EARLY MEMORIES

THIS PUTT TO WIN THE MASTERS

I lost count how many times growing up as an aspiring golfer that I practised that moment. One last putt on the putting green at 21:30 at night with the lights of the clubhouse being your only guide, parents waiting in the car, playing against the rest of the juniors for a Kit Kat!

It’s what dreams are made of! My first lasting memory from the Masters was seeing Sandy Lyle in 1988 play his ridiculous second from the trap on 18 as it then slowly rolled back towards the pin.

You could argue that Augusta brings the cream to the top, there are definitely not so many ‘surprise’ winners as the US PGA for example and in my lifetime I have been lucky enough to witness the GOAT dominate on many occasions.

Let’s hope this preview doesn’t turn into a ‘Car Crash’, however and Tiger thanks for so many fantastic memories over the years. The back 9 in 2019, probably one of the most exciting couple of hours any Golf fan has experienced.

THE OCCASION

GOLF'S GREATEST WEEK — AND WHY NOTHING ELSE COMES CLOSE

Every April, something shifts in the golf world. The clocks go forward, the azaleas bloom in Augusta, Georgia, and golf fans everywhere feel it. It’s that unmistakable buzz that signals the proper start of the major season. The Masters isn't just the first major of the year. For millions of fans worldwide, including myself it is the highlight of the Golfing calendar and for me that is down to the course itself.

There is genuinely nothing like it in sport. The same course, every single year. The same patrons. The same Amen Corner. The same traditions. Champions' Dinner on Tuesday, The Par-3 Contest on Wednesday. The first thunderous roar from beyond the 16th on Thursday afternoon telling you, without needing to check a leaderboard, that someone has made something special happen.

"Augusta National is the only major venue where the course itself is a character in the drama. It waits. It tests. And on Sunday afternoon, it reveals."

AUGUSTA NATIONAL - THE SPECTICLE

Even the most immaculate TV broadcast cannot fully convey what Augusta National actually feels like to walk. The slopes that the cameras flatten into gentle inclines are, in person, genuinely vertiginous. The second hole drops away from you in a way that makes your stomach lurch slightly. The walk from the 9th green to the 10th tee descends sharply before plunging into the tree line. Amen Corner, those three holes that have ended more Masters campaigns than any bogey or double on the front nine, play completely differently to how it looks on a screen. The wind swirls off the Georgia pines in ways that make club selection at the par-3 12th feel genuinely terrifying, even as a spectator.

The greens are a category apart and many a Masters debutant has found out to their detriment. Stimpmeter readings at Augusta routinely exceed 13, meaning a ball can travel several feet from a tap of perhaps two inches of force. They are designed to collect, to repel, to punish the slightly-too-aggressive and reward the precisely correct. Augusta does not forgive. It simply waits for you to make the mistake that has already been built into the design.

This is the week that announces itself. The week when proper golf begins.

STATISTICAL RELIABILITY

WHAT THE DATA SAYS: THE METRICS THAT DECIDE THE MASTERS

Because Augusta is the only major played on the same course every year, we have more clean data on what it takes to win here. The data, when you dig into it, tells a strikingly consistent story.

Recent Champions — The Pattern Is Clear

*Playoff win over Justin Rose. 12 of the last 12 Masters winners were inside the world's top 25. The numbers don't lie.

THE FIVE METRICS THAT MATTER MOST AT AUGUSTA

This is not a US Open where you need to hit it straight. Augusta data going back to 2010 shows that top 10 finishers and the rest of the field hit almost identical numbers of fairways. The rough is the shortest at any major venue in the world. What separates champions from the rest is far more specific.

THE 2026 LEADERS BY METRIC — AND WHERE THE ODDS SIT

Scottie Scheffler remains the man to beat and the data backs up every penny of his 9/2 favouritism. He leads the PGA Tour in SG: Approach at +1.42 per round, ranks 2nd in GIR, and has recorded four consecutive top 10s at Augusta, winning two of them. When the Masters favourite and the statistical favourite are the same person, you take note.

Rory McIlroy at 17/2 is defending champion and comes in with elite tee-to-green numbers. The one flag in the data: his SG: Putting in 2026 sits outside the top 100 on tour. The putting transformation that helped him win in 2025 has not yet shown up in this season's numbers. Whether Augusta's bentgrass surfaces bring it back remains to be seen, for me there will be too much emotion this week with Rory hosting for him to be competitive.

Ludvig Aberg at 11/1 is the shortest-priced player in the field who isn't Scheffler or McIlroy, and there is a case he's underpriced. Runner-up on debut in 2024. Top-15 again in 2025. A ball-striker who combines elite driving distance with genuine approach-play skill — the precise combination Augusta rewards. He is 35 but has the golf game of someone a decade younger. I think the recent frailties of Ludvig may play on his mind, he may well be in contention come Sunday but I definitely couldn’t be backing him at those prices.

Jon Rahm at 13/1 remains one of the most naturally suited players to Augusta National in the world. He ranks third all-time in career SG per round at Augusta among players with 20 or more rounds, behind only Scheffler and Spieth. His LIV schedule makes form harder to track but the course history speaks loudly. He won here just three years ago, four shots clear.

