10. Will Zalatoris

Making his Masters debut and not even a full-fledged PGA Tour member at the time, Zalatoris was the most pleasant surprise at last year’s edition, making a ton of fans and establishing himself as a big-game hunter… A deep run at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play two weeks ago put an end to a three-start slump following his playoff loss to Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open… With three finishes of T8 or better in four major championship starts as a pro, combined with the precociousness he showed at Augusta a year ago, not discount his first Tour victory coming this weekend.

Odds: 33-1
Odds Rank: 13th
World Rank: 29th
Last Six: 5, 26, 38, 26, 2, 6
Best at The Masters: 2nd (2021)

9. Hideki Matsuyama

The defending champion took advantage of the soft greens following the long third-round layover a year ago, in a way that we have rarely just seen a player completely take control of a major. He was a little unnerving at times down the stretch on Sunday, but still managed to make all the putts he needed to, which is always the thing you worry about with Hideki… When he arrived here a year ago, he had not won since 2017. Since he took his green jacket, he has two additional wins: one at the ZOZO Championship in October and one in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii… Keep a close eye on his health news this week, as he did withdraw from last week’s Valspar Championship in the second round, but we suspect it was largely precautionary… A win this week would make him the first back-to-back Masters champ since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.

Odds: 33-1
Odds Rank: 13th
World Rank: 12th
Last Six: 20, 39, 8, 30, 1, 13
Best at The Masters: Win (2021)

8. Viktor Hovland

Only 24 years of age, the precocious Norwegian was an amateur superstar before beginning a pro career that has already yielded three wins, three runner-ups, and three third-place finishes in less than three seasons of Tour starts. Hovland has yet to contend in a major, although he has made just five major starts as a major so far, two which resulted in finishes inside the top 13 and he was the low amateur at both The Masters (T32) and U.S. Open (T12) in 2019. He finished T2 at last month’s Arnold Palmer Invitational despite a 75-74 weekend. If he is even just sort of bad around the greens this week, that is enough of an improvement where it would be surprising to not see him get in the mix.

Odds: 40-1
Odds Rank: 15th
World Rank: 12th
Last Six: 20, 39, 8, 30, 1, 13
Best at The Masters: Win (2021)

7. Xander Schauffele

One of the three runner-ups to Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters, Schauffele had a special kind of roller coaster Sunday here a year ago. He began the final round tied for second, and was placed in the final pairing with champion Hideki Matsuyama. Schauffele got off an awful start, and seemingly played his way out of the tournament, but then suddenly exploded back into contention with four consecutive birdies on the back nine. And just as it looked like it was an open tournament again… Schauffele hit his tee-shot on the iconic par-3 16th into the water, something that is shockingly rare at that hole, and had to settle for triple-bogey… Still, his tie for third was his second top-3 Masters finish in four starts, and one of nine top-10s in 18 career major starts without a victory… Is this the year he finally breaks through? He has just one top-10 in nine starts this season, but he did add a gold medal when he took first place at The Olympics in Tokyo last August.

Odds: 25-1
Odds Rank: 12th
World Rank: 10th
Last Six: 12, MC, 13, 3, 18, 34
Best at The Masters: 2nd (2019)

6. Jordan Spieth

The three-time major champion has played this event just eight times, and has a win, two runner-ups, and two third place finishes. Nobody is supposed to be this good at Augusta this quickly. Spieth’s results have not been there since he finished runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February, but in a closing 5-under 67 at last week’s Valspar Championship, he gained a ridiculous 6.9 strokes tee-to-green, his highest in a single round since 2015, the year he claimed his Masters title.

Odds: 20-1
Odds Rank: 8th
World Rank: 18th
Last Six: 35, MC, 26, 60, 2, MC
Best at The Masters: Win (2015)

5. Cameron Smith

The 28-year-old Aussie is currently sixth in the world rankings, but at his best, has looked like the best golfer in the world this year. Capable of jaw-dropping birdie binges, Smith won January’s Sentry Tournament of Champions at a record 34-under-par, and just two starts later, in his most recent start, he became the most recent THE PLAYERS Championship, the biggest event of the season thus far… He putts the lights out and currently leads the Tour in birdie average and scoring average… As for his fit at Augusta? He has top-10s in three of his last four tries, including a T2 at the November 2020 edition. He is the kind of player who can just explode into contention at a moment’s notice.

