Left-handed golfers won the Masters six times in 12 years from 2003 to 2014, with Phil Mickelson winning three green jackets, Bubba Watson two and Mike Weir one.
VSiN golf handicapper Wes Reynolds and Westgate golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman each made left-hander Robert MacIntyre one of their best bets to win the Masters, which tees off Thursday at Augusta National.
MacIntyre is a 55-1 long shot to win the year’s first major after he finished tied for 12th and tied for 23rd his previous two Masters appearances in 2021 and 2022.
“The big-hitting lefty fits the profile of previous southpaws like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson who bomb it off the tee, hit it all over the place and pull off great shots,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “The Scotsman has quietly been playing good and consistent golf in 2025 with six finishes of 17th or better in nine worldwide events.”
Sherman also bet on lefty Akshay Bhatia, available at 85-1.
“It’s nice to try and find some lefties that can perform well here,” Sherman said. “If you can find a lefty in good form, that’s favorable for this course with the fade.”
Mickelson, aka “Lefty,” is 125-1 to win his fourth Masters at age 54.
Reynolds, who has picked four long-shot winners on the PGA Tour this year, including three straight in January, shares another common play with Sherman in Justin Thomas.
Thomas, a two-time major winner, is 25-1 to win his first green jacket.
“Thomas seems to be working back toward his peak form with seven top-10s in his last 11 events, including three runner-up finishes,” said Reynolds, who hit a winner on Thomas in the Review-Journal in his last victory at the 2022 PGA Championship. “The elite iron play has returned to form.”
Defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is the +450 favorite to repeat and Rory McIlroy is the 7-1 second pick. Collin Morikawa is 14-1, followed by Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm at 16-1, and Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele at 20-1.
Sherman said Rahm has received some support from respected players at the Westgate. Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, is also one of Reynolds’ best bets.
“Last year, he was the defending champion, plus dealing with the fallout from the LIV move,” Reynolds said. “This year, despite being the third or fourth choice on the odds board, he almost seems slightly forgotten or at least slightly under the radar. … Getting back into a major championship will get the Spaniard going.”
Here are Reynolds’ other best bets (with his comments):
Collin Morikawa, 14-1
“It is almost unfathomable that Morikawa, who won two major championships in less than a calendar year, has not won on American soil in over four years. … His iron play is back to world-class, elite status and he has gone well at Augusta each of the last three years (with) a fifth in 2022, (a) tie for 10th in 2023 and (a) third last year.”
Patrick Cantlay, 38-1
“On the surface, Cantlay’s all-around game should be tailor-made for major championships and yet his majors record is underwhelming. … Cantlay has always been solid with the driver and an above-average putter, but now his irons have been the best that they have been in three years. He is under the radar here to break a 2½-year winless drought.”
Min Woo Lee, 55-1
“Min Woo cooked up his first PGA Tour victory two weeks ago for us at 35-1 by winning the Houston Open and holding off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the process.
“Like Memorial Park in Houston, Augusta National is a place where you can hit it long and not find much of a penalty if you miss off the tee and that is right in Min Woo’s kitchen, so to speak.”
Patrick Reed, 90-1
“Even when he is out of form, the 2018 Masters champion always seems to find something at Augusta and has finished inside the top 12 in four of the last five years.”
Sherman’s selections
Sherman bet on nine golfers throughout the year to win the Masters, though the odds have dropped on all of them. Besides Thomas, MacIntyre and Bhatia, he wagered on Joaquin Niemann (37-1), Shane Lowry (now 42-1), Russell Henley (43-1), Viktor Hovland (46-1), Thomas Detry (220-1) and Rasmus Hojgaard (300-1).
The Westgate took sharp bets on four tournament matchups: McIlroy (+125) over Scheffler, Morikawa (+110) over McIlroy, DeChambeau (+105) over Rahm and Adam Scott (+110) over Sergio Garcia.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
