Masters sleeper picks to watch: Here’s who might break out at Augusta National

The Danny Willett and Charl Schwartzel bettors could relate to the Will Zalatoris bettors. 

Their man in contention on Masters Sunday. Shots away from a green jacket. And hours from a healthy payout. For the gambler. 

Alas, it was not to be for Zalatoris or his backers last year, when he finished a shot behind winner Hideki Matsuyama. But had he, a $100 bet on Zalatoris to win would have paid a whopping $15,000, based on his 150-1 odds entering the tournament (according to golfodds.com). 

A Zalatoris win would have also continued a notable once-every-five-years run of “sleeper” champs. In 2016, Willett rewarded those who believed in him to the tune of $5,000, while Schwartzel delivered $10,000 in 2011.   

In short, while the favorites do well at Augusta, so have players a little under the radar. Is there one this year? Let’s see if we can find a few:

Corey Conners (+6,600): What’s not to like here? Ball-striking? Yes. Recent form? Yes (third at the Match Play). Augusta success? Yes (eighth last year, 10th at the November Masters). 

Seamus Power (+8,000): Something started to click for the Irishman late last year — in order, he tied for fourth at the RSM Classic, tied for 15th at the Tournament of Champions, tied for third at the Sony Open, tied for 14th at the American Express, and tied for ninth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s dipped a bit recently, so the number is now a healthy one.  

Robert MacIntyre: (+12,500): MacIntyre finished 12th last year in his first Masters, and Augusta sets up well for lefties.  

Kevin Na (+15,000): Another bet that’s relying on somewhat recent form — at the end of last season, he finished in the top 10 in four of his last six events. If you’re looking for a sleeper who can get hot quickly with the putter and ride it, Na’s your man. 

Bonus! Bernhard Langer (+75,000): The ageless wonder knows Augusta — and how to play it — better than anyone. He (probably) won’t win, but a $1 flyer won’t hurt ya.)  

Our staff likes a few more sleepers, too. They’ve each made a long-shot bet using odds from BetMGM to assist you with your own weekly picks, whether those are for a low-stakes office fantasy league, or (legal!) big-bucks bets with a sportsbook.

Let’s take a look.

Staff sleeper picks for the Masters

Alan Bastable 

Sleeper pick: Cameron Young, +10,000. What’s not to like about this guy? Bombs it, makes boatloads of birdies (4.68 birdie average is seventh best on Tour) and can putt. That’s usually an effective recipe at Augusta. Don’t let his MC at the Players fool you; he’s having a breakout year, which could really take off with a win.

Josh Berhow 

Sleeper pick: Cameron Champ, +15,000. Champ’s had a rough 2022 and hasn’t fired a competitive round in the 60s since early February, but he has a decent track record at Augusta (T26 and T19 the past two years). With these odds, it’s worth a flier to see if he can have a good week on a course he’s had decent success on.

James Colgan 

Sleeper pick: Tony Finau, +6,600. At the time of this writing, Finau has the same odds to win as his 2019 final-round partner, Tiger Woods. Woods has played 16 events in the three years since; Finau has played 70. It’s never been a question of talent for Tony. Maybe he puts it all together this week.

Dylan Dethier   

Sleeper pick: Luke List, +10,000. A few names jump out as we get further down the board. Zalatoris at 33-1. Sam Burns at 40-1. Corey Conners at 50-1. Tiger Woods at whatever number you can get him. Max Homa at 100-1, if he has a good chipping week. But once you start wading into the actual sleepers, one name seems undervalued: Luke List. He’s been held back by his putting this season, but List is hitting it so well — No. 1 on Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green — that if he can just get comfortable on Augusta’s slippery carpets for a few days, he’ll definitely be in the mix.

Emily Haas

Sleeper pick: Harry Higgs, +20,000. Think about how happy golf Twitter will be if we get to see the deep V-neck paired with the green jacket. Will Harry win? Probably not — but, boy what a fun Masters that would be. And with odds like these, why not?!

Luke Kerr-Dineen

Sleeper pick: Stewart Cink, +30,000. Hear me out: 48 year-old Stewart Cink has won each of the past two seasons — his most recent just down the road from Augusta National, at Harbour Town. He finished T-12 at the Masters last year, and that isn’t even his best finish in this event. He notched a 10th in 2006, and a solo third in 2008! 

Jessica Marksbury

Sleeper pick: Danny Willett, +15,000. A former champ with odds like these? Yes, please!

Nick Piastowski 

Sleeper pick: Seamus Power, +8,000. Something has clicked here. It’s asking A LOT for him to win in not just his first Masters appearance, but his first major. But you’ll struggle to find a more confident player right now. Also the headline possibilities are endless. 

Tim Reilly

Sleeper pick: Cameron Champ, +15,000. There’s no doubting his raw ability. Champ has struggled to consistently hone in his talent, but we’ve seen what he can do when he’s firing on all cylinders. With T26 and T19 finishes in the past two Masters, that’s a good sign that he feels comfortable playing at Augusta. And that’s enough for me to consider taking a flier on Champ at these long-shot odds. 

Darren Riehl

Sleeper pick: Tom Hoge, +15,000. Hoge is top five in the FedEx Cup points list and has been one of the most consistent players on Tour. Yes, he has 17 starts this year, but at +15,000, it is hard not to take Hoge.  

Claire Rogers 

Sleeper pick: Billy Horschel, +8,000. Let’s forget about the fact that Horschel not only slipped and fell at Augusta last year, but he had to apologize after repeatedly slamming his clubs into his bag after a bad shot. Let’s instead focus on the fact that he finished sixth in Phoenix, 16th at the Honda, and second at the Arnold Palmer. He had to withdraw from the Players due to illness, but those are some promising finishes, and I’m looking for him to go low at Augusta.

Josh Sens

Sleeper pick: Lee Westwood, +12,500. This year hasn’t been the same fountain-of-youth season as 2021 was for Westwood, but these are juicy odds for a guy who can still get it around.

Jonathan Wall 

Sleeper pick: Max Homa, +10,000. Selfishly want to see a Homa win for the legendary social media content that will undoubtedly ensue. 

Sean Zak 

Sleeper pick: Tom Hoge +15,000. Hoge will hang around because of his iron play. A basic approach might not win you the Masters, but hitting into the fat part of greens makes life easy enough to hang around. 

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.