2024 Masters: Best dark horse bets with shot at Augusta National glory

Every year, the best golfers on the planet gather at Augusta National for the Masters Tournament. The 88th edition is even more exciting with current champion Jon Rahm leaving the PGA Tour and joining LIV Golf.

As usual there are countless storylines.

The low-hanging fruit, of course, is for LIV golfers to play with PGA Tour stars again. But there’s also Rory McIlroy, who is still aiming for a career Grand Slam. Can Brooks Koepka redeem himself from last year’s poor back nine?

Don’t forget Tiger Woods. He hopes to make history by reaching the weekend 24 years in a row. If that happens, he will be out of line with Fred Couples and Gary Player.

With so many big names in this tournament, it’s easy to overlook the long shots. But remember, 2024 is the year of the underdog.

Stefan Jager (Houston Open), Peter Malnati (Valspar), Bryce Garnett (Puerto Rico), Austin Eckrot (Cognizant), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open), Nick Taylor (Phoenix Open), Matthew Pavon (Farmers), Nick Dunlap (The AMEX), Grayson Murray (Sony Open) and Chris Kirk (The Sentry) were all long shots who had already won this year.

So SB Nation thought this way. Which dark horse can win the Masters and take home the green jacket?

Kendall Capps – Senior Editor / Cameron Young 55-1

I’m going to go with Cameron Young as the dark horse to win at Augusta.

Young has been knocking on the door of a major championship in recent years. He had a T3 finish at the 2022 PGA Championship, followed by a runner-up finish at The Open that same year.

He struggled mightily and missed out on qualifying for the Masters earlier that year. However, the 26-year-old bounced back just a year later, finishing tied for seventh.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Young is a great ball striker and has great distance off the tee. We’ve seen sluggers win at Augusta over the last 10 or 20 years, but if you can’t control the iron, it doesn’t matter.

I think the 2021-2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year could be on the verge of breaking out. If that’s the case, there’s no better place than Augusta National.

Savannah Richardson – Staff Writer / Russell Henry 60-1

Savannah’s dark horse is Russell Henry.

Literally and figuratively, she goes with bulldogs because of their pedigree.

According to DraftKings, Henry currently has odds of 60-1. Still, he finished T4 at Augusta National last year. It’s clear he can play this tricky track very well.

The four-time PGA champion has two top-five finishes this season, including a tie for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Perhaps his specialty is playing difficult courses.

The former Georgia Bulldog’s game is shaping up to be a good one for Augusta National. Henry could shock the world by becoming the second Dawg player in history to win a green jacket, joining two-time champion Bubba Watson.

Jack Mirko – Staff Writer / Nick Taylor 150 to 1

Jack, our resident golf architect and history guru, welcomes Nick Taylor as a dark horse.

Taylor will compete well at Augusta National because he has the right characteristics for the course. He is a solid ball striker and an above-average putter, a formula that often leads to success at the Masters. As of 2024, Taylor ranks 14th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on green approaches and 15th in strokes gained on putts.

That was evident at the WM Phoenix Open, where Taylor used excellent ball striking and clutch putting to edge out Charlie Hoffman over the final four holes. If you want a player to make putts with tournaments on the line, there are few players who rank higher than Taylor. Ice flows through his veins. Just ask Tommy Fleetwood, who witnessed Taylor make Canadian Open history with a 72-foot bomb in Toronto last year.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

ESPN’s Curtis Strange even called it the best shot of the year. Plus, Taylor has played at Augusta before, which always helps. His only appearance at the Masters was in 2020, when Dustin Johnson set a new tournament record. Taylor tied for 29th place, but had an unusual three double bogeys that week.

This year, Taylor ranks 33rd on the PGA Tour with a bogey avoidance percentage of 12.91%. He knows how to play smartly and when to attack, another secret to success in golf’s hallowed grounds.

If there’s a chance and a long shot is on the board, it’s Taylor.

Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.