The 2026 Masters begins at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, and the year’s first major championship is often the most coveted. This will be the 90th Masters and there are currently 91 players in the field, including defending champion Rory McIlroy. The 36-year-old completed the career grand slam last season in dramatic fashion, making a stunning 72nd-hole bogey but winning on the first playoff hole against Justin Rose.<\/p>\n
The latest 2026 Masters odds list McIlroy at +1300 to repeat as the green jacket winner while two-time champion Scottie Scheffler is the +500 favorite. Other top 2026 Masters contenders include Jon Rahm (+1000), Bryson DeChambeau (+1000) and Xander Schauffele (+1500). Potential Masters sleepers include former winners like Patrick Reed (+4000) and\u00a0 Jordan Spieth (+4500), as well as two-time 2026 PGA winner Chris Gotterup (+4500). Before making any 2026 Masters picks, you need to see the 2026 Masters predictions from golf insider Sia Nejad<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He’s had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in picking head-to-head matchups. He has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, going 52-37-5 and returning 11.67 units over that span. That’s a return of more than 12 units in that span.<\/p>\n Nejad also nailed Wyndham Clark, a +7500 longshot, as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship 2023. That year, SportsLine debuted “The Early Wedge,” and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners. Then, in February 2026, his betting advice for the Genesis Invitational enabled a Discord user to take first in a $100,000 DFS contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2026 Masters field and locked in his top sleepers and favorites to avoid.\u00a0See who they are at SportsLine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top 2026 Masters expert picks <\/p>\n One surprise: Nejad is fading DeChambeau, even though the two-time major winner is one of the Masters favorites. The 32-year-old has piled up 16 victories around the world in his professional career, including U.S. Open wins in 2020 and 2024. However, he’ll have to face his Augusta National demons this week after making the final pairing last season and then going on to shoot 75 in the final round to finish T-5.<\/p>\n DeChambeau has finished top six now in each of the last two seasons and was the low amateur at Augusta in 2016, but hasn’t finished better than T-29 in six other starts there. He also famously missed the cut in 2022 and 2023 after claiming that his length off the tee made the course play like a “par 67.” He has as many missed cuts in nine career Masters starts as he does top-20s. See who else to fade here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, Nejad is high on Schauffele, despite a rough stretch since winning two majors in 2024. “Xander is clearly starting to recapture some of the brilliant form we witnessed in 2024,” Nejad told SportsLine. “The rise in recent form has culminated in finishing T7 or better in three of his last four tournaments, where he has specifically showcased his ball striking acumen.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Schauffele has also become a fixture near the top of the Masters leaderboard. He has three straight top 10s at the major, in addition to a runner-up (2019) and a third-place finish (2021). His recent form on tour has seen him rise up to 11th in strokes gained: total, with top-15 marks in SG: tee-to-green and SG: approach the green.\u00a0See who else to back here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to make 2026 Masters picks, bets<\/p>\n Nejad has locked in his 2026 Masters picks, including a longshot who’s priced at nearly 1000-1. Nejad says this player has the “short game magic and long iron game” for success at Augusta, so anyone who backs him could hit it big.\u00a0You can only see the picks at SportsLine<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, which players should you target for the 2026 Masters, and which golfer could bring a huge payday of nearly 1000-1? Check out the 2026 Masters odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad’s top picks for the 2026 Masters<\/a>, all from the expert who has returned more than 11 units since May 2023.<\/p>\n 2026 Masters odds, field, favorites\u00a0<\/p>\n