If you were hoping to bet Jordan Spieth at long odds ahead of the 2021 Masters, you probably just missed your window.
The three-time major champ’s struggles over the past three-plus years have been well-documented, but his electrifying Saturday 61 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open just caused sportsbooks around the country to slash his odds for the year’s first men’s major in April. Spieth sputtered to a final-round 72, but the T-4 was his first top 10 since June.
The performance was enough to improve his Official World Golf Ranking from 92nd to 69th and cut his odds to win at Augusta National in half. At Westgate Superbook, Spieth dropped from 50/1 to 25/1. Quite a move. Imagine if the 54-hole co-leader at TPC Scottsdale had closed the door on Sunday?
Of course, Spieth getting a lot of respect at the Masters is nothing new. The 2015 winner and 2016 near-winner was still listed among the favorites the past couple years despite his winless drought that stretches back to the 2017 Open Championship.
As it stands now only seven players have better odds than Spieth at Westgate, led by World No. 1 Dustin Johnson at 7/1. The defending Masters champ won in Saudi Arabia for his third victory in his past eight starts, including that November win at Augusta National.
Then there’s Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm at 12/1, followed by Brooks Koepka, coming off a win in Phoenix that was called on our Be Right podcast, and Justin Thomas at 14/1. Xander Schauffele, the 54-hole co-leader with Spieth at TPC Scottsdale, is listed at 18/1.
Five-time Masters champ Tiger Woods, currently out after undergoing a fifth back surgery, has fallen to 60/1.
Prior to Spieth’s T-4 in Phoenix, his previous best finish in seven starts this season was a T-38 at the CJ Cup, a limited-field event. But again, it’s his Augusta track record that caused oddsmakers to move so quickly.
Spieth finished third or better in four of his first five Masters starts from 2014-2018. And while driving continues to give him the most problems—he currently ranks an abysmal 219th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee—Augusta National is known as a place where you can get away with some loose tee shots. In other words, he’s going to have to hit a lot more of those in the next couple months to move back to longshot territory.