Rory McIlroy won his first Masters in 2025, completing the career grand slam. He had come close 11 times before finally winning at Augusta National Golf Club. Now, he returns with a chance to win his second consecutive Masters, sixth major and 30th PGA Tour event. He enters the Masters 2026 at +1100, behind only Scottie Scheffler (+550), Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm (+1000) in the latest 2026 Masters odds.
The Masters 2026 gets underway at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 9. The tournament, with a $21 million Masters purse, will be played on a par-72 course measuring 7,555 yards. Before making any 2026 Masters picks, you need to see the 2026 Masters predictions and best bets from golf expert David Bearman.
Bearman joins SportsLine after serving as ESPN’s golf researcher from 2008-11 and as the Deputy Editor of ESPN Chalk from 2019-23, where he authored the weekly golf betting column for that site. This year, he has cashed 28 placement bets (top 5/10/20) in the first 11 tournaments and hit Cam Young outright at The Players Championship.
Now, Bearman has focused on the 2026 Masters field and locked in his best bets, sleepers and golfers to avoid. You can only see them here.
Top 2026 Masters expert picks
One of Bearman’s 2026 Masters predictions: He’s fading Rory McIlroy (+900), avoiding him in outright and head-to-head bets.
“Fading Rory McIlroy is not an easy thing to do,” Bearman told SportsLine. “We are talking about the defending champion with eight top-10s and many narrow misses here. But a few things are working against him here. First off, he withdrew while tied for 9th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago with a back injury. Yes, he returned for The Players Championship, but finished T46 and never had a round under par. That’s the physical part.
“Now the emotional part. How do you follow up on last year’s historical win and completion of the sport’s elusive Grand Slam? It wasn’t just a guy who had come close, finally cashing in. It was a guy who had ELEVEN shots at the grand slam and in every way imaginable didn’t get there, until last year. You saw it in his emotional release after he won and everything that followed. As much as he ‘needed’ that win to fulfill his career, he does not need it this time around. Oh, and only three golfers (Nicklaus, Faldo, Tiger) in the history of golf have won back-to-back green jackets, so history isn’t on his side either.” See who Bearman is backing at SportsLine.
How to make 2026 Masters picks
Bearman has revealed his best bets, and his top outright pick is a surprising longshot who hasn’t won an event in more than three years. He’s a perfect course fit, and anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who it is at SportsLine.
What are the best bets for the 2026 Masters, and which overlooked golfer should you target? Check out the 2026 Masters odds below, then visit SportsLine to see David Bearman’s top picks for the 2026 Masters, all from the expert who has cashed 28 placement bets in the first 11 tournaments of the year.
2026 Masters odds, field
See Masters picks, best bets and predictions here.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +550
Bryson Dechambeau +1000
Jon Rahm +1000
Rory McIlroy +1100
Xander Schauffele +1500
Ludvig Aberg +1600
Matt Fitzpatrick +2000
Cameron Young +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Patrick Reed +2700
Justin Rose +2700
Collin Morikawa +2700
Brooks Koepka +3000
Jordan Spieth +3300
Hideki Matsuyama +3500
Min Woo Lee +3500
Robert MacIntyre +4000
Viktor Hovland +4000
Shane Lowry +4500
Chris Gotterup +5000
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Russell Henley +5500
Patrick Cantlay +5500
Akshay Bhatia +5500
Si Woo Kim +5500
Sepp Straka +6000
Joaquin Niemann +6000
Sam Burns +6500
Justin Thomas +6500
Corey Conners +6500
Jason Day +6500
Adam Scott +6500
Sungjae Im +7000
Marco Penge +7000
Jacob Bridgeman +7500
Gary Woodland +7500
Nicolai Hojgaard +8000
Cameron Smith +8000
Sahith Theegala +8000
J.J. Spaun +8000
Harris English +8000
Daniel Berger +8000
Maverick McNealy +10000
Thomas Detry +10000
Brian Harman +10000
Tony Finau +10000
Max Homa +10000
Will Zalatoris +10000
Ben Griffin +10000
Casey Jarvis +10000
Aaron Rai +12500
Wyndham Clark +12500
Tom Kim +12500
Dustin Johnson +12500
Ryan Gerard +12500
Ryan Fox +12500
Alex Noren +12500
Anthony Kim +12500
Keegan Bradley +15000
Rasmus Hojgaard +15000
Billy Horschel +15000
Max Greyserman +15000
Taylor Pendrith +17500
Byeong Hun An +17500
Davis Thompson +17500
Sergio Garcia +17500
Kurt Kitayama +17500
Aldrich Potgieter +17500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +17500
Nick Taylor +17500
Matt McCarty +17500
Nico Echavarria +17500
Jayden Schaper +20000
Tom McKibbin +20000
Haotong Li +20000
Phil Mickelson +25000
Davis Riley +25000
Andrew Novak +25000
Pierceson Coody +25000
Carlos Ortiz +25000
Harry Hall +25000
Michael Kim +25000
Sam Stevens +25000
Johnny Keefer +25000
Denny McCarthy +30000
Danny Willett +30000
Bubba Watson +30000
Charl Schwartzel +30000
Michael Brennan +30000
Sami Valimaki +30000
Kristoffer Reitan +30000
Naoyuki Kataoka +30000
Zach Johnson +40000
Brian Campbell +40000
Angel Cabrera +50000
Fred Couples +100000
Vijay Singh +100000
Mason Howell +100000
Fifa Laopakdee +100000
Ethan Fang +100000