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Rory McIlroy is now the betting favorite for all four major championships in 2020

March 04, 2020
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(Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)

Barring an unlikely dominant stretch of golf by someone other than Rory McIlroy—or an even more unlikely poor stretch of golf by the World No. 1—McIlroy will be the betting favorite at all four major championships when the 2020 Masters commences next month.

A recent run of strong play combined with a slow start to the year by previous World No. 1 Brooks Koepka and reigning Masters champ Tiger Woods has McIlroy at the top across the boards at places like BetMGM and BetOnline. At MGM, McIlroy is +700 (Risk $100 to win $700) at the Masters, +800 at the PGA Championship, +900 (along with Koepka) at the U.S. Open, and +900 at the Open Championship.

At BetOnline, he's the outright favorite at all four (+650 at the Masters, +800 at PGA and U.S. Open, and +900 at the Open). He's also the heavy favorite (+650) to win next week's Players Championship at FanDuel.

None of this is too surprising considering McIlroy's six consecutive top fives on the PGA Tour dating back to his victory at the 2019 Tour Championship in Augusta. McIlroy also won the WGC-HSBC Champions in November and took Koepka's top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking last month.

The 30-year-old Northern Irishman is also a four-time major champ. Although, his last major title came at the 2014 PGA Championship.

In the meantime, Koepka and Woods, who were recently co-favorites with McIlroy at the Masters, haven't performed well lately. Since undergoing a stem cell treatment on his left knee in September, Koepka's best worldwide finish was a T-17 in Saudi Arabia last month and he's coming off a missed cut at the Honda Classic.

Woods won the Zozo Championship in October and returned to the PGA Tour with a T-9 at the Farmers Insurance in January. But he finished 68th at Riviera and hasn't played otherwise, including opting to skip this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he's an eight-time winner.

Jon Rahm (+1000) is the second favorite to win the Masters at BetMGM. And in the meantime, check out our new gambling podcast presented by BetMGM. This week, Stephen Hennessey, Christopher Powers, and myself give our picks for this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational and discuss my painful dental emergency. Enjoy! Well, the picks part, at least. . .