Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win mixed bag for sportsbooks

Hideki Matsuyama’s win at the Masters produced a mixed bag of results for Las Vegas sportsbooks.

BetMGM, William Hill and the Westgate did very well on the tournament overall and Matsuyama in particular, as there was little action on him in the popular futures market, where his pretournament odds were 60-1.

But the first major win by a Japanese man was a major loser for the South Point, which took some major wagers on Matsuyama at 75-1.

“Two guys in particular hit it hard,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said. “Terrible result. Great handle.”

Circa also was a “solid loser” on Matsuyama, according to sportsbook director Matthew Metcalf. But he said the book did very well overall, with a hold, or win percentage, of 12 percent.

“We blew away our expectations for write,” he said.

The Westgate had a higher betting handle and win than it did on the 2020 Masters in November. That tournament was the biggest golf betting event ever at BetMGM, which fell short of that mark this year.

“It was not a record but a very good win,” MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said.

The largest wager MGM took was $10,000 on 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson, who missed the cut.

2022 Masters odds

The books take action on matchups, props, round-by-round odds and in-play wagering. But the futures book is king.

“The futures is where the action is. There’s no comparison,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “People love having a ticket on someone to win the Masters.”

The Westgate already has odds posted on the next four majors.

Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are the 12-1 co-favorites to win the 2022 Masters.

Spieth snapped a four-year winless streak the week before the Masters with a victory at the Valero Texas Open and was one of the favorites and ticket leaders entering Augusta National. He tied for third with Xander Schauffele, giving him five top-three finishes in the past seven Masters, including his win in 2015.

“He’s so popular with the betting public, we didn’t need to go higher to get the action we’re looking for” Westgate vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said. “It’s a course people like to play him at, so you’re not going to find odds that are too high.”

Matsuyama, who entered Sunday’s final round with a four-shot lead and held on for a one-stroke win over Will Zalatoris, is 30-1 to repeat as Masters champion.

“He wasn’t getting wins, so his odds increased to 60-1 for the Masters and 40-1 and 50-1 for the other majors,” Sherman said. “But now we’ve kind of relaxed him back to what his power rating was the last couple of years, in the 30-1 range.”

Zalatoris had triple-digit odds before his first Masters. But after his impressive performance at Augusta, his odds dropped to 40-1 to win the 2022 Masters and upcoming PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

Tiger tracks

Tiger Woods is out indefinitely after suffering severe leg injuries in a February car accident. But the 15-time major champion is listed at 60-1 to win next year’s Masters.

“If anyone has any doubts if they’re betting Tiger, we give refunds if he doesn’t play,” Sherman said. “If you bet him at 60-1 and he’s playing, he probably won’t go off that high.”

PGA Championship

Johnson is the 12-1 favorite to win the PGA Championship, scheduled for May 20 to 23 at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are each 14-1.

Thomas (16-1) and Tony Finau (40-1) are the ticket leaders at the Westgate, and Thomas and Rahm are the money leaders.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.