If you haven’t decided who to back with your 2026 Masters bets, you should check out the new favorite to enter the chat.
The odds ahead of the Masters, which tees off on April 9, have stayed pretty solid over the last couple of months. Two-time winner Scottie Scheffler remains the favorite to win at Augusta National. Rory McIlroy, who completed a career grand slam by winning the Masters in 2025, has been listed right behind on the odds board.
But there has been a shakeup at sportsbooks. Suddenly, another former winner has leapfrogged McIlroy as the second-favorite to win outright. (And no, it’s not Tiger Woods.)
Here’s a look at the new second-favorite to win it all.
Who Jumped Rory McIlroy in the Masters Odds?
Scheffler is still the +405 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the Masters outright. But second on the list? Jon Rahm, who won the Masters in 2023, is now listed above McIlroy at +850 odds to top the leaderboard. He is also listed at +162 to finish in the top five and -162 to finish in the top 10.
Why the leap up the odds board? It could be because Rahm’s season is off to a strong start.
The Spaniard is a two-time major winner, but hasn’t made much noise since defecting to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit in December 2023. That changed in early 2026, when he won LIV Golf Hong Kong and finished at the subsequent LIV Golf Singapore. His most recent finish was solo second at LIV Golf South Africa on March 22.
Rahm overcame a double bogey in the final round at Augusta in 2023 to win his first green jacket. He bested Brooks Koepka and former winner Phil Mickelson by four strokes.
“It still hasn’t really sunk in yet,” an emotional Rahm said at his winner’s press conference. “I’m looking at the scores, and I still think I have a couple more holes left to win.”
While the LIV Golf format is considered less competitive than the PGA Tour’s, Jon Rahm is still having an arguably better season than both Scheffler and McIlroy. The world No. 1 kicked off his 2026 campaign with a victory at The American Express, but has finished outside the top 20 in three straight starts.
McIlroy’s 2026 season has been a rollercoaster. He hasn’t won yet, though he was close, finishing T2 at the Genesis Invitational. The Irishman then withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to back spasms. He rallied to play at The Players Championship the following weekend and finished T46.
Other LIV Golfer at the Masters 2026
Rahm is one of 11 golfers from the LIV Golf circuit teeing off at Augusta next week. Six of those players are past Masters champions, four of whom are only playing because they have a lifetime exemption to the tournament. Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010) and Bubba Watson (2012, 2014) are the only LIV Golf players with multiple green jackets.
No LIV Golf participant has actually won the Masters. Rahm was still a member of the PGA Tour in 2023. The last LIV Golfer to win the Masters before the breakaway league started was Dustin Johnson, who won at Augusta as a PGA Tour pro in 2020.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Masters 2026: Past Winner Jumps Rory McIlroy in Betting Odds appeared first on Heavy Sports.