Hoffman shines on Day One at Augusta – now joint-favourite with McIlroy
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The opening day of the Masters was a blustery affair where the agenda was very much a case of hanging on in there.
But not for Charley Hoffman, who breezed through the back nine to hold a four-shot lead overnight on -7.
And the American’s starring turn has forced our traders to slash his odds from 125/1 to just 6/1 joint-favouritism.
Alongside Hoffman is that man, Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman was struggling with the conditions to sit a drab +3 through 12.
But a sterling finish with three birdies in the final six holes brought Rory back to par – and gave our traders enough evidence to make him joint-favourite.
Another pre-tournament fancy, Jordan Spieth, has drifted right out to 16/1.
The 2015 champion would be sitting pretty on -1, but for a horrendous quadruple bogey on the fifteenth left him at three over par.
The American has been ousted in the betting by Justin Rose, who enjoyed a very solid opening day at one under.
The Englishman never went over par, and ended up being one of just 11 players to finish the day with a sub-zero score.
And we’ve re-priced the 2015 runner-up from 28/1 to just 10s.
Another mover is a man who is popular at both Augusta and the betting – Phil Mickelson.
The three-time champion flew out of the blocks to go three-under through four.
Lefty then drifted to one over thanks to bogeys on ten and eleven, but gathered it all up to join Rose and six others at one under.
The popular American’s price has tumbled from 33/1 into 14/1 ahead of the second round.
The weather is now set to improve throughout the weekend, so we can expect the scoring to follow suit.
So for those who have managed to stick it out on day one and return home with a decent card, they’re well-poised to kick on now.
But, will anyone catch Hoffman? The 40-year-old’s best finish at Augusta has been ninth, and is now bidding to become only the sixth wire-to-wire champion in the tournament’s history.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
