2026 Masters winner predictions, picks: One of these nine players will likely take the green jacket
Who among the 91 players in this year's Masters field has an actual chance to slip on the green jacket?
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The masses have labeled this 90th edition of the Masters as "wide open." Without a dominant force running through the early part of the season like the four most recent champions -- Scottie Scheffler (twice), Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy -- did in the lead-up to their respective victories, some have settled on the notion that it is anyone's ballgame.
A player like 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, however, would disagree, unless "wide open" really means a couple of handfuls.
"I just feel like with how deep golf has been, especially this past year to two years, that the fields are obviously getting a lot stronger," Reed said on Monday. "I feel like the field this week is really strong, like always. I feel like it used to be five or six, maybe seven guys. No, I definitely feel like this year you have 10 to 12 guys who have a really legitimate opportunity to win the green jacket. It just makes this event a little bit more special and even more fun going out there and playing against the best."
Of the 91 players in the field, Reed believes just 10 have a legitimate shot at winning. For our purposes, we have whittled it down by one more player with just nine candidates being given a chance to slip on the green jacket. Unfortunately, Reed was our 10th selection. Oh, the honorable-mention irony.
His read (no pun intended) is not far off with recent major and Masters trends, however. Six of the last seven Masters champions were among the top three favorites entering the week with Hideki Matsuyama being the exception in 2021. From a wider viewpoint, seven of the last eight major champions over the last two years have been top-five favorites entering the week with J.J. Spaun being the outlier last year at the U.S. Open.
So, let's get into the selections and why, despite the sentiment, chalk is likely to reign supreme once again at Augusta National Golf Club.
Watch all four rounds of the 2026 Masters with expanded coverage from CBS Sports. It starts Thursday with Masters Live as we follow the best in the world on Featured Groups, Amen Corner and holes 15 & 16. Watch those streams live across Paramount+, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App with extended broadcast coverage Saturday and Sunday from 12-2 p.m. on Paramount+ and 2-7 p.m. on CBS.
2026 Masters predictions, favorites to win
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
| 1 | |
| The best player in the world does not arrive with his best form, but if anyone else experienced a season that included a win, two top fives and no finishes outside the top 25, no one would have any questions about the state of his game. Scheffler's iron play has been average through the first three months, but his short game has picked up the slack in a major way. With plenty of time off, the world No. 1 will look like the world No. 1 and remind everyone that his greatest superpower (his brain) can't be tracked with strokes gained. Odds: 5-1 | |
| 2 | |
| Imagine for a moment if Rahm had won the playoff at LIV Golf South Africa over DeChambeau. The buzz surrounding the Spaniard would be palpable. Although he didn't emerge from the one extra hole victorious, the 2023 Masters champion showed his game is in tip-top shape as he leads the world in terms of total strokes gained in 2026. He noted that he fell into some bad habits the last couple of years with left misses being a particular hindrance. He looks to have fixed it and arrives with his iron play as sharp as ever. Odds: 9-1 | |
| 3 | |
| DeChambeau is my pick among the favorites not to win, but let's be honest, he has a phenomenal chance at hand this week. DeChambeau has thrived on firm and crispy golf courses in the past and is playing with as much confidence as anyone in the world. His underlying metrics are not as impressive as one would assume given his wins came on LIV Golf against lesser fields, but this is a major championship, and DeChambeau knows how to get the job done when the sun is shining the brightest. Odds: 11-1 | |
| 4 | |
| Take away The Players Championship, where he was not 100%, and what has McIlroy done wrong this season? He finished runner-up at Riviera, remained in the mix at Bay Hill heading into the weekend before he withdrew and largely looked like the same golfer that we saw in 2025 outside of some magic on the greens. It's a big week of celebrations for the reigning champion, but he appears to be relaxed and at ease. Thursday will say a lot about his weekend chances. Odds: 12-1 | |
| 5 | 
Ludvig Åberg
|
| A player can't until he can. Åberg has received some recent criticism for his recent closing abilities, or should we say inabilities, at The Players and Texas Open. The Swede's ball striking abandoned him in both of those final rounds, but the optimistic perspective is that his short game appears as tight as ever. In two trips to Augusta National, Åberg has had two chances to slip on the green jacket. Perhaps the third time is the charm. Odds: 17-1 | |
| 6 | |
| Schauffele has finished inside the top 10 in 50% of his major starts and inside the top 10 in his last three Masters appearances. After a slow start to the season, he is beginning to sizzle with top-10 finishes at Riviera, TPC Sawgrass and Innisbrook. The ball striking numbers are mirroring those of 2024 when he claimed his two major championships. He is gaining more and more confidence on the greens by the week, and if he can chip and pitch up to his standard, he could up his major count. Odds: 18-1 | |
| 7 | |
| Young looks to continue a mini trend the last couple of seasons in which The Players winner has ultimately become the Masters champion. The powerful right-hander has a couple of top-10 finishes in his Masters career and has shown that his game translates to the major stage. There could be some questions around his ability on the greens, but Young has answered the bell seemingly every time since his breakthrough win last summer. Odds: 22-1 | |
| 8 | |
| Since missing the cut in his debut, Fitzpatrick has found the weekend in his last 10 Masters. Those weekend rounds produced only a couple of top-10 finishes, but it is fair to suggest the former U.S. Open champion has never arrived with this much quality in his game. A runner-up at The Players and a winner at the Valspar Championship, Fitzpatrick is firing on all cylinders, especially with his irons. Odds: 23-1 | |
| 9 | |
| Matsuyama is hitting his irons as well as he did in 2021, and doing something that he has never done in his career -- make putts. The driver was a liability across the first couple of months of the season, but he navigated his ball off the tee effectively at a tight TPC San Antonio, providing plenty of hope for this week. He is a permanent first-team member of the all-hands team, quietly flying under the radar. Odds: 27-1 | |
Who will win the 2026 Masters, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 16 golf majors heading into the weekend, including the past four Masters, and find out.
