Steve Palmer's Masters first-round leader tips & best golf bets

Steve Palmer's golf tips, best first-round leader bets for The Masters, which starts on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.

When to bet

Tournament starts 1pm Thursday

When to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 2pm Thursday

Best bets

Brooks Koepka first-round leader
1pt each-way 25-1 general

First-round leader preview

The final threeball of Masters Thursday features two heavyweights of the sport - four-time Major champions Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy - and the dynamic duo may enjoy making a few late birdies as the breeze dies down at Augusta.

The course should play extremely long for the early starters, while the middle of the day seems set to have the most wind after overnight storms, so a spot in the late-afternoon sunshine could turn out to be the most favourable starting berth.

McIlroy, who produced a ragged performance in the Texas Open last week and is dealing with his annual Masters handicap of career Grand Slam pressure, may struggle to take advantage. Koepka, though, could be set to ping the Augusta lids and 25-1 seems a more than fair price about the Floridian beefcake finishing first-round leader.

Koepka has been inconsistent this season - following stellar rounds with ugly ones - but when he finds a groove the results can be spectacular. Only one player outscored him in round one of the Phoenix Open in February, then he outscored everyone in the final round of the Valspar in his last strokeplay event, before reaching the quarter-finals of the WGC-Match Play.

Koepka was unfit for the last Masters, having had knee surgery less than a month prior, so his missed cut is easy to ignore. In the April Masters prior to that (2019), he opened with a 66 to share the first-round lead with Bryson DeChambeau, then finished second in the tournament.

Get £30 in free golf bets when you place a £10 bet with Sky Bet, who are paying a huge 11 each-way places on the Masters

Available to new Sky Bet customers only. First single & EW bet only. Odds of 1/1 or greater. 3 x £10 bet tokens. Free bet stakes not included in returns. Free bets only redeemable on golf. Free bets are non withdrawable. No free bet expiry. Eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

CLAIM OFFER HERE

MORE FREE BETS

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport