McIlroy with his power and prowess, Adam Scott who is in form but at average odds of 10/1 before the tournament that’s far too tight for me.
Plenty of time for re-examining their odds after two rounds of the event!

At this stage, I look for solid each way value and with The Masters paying top six there’s plenty of that to be had.

Related Post: I asked several Tour players, pros and golfing personalities for their 2014 US Masters Expert Picks.

So it’s time to nail my colours to the mast. Here’s my top five picks, my choice of top debutant, and a couple of ridiculously long odds chances.
 Follow @golfcentraldoc
 

Doc’s Top Five To Watch

 

Bubba Watson 25/1

What’s not to like about Bubba Watson for The Masters besides pollen? That 82 at Bay Hill hasn’t put me off in the slightest. Most people see Bubba’s length as his key strength but there’s so much more to like.

His par 3 and par 4 birdie average is among the best on Tour, and he’s statistically the best scrambler from fairway and rough combined. Bringing an even better formline into the event than when he won in 2012 with a T2 in Phoenix, win in Riviera and T2 at Doral. Sure to give you a run for your money.

Matt Kuchar Was 28/1, Now 20/1

Predicting the winner in Augusta has been like predicting the lottery numbers these past few years, but an each way punt on Matt Kuchar is a solid educated bet.

 Kuch started the season well with a T6 and T8 at the TOC and Sony Open before taking a month off then missing the Riviera cut. He’s lightly raced this season with appearances at Doral, Innisbrook and San Antonio since and you sense he’s building momentum towards the Masters as evidenced by that T4 in Texas and solo second in Houston. Ever present on the leaderboard in the last two stagings with a T8 in 2013 and a T3 when Bubba won in 2012.

Some issues with confidence in his swing which let him down in the pressure cooker of those two most recent tournaments, but its getting into contention that counts for me,

Hard to believe that Matt played his first Masters in 1998, winning low amateur then, but this will only be his eighth appearance in the tournament. Throw in his Georgia Tech years studying management also and you might as well put the Green Jacket on him now!

Dustin Johnson 20/1

 
Dustin Johnson might have seven top 10’s in Majors since 2009 but he has never managed one in four attempts at Augusta. Last year however was his best effort with a T13. I firmly believe though that this season Dustin Johnson is a different animal.

So what has changed? Dustin in 2014 has been a revelation with the putter. One glance at his stats proves it; he’s gone from 117^th in Strokes gained putting to 10^th. He’s up 128 places to second in three putt avoidance with only five in 360 holes played this season.

If you’re still not satisfied I’ll throw in second in driving distance AND greens in regulation for good measure. Johnson also never brought a formline like this into Augusta with seconds at Pebble Beach and Riviera and a fourth at Doral. Convinced beyond doubt he will contend this year.

Don't be too concerned with his WD in Houston and look at the big picture. DJ to do well.

Keegan Bradley 33/1

This one might throw you a little but I think Keegan Bradley will have a much better Masters than last year. Anything has to be better than that Saturday 82 last year right? But credit to Keegan he went out Sunday and shot a 69 to leave with better memories.

Of course he is still learning the track in this only his third Masters appearance but Keegan is a Major Champion and if he recreates the intensity he brought to Bay Hill recently where he finished solo second, he WILL be in the mix.  Long batter, high ball flight and very underrated scrambler too, which is vital around these amazing green complexes.

Zach Johnson 33/1

I have fancied Zach Johnson for another tilt at The Masters for some time. Without belittling the achievement, since winning in 2007 Zach’s record at Augusta has been quite poor by his standards.

This year however has seen a truly dramatic improvement in his par 3 and par 4 performance and if he brings his Texas form with him to Augusta could be one to watch. Twice a winner since last September at the BMW and Tournament Of Champions, expect to see Zach splitting fairways, peppering pins and praising God all over the place.
 

Newcomer To Watch

Harris English 66/1
There’s lots of young talent in this category with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed (and some not so young like Jimmy Walker) but I think The Masters will bring out the best in Harris English. Born and raised just 200 miles away in Valdosta, it’s the realization of a dream for English who now lives in St Simons Island, a similar distance south of Augusta.

 Already twice a winner in just 66 starts, English has three top 10’s this season in Hawaii Phoenix and Riviera and proved too much for Rory McIlroy in the WGC matchplay. Solid of late too with top 20’s at the WGC Cadillac and Arnie’s event.

