2019 Masters: Public Betting Reveals Two Surprising Choices

The 2019 Masters tees off at Augusta National on Thursday, and if the betting public is correct, the green jacket will not go to Masters favorites Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson or Justin Rose. Instead, the public's Masters picks are players who have never won a major and come with much higher Masters odds.

According to Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk management at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, the players who are most popular with the betting public at the SuperBook are Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood. Fowler is tied with three others as the fifth choice in the betting, at 16-1. Fleetwood is tied with Francesco Molinari as the ninth choice in the betting, at 20-1.

"Fowler and Fleetwood are the most popular here, both in ticket count and money wagered," Sherman says. "The public has been consistently supporting both of those guys for awhile."

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Fowler opened at 16-1, and Fleetwood opened at 30-1 when the odds were released in August. Sherman says Fowler's odds have remained consistent while Fleetwood's have gradually dropped over time.

Fowler also is a popular play in the SuperBook's 92 head-to-head matchup bets, according to Sherman. The SuperBook is offering Fowler in matchups against Fleetwood, Molinari, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth.

"A lot of people think Fowler is the next golfer without a major to win a major," Sherman says.

And who is the public playing against in head-to-heads? Molinari, Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods.

Speaking of Woods, Sherman says that the SuperBook took a $10,000 bet about a month ago on him to win the Masters at 12-1 odds. (The SuperBook also took a $6,000 bet on Spieth to win at 20-1.) As of Tuesday afternoon, Woods was listed at 14-1, fourth behind Mcilroy (7-1), Johnson (10-1) and Rose (12-1).

The SuperBook is offering several prop bets involving Woods. Those include whether he will make the cut; whether he will finish in the top five, top 10 or top 20; and even whether his first tee shot will end up in the fairway.

"Obviously, Tiger drives betting interest," Sherman says. "There's a large difference when he's in a tournament than when he's not."