Odds: 14-1
Odds Rank: 3rd
World Rank: 6th
Last Six: 1, 33, 4, MC, 1, 4
Best at The Masters: 2nd (2020)

4. Collin Morikawa

Probably the future of American golf, at 25 years of age, Morikawa already has won five times in 2.5 seasons on Tour. Two of those were major championships, which becomes even more impressive when you consider that in both of those major wins, he was making his tournament debut… This will be his third Masters, as his T18 a year ago was a considerable improvement on his T44 in the November 2020 edition… There is little argument that Morikawa’s tee-to-green game is the best in the world. Only thing keeping him from being even closer to the top of these rankings is that he has been a little out of sorts in his last three starts, and even though he did post a top-10 two weeks ago at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play two weeks ago, he got absolutely obliterated 7&6 by Abraham Ancer in the round of 16. Still, he knows how to prepare for these events, and has been T8 or better in each of his last three major starts.

Odds: 18-1
Odds Rank: 6th
World Rank: 3rd
Last Six: 9, 68, MC, 2, 18, 62
Best at The Masters: 18th (2021)

3. Scottie Scheffler

Two months ago, we were still waiting for Scheffler’s breakthrough tournament. Now, just five starts later, the 25-year-old has three victories (WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play), has risen to No. 1 in the world rankings, and is undoubtedly the hottest golfer on the planet. The major season has not even started yet, and Scottie has more than $7.3 million in season earnings. The fact that Scheffler unequivocally realizes that he can win any time, anywhere should be absolutely frightening to this week’s field. Even before this new wave of confidence, he had posted four top-10s in six majors starts over the past two years, including each of the last three. If you want to find SOMETHING negative with him, none of those top-10s were at Augusta, but it isn’t like he has been irrelevant at the Masters either; he finished T18 a year ago, five months after a T19 in his Masters debut.

Odds: 14-1
Odds Rank: 3rd
World Rank: 1st
Last Six: 1, 55, 1, 7, 1, 20
Best at The Masters: 18th (2021)

2. Jon Rahm

No. 3 in the world rankings at the time, Rahm finished T5 at last year’s Masters, although he was never in serious contention. The 27-year-old Spaniard shot even-par 72 in each of the first three rounds, which nobody believes was unforgivable, given that his first-born child came into the world just days prior to him teeing off at Augusta. Then on Sunday, he posted a bogey-free, field low 6-under 66 to rocket into fifth place. Despite recently being usurped as world No. 1, a position he had held since last year’s Open Championship, by Scottie Scheffler, there is very little reason to not trust Rahm fully this week. He has posted top-10s in each of the past four Masters, is the reigning U.S. Open champion, and had two wins among a ridiculous 15 top-10s in 22 PGA Tour.

Odds: 12-1
Odds Rank: 1st
World Rank: 2nd
Last Six: 9, 55, 17, 21, 10, 3
Best at The Masters: 4th (2018)

1. Brooks Koepka

It speaks volumes to Koepka’s reputation in majors that he finished T2, T4, T6 in his last three major starts, respectively, and it still feels like he was a mild disappointment. He did miss the cut at last year’s Masters, but he was fresh off an injury layoff and had finished T11 or better in his previous three attempts at Augusta, including a runner-up to Tiger Woods in 2019… As far as 2022 is concerned, Brooks is in typical form: brilliant at times, and looking completely disengaged at other times. In his last seven starts dating back to late January, he has three missed cuts, but also four finishes of T16 or better, including a quarterfinals run at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play two weeks ago. It’s Brooks Koepka and it’s a major: we feel good about his chances to contend. Heck, we feel good about his chances to win.

Odds: 18-1
Odds Rank: 6th
World Rank: 17th
Last Six: 5, 12, MC, 16, MC, 3
Best at The Masters: 2nd (2019)

Next Five: Daniel Berger, Paul Casey, Patrick Reed, Matt Fitzpatrick, Joaquin Niemann