Outsiders to Back Now - 8 Weeks Out from The Masters
Eight weeks. That is how long you have to get on these prices before Augusta National does what it always does - makes a mockery of the pre-tournament market and hands the green jacket to someone the bookies have left out in the cold.
Scheffler and McIlroy will be all over your telly and all over the front pages of every golf publication between now and April. Fine. Let the squares back the jolly. The smart each-way punter knows that nine of the last eleven Masters winners were priced between 10/1 and 30/1 at the time of their victory. The race rarely goes to the favourite at Augusta. It goes to the player who has been there before, who knows which pins to attack and which to leave alone, and who is carrying a bit of form coming in.
Here are four players we think the market has seriously underestimated. Get on now, before the money wakes up.
There is not a punter worth his salt in this country who did not have Justin Rose in their accumulator at last year's Masters. The man shot 66 on Sunday, clawed back seven shots on the field, and made a birdie on the last to force a playoff. He then parred the first extra hole while McIlroy birdied it. Heartbreaking. But as a form line for 2026, it is absolutely golden.
Rose is 45 now and the bookmakers are pricing him accordingly. They are making a mistake. His Augusta record reads like a who's who of near-misses - six top-10 finishes over his career, runner-up in 2017 when Garcia nicked it in a playoff, runner-up again last April. He has led the tournament outright more times than almost anyone in the modern era. If Augusta were a horse race, Rose would be the horse that runs its race every single time. You know what you are getting.
And his form coming into this one? He won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in February, wire-to-wire, breaking the 72-hole tournament record at 23-under par. He also claimed the FedEx St. Jude Championship in 2025. Justin Rose is not having a swan song. He is having a renaissance.
The course suits him perfectly. Augusta rewards patience, course management and the ability to flight an iron precisely into elevated greens from specific angles. That is Rose's game to a tee. At 25/1, he is a must-have in your each-way portfolio. The only reason he is not shorter is his age. Use that to your advantage.
Every British golf fan has been waiting for Tommy Fleetwood to kick on and win a major. He has the game, he has the temperament, and 2025 may have been the year everything finally clicked into place.
Fleetwood won the Tour Championship last year - his first victory in America after years of coming agonisingly close. If you have ever watched a player finally break through a barrier they have been circling for years, you will know what that does to their confidence. He is a different player now. The weight is off. He goes to Augusta this April not as golf's nearly man, but as a former FedEx Cup champion and a genuinely elite ball-striker in the form of his life.
His Augusta record is better than casual fans might remember. T3 in 2024, T14 in 2022, consistent top-20 finishes. He makes the cut, he puts himself in contention, and he has the iron play to challenge on the back nine on Sunday. Strokes gained approach is where Augusta is won and lost, and Fleetwood is routinely in the top five on tour in that category.
His personality suits Augusta too. Fleetwood is not flash, not loud, not rattled by big occasions. Anyone who has watched him at the Ryder Cup will know he saves his absolute best for the biggest stages. He is a Southport lad who has grafted his way to the top of the game. 20/1 for a man who finished third here two years ago and is coming off the best season of his career. We will take that all day long.
Stay with us on this one.
Whatever you think of Patrick Reed the person, Patrick Reed the Augusta National golfer is one of the most fascinating figures in Masters history. He won the green jacket in 2018 with one of the finest front-running performances in the tournament's modern era - led for most of the week, held off McIlroy and Rickie Fowler down the stretch, and won by one. He did it with the kind of cold, focused determination that Augusta specifically rewards.
His record at the course since that win contains a runner-up and multiple top-15s. He knows every corner of the place. More importantly, he plays the right type of golf for it. His short iron game is elite, his putting holds up under pressure, and he has the mental make-up of someone who does not need the crowd on his side to produce his best.
The market has written him off for reasons that have nothing to do with his ability to play Augusta National. At 50/1 you are getting a former champion who understands the venue intimately, plays the course the right way, and carries the psychological profile of a man who has already won a major under pressure. Back him each-way and see what happens.
This is the speculative shout, but there is proper substance behind it.
Ryan Gerard is the story of the 2026 PGA Tour season so far. He finished runner-up at the Sony Open, runner-up at The American Express, and shared 11th at Torrey Pines. He currently leads the PGA Tour money list and has climbed to a career-best world ranking inside the top 25. He is 26 years old and playing the best golf of his life.
His route into the Masters field is worth knowing about, because it tells you everything about how he operates. In December, he flew to Mauritius - roughly 10,000 miles from his home - to play a DP World Tour event specifically because he needed a top-4 finish to sneak into the top 50 of the world rankings and secure his Augusta invitation. He finished second. Calculated, ruthless, and utterly committed. That is the kind of mentality that wins at Augusta.
He has never played the Masters before, which is the obvious knock. But first-timers who arrive with elite ball-striking form adapt faster than any other profile of player. Get him on a good week and a 125/1 shot suddenly looks like a 40/1 shot that nobody backed. A small each-way stake costs very little and could return something spectacular.
The Each-Way Angle
All four represent solid each-way value at standard Masters terms, which typically cover four places. Rose and Fleetwood are almost independently worth backing for the place money alone given their consistent Augusta records. Reed at 50/1 each-way is the value play for those who want a bigger return. And Gerard at 125/1 is the lottery ticket that has more going for it than most.
Shop around before you put your money on. Use our comparison table to find the best available price across all major bookmakers - the difference between 20/1 and 25/1 on Fleetwood adds up significantly when you are talking each-way returns.
Eight weeks. The prices will not stay here. Get on.
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