The 2022 Masters will begin on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club and Tiger Woods is set to return to action after a 17-month layoff from the PGA Tour. Woods last competed at the 2020 Masters, which took place in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, and was involved in a serious car accident last February that led to multiple fractures in his right leg. However, Woods has been practicing at Augusta and said this week that he plans to play. Barring a last-minute setback, he will be among the 2022 Masters tee times at 10:34 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Woods is a 40-1 long shot in the 2022 Masters odds from Caesars Sportsbook and is scheduled to play with Louis Oosthuizen (40-1) and Joaquin Niemann (45-1). Jon Rahm is the 10-1 Masters favorite, while defending champion Hideki Matsuyama is 40-1 and 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson is 16-1. Before locking in your 2022 Masters picks or locking in any PGS DFS picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, it's up over $8,000 on its best bets since that point, nailing tournament after tournament.
At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. In addition, McClure's model was all over Jon Rahm's (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner.
This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the Masters 2022 field is set, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2022 Masters leaderboard.
Model's top 2022 Masters predictions
One huge shocker the model is calling for at the Masters 2022: McIlroy, a 20-time PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, stumbles at Augusta and finishes outside the top 10. He is trying to become the sixth player to complete the career grand slam, which would put him in golf's most exclusive club. McIlroy has failed to win the Masters in the past, though, and the pressure is continuing to mount.
Augusta National is tailored to golfers who are precise with their approach shots, which has not been McIlroy's strong suit. He has also struggled in the first round of major tournaments of late, shooting 34-over par in the opening rounds since his last major win. SportsLine's model expects McIlroy to get off to another slow start and never recover, leading to a finish outside the top 10.
The model has also examined Tiger Woods' effectiveness in the 2022 Masters. On Tuesday, Woods said, "As of right now, I feel like I am going to play." Woods is a 15-time major champion who has conquered Augusta National Golf Club five times, and it's fitting he makes his return at a course where he's created some of the biggest moments in golf history. Woods won his first major at the 1997 Masters, when he beat Tom Kite by 12 shots, and then overcame incredible odds after several back surgeries to win the 2019 edition.
Woods' inactivity has led to him slipping all the way to No. 973 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The only semi-competitive golf he's played since the accident was at the 2021 PNC Championship with his son Charlie in a two-player scramble. The pair finished second behind John Daly and John Daly II in that tournament, but getting around Augusta National will be a far greater challenge. The model just locked in its Tiger Woods Masters picks here.
How to make 2022 Masters picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of 20-1 or longer who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who will win the 2022 Masters, which long shots will stun the golfing world, and where will Tiger Woods finish? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected Masters 2022 leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed seven golf majors and is up over $8,000 since the restart.
2022 Masters odds
Jon Rahm +1000
Justin Thomas +1400
Dustin Johnson +1600
Cameron Smith +1600
Scottie Scheffler +1600
Rory McIlroy +1800
Brooks Koepka +2000
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Jordan Spieth +2000
Viktor Hovland +2000
Collin Morikawa +2000
Xander Schauffele +2200
Will Zalatoris +2800
Bryson DeChambeau +3500
Sam Burns +3500
Shane Lowry +3500
Matthew Fitzpatrick +4000
Hideki Matsuyama +4000
Corey Conners +4000
Tyrrell Hatton +4000
Daniel Berger +4000
Louis Oosthuizen +4000
Joaquin Niemann +4500
Paul Casey +5000
Tiger Woods +5000
Adam Scott +5000
Russell Henley +5000
Sungjae Im +5000
Marc Leishman +5000
Tony Finau +5000
Tommy Fleetwood +5500
Billy Horschel +5500
Si-Woo Kim +6500
Justin Rose +6500
Bubba Watson +6500
Patrick Reed +6500
Abraham Ancer +6500
Sergio Garcia +6500
Gary Woodland +7000
Seamus Power +8000
Max Homa +8000
Jason Kokrak +10000
Webb Simpson +10000
Talor Gooch +10000
Brian Harman +10000
Robert Macintyre +10000
Kevin Kisner +10000
Thomas Pieters +10000
Cameron Young +12500
Matthew Wolff +12500
Tom Hoge +12500
Cameron Champ +12500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +12500
Kevin Na +12500
Francesco Molinari +12500
Luke List +12500
Lee Westwood +12500
Erik van Rooyen +15000
Harold Varner+15000
Sepp Straka +15000
Lucas Herbert +20000
Cam Davis +20000
Mackenzie Hughes +20000
Ryan Palmer +20000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +20000
Danny Willett +20000
Stewart Cink +20000
J.J. Spaun +20000
Padraig Harrington +25000
Takumi Kanaya +25000
Garrick Higgo +25000
Min Woo Lee +25000
Zach Johnson +25000
Keita Nakajima +30000
Charl Schwartzel +30000
Harry Higgs +30000
Lucas Glover +30000
Guido Migliozzi +40000
Hudson Swafford +40000
Bernhard Langer +75000
Aaron Jarvis +100000
James Piot +100000
Stewart Hagestad +100000
Fred Couples +100000
Vijay Singh +100000
Austin Greaser +100000
Mike Weir +100000
Jose Maria Olazabal +200000
Laird Shepherd +200000
Larry Mize +250000
Sandy Lyle +250000
