Niall Lyons has five bets ahead of the first round at the Masters, including a pick for top debutant and three in the first round leader market.
Masters Top Debutant
Debutants are up against it at Augusta as we all know but thankfully we have the first timers priced in a market of their own and there looks to be value in supporting Kevin Yu.
Yu landed his maiden PGA Tour victory when winning the Sanderson Farms last October and given the quality of his ball striking it wasn't before time.
You can't be good at everything in golf, and it's sods law that his putter is the weakest club in the bag. That could cause problems at Augusta but statistically it's the club you need to worry about the least.
Instead, look to his iron play, ranking 24th on tour this season in strokes gained approach. He has more than enough distance off the tee to cope with the demands of the long golf course.
Pendrith and McNealy could be big runners in a competitive market but I'm delighted to be getting 16/1 about Kevin Yu and expect him to give this a fair crack.
Masters Top 20 Finish
Min Woo Lee was very close to making my staking plan for the week and my only concern really lies on how he would perform at the business end at the weekend if in the final few groups.
A wayward driver may just end up costing him if he's got a serious chance of winning but I am quite bullish about him scoring well around here given how he is playing of late. The two putt lags on the 16th and 18th at Houston will give him clarity that he is capable under the big pressure moments.
A middling performance with the irons should be enough here to improve on his best effort of 14th at Augusta and finish in the top 20. I have written about the improvement in his approach play all year and it paid off recently in Houston.
He is capable of a very big performance here and at the very least should figure on the first couple of pages of the leaderboard over the weekend.
Masters First Round Leader
Masters First Round Leader Tips
The importance of being inside the top 10 or so on day one can not be underestimated at the Masters and for this reason many who frequent those places after 18 holes are among the favourites.
Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler were 1st and 2nd last year whilst Rahm, Hovland and Koepka all tied for the lead back in 2023. It's important not to shoot for the skies in the first round leader market as it's mostly the market leaders who get the lead or come to close to it.
Jon Rahm managed to tie for the lead when he won back in 2023 and I'm happy to give him a go in the first round leader market now his defence is out of the way. Rahm started with a double bogey that Thursday and still managed a 65.
That was his second round of 65 at Augusta and the ability to go low here needs proven before getting involved. The Spaniard loves it here and should put the poor effort last year way behind him and he can do just that on day one.
At 50/1 or bigger Cameron Smith looks a no brainer to include on Day 1. Smith has gained strokes on the field in all eight of his opening rounds at the Masters and given he loves the greens around here could easily give us a run in this market.
He looks to be coming into form just at the right time with a top 10 posted in preparation at Doral last week. His approach game isn't firing enough for me to get involved in the outright market, but I certainly believe he could shoot the lowest score on any given day here and 50/1 seems like a more than requisite reward should he get the job done on Thursday.
0.75pt each-way C.Smith First Round Leader 55/1 (1/5 6) Sky Bet
Finally I'll include Patrick Reed who had another good week in preparation by finishing 7th at Doral last week. He, like Smith has a plum draw in the morning but there probably won't be much between the two groups of tee times.
The wind looks to increase a little later in the day but it will be a fair bit colder in the morning also. Reed has been inside the top 16 here after six of his last eight rounds and has twice posted top five finishes after the first 18 holes in 11 attempts.
The 2018 Champion will be full of confidence heading to Augusta this week and he's another course specialist who could easily feature here on Day 1.
0.75pt each-way P.Reed First Round Leader 55/1 (1/5 7) Unibet
