2026 Masters Past Champion Odds: Will A Past Champion Wear the Green Jacket Again?
We are just one week away from the first major of the 2026 golf season, The Masters. If you’re not like me and don’t follow golf religiously day by day, you probably have some questions before making your Masters bets. Lineups has you covered this week, as we’ll be analyzing everything you need to know about Masters Odds, with new analysis coming every single day leading up to the start of the tournament on Thursday, 4/9.
That brings us to our next question we’ve endeavored to answer: Which past Masters champions stand the best chance to repeat? So without further ado, let’s dive into everything you need to know about the past Masters champions competing in the 2026 Masters.
Masters Champions In The Field
As of this writing, one week out from tournament play, there are 18 past champions securely in the 2026 Masters field. Part of what makes The Masters a tradition unlike any other is its lifetime qualification for all former champions. While this list of players may not all come to this tournament with the same ambitions, it’s fun to see these familiar faces year over year.
The following past Masters champions are in the 2026 field (in order of their most recent win)
- Rory McIlroy
- Scottie Scheffler
- Jon Rahm
- Hideki Matsuayama
- Dustin Johnson
- Patrick Reed
- Sergio Garcia
- Danny Willett
- Jordan Spieth
- Bubba Watson
- Adam Scott
- Charl Schwartzel
- Angel Cabrera
- Zach Johnson
- Mike Weir
- Vijay Singh
- Jose Maria Olazabal
- Fred Couples
Who’s Missing?
Tiger Woods made headlines the week before The Masters for suspicion of DUI. Woods and Augusta have both released statements confirming he will not play this week. The world will never know if he was actually ready enough to play after seeing a glimpse of him at the TGL Finals in late March. Tiger’s presence will be missed, but if it means helping him restore both his mental and physical strength, that would be a much greater win than anything he would have sought to accomplish at the 2026 Masters. Phil Mickelson
will also be absent this week, citing family health concerns. This marks the first time since 1994 in which neither Tiger nor Phil will be teeing it up at The Masters.
Trevor Immelman will be at The Masters, but not playing. The 2008 Masters champion will be in the CBS broadcast booth alongside Jim Nantz on the call for the 2026 Masters.
Will We See A Repeat Winner At The Masters?
Course History at The Masters is more predictive than any other event on Tour. That means that players who’ve proven they can handle the test of this golf course and its singlar atmosphere are the once most likely to repeat it. Augusta National is unlike any other golf course in the world, so recent form can only go so far.
The past champions in the field have proven they understand the intangibles needed to prevail here. Their proven ability to withstand the test at Augusta National before makes them significant threats relative to the chasers around them atop Masters odds.
Ahead, we’ll categorize all of the past champions in the field into five buckets: True Contenders, Playing Well Enough To Win, It Could Happen, It Won’t Happen, and Impossible.
True Contenders
Scottie Scheffler
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
The 2022 and 2024 Masters Champion will try to keep his streak of winning The Masters every other year going. Scheffler snapped a historic streak of 19 consecutive top-10 finishes at the Genesis Invitational, and will now enter Masters week having failed to crack the top-10 in each of his last three starts.
As World No. 1, Scheffler is a victim of his own success, and his form is graded on a different scale than his peers. Scheffler has finished inside the top-25 in 29 consecutive events, and yet, we’ve all hit the panic button on him for not being in contention on Sunday in over a month.
There is nothing alarming about Scheffler’s game at the moment, but he is not striking the same fear into this field as we’re used to seeing from him. Having finished top-10 in each of the last four Masters, it would surprise no one to see Scheffler in contention yet again this year.
Rory McIlroy
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
For the first time in his life, Rory McIlroy will arrive down Magnolia Lane with nothing to prove. The burden of his great expectations was cathartically lifted on the 18th green at the 2025 Masters, where McIlroy prevailed over Justin Rose on the first playoff hole to achieve the career grand slam and put an end to his 11-year major drought.
The sheer length and need for creativity around Augusta National have always begged the question of not if, but when, Rory would ultimately break through. The course fit alone will always slot McIlroy as one of the yearly favorites at The Masters, even if some questions about his health and form persist.
While I acknowledge the defending champion and World No. 1 must be considered a contender, I am personally going to be taking a very firm stance against McIlroy this week. It will be a very disorienting feeling for Rory to not desperately need to win this event for the first time in his career. Taking on the added media obligations that come as a defending champion won’t help him dial in his focus either.
Jon Rahm
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Make no mistake, Jon Rahm continues to be the dominant superstar he was before leaving the PGA Tour after 2023. Rahm, somewhat embarrassingly, was awarded LIV Player of the Year honors in 2025 despite not winning a single event. He was, however, a factor in most, finishing top-10 in 15 out of 18 2025 starts.
Regression has started to hit in 2026 for Rahm. Through his first five LIV starts, he has posted finishes of 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 5th, and 2nd. That’s not a coincidence as far as I’m concerned, as LIV’s switch to 72 holes this season has helped the cream rise to the top over a longer sample size.
Rahm’s strokes gained metrics have been exceptional across all four main categories, and is a player I’m watching closely should his odds improve at all between now and Masters week.
Patrick Reed
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Reed is not the dominant superstar name of the others in this group, but he is when it comes to course history at Augusta National, and he happens to be playing the best golf of his career right now.
