The Masters/Grand National Double

[Block 205]

Eggs, as with all bets there are no guarantees, but I do follow the golf closely, and keep records of each player's finishing positions in the last 10 years in 3 of the 4 Majors plus The Players Championship (the Masters is always played at Augusta, The Open is always played on links, the US Open is generally played on courses that are set up in a similar way and the TPC is always played at Sawgrass - it's only really the USPGA where I think that previous performances don't really count much towards the next edition).

My bets for the Masters are always based on a combination of current form and previous Masters form, and would never back anyone at Augusta that hadn't previously performed well there, not least because of the difficulty of the greens - I'll always remember something that Colin Montgomerie said on commentary during the Masters regarding his answer when asked by normal golfers about how they'd fare at Augusta, which was "The first thing I'd say is that you'd three putt half the greens, and the other half you'd four putt."! With that in mind, this is the previous Masters form of a few players that might be of interest (most recent tournament first):

Cameron Smith*: 34, 3, 10, 2, 51, 5, -, 55 (currently around 28/1)
Corey Conners: MC, 6, 8, 10, 46, -, -, -, MC (80/1)
Dustin Johnson*: 48, 12, MC, 1, 2, 10, -, 4, 6, MC (33/1)
Hideki Matsuyama: 16, 14, 1, 13, 32, 19, 11, 7, 5, MC (25/1)
Jon Rahm*: 1, 27, 5, 7, 9, 4, 27 (12/1)
Jordan Spieth: 4, MC, 3, 46, 21, 3, 11, 2, 1, 2 (20/1)
Patrick Reed*: 4, 35, 8, 10, 35, 1, MC, 45, 22, MC (80/1)
Rory McIlroy: MC, 2, MC, 5, 21, 5, 7, 10, 4, 8 (11/1)
Scottie Scheffler: 10, 1, 18, 19 (4/1)
Xander Schauffele: 10, MC, 3, 17, 2, 50 (20/1)
* Now on the LIV Tour (I couldn't back any of them on the basis that they know that they're going to get a few million every time they tee it up, which can't be an ideal preparation for playing in a tournament that actually counts for something, but that's just a personal thing, and they're obviously still very good players).

The consistency at Augusta over the years of players like Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy is staggering, and makes for some superb each way betting - there are only 80-odd players in the field compared to the usual Tour fields of up to 150, and a decent chunk of them are past champions / amateurs who've got no chance of winning, and it's proven to be pretty profitable over the years - good luck to all who are playing, either in the GN double, or with separate Masters bets.

[Eggs]

….fascinating stuff, thanks Block 205.

[Leman14]

I've chucked a few in for a laugh:

0.25pts EW - Vanillier and Schauffele (208/1)
0.25pts EW - Nassalam and Wyndham Clark (675/1)
0.25pts EW - Delta Work and Will Zalatoris (675/1)
0.25pts EW - Chambard and Theegala (3,416/1)

Have backed all in singles as well... because you know that I'll win both, but not in the same double... Lol!

[Alexmilton]

The winner of the National will be decided after only 2 rounds of the golf so if someone gets lucky in the National then we’ll still have the 3rd and 4th rounds of golf to cheer on our guy

Ah of course! Misread the dates, fingers crossed for everyone

[BookieBasher]

Eggs, as with all bets there are no guarantees, but I do follow the golf closely, and keep records of each player's finishing positions in the last 10 years in 3 of the 4 Majors plus The Players Championship (the Masters is always played at Augusta, The Open is always played on links, the US Open is generally played on courses that are set up in a similar way and the TPC is always played at Sawgrass - it's only really the USPGA where I think that previous performances don't really count much towards the next edition).

My bets for the Masters are always based on a combination of current form and previous Masters form, and would never back anyone at Augusta that hadn't previously performed well there, not least because of the difficulty of the greens - I'll always remember something that Colin Montgomerie said on commentary during the Masters regarding his answer when asked by normal golfers about how they'd fare at Augusta, which was "The first thing I'd say is that you'd three putt half the greens, and the other half you'd four putt."! With that in mind, this is the previous Masters form of a few players that might be of interest (most recent tournament first):

Cameron Smith*: 34, 3, 10, 2, 51, 5, -, 55 (currently around 28/1)
Corey Conners: MC, 6, 8, 10, 46, -, -, -, MC (80/1)
Dustin Johnson*: 48, 12, MC, 1, 2, 10, -, 4, 6, MC (33/1)
Hideki Matsuyama: 16, 14, 1, 13, 32, 19, 11, 7, 5, MC (25/1)
Jon Rahm*: 1, 27, 5, 7, 9, 4, 27 (12/1)
Jordan Spieth: 4, MC, 3, 46, 21, 3, 11, 2, 1, 2 (20/1)
Patrick Reed*: 4, 35, 8, 10, 35, 1, MC, 45, 22, MC (80/1)
Rory McIlroy: MC, 2, MC, 5, 21, 5, 7, 10, 4, 8 (11/1)
Scottie Scheffler: 10, 1, 18, 19 (4/1)
Xander Schauffele: 10, MC, 3, 17, 2, 50 (20/1)
* Now on the LIV Tour (I couldn't back any of them on the basis that they know that they're going to get a few million every time they tee it up, which can't be an ideal preparation for playing in a tournament that actually counts for something, but that's just a personal thing, and they're obviously still very good players).

The consistency at Augusta over the years of players like Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy is staggering, and makes for some superb each way betting - there are only 80-odd players in the field compared to the usual Tour fields of up to 150, and a decent chunk of them are past champions / amateurs who've got no chance of winning, and it's proven to be pretty profitable over the years - good luck to all who are playing, either in the GN double, or with separate Masters bets.

