Sleeper Picks for the 2021 Masters

When you’re rummaging through the odds looking for Masters sleepers, don’t spend too much time at the bottom of the betting sheet.

Going back to 2011 and assessing the last 10 Masters, only once was the eventual winner priced beyond +5000. And that was ten years ago.

It is also worth noting that each of the last 10 Masters winners arrived at Augusta ranked inside the top-30 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Only two were slotted outside of the top-20 (Charl Schwartzel – 29^th in 2011, and Patrick Reed – 24^th in 2018).

Now let’s dive into a few sleeper picks for the Masters in 2021.

Making his first trip down Magnolia Lane since 2018, Daniel Berger is looking to make the most out of his opportunity in 2021. The winner at Pebble Beach in February top-10’d at THE PLAYERS and won two out of his three matches in Austin; his game is in terrific shape.

Allow me to expand.

Ranked 20^th in GIR and 16^th in SG: Putting the tour’s leader in back-nine scoring average has no weaknesses in his game.

Daniel celebrates his 28^th birthday on Wednesday; perhaps there will be some more celebrating in store for the Floridian come Sunday evening.

Two years ago, Scottie Scheffler was a rookie on the Korn Ferry Tour, hoping to elevate his status. Fast forward 24 months, and Scheffler is a top-25 player globally, making his second appearance at Augusta.

First, it was a T4 at the PGA Championship at Harding Park. Then it was finishing solo-2^nd (72 hole scores) at the TOUR Championship. Scottie’s foot was glued to the gas pedal at the two most recent WGC’s (5^th at The Concession, runner-up at the Match Play) – it’s only a matter of time until he breaks through.

The 2017 Masters champ is hanging out at +4500 at BetUS and +5000 at MyBookie. Keep browsing the best Masters betting sites, and you’ll find Garcia at +5500 at BetOnline.

Sergio has quietly played some pretty good golf since triumphing at the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall, most notably as of late. Garcia paced the field in SG: Approach last month at THE PLAYERS (T9) and ranks 2^nd on the PGA Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee. He played beautifully last time out at the WGC Match Play (T5).

Many can recall Garcia’s walk-off ace against Lee Westwood in the playoff, but the biggest takeaway for me was the 10-footers he holed on the previous two holes, each to extend the match.

Here’s another European player priced at +5500 who’s been rounding into form over the last month. Ranked 24^th in the OWGR, Fleetwood also fits the theme of Masters sleepers picks who “isn’t really a sleeper.” Tommy’s twice finished as the solo runner-up at a major championship and always seems to play well whenever he’s in the hunt.

Fleetwood flushes his irons and loves turning them over from right to left. Would anybody be surprised to see the Englishman surge into contention?

Considering he’s posted top-10s in two of his last three starts, the short answer is no.

A flier on Fleetwood at this price certainly has some merit.

Backing a few Masters sleepers could turn into a nice payday. At the very least, it can lead to an exciting sweat – I had tickets on Cameron Smith and Abraham Ancer in November.

At the same time, don’t get your hopes up that one of the dark horses ends up donning the Green Jacket on Sunday. In all likelihood, it’ll be a top-20 player with fairly short odds joining Jim Nantz in Butler Cabin.