Early Masters Picks to Make Now: How PGA Tour Schedule Will Determine Masters Winner

The most important stretch of the PGA Tour schedule for predicting success in the year's first major is starting this week. So the time is now to jump on the early Masters picks before the value fades.

The golf world returns to Augusta National Golf Course from April 9-12 for the year's first major, and plenty of value remains in the early Masters odds based on what we've watched on Tour so far. But the Masters odds are about to change quickly with three Signature Events and The Players Championship in the next five weeks that will have all of the PGA Tour's best golfers competing head-to-head on a near-weekly basis.

I'm recommending six early Masters picks we need to make now. Most of our best Masters betting sites have futures odds only to win the Masters, but bet365 stands alone with top-5 and top-10 finish odds.

🔮 Masters picks to bet now

Here are the golf picks I'm locking in now that offer the best value in the early Masters odds:

Total units: 4.25 | To win max of 20.24

I'm keeping my range of odds short for my early Masters picks, as only four of the last 13 green jacket winners had odds longer than +2500 prior to Round 1; one of those was longer than +5000 (Hideki Matsuyama).

🚦 Why you should bet the early Masters odds

Golf futures can be very slow to move across our best golf betting sites. They often go untouched from the conclusion of the prior year's Tour Championship through the first month of the PGA Tour season, as top golfers play sparingly - if at all.

That's about to change, as we're heading into a stretch of the PGA Tour schedule that will have three Signature Events and The Players Championship played over the next five weeks. The Masters will then be just four weeks away.

And by that point, we've already seen enough events early in the PGA Tour season to form an idea of who could have success at Augusta National, and potentially don the green jacket. Scottie Scheffler won thrice from February through March before winning the Masters in 2022. Rory McIlroy claimed two victories before his long-awaited Masters win last year.

Take advantage of lingering value in the Masters odds before the board tightens up by April.

Upcoming PGA Tour schedule

The upcoming near-weekly best-on-best competition will sharpen the Masters odds as betting action will start to increase. We'll also see more of the top golfers from the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), as their personal playing schedules pick up around these top-paying events.

💰 Early Masters picks

Here's how and why I'm betting these Masters futures now:

Bryson DeChambeau top 10

We've seen since the start of the LIV Series that golfers from the rebel tour maintain inflated odds for each major until the week of the tournament. DeChambeau's Masters odds will shrink significantly come tournament week once he's back in the public mind.

DeChambeau finished T-6 and T-5 in his last two appearances at the Masters. He also finished in the top 10 in three of four majors each of the past two years. The LIV Golf season has just begun, but DeChambeau hasn't won before May since leaving the PGA Tour. His odds could also improve if any of the PGA Tour's top golfers struggle over these next five-plus weeks.

Si Woo Kim top 10

Kim has started the PGA Tour season with four finishes of T-11 or better, including three consecutive top 10s heading into this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He's fourth among qualified golfers with 2.50 strokes gained: total per round across his last 12 rounds.

Kim doesn't have the elite course history at Augusta National of these other early Masters picks. He finished T-39 or better each of the past seven years, and his driving distance has improved early this year, suggesting his best result at ANGC could be coming.

Patrick Reed top 5

Reed is already in the news after announcing his departure from LIV Golf ahead of a return to the PGA Tour next season. The former Masters champ will spend the rest of this season playing against typically weaker competition on the DP World Tour. He finished 26th, first, T-2, and first through four events to start his 2026 season, and he's vaulted inside the top 25 in the OWGR.

He's playing more regularly than those on the LIV Series and is already stacking results. He finished in the top 5 at the Masters two of the past three years, and should be a top favorite come tournament week.

His odds to win the Masters are as long as +4000 at Caesars and already as short as +2500 at FanDuel.

Tommy Fleetwood to win

Fleetwood hasn't played on the PGA Tour after winning the Tour Championship in August. He finished first, second, and T-3 in his final three events of the last calendar year on the DP World Tour, but has started 2026 with finishes of 25th and T-41.

But Fleetwood has played well early in his PGA Tour season the last few years, including finishes of T-5 in The Genesis Invitational, T-11 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and T-14 in The Players Championship, leading up to the Masters last year. A similar run over the next month will shorten his Masters odds.

Xander Schauffele to win

Schauffele opened at +1600 in the 2026 Masters odds last April. That followed a season in which he won two majors before a T-8 finish at Augusta National. That was his third consecutive and fifth career top-10 finish in the Masters.

Schauffele has slipped to No. 8 in the OWGR after missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open. He's two years removed from a T-4 finish in The Genesis Invitational and a T-2 in The Players. He's also one of the few top-ranked golfers who regularly plays the Valspar Championship, where he could pick up another win against lesser competition.

Ludvig Aberg to win

Aberg's in one of his worst stretches of golf since becoming a full-time PGA Tour member. His season started with an illness-forced withdrawal from The American Express and a missed cut in the Farmers Insurance Open.

He won The Genesis Invitational last year and finished eighth in The Players Championship two years ago. Those preceded finishes of seventh and second, respectively, in the Masters.

📊 Masters outright odds 2026

Here are the live 2026 Masters odds from our best sports betting sites. The odds update in real time to help with your golf picks:

Two months out from the Masters, Scheffler (+300) and McIlroy (+750) are the only golfers with Masters odds shorter than +1600 (DeChambeau). Their dominance and threat to win the Masters inflate the odds for everyone else in the projected Masters field.

But a win in any of these upcoming marquee events for anyone else would immediately shorten their Masters odds, as they'll have beaten a field similar to - or stronger than - the one that will be at Augusta National, including Scheffler and McIlroy.

🌳 Masters info 2026

• When: Thursday, April 9 - Sunday, April 12
• Where: Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, Ga.)
• Defending champion: Rory McIlroy
• Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+300 via BetMGM)
• How to watch: ESPN, CBS, Masters.com