The Masters 2024: Did Rory McIlroy just become the new betting favorite?
Rory McIlroy hasn't made his PGA Tour season debut yet, but what he's achieving overseas could have a massive impact on his odds to win the first major event of the year.
The Irishman and world No. 2 is coming off of a big victory at the Dubai Desert Classic thanks to a bogey-free 63 to finish atop the leaderboard at -14. The win was a nice redeemer from his second-place finish at the Dubai Invitational one week prior, where mistakes allowed Tommy Fleetwood to finish on top.
Did last weekend's win also move the needle on McIlroy's odds to win the Masters this spring?
Just one day after the win in Dubai, oddsmakers back in the States seem split on whether McIlroy is the new favorite to don the green jacket. At DraftKings , he is still listed as the second favorite at 17-2 (+850) while Scottie Scheffler and reigning Masters champ Jon Rahm come in at 8-1 odds. That differs from BetMGM, where McIlroy is now tied with Scheffler as the 8-1 favorite while Rahm sits at 9-1. And over at Bet365, McIlroy and Scheffler are listed at 8-1 odds while Rahm is favored to repeat as Masters champion at 15-2 odds.
Of course, oddsmakers will likely be more in sync on the Masters favorite after a couple more events. McIlroy doesn't have a PGA Tour start yet — Scheffler has finished T5 and T17 through two starts — and Rahm's season hasn't started at all since he moved to LIV Golf and the rogue circuit doesn't start its third campaign until Feb. 2.
As Yardbarker previously discussed, McIlroy will be playing more events ahead of The Masters this time around as he aims to finally achieve a career grand slam. The Masters is the only major he hasn't won, and he hasn't won a major of any kind since 2014.
We'll just have to see if McIlroy pulls ahead of the competition at sportsbooks when he faces off against Scheffler at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Feb. 1. If he has another strong finish, there's no telling what his odds to win The Masters 2024 will look like.
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