The Masters Tournament begins Thursday morning with the first group of Michael Thompson and Hudson Swafford going off the first tee at 8 a.m. ET. BetMGM Sportsbook has odds and lines for both Round 1 3-ball and 72-hole head-to-head matchups. Below, we look at the odds and lines for the top 2021 Masters matchups and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The first-round matchups are assigned based on the groups for the first two rounds of the tournament, which were released Wednesday afternoon. Head-to-head matchups pair players of a similar world ranking, nationality or general intrigue.
Unlike in the first-ever fall Masters in mid-November, all 88 golfers in the field will hit their first shot off of the first tee. The customary format was altered in the fall to accommodate less daylight.
2021 Masters picks: Round 1 3-ball matchups
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 9:35 a.m. ET.
Michael Thompson (-125) vs. Hudson Swafford
Get some early action with the first pairing to hit Augusta National Golf Club in 2021 after the ceremonial opening tee shots. Thompson is 74th in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings and tied for 25th at the 2013 Masters.
Swafford is 357th in the rankings and missed the cut in his lone appearance here (2017).
Xander Schauffele vs. Jon Rahm (+150) vs. Rory McIlroy
Rahm enters the week at No. 1 in the Golfweek world rankings and fresh off the birth of his and his wife’s baby last weekend. He also started with an opening round of 3-under par, 69 in each of the last two runnings of the Masters.
McIlroy and Schauffele both missed the cut at The Players Championship.
Jordan Spieth vs. Cameron Smith (+225) vs. Collin Morikawa
There’s great value on Smith with the highest odds of this three-man group. The Aussie’s price is inflated against two high-profile American golfers. Both Spieth and Morikawa are major winners, but Smith has the better recent results at Augusta National with a T-5 in 2018 and T-2 in 2020.
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2021 Masters picks: 72-hole head-to-head matchups
Bryson DeChambeau (-125) vs. Jordan Spieth
The most intriguing 72-hole matchup pits a pair of golfers who share the second-best odds to win the tournament. Spieth is fresh off a victory at the Valero Texas Open, but DeChambeau recently won the Arnold Palmer Invitational against a stronger field and tied for third at The Players the next week.
DeChambeau is sixth in the Golfweek rankings while Spieth is 33rd.
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Dustin Johnson vs. Justin Thomas (-105)
Johnson and Thomas rank first and second, respectively, in the Official World Golf Ranking. While Johnson is the defending champ, his 2021 results have been largely unimpressive outside of a victory at the European Tour’s Saudi International in February.
Thomas has been in the better recent form with a victory against most of this week’s top competition at The Players. He’s worth backing as the more profitable play as Johnson attempts to be the first back-to-back Masters champ since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.
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