His pro debut but played the course many times in college and scored a hole in one on the 12 hole last Sunday alongside Brandt Snedeker during practice.
 Follow @golfcentraldoc
 

Long Odds Shots

Trevor Immelman 150/1 (15/1 to finish in Top 10)
Never mind that he doesn’t have the formline of the others, there’s a case to be made for Trevor Immelman finishing in the top 10 or better this week. Making four consecutive cuts from The Honda to the Texas Open has been a huge confidence boost for the South African heading back to the site of his most famous victory in 2008. Four other top 20 finishes at Augusta also add to Trevor’s credentials. His best this season was a T10 at The Farmers.

Richard Sterne 150/1 (15/1 to finish top 10)
Another South African worth his weight in gold when healthy and in form.


As I do at this time every year, I contacted some of my golfing friends on the Tour and in the media to find out their tips for The Masters.

 These are the guys that work in and around golf every day so if anyone can give an insight, they can!

Make sure also to check my own 2014 US Masters Betting Preview Tips and Predictions here.

Half the fun is in the build up.  Thanks lads!

Follow @golfcentraldoc

Andrew Lynch Hambric Sports- Thorbjorn Olesen’s Manager	If you look at all the winners, and even those that contended at Augusta for the last 10-15 years, the modern Augusta is set up for bombers. Not that a Molinari or Zach Johnson can't win, it's just the odds are against them. So, considering this, I find it very difficult to look past Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Jason Day has some injury doubts and I'm not sure Adam Scott will successfully defend but time will tell. Outside bets for each way, maybe Jamie Donaldson or Gary Woodland.
Richard Bland European Tour Pro and Challenge Tour Grand Final winner.	Hi mate!! I'd have to go with Rory & Adam!! Both playing the best out of anyone about now!! An outside bet Kuchar or Spieth.
Shane O’Donoghue Golf Broadcaster, Living Golf CNN	Zach Johnson each way. I’m not a huge fan, but boy can he play golf. Is much better than when he won in 2007. Brilliant short game. Tough.
Tadhg Harrington Titleist Performance Institute and Padraig’s brother.	Three to win only (Betfair) or place terms 1-6 (Paddy Power) for the 2014 Masters. All three have good current form, all have thrown in a bad round here and there this year which is still fine. Having played Augusta, it is a very quirky course, course form is paramount for me, all three selections have excellent course form including previous low rounds which tells me they CAN win here. 1/ Dustin Johnson 2/ Matt Kuchar 3/ Justin Rose
Gary Murphy Former European Tour Pro, now golf analyst.	Rory is my tip Doc think he is shaping up nicely and should go well. Big dangers Dustin and Stenson.
Tony Johnstone Six time European Tour Winner and Sky Sports Analyst	Donal I think its Jason Day's time. Watched him closely at the Presidents Cup. Superb striker and really good on fast greens. For now Aussies rule!
David Keating Head Professional, Killarney Golf Club	Would you believe that I am going to my first Masters!! Pity that Tiger is out but Keegan Bradley is my pick. He is long and straight off the tee, an excellent long iron player and is now a top class wedge player. If he putts well I feel that he will do it. I have a ticket for Tuesday to Sunday inclusive, it's like winning the lotto!!
Kevin Phelan European Tour Professional, Deise Man	Rory seems to be in great form these days as does Dustin Johnson. Both are well able to reach the par 5's and are tough to stop when they get going. Seems to be only a matter of time before Jason Day wins a major and I'll go for Manassero as a bit of a dark horse.
Mark Murphy Tour Pro and Big Break Winner	Hey my brother, I have a few picks I fancy Sergio has found some form recently, Justin Rose also golf course I feel suits him. My outsider is Steven Gallagher as he has balls and is afraid of nothing.
David Higgins European Tour Pro, Waterville	I like Bubba Watson to win. Showed nice form a couple of weeks ago and I believe he can't wait to get to Augusta... Pat Reed to place.
Denis Pugh Tour Coach and Sky Sports Analyst	Easy. Francesco Molinari because I coach him!
Mikko Ilonen Three time European Tour Winner 1999 West of Ireland, 2000 British Amateur Champion	Hi Doc! The West. Good memories from there! I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I can give my best guess.. Rory, if you pick him every week he will deliver at some point. Jason Day, good record and confidence high after the win. Freddie Couples, great record, still winning in seniors and Augusta must be his favourite week. I don’t think he can win but with a good week could top10. Adam Scott played some his best a few weeks ago and knows exactly what he needs to do there. His game in good shape. Phil Mickelson because the course suites lefties pretty good, many tee shots are easier for left handers. He still wants it badly and I hope he does well, it would be good for the tourney. Hard to pick any other European besides Rory, no one has shown any form lately. But fingers crossed for the Euros. Some might surprise us!

