Stop if you’ve heard this one before. Scottie Scheffler leads a PGA Tour tournament at the moment, sitting five clear of his closest competitors at The Masters as we enter the weekend.
With three wins in his past five starts, Scheffler is no stranger to being atop the leaderboard and Ontario sports betting bookmakers are well aware of this, making him +100 to win the tournament after the second round, not a number we are used to seeing.
At eight-under par, Scheffler is the clear frontrunner with a group of four players, including defending champion Hideki Matsuyama making up the group behind him at -3. Matsuyama is part of a group of five players who are currently +1200 at Bet365 Canada to win The Masters, joining Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry and Cameron Smith.
This is the first Masters tournament with a fully regulated and competitive Ontario sports betting market, which launched on April 4.
Not far behind is Canadian Corey Conners, who started his second round quite strongly before fading at the end with bogeys on two of his last three holes to finish the day at one-over par, putting himself at -1 for the tournament, tied with Thomas and the third-ranked golfer in the world, Collin Morikawa.
Tiger Woods, who saw his Masters odds improve after his practice rounds earlier in the week, couldn’t duplicate his success in the first round (-1) and fell to +1 for the tournament after posting a two-over par second round on Friday.
Updated Masters Odds
| ⭐ Scottie Scheffler | +100 |
| ⭐ Hideki Matsuyama | +1200 |
| ⭐ Justin Thomas | +1200 |
| ⭐ Cameron Smith | +1200 |
| ⭐ Dustin Johnson | +1200 |
| ⭐ Shane Lowry | +1200 |
| ⭐ Corey Conners | +4500 |
Canadian Again in the Hunt
Conners has hit 71% of his fairways and 67% of his greens for the week, about par with the rest of the field. The top 10 on the leaderboard at Augusta is familiar territory for Conners as he has been in the top 10 here each of the past two years.
He will hope to lean on that experience going into the weekend as he hopes to make a charge for his first green jacket. Despite having the same score as Thomas, Conners can be found much deeper on the odds board at +4500.
With his excellent recent form and his track record at Augusta this has to be seen as a value, and betting on him to retain his position in the top 10 is also enticing with solid plus money at +180 available.
Conners and Cam Smith will tee off at 2:10 on Saturday afternoon as the 22nd of 26 groups on the day. With Scheffler seven shots ahead and some of golf’s best players also ahead of him on the leaderboard this seems to be a more profitable route to take for Ontario bettors looking to profit on the local star.
Another Canadian Makes the Cut
Conners isn’t the only Canadian playing the weekend at Augusta. Mackenzie Hughes also made the cut albeit on the number and sits 12 shots back of the lead. He is too far back to make a run at the green jacket, but is only five shots back of the players in 10th place and his odds to finish in the top 10 are +4500, the same as Conners’ odds to win.
With winds expected to pick up in the afternoon again tomorrow, Hughes’ early tee time will be advantageous as he will get to play the bulk of the course in more benign conditions. Hughes tees off at 10:20 local time with Adam Scott in the first twosome off Saturday morning.
With Scheffler so far in front, betting on anyone else to win this tournament comes with enticing odds but it is unrealistic to expect anything to come of it, as it will take a Scheffler letdown combined with another player having an excellent weekend to change the leaderboard.
However, the preferable conditions the early morning players will experience should mean that the leaderboard will see some serious upheaval as the day goes on, it just likely won’t affect the name at the top.
