Masters Predictions, Picks & Props: Best Bets From Our Covers Experts

The first major championship of the 2025 season has arrived, and with oodles of Masters odds to comb through, we turned to Covers golf experts Andrew Caley, Chris Gregory, and Neil Parker to get their best bets ahead of tee off today.

Here are their favorite golf picks and Masters predictions before the action begins on Thursday.

Masters outright pick

Caley: Rory McIlroy (+675 at bet365)

It’s Rory’s time. If not for Scottie Scheffler’s historic run of dominance we’d be talking more about how incredible McIlroy’s recent run of golf has been. Two wins already this season and no worse than T17. And four wins and 14 Top 15 finishes in his last 17 starts. He leads the Tour in Total Strokes Gained, 10th in SG: Putting, and is fourth in scrambling. He ends his major drought and completes his career grand slam by donning the Green Jacket on Sunday.

Gregory: Rory McIlroy (+675 at bet365)

Despite his No. 2 status on the Masters odds boards, Rory McIlroy is very much coming to Augusta the hottest golfer in the world. Considering he's won twice on Tour already this season and his game is as well-rounded as ever, this is a golden opportunity to complete the career grand slam.

Parker: Collin Morikawa (+1800 at DraftKings)

If the putts fall for Morikawa, he’ll be in contention for a fourth consecutive Masters because his ball-striking does the heavy lifting.

The two-time major champion has gained true strokes across the board in each of his past four Masters appearances to card three consecutive Top 10s, with a T3 last year and solo fifth in 2022. Morikawa has also made 22 consecutive cuts while ranking second in true strokes gained tee-to-green and third in driving accuracy in this field during the heater.

Masters longshot pick

Caley: Cam Smith (+6000 at DraftKings)

This feels like a crazy good price for Smith, considering how he has performed here. I guess that’s what happens when you go to the LIV Tour where he only has one Top 10 finish this season. But this was a guy who was supposed to be one of the next big things in golf. He’s won major championships, has four Top 10 finishes in his last five Masters appearances and has the short game to tear up Augusta National.

Gregory: Will Zalatoris (+5000 at SIA)

Current form is keeping Will Zalatoris from being a true contender this week, but if there's a course to prioritize past success over recent form, it's Augusta National. Willy Z has three Top-10 finishes in three career tries, including a runner-up finish behind Hideki Matsuyama in 2021.

Parker: Russell Henley (+5500 at DraftKings)

Henley has played the weekend in 20 consecutive events while gaining true strokes across the board except for off the tee. That won’t be crippling at Augusta National because he ranks seventh in this field in driving accuracy during the stretch.

Of course, the Georgia native recently had a career-best win at the Arnold Palmer and boasts excellent course history at Augusta National. Henley has carded seven consecutive Top 40s in the Masters, including finishing T4 in 2023 and adding two more Top 20s.

Favorite prop bet

Caley: Will Zalatoris Top 10 (+320 at DraftKings)

Zalatoris is flying a little under the radar heading into this year’s Masters. That’s likely because his 2025 season has been unspectacular to this point. But his game is rounding into form. He has three Top 25 finishes and enters this week ranked 20th on Tour in strokes gained approach. Zalatoris also always seems to elevate his game at Augusta National. He has three Top-10 finishes in three starts at Augusta, including a runner-up in 2021.

Gregory: Corey Conners Top 30 (-130 at Caesars)

Corey Conners notably went on a run of three straight Top-10 finishes here at Augusta from 2020 through 2022, and while he's been out of the mix the last two years, he's back in great form entering the 2025 edition. He's on a T24-3-T6-T8-T18 run through his last five starts and I expect that to continue at a track he's had success on in the past.

Parker: Lucas Glover Top 40 (-110 at BetMGM)

Boring golf plays, and Glover’s tee-to-green game has been exceptional during his late-career resurgence. He ranks third in this field in true strokes gained on approach, fifth in driving accuracy, and 20th in true strokes gained tee-to-green dating back to July 2023.

Glover also has seven Top 5s alongside his consecutive big-time wins in Augusta 2023 during the nearly two-year run, and he finished T20 in the 2024 Masters while ranking 11th in true strokes gained putting. To top it all off, the veteran has made the cut in six of his previous 10 trips to Augusta National.

Favorite Masters matchup bet

Caley: Shane Lowry over Brooks Koepka (-115 at FanDuel)

Imagine if an Irishman won the Masters and it wasn’t McIlory? Lowry will have a shot this weekend. His ball striking is in top form, entering the week he ranks sixth on Tour in strokes gained approach and has three Top 10 finishes this season. We know what Brooks is capable of in major championships, but we saw a dropoff in performance last year, finishing no better than T26 in the four majors, and it seems clear he is longing for a return to the PGA.

Gregory: Justin Thomas over Xander Schauffele (-115 at Caesars)

Fading Xander Schauffele at the Masters has not historically been a profitable endeavor, but the circumstances in which he comes to Augusta this time around are far different. He's finished T40, 72nd, and T12 in three starts since returning from a rib injury earlier in the year, and it's pretty clear he's not near the form that led him to two major titles a year ago. Justin Thomas is coming off a runner-up finish at the Valspar and has three more Top 10s in 2025. Rust will ultimately keep Xander from contention.

Parker: Rory McIlroy over Scottie Scheffler (+115 at Caesars)

It’s not that I’m anticipating Scheffler playing poorly, it’s that my first Masters bet of the week was on McIlroy.

McIlroy has three worldwide wins across his past six events, and he’s pacing the PGA Tour in adjusted scoring average with the rest of his statistical profile just as impressive.

Scheffler hasn’t been quite as sharp and has lost true strokes around the greens in four of six PGA Tour events this year. While he’s still first for the season in bogey avoidance, he’s also 43rd in birdie-or-better percentage and 87th in putting average.

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