Rory McIlroy leads the Masters with Scottie Scheffler not far behind after a fascinating start at Augusta. Ben Coley previews round two.
Golf betting tips: The Masters round two
1.5pt double Homa and McCarty to win their three-balls at 7/2 (General)
0.5pt double Campbell and Zach Johnson to win their three-balls at 13/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
It was a brilliant start to the Masters as Augusta National was set up perfectly to test elite golfers. With conditions firm and enough breeze to influence shots, pins were sensible and never did things get out of hand – maintaining that will be difficult for those in charge of set-up, with a warm, dry forecast set to make this one of the most demanding renewals in memory.
Rory McIlroy is into favouritism at 11/4 after starting his defence with a round of 67. Just three golfers in history have ever successfully defended the Masters and only one, Sir Nick Faldo, did so at the first attempt, but McIlroy's name fits in nicely alongside his and those of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. He seems in a great frame of mind and is very much the man to beat.
It's possible that by the time McIlroy tees off this evening he remains in first place, which he shares with Sam Burns currently. That's less a comment on Burns, under way just over an hour before, and more the fact that 67s like theirs are going to be hard to come by even with less wind forecast. Scoring was even across the two splits on Thursday in terms of averages, but nobody out in the afternoon broke 70.
Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose came closest and in a tournament where winners almost always start well, it's quite possible the winner is among these four names. McIlroy won from seven back and a share of 27th last year but 18 of the previous 19 champions had been T10 or better and the exception, Woods, was 11th. Sixteen players broke par on Thursday and the winner is surely among them.
From a personal point of view, seeing Tommy Fleetwood fall from four-under and second at the turn to one-under and a share of 10th was enormously frustrating, but with Xander Schauffele a shot better off in sixth we have for now two of the viable options if it isn't to be McIlroy or Scheffler. The difficulty is that the prospects of it being McIlroy or Scheffler are already almost 50% and may well just keep on climbing.
From the specials preview, Charl Schwartzel holds a two-shot lead over Casey Jarvis in a top South African market which should be decided today (it seems unlikely both will make the cut), so in effect we've 9/4 that Schwartzel is no more than a shot worse than his young compatriot. And Jacob Bridgeman leads the debutants over a big tie for second which also features our saver selection, Ben Griffin.
It's early days and I'd sum up the start of the tournament from the perspective of the neutral as mouthwatering. From the perspective of the previews on this website, it was no more than so-so in the end but a good Friday could put us in position. It's 10 years since the winner was as far as four behind at that stage and such is the strength on this leaderboard that I'd say keeping within three should be seen as the goal.
Among the earlier starters I'm struggling to find a confident selection, but am happy taking big prices about a BRIAN CAMPBELL and ZACH JOHNSON double.
Campbell bossed his group on day one with Tom McKibbin's short-game not good enough and Andrew Novak shooting a respectable but unspectacular 73 on his Augusta debut. The latter is entitled to be favourite but Campbell has now beaten the field average in four of his five rounds here and with conditions ideal is probably entitled to be shorter than he is in the betting.
Johnson will be a long way behind Nicolai Hojgaard off the tee but beat him by a shot on Friday as he tied with Michael Kim. Johnson did that with a quiet putting day, his long-game the pick of this trio, and again we're getting close to 3/1 about the player with the best course form.
To my eye, with firm fairways and repellent greens, comfort at Augusta is likely to be key to what unfolds over the next three days.
This is a speculative bet taking on two powerhouses in McKibbin and Hojgaard who would've made plenty of appeal were we dealing with softer conditions, but the shorter hitters can compete when Augusta plays like this.
Later on, MAX HOMA at about evens looks the best bet against Carlos Ortiz and Naoyuki Katayoka.
I was somewhat keen on Ortiz coming into the Masters but he got off to an awful start and while steadying the ship, that's now two of his three rounds here in the 80s. He has big questions to answer and it's worth saying he didn't even putt badly on what was a horrendous return to the course following five years away.
Katayoka always looked likely to be outclassed given his Japan Tour form left him with a lot to find and so it proved as he shot 84, meaning Homa had 12 shots in hand of him and eight over Ortiz.
With that in mind I expected Homa to be odds-on and we return to this idea that being comfortable and clear in how you're going to tackle Augusta looks essential. He's been near the lead here in each of the last two renewals and is off to another fine start.
Without wishing to be anti-Hojgaard, I'm also happy taking on Rasmus along with Vijay Singh in siding with MATT MCCARTY.
The left-hander made an excellent debut last year and, like Campbell, has returned to solidify that with a level-par opening round. It saw McCarty dazzle on and around the greens to comfortably account for his two playing partners, even though Hojgaard putted well himself.
I was happy enough taking on McCarty coming into the Masters but having seen how the course played, his accuracy looks to trump Hojgaard's wild power while Singh is surely on his way to another over-par round and a missed cut. Take the two superior short-games and Augusta form in a 7/2 double.
Among the later starters I did consider putting up Hideki Matsuyama given that Collin Morikawa admitted he wasn't at all comfortable on his return from injury, but the Japanese didn't hit the ball well and Russell Henley remains someone I'm not in a rush to oppose.
Xander Schauffele is the other intriguing one from the marquee groups but Bryson DeChambeau will be out to prove a point and is capable of doing so. Who wants to lose a three-ball bet to someone who has 3D printed their own five-iron? Not me.
Posted at 07:30 BST on 10/04/26
More Masters content
- Three takeaways from Thursday
- The Masters: Player-by-player guide
- Stats and in-play betting guide
- Augusta National: Hole-by-hole
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