LONG ISLAND, New York – Call it a sentimental pick if you like, and you’d be right. But the time has come for Rory McIlroy to break his 11-year drought in the majors and become the sixth man to win the career Grand Slam by adding The Masters title to his brilliant career resume.
If McIlroy wins, he will join the company of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only men to win golf’s career Grand Slam of all four major championship titles. McIlroy previously won the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and the 2014 PGA. He famously choked away the 2011 Masters while leading with nine holes left to play before collapsing to shoot a final round 80.
But McIlroy has seven top-10 finishes in 16 Masters appearances, including a second behind Scottie Scheffler in 2022. Scheffler won his second Masters last year, is ranked No. 1 in the world despite failing to win so far this season, and he is the favorite at +400 odds. But he has to be my second pick.
McIlroy is No. 2 in the world golf rankings, and he leads the PGA Tour in FedEx Cup points after winning his second Players Championship title in March, when he was my third choice, and capturing the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am in January. He goes off as the second betting choice at +650 and is hot at the right time.
The Masters field is star-studded because it also includes a dozen of the top players from the LIV Golf Tour. Three LIV players round out my top five Masters choices.
The 2023 Masters champ Jon Rahm is the third betting choice at +1400 odds. He has finished in the top five in all five LIV Tour events this season without a win, and he has five top-10 finishes to his credit at the Masters, including his victory.
My fourth choice is Bryson DeChambeau, who goes off at +2000 odds. He has only one top-10 in eight Masters starts, but it came last year, when he finished T-6 after leading the first round and being tied for the second-round lead. My fifth choice is Joaquin Niemann, whose best Masters finish is T-16 in 2023, but he is the LIV points leader after winning two of that tour’s five events this year and goes off at +3000 odds.
My second five picks include three more familiar names in the top 10 on the odds board because 7,555-yard Augusta National Golf Course brings out the best in the top players in the world. I like Collin Morikawa, who is the fourth betting choice at +1600, Xander Schauffele, who is tied for sixth at +2000, and Brooks Koepka, who is tied for ninth at +3000.
Morikawa has three straight top-10 finishes at The Masters; Schauffele has four top-10s in the past six years, and Koepka has three top-10s in six years, including second-place ties in 2023 and 2019. He also is a five-time major champion.
The last two picks in my top 10 are tempting longshots Cam Smith at +5500 and Corey Conners at +6000. Smith is having a mediocre season on the LIV tour but has finished in the top 10 in four of the past five Masters, including T-2 in 2020, T-3 in 2022 and T-6 last year. Conners also has three top-10 Masters finishes from 2020-22.
The Masters always produces a great story line, but the focus really has to be on McIlroy going into the first round on Thursday. There never will be a better time for McIlroy to break through to the winner’s circle at Augusta.
Good luck to everyone.