The 2018 Masters Champion has kept his foot on the gas with every return since, posting five additional top-12 finishes over the last six years.
Reed bet on himself this year, opting to leave LIV in hopes of qualifying for reentry on the PGA TOUR through the DP World Tour’s season-long order of merit. The result? Two wins, a runner-up, and a T10 over his first five 2026 DP World Tour starts. If the ball-striking form remains as sharp as it has been in Europe, he’ll be a major threat once again, as few others have demonstrated the short game prowess Reed has each year around Augusta National.
Playing Well Enough To Win
Hideki Matsuyama
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Top-10 Odds:
There’s an argument to be made that Matsuyama belongs in the top contender tier. Had he not bogeyed the final hole at the WM Phoenix Open and surrendered that tournament to Chris Gotterup, we may all be holding Matsuyama in higher regard.
The form is still up to standard at the moment for Matsuyama, who has four top-15s and no missed cuts over eight starts this season. That is already superior to the form he led into the 2021 Masters with, before his win.
Volatility is still an undeniable part of his game, however, and Augusta National has a way of exploiting any weaknesses in your overall game by week’s end. I’d like to see a little more consistency from Matsuyama’s driver before confidently backing him, but there’s no denying his game is in a very good state leading up to this week.
Jordan Spieth
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We’ve seen flashes of great and bad this season from Spieth, but what else is new? It’s a mild concern to see Spieth sleepwalking through one of his favorite events, the Valero Texas Open (T60 through his first two rounds). However, the bigger picture is still very encouraging.
Prior to the Valero Texas Open, Spieth had three top-12 finishes over his last four starts. His approach play has been the key difference in unlocking a higher ceiling this season, and he’s made consistent gains with his driving distance as well. That’s all very encouraging for Augusta National, where, like Patrick Reed, Spieth has been a dominant force with his short game regardless of form.
Adam Scott
Outright Odds:
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When will the putter finally cooperate for Scott? You’ll be hard-pressed to find a player in this field in better tee-to-green form for the task at hand at Augusta National than Adam Scott. With that being the case, it must be a demoralizing feeling for him to continually derail his rounds with short misses on the greens.
As is always the case with putting, it can flip in an instant. So, Scott’s backers are, in essence, taking a leap of faith that the putts will begin to drop this week. Scott has not finished inside the top-20 at The Masters since 2019, but represents a moderate risk, high reward play at the 2026 Masters.
It Could Happen
Dustin Johnson
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It was only six years ago that Dustin Johnson claimed the green jacket as the World No. 1 in 2020. Since then, his career has fallen in a tailspin, as he has been a shell of his former self since joining LIV.
Johnson has finishes of T12, T48, MC, MC, MC in his last five trips to Augusta since the 2020 win. There have been no signs of life from his iron play on LIV this season, but a T10 finish in Singapore two starts ago at least leaves a glimmer of hope he still has something left in the tank.
Sergio Garcia
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Similar to Dustin Johnson, Sergio has been absolutely dreadful at The Masters ever since his win in 2017. He has just one made cut over his seven appearances since.
On LIV, the results have not been very encouraging either. He has just one finish inside the top-15 over his first five starts. A woeful putter, Sergio seems to also be losing distance this season, which does not leave much room for optimism that his fate at the 2026 Masters will be any better than recent years.
Bubba Watson
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There is nothing about Bubba Watson’s form at the moment that leads me to believe he can contend this week. However, Bubba is a consummate example of course history superceding form at Augusta National. A two-winner of this event in 2012 and 2014, this is the type of venue that just suits his eye perfectly.
With even fewer signs of life this time last year, Bubba still managed a solid T14 showing at the 2025 Masters. It would surprise me to see him repeat that again, but I’m going to say it definitely won’t happen.
It Won’t Happen
Danny Willett
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The beneficiary of a monumental Jordan Spieth collapse in 2016, Danny Willett is the exception to most of the rules that should apply to Masters champions. He has never been a dominant star, he lacks distance and creativity, and he has never won a PGA TOUR event.
In fact, Willett lost his PGA TOUR card after 2025, and has not cracked the top-10 in a tournament in over 20 starts. To make the cut this week would be a sound accomplishment for Willett.
Charl Schwartzel
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You have to tip your cap to Schwartzel for his performance in his 2011 Masters win, where he birdied his final 4 holes to defeat Jason Day, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy. Unfortunately, he does not seem capable of that level of play anymore.
Schwartzel has finished outside the top-30 in each of his last Masters appearances, and has endured a mediocre LIV season thus far with zero top-15 finishes over his first five starts.
Zach Johnson
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The 50-year-old will be a problem to deal with in the Top Senior prop market this week. He’s finished 1st, T3, and T2 in his first three starts on the Champions Tour.
On the merit of the confidence he’s gained from beating up on other 50+ year olds, I can’t say it’s impossible he’ll win the 2026 Masters. But it would be flabbergasting.
Impossible
Angel Cabrera
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
Nope.
Mike Weir
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
Negative.
Vijay Singh
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
Not gonna happen.
José María Olazábal
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
No shot.
Fred Couples
Outright Odds:
Top-10 Odds:
Great tempo. But no.
Best of luck with your Masters bets and check in each day this week for more Masters analysis!
Photo Credit: AP/David J. Phillip
