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Justin Rose loves the First Round here and can beat Hatton
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Jason Day's recent form means him a great evens punt
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Why Matsuyama top 20 finish is tempting
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Back Rory in the wire-to-wire market
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Plenty of great #OddsOnThat markets available
As highlighted in my preview, course form stands up especially well at Augusta and while some take to the place and thrive here year after year, some top-class players never get to grips with it's nuances, even when they appear to have the perfect game for the course.
Multiple major winner, Martin Kaymer, for example, has finished inside the top-30 just once in a dozen attempts and backing the two-time winner, Bernhard Langer, against him in the Top German Player market reaped rewards at odds-against in five of six years between 2013 and 2018.
That staple bet is sadly long gone now. Kaymer's lost his way of late, and he now plies his trade on the LIV Golf Tour, and although he still turns up every year, at the age of 65, making the weekend is Langer's lofty target now, but there are fresher opportunities along the same lines...
Rose can make it 5-2 against Hatton
Having won at several tree-lined tracks, the world number 17, Tyrrell Hatton, really should enjoy the test presented by Augusta but his US Masters form figures are awful, reading MC-44-56-MC-18-52, whereas his compatriot, Justin Rose, who also enjoys a tree-lined test, absolutely loves it here.
Rose traded at long odds-on back in 2017 before losing to Sergio Garcia in a playoff, he was also second to Jordan Spieth in 2015, and he's led after the opening round four times!
Having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February, Rose remains competitive. He's always worthy of consideration in the First Round Leader market here and he's no forlorn hope at 80.079/1 in the outright market but at around even money, he looks a great bet to beat Hatton.
The pair have both teed it up here in the last six years and Rose currently leads 4-2.
Jason's Day in the sun
Jason Day's resurgence hasn't escaped the market and having racked up 2023 form figures reading 18-7-5-9-10-19-5, the 35-year-old Aussie is a 32.031/1 chance to win his second major championship.
Day's missed his last two cuts at Augusta but he's been in quite a slump and a much improved performance can be expected given he finished runner-up on debut here in 2011, third in 2013 and fifth as recently as 2019.
He's been paired with Cameron Young in the Tournament Match Bets section on both the Exchange and the Sportsbook and he too looks a great bet at around even money.
Young is playing here for just the second time, having missed the cut 12 months ago following a pair of 77s, and although he played superbly at the WGC Match Play last time out, he may suffer a slump after his poor performance in the final and Day is the more likely to have a decent week.
The Rose - Day double pays just over 5/2.
History not a good look for Scottie
As a demonstration of just how well course form holds up here, as many as 17 players have won the US Masters at least twice but defending champions have a poor record, with only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods winning back-to-back US Masters.
That's a bad stat for the second favourite and defending champ, Scottie Scheffler, who's attempting to become only the second man in history to win his second Masters title a year after his first.
Nick Faldo, in 1989-90, is the only man to achieve the feat so far and these are the finishing positions of the last 10 defending champions - 50-50-14-38-2-MC-MC-36-38-MC-18.
Jordan Spieth, in 2016, is the only man to come close to winning back-to-back US Masters titles in the last ten years but incredibly, as many as six men have won their first two titles in the space of three years.
The inaugural winner, Horton Smith, won the tournament for a second time in 1936, two years after winning the first edition and the likes of Ben Hogan (1951-53), Arnold Palmer (1958-60), Jack Nicklaus (1963-65), Phil Mickelson (2004-06) and Bubba Watson (2012-14) have all emulated him.
The 2021 winner, Hideki Matsuyama, is a fair price in the outright market to match their accomplishments at 60.059/1 after a reasonable run of form.
Having finished fifth in the Players Championship, Matsuyama conceded his third match at the WGC Match Play to Max Homa, after beating Kevin Kisner and losing to Justin Suh, and he was still seen clutching his neck on occasions last week when finishing an eye-catching 15th at the Valero Texas Open - an event in which he finished 30th in the week before he won here two years ago.
Matsuyama a great price for another top-20
He withdrew in Texas 12 months ago with neck and shoulder issues so his 18th here a week later when defending was a reasonable effort and with Augusta form figures that read 27-54-MC-5-7-11-19-32-13-1-14, he looks a great price at around 6/4 to finish inside the top-20 for the eighth time in nine years.
And at an industry-wide best of 19/2, with three places up for grabs, he's a very nice price in the Top Former Winner market too.
It's not that long ago that you could root around and find little gems like 8/1 about there being a hole-in-one in round four but the cat's out of the bag with that one now.
If they put the pin in its traditional Sunday position on the 16th, any reasonable tee-shots feed towards the hole and an ace there this year is just 8/11, with a hole-in-one anywhere on the course on Sunday a 13/10 chance.
You can back individual players to record an ace throughout the week and Sepp Straka's already had one in practice but that's too unpredictable for my liking.
Can Rory make all at Augusta?
You can also pick an individual to win the championship wire-to-wire and at first glance that looks tough too but I'm happy to throw a few pounds in the direction of the current favourite, Rory McIlroy, in that market at 50/1 and on Jordan Spieth at 100/1.
Rory has a strong record of getting off to a fast start and he's led after the first round 33 times in total.
He's only led here after the first round once, back in 2011 when he opened with a seven-under-par 65 before throwing the event away on the back nine on Sunday, having led by four with a round to go.
There's no doubt that his 2011 collapse left its mark and in 11 subsequent visits he's only once hit an opening round in the 60s. He finished fifth in 2018 having opened with a three-under-par 69.
On the face of it, they're not the sort of stats that scream back him wire-to-wire, but if he does get off to a flier, he may well make all the running.
Rory won his first ever title from the front - the Dubai Desert Classic in 2009 - and two of his four major titles were won wire-to-wire too.
He made all the running to win the Open Championship back in 2014 and he hacked up by eight strokes at the US Open in soft conditions just a few months after his implosion here in 2011.
With lots of rain in the forecast, conditions might just suit the world number two and if we consider the fact that he finished second last year, having sat 31st after round one, 23rd at halfway, and still ninth and ten adrift after three rounds, if he gets off to a good start on Thursday he may just fly.
Delve into the #OddsOnThatMarkets
There is a myriad of options in the #OddsOnThat section with the Sportsbook and I'm happy to throw a few pounds on Rory McIlroy to Lead by 5 or More Shots after 36 holes at 150/1. He was six clear in the wet at Colonial in 2011.
Spieth won the 2015 edition wire-to-wire and he traded at a low of just 1.091/11 to repeat the feat when defending in 2016 so 100/1 looks fair.
And finally, as highlighted in the Find Me a 100 Winner column, I'm quite sweet on the chances of the bang-in-form, Kurt Kitayama, so I was more than happy to take the industry-best 13/2 in the Top Debutant market.
My Bets
Justin Rose to beat Tyrrell Hatton @ 9/10 (Sportsbook)
Jason Day to beat Cameron Young @ 10/11 (Sportsbook)
Hideki Matsuyama - Top-20 @ 2.447/5
Hideki Matsuyama - Top Former Winner 19/2 (each-way - Sportsbook)
Kurt Kitayama - Top Debutant 13/2
Rory McIlroy to win wire-to-wire @ 50/1 (Sportsbook)
Jordan Spieth to win wire-to-wire @ 100/1 (Sportsbook)
#OddsOnThat - Rory McIlroy to Lead by 5 or More Shots after 36 holes @ 150/1
*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter