US Masters 2026 Tips: Our experts' best bets for Augusta

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US Masters 2026 tips and predictions

The Punter's US Masters Preview: Make Cameron a confident pick at 25/126.00

Steve Rawlings: Cameron Young has a mixed set of form figures at Augusta, reading MC-7-9-MC, but that's typical of his record in major championships.

He's missed the cut in all four majors at various times, but he's also finished second in the Open Championship, third in the US PGA Championship and fourth in the US Open and all those high finishes have come when he's been in form. He won back-to-back events on the Korn Ferry Tour and he tends to hold his form nicely once he's found it.

Young finished second to Cam Smith in the Open at St Andrews in 2022 after a couple of missed cuts but he'd finished third in the US PGA Championship a couple of months earlier following a third in the RBC Heritage and a second in the Truist Championship and he finished seventh in the US Masters three years ago after losing the final of the WGC Match Play in his previous start two weeks prior.

He finished eighth in the Open in 2023 after finishing sixth in the John Deere Class, where he'd led by two at halfway, and he finished ninth at Augusta two years ago after finishing runner-up at the Valspar Championship in his previous start.

He also finished fourth in the US Open last year, one week after finishing fourth in the Canadian Open, so he's telegraphed a high finish in a major plenty of times before and he looks primed to win his first one this week.

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US Masters Each-Way Tips: Back Fleetwood to fire at 20/121.00

Dave Tindall:  This will be Tommy Fleetwood's 10th Masters and it feels the perfect time for him to really throw down a huge challenge. On his last trip to Georgia, the 35-year-old walked off with The Tour Championship, securing himself a huge financial jackpot but, perhaps even more importantly, finally getting a first win on American soil.

He returned to the United States soon after to be the leading scorer (four points) in Europe's Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage Black. His official status right now is 'bubbling', both in terms of capturing a first Major and getting a win this season.  A past runner-up in both the US Open and Open Championship, he's also had four more top fives in the majors since the start of 2022.

Many will pick him to win the Open at his local course, Royal Birkdale, later this summer but he'll be the absolute centre of attention that week and likely to feel all the extra stress that brings.

Here, he's just part of the cast; others will attract more eyeballs. With that greater sense of freedom, this might be the place to back him and, given his appreciation of good things and bonus quirks, you just know how much Fleetwood would relish being handed the Green Jacket by his great mate McIlroy.

Fleetwood shares fourth place on the trends with countryman Matt Fitzpatrick. But with Fleetwood one place below Scheffler in Apex Height this season (Fitzpatrick is second last in 168th), he's the preferred option of the two big English contenders.

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The Masters 2026 Player Guide: Scheffler favourite at 6/17.00

From Matt Cooper's guide:

Scottie Scheffler Masters record (most recent result on the right): 19-18-1-10-1-4

The World No. 1 has been relentless in the major championships since he earned a PGA Tour card. In fact, in the 21 he's played in that period, he's recorded 16 top 10 finishes (and has three wins in the last eight of them). At Augusta National, his arms have played the Hokey Cokey with the Green Jacket (in, out, in, out). But will they be in again this year? His form is under pressure with his approach stats down on what has become expected from him and he broke a run of 19 consecutive top 10 finishes with 12-24-22 in February and March. Good by normal standards, dodgy in Scottie's world, and he hasn't competed since the Players as he awaited the birth of his second child, Remy. 

Angle? He's 6-for-6 at breaking par in a Masters final round and - quirk alert - has signed for a 71 in no less than seven of his 12 weekend laps.

First round record? His last four Augusta Thursdays have reaped 69-68-66-68, good for T6 or better every time.

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US Masters First Round Leader Tips: Back Conners for fast start at 50/151.00

Dave Tindall: Corey Conners has four top 10s in the last six Masters so plays this course way, way better than some of those considered on the same level in a standard PGA Tour event.

Fast starts have helped him achieve those good finishes and last year he opened with a 68 to end day one in a tie for second.

A year earlier a 70 put him eighth after the first round while he again popped up on the R1 leaderboard in 2022, finishing the opening 18 holes in seventh.

The Canadian played three events on the recent Florida Swing and had R1 positions of 9-10-17 after a trio of opening 69s.