Great read and some great insight into how you bet on the Masters. Just one player I’d add is Brooks Koepka. If you take out the 2 missed cuts in a row when he literally couldn’t bend down to read a putt and was struggling to walk the course, then he probably has the best Augusta record over the last 7/8 years. Now he’s fully fit and has stated that a Green Jacket is the one thing he craves now in golf I think 16/1 10 places is an absolute each way gift.

[Block 205]

Thanks BookieBasher, and you're definitely right about Koepka, that was an omission on my part (probably down to my dislike of all things LIV-related!). For the record, his form reads 2, MC, MC, 7, 2, -, 11, 21, 33, so certainly not shabby!

[Big Bucks]

Excuse my ignorance but why is Scheffler so short? Did I miss Spectre putting a Naiad video up? But seriously a quick search I see he's in hot form, but really giving nothing away are they, anyone on him at some ante post "Value"?

Being from Northern Ireland it would be rude not to do Rory! So will likely stick him in a few doubles!

[BookieBasher]

Excuse my ignorance but why is Scheffler so short? Did I miss Spectre putting a Naiad video up? But seriously a quick search I see he's in hot form, but really giving nothing away are they, anyone on him at some ante post "Value"?

Being from Northern Ireland it would be rude not to do Rory! So will likely stick him in a few doubles!

Scheffler was 9/1 12 months ago which lasted a good 8 months or so until his hot streak started. Being a previous Masters winner and with good course form he was never gonna be missed by any bookmaker. Then he’s been world number 1 for the best part of a year. But his price no doubt collapsed when he changed Putter (Suggested by Rory). His putting stats were the only thing holding him back from achieving Tiger like numbers this last 18 months. And now he’s holing so many more putts it’s leading to many more birdies. Right now he’s the complete golfer with an unflappable temperament even when in contention on a Sunday. He’s rightfully a short price favourite who I’ve been backing since last Masters. But now he’s 4/1 it’s probably best to look for value elsewhere

[Shergar]

Love that Block 205 post. Corey Conners is someone I will defintely play EW when the extra places are available. Seems to go well at Augusta, has had 2x top 20s in the last few weeks and is currently tied 18th in Texas

Early plays are Rory/Delta Work and the Irish media darlings bet -- Rachel & Minella Indo/Shane Lowry.

[nortonscoin200]

Delta Work 33-1 each way 1-5 nrnb
Patrick Reed 70-1 each way 1-8
1pt each way double to return 2528pts (place nets 112pts).

Reed has 4 top 10 Masters finishes in the last 6 outings including a green jacket.
2023 result first: 4 35 8 10 36 1
Played well in his warm up at Doral (9).

Delta Work acts on soft ground, third 2 years ago, bang in contention when stumbled and fell on final circuit last year, a fresh horse with this being the target all season.

Both have decent place claims at a working man/woman’s price.

[BigChaang]

Xander Shauffele - masters - 16-1 / Panda Boy - g.n. - 12-1 .
Got my Scheffler's and my Shauffele's mixed up , but stick to the Plan .... .

[HesTheOne]

Scheffler was 9/1 12 months ago which lasted a good 8 months or so until his hot streak started. Being a previous Masters winner and with good course form he was never gonna be missed by any bookmaker. Then he’s been world number 1 for the best part of a year. But his price no doubt collapsed when he changed Putter (Suggested by Rory). His putting stats were the only thing holding him back from achieving Tiger like numbers this last 18 months. And now he’s holing so many more putts it’s leading to many more birdies. Right now he’s the complete golfer with an unflappable temperament even when in contention on a Sunday. He’s rightfully a short price favourite who I’ve been backing since last Masters. But now he’s 4/1 it’s probably best to look for value elsewhere

I’m not a die hard golfer but as you say he’s been the standout player for the last 24 months. More impressively he was putting up some tiger esqe numbers against the field with one of the worst putting stats going. His approach was carrying the putter. Now he’s sorted that out he’s a clear fav.

Jesus it’s horrid short though.

[Imperial Commander]

Taken my chances with a dabble on I Am Maximus and Matt Fitzpatrick. Win only, not messing about.

[Block 205]

I’m not a die hard golfer but as you say he’s been the standout player for the last 24 months. More impressively he was putting up some tiger esqe numbers against the field with one of the worst putting stats going. His approach was carrying the putter. Now he’s sorted that out he’s a clear fav.

Jesus it’s horrid short though.

It's a valid point about the numbers that Scheffler's been putting up, and he's the rightful favourite, but I couldn't be backing him at that price. When Tiger was in his prime he'd go off in most Majors somewhere around 5/2 - 2/1 (I think that he was as short as 6/4 at times), but that reflected his dominance, and I don't think that Scheffler's at that kind of level (yet).

I'd rather back a few e/w given how generous those terms are for the Masters with regard to how many of the field could realistically win it, and my team for the week has ended up as the following (all e/w with 8 places):
Xander Schauffele 18/1, Matt Fitzpatrick 35/1, Sahith Theegala 45/1, Russell Henley 66/1 and Corey Conners 70/1.

I've previously mentioned the past Masters form of Schauffele, Theegala and Conners, and they've all got decent form coming into the event (especially the first two), but have also backed a couple based on their recent form at Augusta going in the right direction, which are Henley (30th & 4th in the last two, plus four other instances no worse than 31st), and Fitzpatrick (46th, 34th, 14th & 10th in the last four) - Henley was 4th & Fitzpatrick T10th in the Texas Open that finished last night too, which was good in that they're in decent form, but unfortunately their prices got trimmed before the enhanced places became available too.

Enjoy it everyone - I'll have a 'do not disturb' sign on me from about 6pm each day from Thursday - Sunday, but at least the family are used to it by now!

[Glasgow Ronnie]

I have gone for Matsuyama at 18-1 and Galia des Liteaux at 33-1 singles and double