Patrick Reed is slight favorite over Rory McIlroy to win Masters
Patrick Reed earned the nickname “Captain America” for his exploits in the Ryder Cup, where he beat Rory McIlroy in a thrilling 2016 singles match.
Las Vegas oddsmakers expect Captain America to add a green jacket to his red, white and blue wardrobe on Sunday.
Reed, who leads McIlroy by three shots, is the 6-5 favorite at adjusted odds at the Westgate sports book to hold off the Northern Irishman in the final round of the Masters in a virtual rematch of their Ryder Cup duel.
McIlroy is the 8-5 second choice to win his first Masters title, which would make him the sixth golfer to complete a career Grand Slam. He’s also a minus 200 favorite over Reed on Sunday in a head-to-head matchup at the Wynn Las Vegas sports book.
“I expect to take money on Rory,” Wynn sports book director Johnny Avello said. “He’s three shots behind, and his game looks solid right now.
“Everything Reed’s done has worked out well. But if that doesn’t work (Sunday) and he shoots 71 or 72, he may lose.”
Reed, bidding to become the first golfer in Masters history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s, fired a 5-under 67 on Saturday to improve to 14 under. His fourth-round score prop at the Westgate is 71.5.
“If he shoots in the 60s again, he should win the tournament. But I think either par or 1 under is more likely,” Westgate sports book manager Jeff Sherman said. “My gut would say Reed will hang on. But I think McIlroy will close the gap because I’ve seen golfers in this position with a decent lead falter. It’s been a trend over time.”
McIlroy, whose fourth-round score prop is 69.5, was one of three golfers to shoot 65 on Saturday. The others were Rickie Fowler, five shots behind in third place, and Jon Rahm, six shots back in fourth place.
“Don’t count out those other guys behind (Reed and McIlroy),” Avello said. “Any of them could end up shooting 5 under.”
Fowler is 7-1 at adjusted odds and Rahm 14-1.
Reed, who led Augusta State to two national titles, opened as a 60-1 long shot to win the Masters and closed at 40-1. McIlroy closed as a 10-1 co-favorite with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
One CG Technology sports book bettor placed a $1,000 wager on Reed at 40-1 odds and another made a $3,000 bet on McIlroy at 16-1.
The Westgate will win money on Reed or McIlroy after taking heavy action Friday night on the Masters.
“We’ve doubled last year’s handle,” Sherman said. “We wrote a ton more (Friday) night that almost reshaped our futures. We were going to break even on Reed and McIlroy, and now we’ll win a decent amount.
“The money shifted to other golfers. We took a lot on Spieth at 7-1, we wrote a lot on Dustin Johnson and we took a lot on Bubba Watson. He’s our only liability.”
Watson is eight shots off the lead after shooting 68, Spieth is nine back and Johnson 10 behind after both shot 71.
The books won big on Tiger Woods, who shot 72 on Saturday to remain 4 over, tied for 40th place. Woods, who shot 73 and 75 in the first two rounds, still received support from bettors before the second round at adjusted odds of 30-1 and 25-1. Under bettors have one last chance to cash the prop on lowest round shot by Tiger (68.5).
More betting: Follow all of our sports betting coverage online at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
Updated Masters odds
Posted at Westgate sports book
Patrick Reed 6-5
Rory McIlroy 8-5
Rickie Fowler 7-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Henrik Stenson 30-1
Bubba Watson 40-1
Tommy Fleetwood 50-1
Jordan Spieth 60-1
Justin Thomas 80-1
Marc Leishman 100-1
Dustin Johnson 150-1
Field (all others) 100-1
Fourth-round only score props
Patrick Reed 71.5
Rory McIlroy 69.5
Rickie Fowler 70
Jon Rahm 70
Justin Thomas 70
Jordan Spieth 70
Dustin Johnson 70
Justin Rose 70
Jason Day 70.5
Tiger Woods 71.5
Matchup
Posted at Wynn Las Vegas
Rory McIlroy -200
Patrick Reed +170
