Dark Horses to Keep an Eye on at The 2019 Masters

The Masters is just a few days away. Before you go and drop some hard earned capital on the betting favorites, take a hard look at the rest of the field.

Everyone knows the favorites for the Masters, and they are favorites for good reason. Looking at the top of the list, you see guys like Dustin Johnson (ranked 1st), Tiger Woods (12th), Rory McIlroy (3rd), and Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka (2nd and 4th, respectively). Those are the players everyone expects to win. That’t not what I’m interested in.

What i want to look at are the dark horses. The players who might be popping up on the leaderboard, catching your eye and making you do a double take. Likely, they will all be names that most golf fans have heard, albeit ones that are still down there in odds.

The good folks over at odds shark always provide good information on the current odds, and they are ever-changing. For that reason, the link provided will get you to the updated odds. It’s likely going to be different depending on when you check their site, which is why i won’t have the odds on here.

In my book, to qualify as a long shot, the player needs to have odds of 45-1 or worse. That knocks out the top 21 players. It isn’t out of the question that a long shot is going to win either. Looking back at the recent run of past champions, you can see that they weren’t at the top of the list heading into their respective tournaments.

2018 – Patrick Reed: 48-1

2017 – Sergio Garcia: opened at 50-1, closed at 30-1

2016 – Danny Willett: 60-1

None of these guys were expected to win, and they all fit into my view of a longshot. Although, if you want to get deep into the odds, you need to go back a bit further to find bigger dark horses to win.

2009 – Angel Cabrera: 75-1

2008 – Trevor Immelman: 80-1

2007 – Zach Johnson: 125-1

Thats six of the last 12 winners that were dark horses heading into it. For every Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson win, there seems to be someone who comes from nowhere to win just as often. Both of the runs of dark horses came in groups of three before. Are we going to see the trend continue, and have one of the favorites win? Or will the dark horses charge again at The Masters, taking Augusta as their own.

Here are my dark horse picks for The Masters. May the odds be ever in your favor.