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In one day – but less than 18 holes for half the peloton – at the 2020 Masters, Justin Thomas became the favorite to win a green jacket on Sunday. Thomas, who will start 11th on Friday after a three-hour delay in the weather postponed the start of the first round, is only two shots behind leader Paul Casey with eight holes left in his first round.
Despite Casey’s lead, he doesn’t get too much respect on the 16-1 odds table where he sits behind Dustin Johnson, Xander Sc Chaudele, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. This even with Casey (-7) being five shots on DeChambeau (-2). Johnson is 3 under his first nine, while ScHotele (-5) and Rahm (-3) are also in contention.
Even though Casey went low on Thursday, the day belonged to Tiger Woods, who posted a 4 under 68 as he got rid of the bogies that day. Tiger’s lowest 68 opening game at the Masters, and the bogey-less round was only his fourth in the major championship competition. The other three times this has happened, Woods has won or finished second in those majors.
Friday is expected to see a huge upheaval on the odds board, with round one continuing at 7:30 a.m. ET and round two set to start a few hours later. Will Thomas still be on top when the peloton has to be cut? Let’s find out.
Here’s a look at which golfers have the best chances of winning the 2020 Major Final after a day of action at Augusta National. Check out our full Masters spectator guide to find out exactly how to watch the action through all four towers. Odds via William Hill Sportsbook
Masters 2020 odds, field
- Justin Thomas: 9/2
- Dustin Johnson: 13/2
- Xander ScHotele: 10-1
- Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm: 14-1
- Paul Casey: 16-1
- Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Matthew Wolff: 18-1
- Adam Scott: 20-1
- Webb Simpson: 22-1
- Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed: 25-1
- Rickie Fowler: 33-1
- Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Justin Rose: 40-1
- Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood: 50-1
- Dylan Frittelli, Jason Day: 66-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 70-1
- Sung-Jae Im: 80-1
- Matt Wallace, Bubba Watson: 100-1
- Scottie Scheffler, Phil Mickelson, Abraham Ancer, Sebastian Munoz, Marc Leishman, Bernd Wiesberger, Jason Kokrak: 125-1
- Matthew Fitzpatrick, Si-Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Billy Horschel, Cameron Smith, Zach Johnson: 150-1
Choice of Masters 2020
Winner – Justin Thomas (9/2): Thomas was my choice before the start of the race, so I’m obviously delighted to see him in pole position after a round. The reason I love Thomas is that he’s able to keep his head straight in the majors, and he’s improved in every Masters he’s played, going from T39 in 2016 to T22, T17 and T12 last year. Thomas has the type of game that can take advantage of those wet conditions, even though he can’t bombard the ball like DeChambeau or even McIlroy.
Sleeper – Rickie Fowler (33-1): Fowler might be a name, but he’s not a winner in the majors. So despite the decent odds here, I still consider him a sleeper. Fowler is 3 under his first nine, and although we’ve seen him start hot in the majors before, he seems relaxed and ready to take what comes to him at the start of his first round. If he can close hard during his second nine, Fowler could quickly find himself within a few headshots and still be healthy by day two.
Top 10 Lock – Tiger Woods: Only once, when Woods posted a first round like this as the defending champion in a major, did he not finish in the top 10. In that event, the 2007 Open, he finished T12. The other three times? He won. Granted, all of these circumstances arose 15-20 years ago, but while he may wrestle elsewhere, Tiger is apparently still Tiger at Augusta National. He knows this course. He owns this course. Even though Woods slowly fades over the weekend, I don’t think he’ll slip enough to drop into the top 10.
Star Who Definitely Won’t Win – Bryson DeChambeau: Oh boy, I’m going against the grain here. Even though DeChambeau posted a double bogey just a few holes in his Masters, he managed to finish 2 under for the round. It’s impressive. But Augusta National is hard to tame, and DeChambeau just got a taste of it on Thursday. He’ll have a lot of work to do to master this course – no pun intended – over the last three days and win. Again, risky choice for me.
Top 5 in order: Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Xander Sc Chaudele
Lowest round: 65 (-7)
Winning score: 273 (-15)
Sunday winner’s score: 69 (-3)
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