US Masters 2024 Betting Tips: Three prop-bets for Augusta

It's a huge week in the golfing world and Jamie Worsley has already given us his US Masters Predictions but he's also scoured our specials markets and picked out three more angles to get stuck into. 

It’s just two days before players tee off in the 88^th edition of The Masters and with my first-round leader preview to come tomorrow, I first take a look at the array of specials markets on offer.

3 pts Matt Fitzpatrick Top English Player @ 19/10 

Matt Fitzpatrick has hit form over recent starts and looks the one to beat in the Top English betting, in what I believe will develop into a two-horse race between himself and Tommy Fleetwood.

Fitzpatrick hadn’t hit the top 10 in his first seven starts this year but has recorded them back-to-back on his last two, finishing 5^th at THE PLAYERS and 10^th in last week’s Texas Open. These improved results have come off the back of him having a 4-gram weight removed from the grip of his driver, after it had been mistakenly left in following an experiment in early 2023.

We know all about the short-game skills but I was pleased to see him produce his best approach display of the season at TPC Sawgrass, and whilst not overly convincing in this area over the first three rounds last week, he did rank 3^rd in approach on his way to a final-round 67.

After missing the cut here on debut in 2014 when still an amateur, Fitzpatrick has gone on to make each of his eight Masters cuts as a pro; recording a best of 7^th in 2016 and hit the top 10 for the second time last year, finishing 10^th.

Of the others in this market, Justin Rose has a great Masters record but is hard to fancy, struggling for form and hitting the ball poorly this year; 2016 Masters champion, Danny Willett makes his first start since September last year after undergoing shoulder surgery and Tyrrell Hatton, has found the going tough at Augusta so far.

Tommy Fleetwood is the final player in this mini five-man field and also showed positive signs in Texas, finishing 7^th. However, he has an inferior record here compared to Fitzpatrick, having never hit the top 10, recording a best of 14^th in 2022. All which makes the Sheffield man a standout for me here.

1 pt each-way (1/4, 3 places) Top LIV Player Patrick Reed @ 12/1

2018 Masters champ, Patrick Reed’s form this year has been similar to that of last year prior to his 4^th-place finish at Augusta, which made him of interest outright. He just missed out in that regard but with question marks over several of his fellow LIV competitors, I feel he may be the one to give Rahm the most to think of in this market.

Reed’s form in those limited-fields had been underwhelming at the start of the year but he has improved as the start of major season has drawn nearer. He finished 4^th in Macau two starts ago and then recorded his first LIV top 10 last week, finishing 9^th in Miami; a similarly strong performance to his 4^th-place finish in Orlando in the week preceding last year’s top 5 here.

Though we don’t have any officially telling stats for his play this year, we’re lucky enough to know exactly what he is about, and whilst he’s a perfectly solid, even strong ball-striker on his day, Reed shines with his outstanding short game.

That short game is what aided him in his 2018 success here and has also helped him produce three further top 10s in the last four years, finishing 10^th in 2020 and 8^th in 2021 before his 4^th last year; where he ranked 3^rd ATG, excelling chipping from these notoriously tight lies.

Ahead of Reed in the betting we have Tyrrell Hatton, who as mentioned above has struggled to get the hang of this place; Cameron Smith, who withdrew from last week’s event due to illness; Bryson DeChambeau just doesn’t fit the bill for me at Augusta and for all he is in incredible form, Joaquin Niemann still has to prove himself at the course.

Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson represent obvious dangers, but with Koepka not in the same form as last year and DJ almost certainly content to have the Green Jacket already in the bag, I’m happy to take Reed against them at the prices.

That just leaves the defending champion and whilst I obviously fancy his chances having put him up outright, Reed is more than capable of putting himself in the mix too. If the Spaniard fails to shine in defence of his title, I think he’ll be the LIV player to watch this week.

2 pts Taylor Moore Top 20 @ 9/2

I took a look at a couple more markets and spent a reasonable amount of time checking out the Top Debutant betting, ultimately deciding it was too competitive a market to extract an obvious selection from.

Instead I’m going to head to the place markets and after an encouraging debut effort last year, I’m taking Taylor Moore to capitalise on his strong play in 2024 by recording a first major top 20 this week.

Moore had a great year in 2023, earning his breakthrough PGA Tour victory in the Valspar Championship but despite not getting a win yet in 2024, he’s stepped up the level of his performance in terms of consistency.

He hasn’t missed a cut yet this year in nine starts and comes into this week after his two best performances of the year, finishing 12^th in defence of his Valspar Championship title and was an excellent runner-up on his last start in Houston two weeks ago.

The Texan has looked a real solid all-rounder since stepping up the PGA Tour and is again replicating that this year, gaining strokes in all areas. It’s the quality of his play ATG and in approach that has impressed most in recent weeks, ranking 12^th and 25^th in this field respectively over his last twenty rounds. I was especially taken by how good he looked ATG on that latest start in Houston, ranking 2^nd, with Memorial Park showcasing tightly-mown chipping areas like Augusta.

Moore made his major championship debut here last year, finishing a commendable 39^th, actually sitting in 20^th going into the final round before a closing 6-over 78 saw him slipping down the leaderboard. He can get himself into a similar position this time around and with that experience in the bag I’d be confident of him hanging on to or even improving it this year.

You can follow all Jamie's Golf Betting Tips over at Betfred Insights.