Masters: Scheffler Favored

Scottie Scheffler opened Masters week in the same spot he has occupied for most of the last few years: at the top of the betting board. Sportsbooks listed Scheffler around +550 to win the 2026 Masters, while Rory McIlroy opened close behind him as Augusta National prepared for Thursday’s first round. (sports.yahoo.com) That number says something simple about how the market sees this tournament. Even with McIlroy arriving as the defending champion, bettors still view Scheffler as the player most likely to leave Augusta in a green jacket on Sunday. (sports.yahoo.com) (sports.betmgm.com) The case for Scheffler starts with his history at Augusta National. He won the Masters in 2022 and again in 2024, and Yahoo’s betting preview noted that he also finished fourth in 2025, which means he has spent three straight Masters near the very top of the leaderboard. (sports.yahoo.com) Augusta tends to reward players who already know where the trouble sits. The course asks for the same thing every year: controlled iron shots, patience on slick greens, and enough discipline to avoid one bad swing turning into a double bogey. (sports.yahoo.com) (cbssports.com) That is one reason the favorites list looks familiar. Along with Scheffler and McIlroy, books and previews have kept recent major winners and Augusta contenders like Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Xander Schauffele near the top tier entering the week. (si.com) (azcentral.com) McIlroy’s place near the top of the odds is easy to understand too. He won the 2025 Masters at 11-under par in a playoff over Justin Rose, giving him his first Augusta title and, according to PGA Tour coverage, returning him this week as the defending champion at the 90th edition of the tournament. (sports.yahoo.com) (pgatour.com) So the headline entering Thursday is not that Scheffler is a surprise favorite. The headline is that the market is forcing a choice between the player with the steadiest Augusta record in recent years and the player who just proved he can win the course’s most pressurized Sunday. (sports.yahoo.com) (sports.betmgm.com) The tournament now has its first-round structure in place. USA Today reported on April 8 that Thursday tee times and pairings are set, and PGA Tour coverage said the first two rounds will be played in threesomes at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. (usatoday.com) (pgatour.com) That matters because the Masters is one of the few events where the pre-tournament conversation can feel almost as carefully staged as the competition itself. By Wednesday night, the odds are posted, the pairings are locked, and the entire week narrows into a small group of names everyone expects to matter by the back nine on Sunday. (usatoday.com) (cbssports.com) Scheffler’s odds also show how hard it is for one result to erase a larger body of work. McIlroy may be the reigning champion, but oddsmakers still priced Scheffler shorter because two Masters wins, another top-four finish, and a reputation for week-to-week consistency make him the safer bet over four rounds. (sports.yahoo.com) (sports.betmgm.com) There is also a difference between being the defending champion and being the betting favorite. The first label belongs to the player who won last April; the second belongs to the player the market thinks is most likely to win this April, and in 2026 those labels belong to two different stars. (pgatour.com) (sports.yahoo.com) By the time the first tee shots are struck on Thursday, the argument is already clear. Rory McIlroy owns the most recent Masters trophy, but Scottie Scheffler remains the man the betting market trusts most at Augusta National. (usatoday.com) (sports.yahoo.com)