US Masters In-Play Betting Tips: Bubba and English backed on day two

Day one of the US Masters delivered incredible drama, and we are hoping for more this Friday.

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley is going to cover all the action this week and today, Jamie has picked out a couple of in-play selections, so check out his US Masters In-Play Betting Tips along with all his reasoning below right here on Betfred Insights...

Day one of the 89^th Masters Tournament is in the bag and already we have a leaderboard that is promising a hugely exciting week at Augusta National.

Top 10 after round one:

1^st – Justin Rose (-7)

T2 – Corey Conners (-4)

T2 – Scottie Scheffler (-4)

T2 – Ludvig Aberg (-4)

T5 – Tyrrell Hatton (-3)

T5 – Bryson DeChambeau (-3)

T7 – Aaron Rai (-2)

T7 – Harris English (-2)

T7 – Jason Day (-2)

T7 – Akshay Bhatia (-2)

There can be no doubt about who the opening day belonged to, as England’s Justin Rose fired an exceptional eight birdies in a 7-under 65 to record his fifth first-round lead at Augusta – a record in the event. It’s been almost 12 years since he won his first and only major championship at Merion in the US Open and it’s hard to imagine many more popular winners should he don the green jacket come Sunday evening.

Positioned ominously in second place after an error-free 68 is pre-event favourite, defending champion and world #1, Scottie Scheffler; joined on -4 by last year’s runner-up, Ludvig Aberg and proven Masters performer, Corey Conner, who reeled off three birdies over his closing four holes.

The LIV duo of Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton come next on -3 to complete a seriously high-class sextet at the top after day one, with debutant, Aaron Rai among a four-strong group of players one shot further back on -2.

There were plenty of disappointments too and although not as severe as some of the other underperforming stars, it’s Rory McIlroy’s day that stung most. He’d looked in fine form for much of his round – at one point getting to 2^nd place on -4 – but a chip back into the water on the par 5 15^th resulted in him giving two shots back to the course, and after another double-bogey on 17, he now finds himself seven shots back in 27^th place.

Although not unsurmountable on paper, it’s a position that has proven impossible to win from in recent years, as each of the last 10 winners were sat in 11^th or better after round one.

The in-form and well fancied Russell Henley was perhaps the biggest surprise for all the wrong reasons, succumbing to a seven-over 79 to sit second-last. We saw a three-over-par round from 2023 winner, Jon Rahm, that means just making the cut is now the primary thought in his mind; whilst there were also over-par rounds from players such as Xander Schauffele (+1), Justin Thomas (+1) and Brooks Koepka (+2). Which leaves them with it all to do today to get themselves into contention for the weekend.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Scottie Scheffler 2/1, Ludvig Aberg 6/1, Justin Rose 15/2, Bryson DeChambeau 15/2, Rory McIlroy 12/1, Corey Conners 18/1

Scottie Scheffler headed the betting before the start of the event and is now an even firmer favourite after yesterday’s showing, followed by the man he beat into 2^nd place last year, Ludvig Aberg. Justin Rose moves into third-favourite alongside Bryson DeChambeau after his Thursday heroics and despite that poor finish, Rory is still fifth-favourite to lift the trophy after day one.

Min Woo Lee is the best positioned of my pre-event selections in 11^th place on -1, followed next by Cameron Young at level par. Although there were no real disasters, it’s hard to not be discouraged by the starts of Xander Schauffele (+1), Brooks Koepka (+2) and Patrick Cantlay (+2) based on recent winner trends. However, they are just about close enough to get into the mix with a low one today, that could set them up for a potentially trend-busting weekend.

I’m going to leave the outright market alone for the time being, as we’ll get a much clearer indication of where all of these players stand after today. I’ve instead come up with a trio of three-ball selections of interest for this second round.

Bubba Watson to beat Matthieu Pavon & Evan Beck

Bubba Watson dominated his 3-ball yesterday and looking good across his game, I expect him to do so again today.

The two-time Masters winner fired four birdies in a largely mistake-free opening round, finishing the day in 11^th on 1-under-par. His playing partners are Matthieu Pavon, who has been out of form this season and showed little sign of turning that around in the first round here, carding a score of 78 that included four double-bogeys; whilst amateur, Evan Beck made just two birdies in a 5-over 77 and was reliant on his play around the greens to keep his score down.

Bubba arrived here with little form on LIV, but it had been noticeable how much better he’d looked on the greens this year. He carried that over into yesterday’s round, ranking 18^th and appearing in control of his long game, ranking top 25 in greens-in-regulation, approach and driving accuracy, I see no reason why he won’t stamp his authority on this 3-ball once again.

Harris English to beat Taylor Pendrith & Fred Couples

Harris English won his 3-ball against 65-year-old Fred Couples and Taylor Pendrith yesterday. There’s little to dissuade me into thinking he’ll do so again in round two and I imagine it may even be a tad more comfortable.

He produced his best approach performance of the season to fire a round of 70 and beat Couples by just the one shot, but it’d be hard to expect the classy veteran to maintain that for a second day, having made just one cut here in the last six years. Furthermore, although Pendrith has the long game to tackle Augusta, he struggled throughout the bag yesterday and as expected, he couldn’t handle the complexities of these greens and their surrounds, stumbling to a 5-over 77.

English arrived here in good form, finishing 18^th in Houston on his last start and won at Torrey Pines earlier in the year. He’s also started to amass a good record at Augusta, making each of his last four cuts and recording two top 25s, he’s the clear selection in this 3-ball.

Patrick Reed to beat Byeong Hun An & Max Greyserman

Patrick Reed tied his 3-ball with debutant, Max Greyserman yesterday, having both finished on -1. However, he managed to do so without his typically strong short game firing and with Greyserman heavily reliant on a putting display that will be hard to repeat, and Byeong An continuing to struggle with his irons, I fancy him to win this outright today.

The 2018 Masters champ made few mistakes yesterday, massively aided by a strong ball-striking performance that saw him rank 2^nd in driving accuracy, 12^th in approach, 13^th off-the-tee and 18^th in GIR. He was solid enough around-the-greens but ranked 61^st in putting, and as a player who usually putts these greens just about as well as anyone, I’d expect him to rectify that.

In contrast, Greyserman ranked 78^th in GIR, 82^nd in ball striking and 88^th in approach, but found a lightning round on the greens, ranking 2^nd and gaining 3.68 strokes. He is normally a good putter, but you can’t reproduce those kind of numbers every day, which means he’ll need to find improvement in the long game; meanwhile Byeong An was decent enough with the short game but for a player who typically excels with his ball striking, his continued poor performances in approach, ranking 84^th yesterday, is a real worry.