The track record for first-timers at Augusta National Golf Club is not good.
For most golfers, their first Masters appearance ends with watching someone else get the Green Jacket draped over their shoulders. Fuzzy Zoeller was the most recent golfer to win their Masters debut, and that was in 1979.
Since then, rookies have had to settle for some added course knowledge and cash in their first Augusta outing. With all that said, a perhaps surprising number of sports bettors believe there is a first-timer this year who could snap the losing streak for Masters debutants: Wyndham Clark.
Depending on where you looked, Clark's Masters odds opened +6000 or so to win the tournament. As of Monday, however, Clark's odds were as short as +1500, due in no small part to his strong play over the past year.
Wyndham Clark's shirt is _______.
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 9, 2024
(📸: @jd_cubes for Golf Digest) pic.twitter.com/PPnMihP02u
Figures reported by sportsbook operators suggest strong interest by bettors in Clark as well.
FanDuel reported last week that Brooks Koepka was the golfer attracting the most money to win this year’s Masters, followed by Scottie Scheffler. The player drawing the third-highest amount of handle, though, was Clark.
BetMGM had a similar story, as the online sportsbook reported last week that Clark was their third-largest liability for winning the Masters outright. The bookmaker said 6.2% of all tickets were on the University of Oregon product to win the tournament, even though it will be his first time trying to do so this year.
On Monday, BetMGM updated its figures to show Clark had fallen out of the top three liabilities for the operator but was still drawing the third-most handle from players at 5.6% of all money wagered on outright Masters winners.
DraftKings said Monday that 5% of handle was on Clark to win the Masters, tied for fourth-most with Rory McIlroy and ahead of Tiger Woods and defending champion Jon Rahm at 4%.
Why Wyndham?
So why do so many people think a Masters rookie can do what hasn’t been done for four decades, and win the first golf major of 2024?
It probably has to do with the fact that Clark, a 30-year-old from Denver, is not your typical Masters rookie. His attendance at the first golf major of 2024 is because he already has several big victories he can point to since last year's Masters. Those triumphs include two wins at elevated events on the PGA Tour and then a triumph at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
In short: Clark is already a major winner and he has beaten the best golfers in the world on some of the biggest stages the sport can offer. That helps explain why bettors believe he can outperform most debutants who roll into Augusta. Furthermore, the early action on Clark likely comes in part from bettors who follow golf more closely than the legion of punters who will place perhaps their only wager on the sport for the year this week.
Yet Clark is not universally beloved. Jay Kornegay, the vice president of race and sportsbook operations for the SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas, said the five golfers drawing the most money there are Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, and Rory McIlroy. Clark’s odds at SuperBook Sports were +3000 as of Monday afternoon.
“There's certainly interest in Clark, but he doesn't rank in the top 10 for either money wagered or ticket count,” Kornegay told Covers in an email on Monday. “We opened Clark at 60-1 last May and he got as high as 100-1 in late May (2023), and once again at the beginning of 2024. Once he started playing well and contended, his odds dropped dramatically. I think most wanted to get him at triple-digit odds but missed out.”
Looking abroad
Tom Gable, the director of race and sportsbook for the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, said Viktor Hovland was their biggest liability. The Norwegian’s odds to win the Masters at the Borgata were sitting at +3300 as of Tuesday morning.
“Matsuyama has become a popular pick as well in the last few weeks and we have a little liability on him but we are in pretty good shape right now on almost all of the favorites,” Gable said in a text message.
The Borgata’s book is in good shape on Clark too, Gable said, as they managed to move quickly to adjust his odds during his recent run. Clark was +2800 to win at the Borgata, and Gable said they expect to keep writing bets on the U.S. Open champion in the run-up to tee-off on Thursday.
Ludvig Åberg, another Masters debutant, is also a “trendy play as of late,” added Gable.
“But we are in good shape on him as well.”