With a Thursday tee-time of 12.44 alongside Harry Hall and Michael Brennan, Conners looks to have the best conditions for another enjoyable day around Augusta National.

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US Masters 2026: Course and current form stats

Patrick Reed has each-way potential. The 2018 Masters winner has won twice on the European Tour this year, along with one other runner-up finish. Is yet to compete in the States during 2026, which may mean he is a little under-cooked with regards to securing a second Green Jacket. But most certainly a decent each-way option.

Stroke Averages

Lowest 15 At Augusta National (2020-25)
Average .... (Rounds)
70.33: Scottie Scheffler (24)
71.08: Patrick Reed (24)
71.23: Xander Schauffele (22)
71.25: Jon Rahm (24)
71.27: Cameron Smith (22)
71.30: Rory McIlroy (20)
71.33: Collin Morikawa (24)
71.46: Hideki Matsuyama (24)
71.60: Justin Rose (20)
71.73: Corey Conners (22)
71.75: Sung Jae Im (20)
71.92: Tommy Fleetwood (24)
71.95: Jordan Spieth (20)
72.00: Justin Thomas (20)
72.04: Shane Lowry (24)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table

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US Masters 2026: 10-year trends point to...

Dave Tindall: By the 10-year trend metrics, the 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm scores 76 out of a possible 79, only dropping points in the age category as he's no longer in his 20s. The Spaniard has a superb Augusta pedigree and, in terms of form, his five starts on LIV this season have produced a win, three seconds and a fifth.

McIlroy has a bunch of trends against him (defending champion, no win this year, no good finish in March/April) so is way down the list.

Second-ranked Cam Young drops points in just one categery - the lack of a Masters top five. That said, he's been seventh and ninth in two of the last three and the only thing he needs to improve there is his Scrambling. 

That said, he ranks 19th for Scrambling on the PGA Tour this season having been 95th and 99th in the previous two campaigns. So, this all leads to a couple of bets - a win only punt on Rahm and Young each-way.

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US Masters Find Me a 100 Winner: Back a class act at 109/1110.00

Steve Rawlings: Born in Vienna, Straka and his family moved to Georgia when he was 14 and he and his twin, Sam, both went to the University of Georgia, so he'll feel at home this week and although he doesn't have a victory to his name this year, the 32-year-old has shown glimpses in 2026.

Straka missed the cut at the Houston Open last time out, but prior to that he'd finished second in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 13^th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and eighth in the Players Championship.

In addition to his weekend off in Texas a fortnight ago, Straka also finished a disappointing 50^th in the Genesis Invitational one week after his second place at Pebble but that was a bizarre performance given he was inside the top-20 at halfway before he shot 80 in round three.

Straka is a class act with four PGA Tour titles and two playoff defeats in the last four years. He has a mixed bag of major results but he finished seventh in the US PGA Championship and second in the Open in 2023. He has the game to succeed here.

His missed cut last time out is obviously a negative but he's always been a bit of in-and-out performer so that doesn't put me off... All things considered, he's very fair price given he's so prolific and that he's ranked as highly as number 13 in the Official World Rankings.

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US Masters 2026 Top 10 Tips: Back Aberg to silence doubters

Dave Tindall: We all know the stat about no first-time winner here since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 but Aberg almost defied that on debut in 2024 when finishing runner-up after briefly having a piece of the final-round lead. He backed it up with seventh last year and that could have been much, much better after he again found himself tied at the top, this time after 15, before dropping four shots on 17 and 18.

Outside of Augusta, the Swede has a curiously poor record in his other six starts in the Majors (MC-12-MC-MC-MC-23) but he'll have another crack at this on the back of three straight top fives on the PGA Tour.

Last four events: 5-5-3-20
Masters form: 7-2
Last 50 starts - Win: 2%, Top 5: 22%, Top 10: 36%

There's a certain amount of negativity around Aberg in recent weeks due to his inability to close tournaments out. True, it's frustrating if you've backed the Swede 'win only' but for Top 5 and Top 10 punters he's very much your friend after a third and two top fives in this last three events.

Add in the fact that he's held the final-round lead at some point during his only two Masters starts, finishing second and seventh, and Aberg is a strong bet at 3.1 to make the Top 10. 

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Read Steve Rawlings' US Masters in-play blog across the weekend for Augusta latest 

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