Masters Preview 2016

What a weekend of sport! Grand National and Masters, absolutely no need to leave the house for four whole days, make sure you get comfortable, have a number of snacks to hand and refuse all social invitations, it's time to get serious!

This year’s first golfing Major competition looks to be one of the most open yet, with stakes claimed for at least ten golfers who could easily be wearing green come Sunday evening. I am hoping the broadcasters rope in Tiger Woods for some commentating, his perspective at other tournaments has been unique and insightful, making everything more enjoyable for the viewer, lots of Tigger please!

The Masters is like the Cheltenham Festival, you either relish the prospect of Augusta and that Great Big Hill or you hate it. Make sure you back players who have had some success playing at Augusta before. Secondly go for someone who has a bit of recent form. Thirdly bet with Sky Bet, who will be offering a quarter of the odds for the first EIGHT! Then watch the ££ roll in… Below are my thoughts and who I think it best placed to claim victory, any feedback or ideas welcome!

Favourites
The best Australian duo since Jason and Kylie, Jason Day and Adam Scott, have been mopping up the recent PGA Tour events and having previous form at Augusta they both deserve their place towards the head of the betting. Equally the two wonder kids, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, with the latter hoping to retain the crown he scored in 2015, are short odds. Interesting to note Rory has announced he will be missing the par three competition to avoid distractions when trying to claim Major Grand Slam, his biggest distraction at the moment seems to be the gym, he currently resembles Popeye, but spinach may be the only green he has a glimpse of come Sunday. Never underestimate the power of Bubba Watson, who will be looking for a third green jacket to add to his collection, or the currently out of sorts Rickie Fowler but for me the only short priced selection who offers any value is Dustin Johnson. DJ has been playing well, he was third in the Houston Open last weekend, he was sixth in the Masters last year, and is best priced at 20-1! The other player is am always tempted to put some pennies on is Big Mickelson. He loves the big stage and can deliver, at 18-1 he offers better value than the young pretenders. To be honest I think the winner will come out of this group so deciding on some others to pick out of the rest of the field was tricky but here goes..

Middle Men
Some big names here including a lot of the nearly players, who have some close to scooping a Major but never yet reached that goal. One who does not fall into that category is the dual Major winner Zach Johnson. Placed at Augusta last year and good recent form, he definitely has the skills for Major competitions. The other Mr Johnson can be found at around 70-1. Fancy a solid 66-1 player who has three top ten finishes from his last four starts at this course? Then go for Kuccchhh!! Matt Kuchar, who would be a very popular winner with the crowd. The 37 year old is a solid Major competitor, despite being a maiden, but his record surely cements some good each way claims. Players I considered here were Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen. The former has yet to deliver on his claims of being a top five player, his Masters record does not set the world on fire, but he has been in some half decent form. Louis has missed the cut four times from seven starts, worrying!

Outsiders
Not quite as big an outsider as he would have been two months ago, but the man of the moment Rafa Cabrera Bello has had a picture perfect start to 2016. Placings on both the European and PGA Tour must have surely boosted his confidence and although he is an unknown quantity on this course he deserves a shot at 100-1. Ryan Moore is not just a brilliant jockey, he can swing a golf club too. This is the first mention I have given this R Moore on the blog, he has never quite made it up to a top five finish at Major level but he has a few top 20 finishes, three around this course, and I think at 100-1 he could earn you some ££. Plus look at his recent form, he is extremely consistent through 2016 with a number of top 10 finishes to his name.

Good luck all!