The Field And How They Qualified (correct as 31/3/14)

Former winners of The Masters — Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O’Meara, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson

Winners of the last five U.S. Opens — Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Lucas Glover

Winners of the last five British Opens — Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Stewart Cink

Winners of the last five PGA Championships — Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang

Winners of the last three Players Championships — Matt Kuchar, K.J. Choi

Winner and runner-up from the last U.S. Amateur Championship — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Oliver Goss
Winner of the last British Amateur Championship — Garrick Porteous
Winner of the last Asian Amateur Championship — Lee Chang-woo
Winner of the last U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship — Jordan Niebrugge
Winner of the last U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship — Michael McCoy

The top 16 finishers (including ties) from last year’s Masters tournament — Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Thorbjorn Olesen, Brandt Snedeker, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Tim Clark, John Huh, Dustin Johnson, David Toms, Nick Watney

The top 8 finishers (including ties), from last year’s U.S. Open — Billy Horschel, Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker

The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s British Open — Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter
The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s PGA Championship — Jim Furyk, Jonas Blixt

The top 30 finishers on last year’s PGA Tour money list – Jordan Spieth, Bill Haas, Kevin Streelman, Graham DeLaet, Boo Weekley, D.A. Points, Harris English, Roberto Castro, Jimmy Walker
PGA Tour event winners since 2013 Masters — Derek Ernst, Sang-moon Bae, Ken Duke, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore, Chris Kirk,  Scott Stallings, Kevin Stadler, Russell Henley, John Senden, Matt Every

All players who qualified for last year’s Tour Championship — Brendon de Jonge
The Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the previous year — Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manasssero, David Lynn, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten, Branden Grace, Thongchai Jaidee

The Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking published in the week prior to this year’s Masters — Stephen Gallacher

Past Top 10’s To Help You Pick Your Favourite!

 
2013
1 x-Adam Scott 69 72 69 69 7 -3 -9 279 $1,440,000
2 Angel Cabrera 71 69 69 70 8 -2 -9 279 $864,000
3 Jason Day 70 68 73 70 - -2 -7 281 $544,000
T4 Marc Leishman 66 73 72 72 - E -5 283 $352,000
T4 Tiger Woods 70 73 70 70 - -2 -5 283 $352,000
T6 Thorbjorn Olesen 78 70 68 68 - -4 -4 284 $278,000
T6 Brandt Snedeker 70 70 69 75 - +3 -4 284 $278,000
T8 Sergio Garcia 66 76 73 70 - -2 -3 285 $232,000
T8 Matt Kuchar 68 75 69 73 - +1 -3 285 $232,000
T8 Lee Westwood 70 71 73 71 - -1 -3 285 $232,000
 
2012
1 x-Bubba Watson 69 71 70 68 8 -4 -10 278 $1,440,000
2 Louis Oosthuizen 68 72 69 69 9 -3 -10 278 $864,000
T3 Peter Hanson 68 74 65 73 - +1 -8 280 $384,000
T3 Matt Kuchar 71 70 70 69 - -3 -8 280 $384,000
T3 Phil Mickelson 74 68 66 72 - E -8 280 $384,000
T3 Lee Westwood 67 73 72 68 - -4 -8 280 $384,000
7 Ian Poulter 72 72 70 69 - -3 -5 283 $268,000
T8 Padraig Harrington 71 73 68 72 - E -4 284 $232,000
T8 Justin Rose 72 72 72 68 - -4 -4 284 $232,000
T8 Adam Scott 75 70 73 66 - -6 -4 284 $232,000
 
