Masters Odds 2012: Power Ranking Best Bets for Historic Tournament

Betting on golf is always a crap shoot. Picking winners from one tournament to the next is nearly impossible to predict, but the following five guys are going to offer you the most bang for your buck during the 2012 Masters. 

Tiger Woods, 4/1

These are incredibly low odds for picking a single golfer to win any tournament. However, it is Tiger Woods, and all of a sudden Tiger is playing like he was when he was at his dominating best. 

Woods picked up a convincing five-stroke victory his last time out. That was his first PGA victory in 30 months. It was also the culmination of the trend of his improvements. 

Tiger's stats, across the board, are similar to the numbers he was posting during his dominant run in 2000. If he can hold that kind of play together for four rounds, he can't be beat at Augusta. 

Luke Donald, 16/1

Donald has never won a major, but that is simply a matter of time. He is a great golfer. While he doesn't have the kind of distance that Masters contenders usually have, he has the putting and iron play to make up for that. 

That much became clear when he finished tied for fourth last year with a 10-under effort. 

Donald also enters this tournament peaking at the right time. 

He won the Transitions his last time on the course and was sixth at the Cadillac Championship the week before that.

Keegan Bradley, 33/1

Bradley proved last year that he can excel in the pressure of a major when he won the PGA Championship in a playoff. 

That win was no fluke, either. He is a supremely talented golfer with the ideal game for Augusta. 

Bradley has been playing excellent golf. He was fourth his last time on the course at the Houston Open and eighth in the last tournament he played prior to that (Cadillac Championship). 

He will be battling inexperience at Augusta, but at 33/1 this is a solid bet. 

Zach Johnson, 100/1 

A 100/1 for a past champion who is in his 30s? Sign me up. Johnson has been playing solid golf as of late and enters this tournament fresh off of an 11th-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And we know he is capable of winning here. 

All of that said, there is a reason he is 100/1. He is not an elite golfer, and even though he has won here, he doesn't have a game well-suited for the course. 

Johnson will have to groove his putter and irons to contend, which he has a better shot at one-in-a-100 at doing. 

Fred Couples, 125/1

Is 100/1 not long enough for you? Well, I've got a fun play at 125/1. Couples loves Augusta. He is a past champion and typically plays well here. 

There was a time where he regularly entered this tourney as a favorite. However, that was a long time ago. He is 52 now, and his back is roughly 143. 

That problematic back was part of Couples' undoing in 2010. He held the lead in that tournament before his back wouldn't allow him to perform on the final day. 

Couples is playing well right now; he won his last event (a Champions Tour event) and would there be a more rewarding play than correctly playing this likable 52-year-old to win?