The Masters has been played since 1934, and with 90 years of history, some Masters tournament betting trends start to emerge.
Whether those Masters trends are helpful for your bets and winner picks is up to you. But here are five tournament trends you should keep in mind before locking in your Masters odds selections:
What’s The Ideal Age For a Masters Winner?
The average age of a Masters winner over the last 50 years is 31 years and 2 months.
The odds reflect this age sweet spot, too, as nine of the top 10 players in the opening 2024 Masters odds are between the age of 25 and 33. The only player out of that age range is 24-year-old Ludvig Aberg, who sits at seventh in the odds at +2400. Here are the 10 most recent Masters champs, by age:
Year | Masters Winner | Age |
---|---|---|
2023 | Jon Rahm | 28 |
2022 | Scottie Scheffler | 25 |
2021 | Hideki Matsuyama | 29 |
2020 | Dustin Johnson | 35 |
2019 | Tiger Woods | 43 |
2018 | Patrick Reed | 27 |
2017 | Sergio Garcia | 37 |
2016 | Danny Willett | 28 |
2015 | Jordan Spieth | 21 |
2014 | Bubba Watson | 35 |
AVERAGE: | 30.8 |
Good luck, Masters rookies
Because the Masters is played at the same course every year (and that course goes largely unchanged), past experience at the tournament is key. We haven’t had a Masters rookie win the tournament since 1979 and only three rookies have ever won:
Southpaws Love The Green Jacket
Around five percent of all PGA Tour golfers are lefties. But five of the last 21 Masters champions have been southpaws (23.4%). Lefty Phil Mickelson leads the way with three green jackets, in 2004, 2006 and 2010, with Mike Weir and Bubba Watson also helping the left-handed cause.
Many tour courses play more difficult for the southpaws, but six of Augusta National’s holes bend to the left, playing into the natural cut for a left-handed golfer. There have only been seven major championship tournament wins ever by lefties, and five of those have come at the Masters.
Unless you want to ride with the lefties who have already won, a potential Masters sleeper pick like Brian Harman (+5000) may be your best southpaw pick this year.
Why exactly does Augusta National favor lefties? http://t.co/VAb7F5OCyV pic.twitter.com/DL8jwjVkcr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 9, 2015
Recent Form Matters
It may seem obvious, but recent performance is the best indicator of success at the Masters. As of Rahm's win last year, 12 of the last 14 Masters winners had a top-six finish at a major tournament in the two years before their Masters win. As well, 22 of the last 24 green jacket winners were ranked within the top 30 in the World Rankings at the time of the Augusta tournament.
Americans Reign At Augusta
Since 2000, an American has won 14 of the 23 Masters tournaments, with Tiger Woods doing some heavy lifting by winning four himself during that time. While Jon Rahm won the tournament last year, the first five players after him were all Americans.
Here’s a breakdown of the last 20 Masters champs by place of birth: