Betting the First-Round Leader at the Masters: Odds and Prediction

Iain MacMillan | Apr 9, 2025

Collin Morikawa is a great bet to be the first round leader at the Masters. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

If you don’t want to wait all four rounds to find out if you’ve won your Masters bet, then betting on who will be the first-round leader may be the market for you.

This bet is as simple as it gets: a bet on who will be leading at Augusta National after the first round. With a lot more variance in a single round, you can bet on some top golfers at longer odds than you’d get for them to win the entire tournament or you can bet on golfers further down the odds list who you may not think can win it all, but can lead for at least the first round.

Let’s take a look at the top 15 players on the odds list to be leading after Thursday, and then I’ll give you my top two picks.

Masters first-round leader odds

Top 15 odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

• Scottie Scheffler +1200
• Rory McIlroy +1800
• Bryson DeChambeau +2700
• Collin Morikawa +2800
• Jon Rahm +2800
• Justin Thomas +3000
• Ludvig Aberg +3000
• Xander Schauffele +3300
• Joaquin Niemann +3500
• Brooks Koepka +3500
• Viktor Hovland +4000
• Cameron Smith +4000
• Jordan Spieth +4000
• Min Woo Lee +4500
• Robert MacIntyre +4500

Masters first-round leader prediction

Collin Morikawa +2800

The weather report seems pretty steady throughout Thursday, but we may see some heavier gusts later in the afternoon, so I’m going to stick to betting on golfers who are teeing off in the morning when it comes to the first-round leader market.

I’m also going to bet on two golfers who check all the boxes this week, but who I don’t believe have the mental fortitude to bring home the win on Sunday. The first of which is Collin Morikawa, who has been the best golfer in the world from tee to green over the past three months.

Morikawa has struggled on the weekend this season, but he’s apt to get off to a hot start. I think there’s a great chance he can set the mark in the clubhouse early on Thursday.

Corey Conners +5000

The opening round has been when Corey Conners has had his best stuff this season, ranking 43rd on the PGA Tour in Round 1 scoring average at 69.89, meanwhile, he ranks outside the top 100 in both Round 3 scoring average and Round 4 scoring average. So, if you want to bet on him this week, the first two rounds are the time to do it.

The Canadian can go low in a hurry, entering the Masters as one of the best ball strikers on Tour. He has also played well around the greens in 2025, something that was formerly a glaring weakness of his. With a 9:14 a.m. ET tee time, Conners is a great candidate to go low on Thursday.

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