Xander Schauffele (16/1) and Bryson DeChambeau (16/1) both have credentials. Schauffele has four top-10s in his last six Masters, the definition of course reliability. I am a massive fan of Schauffele but his recent swing changes albeit productive may not be quite 100% yet but his record at Augusta is second to none. DeChambeau led on Sunday in 2025 before being overhauled; his par-5 destruction with a driver averaging 328 yards gives him an Augusta-specific weapon nobody else can match. The iron play has been inconsistent in 2026. When it clicks, he is a genuine green jacket contender.

Tommy Fleetwood at 20/1 is the most statistically intriguing of the field. His approach play and GIR numbers consistently rank among the best on the DP World Tour. The Augusta specific question is around his putting on the fast bentgrass. As we know putting is very much built around confidence, i am just not sure Tommy has that ‘feeling’ at Augusta on the greens.

Collin Morikawa at 27/1 leads the PGA Tour in GIR in 2026. He has finished inside the top 15 at Augusta in each of his last four appearances, with a career-best T3 in 2024. He won at Pebble Beach earlier this season and has shown he can win when required. I followed, backed and won with Collin in the early part of his career. A fantastic player, could easily be in contention but others are preferred this week for me.

Jordan Spieth at 40/1 is worth a mention in passing. He ranks second all-time in career SG per round at Augusta among active players with 20+ rounds. He won here in 2015 and has four further top-five finishes. He plays Augusta's bentgrass better than almost anyone alive. Speith round Augusta at 40/1 I wouldn’t put anyone off getting involved, however I just think however good he is at getting out of trouble he is just too wayward currently.

Experience at Augusta is 100% key, I really cannot see outside of the players above to take the title this year…….. Apart from one!

THE METRIC MATRIX — WHO CHECKS THE MOST BOXES

●●● = Elite ●● = Competent ● = Weakness X = Insufficient data (LIV/DP)

EDITOR'S PICKS

The Selections — Starting With the Obvious, Ending With the Interesting

If Scottie Scheffler arrives at Augusta National in anything approaching his best form, he is going to be extremely difficult to beat. This is not lazy favouritism. This is the data. He leads the tour in the single most predictive Augusta metric SG: Approach. He has four consecutive top-10s at Augusta. He has won here twice. His putting has improved markedly since the period when it was considered his one vulnerability. At 9/2, he is a short price, too short for me, but could easily take another green jacket. Tiger in his hey day I remember used to go off 9/4 or 5/2, but for a very good reason.

But here's where it gets more interesting.

The deeper I have dug into the numbers for this preview and looking at recent form, the more one name keeps surfacing in a way that feels underpriced. That name is Brooks Koepka. Brooks loves a major, he lives for winning them over anything else, no one will be trying more this week.

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour in 2026 after his LIV stint and the market greeted him with a price that reflected his recent decline, a couple of missed cuts, some indifferent LIV form, and for him a dreadful 2024 Augusta performance. The narrative around him was one of faded relevance.

Then I started to look at the 2026 numbers and the noises coming out of his camp.

He currently ranks third on the PGA Tour in SG: Approach — behind only Scheffler and Morikawa. His GIR rate of 71% places him inside the key Masters contender band. His driving distance of 309 yards reaches every Augusta par five in two. And his Augusta course history, when you examine it without the filter of recent disappointment, is among the most proven in the field: two runner-up finishes (2019 and 2023), an average score of minus-eight and an average finish of sixth across his last six Masters appearances. He has played 32 rounds at Augusta, and 43.8% of them have been under par — against a field average of just 29.9%.

The one concern is his SG: Putting at -0.692 for the 2026 season, ranking 152nd on tour. But that number has a context that the headline figure hides: it was almost entirely skewed by a disastrous debut on Poa annua greens at Torrey Pines. This is a surface he has historically putted badly on. Augusta is bentgrass. His Augusta career scoring history suggests he putts markedly better on these greens than his season average implies. He has also switched to a mallet putter and, by The Players Championship, was top 10 in the field for the week. He described his iron play ahead of Houston as the best it has been in years!

At 40/1, the market is pricing in last year's version of Brooks Koepka. The 2026 stats, specifically the third-best SG: Approach number on the entire PGA Tour — suggest the real version may have quietly reassembled himself while the market wasn't watching.

Editor's selections: Scheffler (9/2, anchor selection) | Koepka each-way (40/1, value pick)

TO THE FIRST TEE

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT — THE BEST WEEK IN GOLF IS HERE

Right then. The stats are in. The picks have been made. Now the important bit: actually enjoying the week in its full Glory!

There is no week in sport quite like Masters week. From the moment the first group steps onto the first tee on Thursday morning and the roar goes up from behind the trees somewhere deep in the back nine, it is simply the best golf on earth. Watch every minute you can. Follow the leaderboard obsessively. Argue with friends about who's going to crack on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy Amen Corner doing what Amen Corner always does.

I haven’t experienced Augusta live, a bucket list experience if ever there was. If anyone wants to invite me i’m free!

"This is the week that makes every golf fan remember why they fell in love with the game. Lean into it."

And speaking of experiencing great golf up close. If this preview has sparked that golf buzz and you're looking for more than just a week of watching from the sofa, then come and join us on the course. The iGaming Golf Club exists exactly for this: bringing the golf-loving iGaming community together, off the fairways, on them, and everywhere in between. Whether you're a single-figure handicap or someone who loses balls on the practice ground, there is a place for you with us.

This is what we do. We make sure the golf keeps giving — long after the last putt drops on Sunday at Augusta. Join us.

Good luck. May your picks hold up longer than mine unless you are in camp Koepka this week!