US Masters 2024: Our experts' best bets for Augusta National

• Scheffler backed to claim second Green Jacket

• 10 year trends point to 2022 winner

• 8/19.00 Rory out to end long wait

• 55/156.00 Henley heads up each-way picks

• Betfair to pay 12 places instead of 5 on US Masters

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US Masters 2024 Tips and Predictions on Betfair

Sensational Scheffler all set to claim his second Green Jacket

Steve Rawlings: "To provide an at-a-glance picture of what's required at Augusta, here are the average ratings for the last 15 winners in all the traditional key stats.

• Driving Accuracy - 27.3
• Driving Distance - 20.6
• G.I.R - 6.33
• Scrambling - 9.6
• Putting Average - 11.8

"Although Augusta is tree-lined, Driving Accuracy is the least important traditional stat to consider. Although you can't just spray it everywhere off the tee, the trees here are well-established and the branches are high, so errant drives aren't always punished.

"Length off the tee is advantageous and historically much more important than accuracy, but it hasn't been an absolute imperative of late.

"Rahm only ranked 24^th for Driving Distance last year and Hideki Matsuyama, Tiger Woods, Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth, Charl Schwartzel and Zach Johnson have all won here in the last 17 years with DD rankings of 47^th 44^th, 32^nd, 52^nd, 40^th and 57^th respectively but most victors give it a good whack...

"With Augusta form figures reading 50-2-17-3-MC-10, and current form figures reading 4-25-2-5, the world number five, Xander Schauffele, is highly likely to be a factor this week and the 2021 winner, Hideki Matsuyama, appears to be rounding into form at just the right time but my sole selection before the off is Scheffler.

"The world number one is far and away the most in-form player in the field and the 5.9 available on the Exchange is more than fair."

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Each-way Tips: Dave Tindall's picks from 25/1 to 200/1

Dave Tindall: "Some previous form at Augusta National has to be high on the list when searching for a likely Green Jacket winner although I wouldn't fall off my Masters deckchair if debutants Ludvig Aberg or Wyndham Clark made bold first showings.

"But we're certainly not dealing in guesswork when it comes to Russell Henley as this is a course he's really warming too.

"Henley had already dropped hints with tied 11th in 2017 and tied 15th a year later, part of a sequence of five finishes of tied 31st or better at the US Masters since a missed cut on debut.

"But last year he really stepped it up, breaking par over the final three rounds to finish in solo fourth. Henley was the tournament's most accurate driver in 2023 (also 7th and 5th for DA in his previous two appearances) and keeping it in play off the tee served him well.

"He also ranked 1st for Scrambling and third for Putts Per Round. Widening out the statistical search, Henley has finished 14th, 9th and 7th for Greens in Regulation in his last three Masters while he's ranked in the top 15 for Putting Average in five of his last six. Few can boast those numbers."

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10-year trends point to...

Dave Tindall: "Points in this preview are awarded based on how often something has happened over the last 10 years at Augusta.

"In terms of age, Rahm was the sixth twentysomething in the last decade to win, so anyone in their 20s this year is awarded 6pts. Three were in their 30s so thirtysomethings teeing it up this year score 3pts. Thanks To Tiger's amazing 2019 win, the 40+ veterans get a point. Here's the allocation.

In their 20s: 6pts
In their 30: 3pts
In their 40s: 1pt

"This trend has changed down the years. Perhaps there was a general assumption that the more mature golfers would fare better on a course where you learn something new every year. Nick Faldo won his first Green Jacket 10 years after his Masters debut while Phil Mickelson needed 12 cracks at it before winning.

"But over the last decade, more players have been conquering Augusta while in their 20s...

"The scores are in and, drumroll, these are the leading scorers in the rankings:

75 Hideki Matsuyama
72 Scottie Scheffler
71 Rory McIlroy
63 Tommy Fleetwood, Dustin Johnson
61 Will Zalatoris

"It's Hideki!! The 2021 Masters champion edges out 2022 winner and hot favourite Scottie Scheffler. Matsuyama scores 75 out of a possible 78, only dropping points in the age category as he's no longer in his 20s.

"The 32-year-old is World No.14, won here three years ago and has only finished outside the top 20 once in the last nine years."

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Player Guide: Profiles of the top 50 in the betting

Matt Cooper: "Who among us has not had a project, failed at it, failed again, tweaked it, gained in confidence, been denied, on repeat? It's infuriating. For us, it's likely to be putting up an IKEA bookcase. Imagine if it was trying to win the Masters to complete the Grand Slam. It's an itch Rory McIlroy cannot scratch and, in recent years, it hasn't helped that he keeps making an awful mess of Thursdays.

