The best player in the world has won the Masters the last two years. In 2022, Scottie Scheffler claimed three titles before the first major championship of the season, and he slipped on the green jacket with relative ease. The following year, it was Jon Rahm’s turn as he usurped Brooks Koepka on the final day of competition for his second career major title.
It would surprise no one if Scheffler and Rahm contend once again; actually, it would be more surprising if they didn’t. The Masters has not always been this way, however. Just expand your view by one year and Hideki Matsuyama was not in the best form leading into his win as he was averaging +0.67 strokes gained per round ahead of the Masters. To put this in perspective, this is a similar level to where Sergio Garcia (100-1) is currently performing.
Matsuyama and Garcia have course history, major championship experience and winning pedigrees in their corners, which is all useful and almost a requirement for the Masters. However, the last two major champions, albeit not at the Masters, did not possess any of these and went on to win regardless.
Wyndham Clark went off at 80-1 to at the 2023 U.S. Open just a month after winning at the Wells Fargo Championship. Brian Harman was as high as 175-1 the week of The Open, and he won by six. In an era of golf where winners seem to pop out of thin air, could it be possible the man who dons the green jacket on Sunday is a golfer no one saw coming?
Watch all four rounds of the 2024 Masters starting Thursday with Masters Live as we follow the best golfers in the world through Augusta National with Featured Groups, check in at the famed Amen Corner and see leaders round the turn on holes 15 & 16. Watch live on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Paramount+.
Let’s take a look at some potential candidates if this year’s Masters crowns an unlikely champion.
2024 Masters sleepers
Who will win the 2024 Masters, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 10 golf majors, including last year’s Masters and Open Championship.