Masters predictions: Will Scottie Scheffler outduel Rory McIlroy at Augusta this week?

Tournament winner. First-round leader. Top 10 or Top 20 finish. Margin of victory. Make the cut/miss the cut. Will there be a hole-in-one?

Whether you’re a hardcore golf bettor or someone who only takes a wagering swing when major tournaments roll around, there are no shortage of ways to bet on golf these days. And that’s certainly true during Masters week, when the world’s preeminent golfers spend four days navigating Augusta National’s azaleas and dogwoods and Amen Corner, all in pursuit of the sport’s most coveted prize: the green jacket.

One of our favorite ways to attack wagering on The Masters? Head-to-head player matchups.

Think of it like betting on an Eagles vs. Cowboys game — except instead of three hours, it can take as long as four days to determine the outcome.

Here are three player matchup predictions for the 2023 Masters — all involving high-profile golfers.

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook and updated as of 12:15 p.m. ET on April 5.

Scheffler arrives at Augusta National as the defending Masters champion and world’s No. 1-ranked golfer.

McIlroy arrives at Augusta National once again looking to complete the career “grand slam” by winning his first green jacket. He’s ranked No. 2 in the world.

At Caesars Sportsbook, Scheffler is the betting favorite (+500) to successfully defend his Masters title, while McIlroy is the second choice (+650). However, the rivals are co-favorites at other sportsbooks.

So the fact that a Sheffler-McIlroy head-to-head clash is priced at a pick-em is about as surprising as seeing a patron in the gallery wash down a $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich with a cold beer.

As even as this matchup is, we give a slight edge to Scheffler. He enters this week ranked second on the PGA Tour this season in scoring average (69.105). McIlroy is sitting fifth (69.701) while playing half as many rounds (18 vs. 36).

Scheffler also ranks ahead of McIlroy in average birdies per round (6th vs. tied for 55th), greens in regulation (1st vs. T-140th) and putting (98th vs. 175th).

Those latter two categories will be particularly important this week, because cold and wet weather is forecast for Augusta on Saturday and Sunday. It’s the kind of weather that negates McIlroy’s biggest advantage: driving distance (he’s No. 1 in the world; Scheffler is tied for 19th).

Also, while McIlroy has seven top-10 finishes in the last nine Masters, he’s also just two years removed from missing the cut. He bounced back in 2022, of course, finishing second … three shots behind Scheffler.

» READ MORE: Masters predictions: Back these long shots to put on the Green Jacket this week at Augusta National

This is a fun one, as Spieth and Thomas have been pals since their early teens. They even were in each other’s wedding party, with Speith serving as Thomas’ best man back in November.

On the golf course, Spieth has Thomas beat when it comes to total majors won (3-2), Masters appearances (9-7), Masters victories (1-0) and top-5 Masters finishes (5-1).

So even though Thomas comes into the tournament with a superior world ranking — he’s at No. 10 while his buddy is at No. 16 — we’re backing Spieth in this matchup.

One big reason: motivation. After finishing tied for third at the 2021 Masters, Spieth missed the cut last year for the first time in nine Augusta appearances. More importantly, Spieth appears to have rediscovered his game after several subpar seasons. He’s made the cut in eight of 10 PGA events, posting five Top 25 and three Top 10 finishes.

Of course, Thomas is 8-for-8 in the cut department this season with six Top 25 and two Top 10 placements — hence the reason his world ranking is superior to Spieth’s.

But a quick check of recent results shows that Spieth finished tied for fourth and tied for third in two of his last four tournaments. He also was 19th at The Players Championship.

Thomas has gone T-20, T-21, T-60 and T-10 in his last four PGA events. That T-60? It was at The Players.

Finally, there’s some built-in value in backing Spieth in this matchup prop. It’s priced at pick-em, even though Spieth is sitting fifth in odds to win this week per Caesars Sportsbook (+1800) while Thomas is tied for eighth with three other golfers (+2200).

» READ MORE: Masters picks: Here are our best First-Round Leader bets for Thursday’s opening round

It’s the man every golfer and golf fan loves to hate (Reed) against the man every golfer not named Bryson DeChambeau simply loved — that is, until he joined Reed in bolting the PGA for the LIV tour.

The fact Koepka is solidly favored in this head-to-head battle makes both complete sense and no sense at all.

To the first point, Koepka is sitting at +3000 to win his first Masters, which is tied for 13th on Caesars’ odds board. Reed is a long shot at +8000 — tied with some gimpy 47-year-old hacker named Tiger Woods.

Also, Koepka (32) has Reed (43) beat by 11 years in the youth department. And Koepka shot 15-under par to win last week’s LIV event in Orlando (Reed finished fourth at 12-under).

But figuring out how to tame Augusta National is a totally different deal — which both these golfers know all too well. Because while Koepka has four major trophies on his mantle to just one for Reed, the latter’s trophy came at the 2018 Masters — an event Koepka has never won in seven tries.

Sure, Koepka got close in 2019 (tied for second) and 2020 (T-7). He also finished a respectable T-11 in 2017. But he also missed the cut each of the last two years.

Reed also has gone home for the weekend twice in nine trips to Augusta. But he’s made every cut since his 2018 victory, including placing in the Top 10 in 2020 (T-10) and 2021 (T-8).

So we recommend grabbing the plus money on Reed, who not only embraces his status as golf’s villain but seems to thrive off it.

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

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