"His last five first round scores have been 73-75-76-73-72 and his last three second rounds were no better (74-73-77). The clock is ticking. Form concerns prompted a visit to Butch Harmon which he said went well and he was promptly third last week in Texas.

"For all his weekday difficulties, his last nine final round scores have included seven in the 60s. Can he get himself in contention and maintain that trend?!"

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Masters Long Shots: 179/1 Sunjae loves Augusta

Steve Rawlings: "Im finished 2023 off nicely with form figures reading 14-6-7-21-2-12 and he began 2024 by setting the record for the most birdies made in a 72-hole PGA TOUR event, making 34 across four rounds at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in The Sentry, where he eventually finished fifth, but he's lost his way since then.

"With 2024 form figures reading 5-25-MC-66-66-44-MC-18-31-MC it's impossible to make a case for the 26-year-old on current form but he was a 42.0 chance to win this week when the market first opened and if something clicks when he drives down Magnolia Lane this week, he's a huge price at 180.0.

"Im finished runner-up on his first visit to Augusta in 2020 and although he missed the cut in 2021, he's finished eighth and 16^th in each of the last two years.

"Last year's finish wasn't spectacular but it's well worth noting that he sat tied for 49^th at halfway and that he was one of only three men to break 70 in the poor conditions in round three. And he did so in style, with a five-under-par 67! Im clearly loves Augusta and if we're to finally get an outsider winning, he could be the one."

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Top 5 and Top 10 Tips: Side with Spieth

Dave Tindall: "Jordan Spieth hit the ground running with second place on his Masters debut in 2014 and returned 12 months later to shoot 18-under and win by four.

"Since then, he's added another runners-up finish, two more thirds and a fourth. That's a fantastic body of work and Spieth, who only turned 30 last summer, should be a challenger for many more years given how his creativity and brilliant powers of recovery work so well at Augusta.

"After starting the season with a third and a sixth in his first three events Spieth went off the boil but it could be significant that he returned to form with a top 10 in Texas last week (4th Off The Tee, 18th Approach).

Last four events: 10-MC-MC-30
Masters form: 2-1-2-11-21-46-3-MC-4
Last 50 starts - Win: 2%, Top 5: 18%, Top 10: 32%

"These are Spieth's notable finishes at Augusta National: 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th. In other words, when he's on, he's on. All five of his top 10s are actually top fives too so it makes far more sense to take the bigger price. He's 6.0 on the Betfair Exchange for Top 5 and 3.3 for Top 10."

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Special Bets: Pick of the specials up to 25/1

Steve Rawlings: "As the year's first major draws closer, and as I dig deeper and deeper into the form and the various markets, I'm even more convinced that the favourite, Scottie Scheffler, is a great price to win on the exchange at 6.0.

"He's only 4/1 on the Sportsbook and I wouldn't want to lay him at that price. His form is head and shoulders above anyone else's in the field and in addition to having a lumpy bet to win outright, I've backed him in three different side markets.

"Scheffler is yet to win an event wire-to-wire, but he was five clear here at halfway two years ago (third after round one) before eventually winning by three and he's worth a small interest at 25/1 to be leading after every round."

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Major form stats ahead of the showdown at Augusta National

Andy Swales: "If the 24-year-old Swede wins this week, it will be one of the most amazing sports' stories of the past decade - or any decade for that matter. This time last year he wasn't even ranked inside the world's top 900. Since then there's been victories on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, as well as being catapulted into Europe's Ryde Cup team.

"He is not only making his Masters debut this week, it is also his first-ever major championship. He finished eighth at Sawgrass last month and is now ranked 9th in the world."

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First Round Leader: Three fancies from 40/141.00 to 50/151.00

Dave Tindall: "Shane Lowry hasn't quite managed a top two in the Masters but tied third two years ago is near enough and clearly he's comfortable at the course having made the top 25 in each of the last four years.

"As for good starts, he can add those in too. Lowry was second after 18 holes in 2016 while he also held strong first-round positions in 2023 (sixth), 2021 (eighth) and 2017 (12th).

"The Irishman has also twice been in the top three after day one of the Open Championship, one of those coming in his famous win at Royal Portrush.

"Away from the majors, Lowry had a piece of the lead after day one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month while he was also high on the Thursday leaderboard at the Farmers Insurance Open (fourth) and the Phoenix Open (eighth).

"Listing Lowry's last seven opening rounds certainly makes for pleasant reading: 69-71-66-67-67-66-67.

He tees off at 12.24pm local and, of course, will be able to handle the adverse weather better than most."

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Now read US Masters on Betfair: Choose odds and places on your each-way bets

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