The 2022 Masters tees off Thursday, April 7 at Augusta National Golf Club. Several red-hot young guns will battle seasoned veterans for the green jacket once the first 2022 Masters tee times begin. Scottie Scheffler earned his first PGA Tour victory in February and is now the No. 1 player in the world. Scheffler won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play over the weekend for his third victory in his last five events. Three other players have two wins this season, including reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. There are numerous major champions in the 2022 Masters field, including 2021 US Open winner Jon Rahm, four-time champ Rory McIlroy, five-time winner Tiger Woods, and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth.
Rahm is the 9-1 favorite in Caesars Sportsbook’s latest 2022 Masters odds. Spieth, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas are 12-1, followed closely by McIlroy and 2020 winner Dustin Johnson at 14-1. Before you make any 2022 Masters picks or PGA Tour predictions, you need to see what proven golf insider Sal Johnson has to say, considering his history at the Masters.
The esteemed golf insider has been around the game for many years and knows what it takes to win on the PGA Tour. He also knows the keys at Augusta National and when a player’s momentum can carry him to greatness.
Johnson has nailed two of the past three winners of the Masters, including Tiger Woods’ unlikely victory in 2019 for his most recent major title. He also called Johnson’s 2020 win when he shot a tournament-record 20-under 268 to win by five strokes.
“His tee-to-green game is almost as sharp as in his prime,” Johnson said of Woods before the 2019 event. “This will be the reason for him winning. It would be great for the game, him winning another Masters.” Woods wasn’t far removed from back surgery and hadn’t won a major in more than 10 years, but he rallied from a two-shot deficit in the final round to win by one. It was his fifth Masters title and his 15th major championship.
Now, Johnson, the first producer of “Inside the PGA Tour” and longtime ABC Sports golf producer who worked with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, has released his highly confident 2022 Masters picks. The picks from the founder of GOLFstats.com, the world’s top golf statistics database, will definitely surprise you. You can see them here.
Top 2022 Masters expert picks
One shocking choice from Johnson: The expert is fading Collin Morikawa, even though he’s in the mix of top favorites. The world’s No. 2 golfer doesn’t have a strong track record at Augusta, typing for 18th last year and finishing 44th in 2020. His tee-to-green game is almost unmatched, but his putting has been inconsistent. He gets off the green in one putt less than 41% of the time (78th on tour) and is 112th inside 10 feet (88%).
On the flip side, the expert knows Spieth is off to a slow start this season, but he should be locked in at Augusta. He won the 2015 Masters on his way to Player of the Year honors and has finished in the top three five times in eight appearances. Spieth has just one top-10 finish this season, but that was a runner-up spot at Pebble Beach. He ranks 24th on tour this season in greens in regulation (70.6 percent).
The expert also knows McIlroy is in a better frame of mind lately and also typically fares well at Augusta. He missed the cut last year, but rebounded by winning the Well Fargo a month later and has finished in the top 10 in six of his last eight Masters. He also won the CJ Cup in October and has three top-12 finishes on the European Tour this season. McIlroy finished last season fourth in strokes gained off the tee and led in birdie average at 5.4 per round.
How to make 2022 Masters picks, bets
Johnson also is backing a massive long shot at Augusta who comes in at almost 100-1. “He seems like a strange choice, but he isn’t,” Johnson says of this golfer, who is one of the best short-range putters on tour. You can only see who it is at SportsLine.
Who wins the 2022 Masters at Augusta National? Where do Spieth and McIlroy finish? And which epic long shot is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Sal Johnson’s full leaderboard, picks and analysis for the 2022 Masters, all from the insider who has nailed the winner two of the last three years.