Sleeper Picks: Masters Tournament

AUGUSTA, Ga. – While the Masters has been dominated in recent years by top-tier winners with short odds, there are often players who come from the middle of the pack to contend.

Whether you’re looking to round out a DFS roster, finish out a pool entry or target some finish position bets, a well-placed sleeper pick can make all the difference in a week like this. Here are a few options worth considering, outside of the headline names in the 95-man field, heading into the opening round at Augusta National Golf Club:

Outright

Will Zalatoris (+6500): Hey, remember this guy? Before Ludvig Åberg was turning heads, it was Zalatoris who stole the show by also finishing runner-up in his Masters debut. That was back in 2021, and he has added two more top-10 finishes since sandwiched around an injury withdrawal. Zalatoris has been solid if unspectacular this season, making every cut in seven starts but never better than T12 in La Quinta. He’s 20th on TOUR this season in Strokes Gained: Approach, and Augusta National is a place that requires great ball-striking much more than elite putting. Perhaps the best sign for Zalatoris’ chances this week at such a lofty price? His 68.67 final-round scoring average, implies that he’ll be able to hold his own down the stretch should he find himself in the mix.

Top 5

Jordan Spieth (+500): If there were a chart for SG: Augusta Pixie Dust, he’d be topping it. No one else in the field gets more of a pep in their step just by setting foot on the grounds than does the 2015 champ, who boasts six top-five finishes in 10 Masters starts. Yes, the form has been erratic this year, and he has missed the Masters cut two of the last three years. But should things start to click, few in the field have a higher ceiling than Spieth – whose T12 finish last week in San Antonio was his third top-12 result in his last six starts.

Top 10

Corey Conners (+350): The Canadian is once again trending heading down Magnolia Lane, where he notched three straight top-10 finishes from 2020-22. He has cooled in his last two trips, with only one round out of six below 73, but vibes are once again high after three top-eight finishes across the Florida Swing followed by a T18 result last week in San Antonio. Few in the field can match Conners’ ball-striking acumen, as he ranks 29th on TOUR in SG: Tee-to-Green this season. He’ll need a solid week on the greens to cash this finish position, but he’s found a few of them in Augusta in recent years.

Top 20

Patrick Reed (+210): It’s been seven years since Reed scrambled his way to a green jacket, but he’s barely left the leaderboard since. He has four top-12 results in the last six years, including each of the last two. All told across the majors, he has made 15 of his last 16 cuts while racking up 10 finishes inside the top 20. The +210 price certainly feels a little high given that track record, and this is a week where I’m giving a little extra credence to the players who have demonstrated consistent success around these parts.

Top 30

Michael Kim (+160): One of the last men in the field, Kim had to jump more than 100 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking this spring to crack this week’s limited field. It was a busy stretch that netted him a return to Augusta, where he missed the cut in 2019 while mired in a prolonged slump. Kim brings with him a new perspective this week, but also the experience of knowing how the course will change from practice to tournament conditions. More than that, though, he has quietly become one of the most well-rounded players on TOUR this season: He's 11th in SG: Total and top 25 in both Approach (22nd) and Around-the-Green (12th). It’s a potent combo that should ensure he sees the weekend the second time around.

Top 40

Kevin Yu (+120): Admittedly influenced by the "Omen Bet Philosophy," as Yu was the first player I saw once I got on the (rainy) grounds of Augusta National on Monday morning, I think there’s a lot to like at this price – or even a top-30 finish at +240. Yu won on a demanding ball-striking venue in the fall (Sanderson Farms Championship) and is one of the best tee-to-green this season on TOUR: He’s 20th in the metric and 11th off the tee. The short game numbers leave something to be desired, and he’s paying something of a learning curve tax as one of 21 debutants in the field. But his long game should afford him ample opportunity to stabilize things, and if he makes the cut he’s got a great chance to move up the leaderboard as conditions firm up.

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