2011
1 Charl Schwartzel 69 71 68 66 -6 -14 274 $1,440,000
T2 Jason Day 72 64 72 68 -4 -12 276 $704,000
T2 Adam Scott 72 70 67 67 -5 -12 276 $704,000
T4 Tiger Woods 71 66 74 67 -5 -10 278 $330,667
T4 Geoff Ogilvy 69 69 73 67 -5 -10 278 $330,667
T4 Luke Donald 72 68 69 69 -3 -10 278 $330,667
7 Angel Cabrera 71 70 67 71 -1 -9 279 $268,000
T8 Bo Van Pelt 73 69 68 70 -2 -8 280 $240,000
T8 K.J. Choi 67 70 71 72 E -8 280 $240,000
10 Ryan Palmer 71 72 69 70 -2 -6 282 $216,000
 
2010
1 Phil Mickelson 67 71 67 67 -5 -16 272 $1,350,000
2 Lee Westwood 67 69 68 71 -1 -13 275 $810,000
3 Anthony Kim 68 70 73 65 -7 -12 276 $510,000
T4 K.J. Choi 67 71 70 69 -3 -11 277 $330,000
T4 Tiger Woods 68 70 70 69 -3 -11 277 $330,000
6 Fred Couples 66 75 68 70 -2 -9 279 $270,000
7 Nick Watney 68 76 71 65 -7 -8 280 $251,250
T8 Y.E. Yang 67 72 72 70 -2 -7 281 $225,000
T8 Hunter Mahan 71 71 68 71 -1 -7 281 $225,000
T10 Ricky Barnes 68 70 72 73 +1 -5 283 $195,000
T10 Ian Poulter 68 68 74 73 +1 -5 283 $195,000
 
2009
1 x-Angel Cabrera 68 68 69 71 8 -1 -12 276 $1,350,000
T2 Chad Campbell 65 70 72 69 5 -3 -12 276 $660,000
T2 Kenny Perry 68 67 70 71 9 -1 -12 276 $660,000
4 Shingo Katayama 67 73 70 68 - -4 -10 278 $360,000
5 Phil Mickelson 73 68 71 67 - -5 -9 279 $300,000
T6 Steve Flesch 71 74 68 67 - -5 -8 280 $242,813
T6 John Merrick 68 74 72 66 - -6 -8 280 $242,813
T6 Steve Stricker 72 69 68 71 - -1 -8 280 $242,813
T6 Tiger Woods 70 72 70 68 - -4 -8 280 $242,813
T10 Jim Furyk 66 74 68 73 - +1 -7 281 $187,500
T10 Hunter Mahan 66 75 71 69 - -3 -7 281 $187,500
T10 Sean O'Hair 68 76 68 69 - -3 -7 281 $187,500
 
2008
1 Trevor Immelman 68 68 69 75 +3 -8 280 $1,350,000
2 Tiger Woods 72 71 68 72 E -5 283 $810,000
T3 Stewart Cink 72 69 71 72 E -4 284 $435,000
T3 Brandt Snedeker 69 68 70 77 +5 -4 284 $435,000
T5 Phil Mickelson 71 68 75 72 E -2 286 $273,750
T5 Padraig Harrington 74 71 69 72 E -2 286 $273,750
T5 Steve Flesch 72 67 69 78 +6 -2 286 $273,750
T8 Miguel Angel Jimenez 77 70 72 68 -4 -1 287 $217,500
T8 Robert Karlsson 70 73 71 73 +1 -1 287 $217,500
T8 Andres Romero 72 72 70 73 +1 -1 287 $217,500
 
2007
1 Zach Johnson 71 73 76 69 -3 +1 289 $1,305,000
T2 Rory Sabbatini 73 76 73 69 -3 +3 291 $541,333
T2 Retief Goosen 76 76 70 69 -3 +3 291 $541,333
T2 Tiger Woods 73 74 72 72 E +3 291 $541,333
T5 Jerry Kelly 75 69 78 70 -2 +4 292 $275,500
T5 Justin Rose 69 75 75 73 +1 +4 292 $275,500
T7 Padraig Harrington 77 68 75 73 +1 +5 293 $233,812
T7 Stuart Appleby 75 70 73 75 +3 +5 293 $233,812
9 David Toms 70 78 74 72 E +6 294 $210,250
T10 Paul Casey 79 68 77 71 -1 +7 295 $181,250
T10 Luke Donald 73 74 75 73 +1 +7 295 $181,250
T10 Vaughn Taylor 71 72 77 75 +3 +7 295 $181,250

Technorati Tags: 2014 US Masters Betting Preview and Tips,2014 US Masters Power Rankings,Expert Picks,PGA Tour top Tipster,paddypowrr golf betting tips,betfair golf betting tips