Find Me a 100 Winner: Past champs chanced at Augusta

Given we have to go all the way back to 2009 for the last triple-figure priced winner of the US Masters, the task this week isn't easy but maybe we're due an outsider slipping on the famous Green Jacket? And once we get one, we might even get a run of them.

When 150.0149/1 chance, Angel Cabrera, took the title 13 years ago he was the third winner in-a-row to go off at a three-figure price, following Zach Johnson in 2007 and Trever Immelman in '08 and there was a similar run of results a decade earlier when between 1998 and 2000, Mark O'Meara, Jose Maria Olazabal and Vijay Singh all won at juicy odds.

It may have been a while since we had a huge-priced winner at Augusta but with this column, winning isn't everything. Profits were made at the 2020 edition, when the runner-up, Cameron Smith, a selection for the column at 140.0139/1, traded at a low of 5.59/2 and we were unlucky last year when all three selections, Corey Conners, Brian Harman and Kevin Na, finished inside the top-12. Conners hit a low of 12.011/1 last year and Harman touched 14.013/1.

With the Betfair Exchange, profits can be made with players that don't win, provided we back them high and lay them low and if you're new to the column, that's the purpose of it.

It's obviously fantastic to back a winner at a huge price but getting them across the line isn't essential so for more on trading and specifically laying, please see this handy guide.

Please do bear in mind, that the lay targets I set below are for record keeping purposes. They're not set in stone by any means and profits can be assured by laying back at a higher price.

As Matt Cooper has highlighted this morning, the chances of a new US Masters champ are high and on my shortlist at triple-figure odds were Russell Henley, Max Homa, and one of last year's selections, Brian Harman, to name but three.

I still like that trio, but Henley's price is stubbornly refusing to budge from 95.094/1, Homa is now a 130.0129/1 chance having been a more appealing 200.0199/1 plus chance just a few days ago and as much as I like his course and current form, I have a nagging suspicion that Harman isn't quite up to winning a major, so I've gone full circle and backed three with rock solid Augusta pedigrees.

Year after year we see the usual names on the leaderboard as we head into the back night on Sunday so I've picked out three familiar faces at Augusta.

Reed can rule again

The 2018 winner, Patrick Reed, can't possibly be described as in-form but he's definitely playing far better than he was at the start of the year when he missed three cuts in-a-row after finishing only 38th in Saudi Arabia.

Reed failed to get out of the group at the WGC Matchplay last time out but after losing his first tie on the 18th green to Cameron Young he signed off there with an impressive 3&2 victory over Jon Rahm and he played quite nicely in his penultimate start when finished 26th at the Players Championship, where he putted superbly.

Since his victory here, he's finished 36th, 10th and 8th and another high finish is perfectly possible.

2 pts Patrick Reed @ 120.0119/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1
Back 1 u Patrick Reed Top 10 Finish @ 9.28/1

Don't write off Rose

Justin Rose's record at Augusta is simply sensational.

The 41-year-old Englishman has led after the first round here four times previously (including last year when he was still in front at halfway) and he's finished the week inside the top-ten six times.

Like Reed, he's not been in the best of form, with a top-six finish at the Farmers Insurance Open the highlight for 2022 but there's something about the drive down Magnolia Lane that makes Rose come to life and yet another fine performance could be on the cards.

Back 2 u Justin Rose @ 130.0129/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1
Back 1 u Justin Rose Top 10 Finish @ 9.28/1

Bubba backed to bag a third title

Bubba Watson showed us at the Saudi International in February, in his first start since August last year, that he's no back number when he traded at a low of 1.071/14 before a spectacular birdie-eagle finish by Harold Varner denied him.

Bubba took the defeat in incredibly gracious fashion, and he was genuinely pleased to see his good friend win. I was already a fan but his reaction to the sudden and unexpected loss was remarkable.

The following week, he got to see his old caddie, Ted Scott, win for the first time alongside his new boss, Scottie Scheffler, in the WM Phoenix Open and that paring have gone on to further success since.

Scheffler has since won both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC World Matchplay to reach the top of the world rankings and there's a reasonable chance that - that may inspire the two-time Masters winner this week.

10 years since 2012 @TheMasters win has me thinking about things. Want to wish my man @jtedscott the best. We made a lot of great memories at #Augusta. Grateful for our friendship. Would be fun to match up with him and Scottie Scheffler late Sunday #masters pic.twitter.com/Ifrmnr0P3x

? bubba watson (@bubbawatson) April 1, 2022

At only 43, the incredibly talented Bubba is too young to be written off and another tilt at the title can't be ruled out.

Back 2 u Bubba Watson @ 140.0139/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.01/1
Back 1 u Bubba Watson Top 10 Finish @ 9.28/1

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter