It's time once again for the best golf betting week of the year at the Masters.

Familiarity is one of the things that makes this such a special tournament. While the other three big ones annually bounce around from course to course – many of which we only see every 5 or 10 years –  starting each major season at Augusta National is strangely comforting. Golf fans know every hole front and back and remember not only the winner from each year but how that winner played certain shots all over the back nine.

It also removes a lot of the guesswork when handicapping. While Augusta has evolved and certain holes have been tweaked, the course is largely the same as it was 20 years ago. We can get a great idea of how well this course suits a given player’s game by looking at their career scoring average at the Masters.

There are a few outliers near the top, as always, with players who have only played a few rounds. Usually, that's not enough to draw any meaningful conclusions. The field will also see a few more additions before the start of the tournament, and we'll keep this list updated with the current field in the weeks leading up to the 2025 Masters at Augusta National.

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Career Masters Scoring Average Betting Tips

Augusta is a second-shot course that tends to reward the best iron play and allows players a little more freedom off the tee as opposed to traditional tight, rough-lined fairways at the U.S. Open. Looking at past Augusta National scoring averages for the current Masters field, we can compile a few tips and betting takeaways to apply in April as a tradition unlike any other plays out in Augusta, Georgia.

The Cream Rises

There’s no question that Augusta National brings the best out of the top players in the world. Of those with at least 30 Masters rounds under their belt, the top three in lifetime scoring average are Jordan Spieth (70.95), Jon Rahm (70.97) and Phil Mickelson (71.39). 

Spieth is a future Hall of Famer. Rahm is in his way. Mickelson is the most prolific winner on Tour over the past three decades playing this week. This course always seems like the perfect playground for the world’s best to thrive, as we’ve seen with Mickelson winning here three times. 

Pay Attention to Newcomers

As we’ve seen in recent years, first-year players and relative newcomers can still seriously contend over the weekend. Will Zalatoris, who missed the 2023 Masters due to a back injury, is currently fifth on the list with a 71.00  scoring average after finishing solo second in his Masters debut in 2021 and T-6 in 2022. 

Ludvig Aberg finished 2nd in his Masters debut last year. Sahith Theegala finished ninth in his Masters debut in 2023. While experience is clearly a huge advantage in the Masters, finding the right rookie with a made-for-Augusta game can pay off in the short term.

The Masters Sweet Spot

The average number of rounds played from the top 50 on our list is 37.70. That makes perfect sense at a course like Augusta National. It’s so nuanced that players learn new tricks every year and gradually amass an understanding of how to play certain shots over time.

It’s also a brutally demanding test that requires a lot of distance on certain tee shots, even more so in recent years with several renovations. Augusta National lengthened the par-4 11th hole by 15 yards and the par-5 15th hole by 20 yards ahead of the 2022 Tournament. 

The No. 5 hole is also especially tough and now plays as a 495-yard par-4 with the tee box moved back some 40 yards in 2019. Experience is extremely helpful here as long as a player still has the physical skills required on certain drives and approach shots. The course is just too much to handle after a certain age.

Our average of 37.04 rounds played among those averaging less than 73 would be roughly nine tournaments if the player had made every cut. With a few missed cuts it would take roughly 11-12 years to amass 36 competitive rounds at Augusta. Keep an eye out for players in this wheelhouse – they should in theory be the ones with the best combination of course knowledge and physical ability.

Not For Everyone

Conversely, we know that certain players who are good enough to win on Tour and qualify for the Masters each year aren’t necessarily a good fit at Augusta. Some players just can’t quite break into contention even with significant experience.

Billy Horschel is a perfect example here. Horschel has seven Tour wins from 2013-2023 and eight Masters appearances in that timespan. But he has never cracked the top 15 and is firmly in the bottom half with a career scoring average of 73.78. 

Even if a player is in good form coming into Augusta, we can conclude that some players with a significant amount of experience probably just aren’t a great fit for the golf course.