Master Picks 2013: Smartest Bets for Top-10 Contention

The 2013 Masters is going to be a classic. With a host of the world's top players rounding into form, this leaderboard is going to be packed with star power, and it is going to set up for a dramatic final round. 

Tiger Woods has to be considered the favorite. He is in great form, and obviously he has the game to win at Augusta. So, it should be no surprise that you won't find him on this list. 

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has won his last two PGA Tour events, and he is an overwhelming favorite to win the green jacket. At Bovada, on April 7, Woods is a 5-2 favorite to win the tournament. The next lowest odds are on Rory McIlroy at 8-1.

A big part of Woods' 2013 success has come on the greens. He currently leads all players with 1.476 strokes gained-putting. 

This nice work with the flat blade will serve him well on the tricky Augusta greens. Along with his putting work, Woods has been dialed in with his distance control. These two qualities give him the chance to score on any hole. 

If Woods does not win his fifth green jacket, it is likely going to be due to his work off the tee. Woods is struggling to hone in on his driving accuracy and is hitting just 55.8 percent of his fairways this season. 

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy lost his world No. 1 ranking to Tiger Woods as his 2013 season got off to a rough start. McIlroy played a light schedule to begin the year, and when he did play, he was having a hard time controlling his shots.

All of this led to him deciding to enter the Texas Open in the week leading up to the Masters. It appears to be the right decision. After starting the tournament with an up-and-down even-par 72, McIlroy found his stroke and fired a 67, 71 and 66 to finish the tournament in second. 

Now, McIlroy has two top 10s in his last three Tour events. McIlroy is still erratic off the tee, but Augusta is not a course where driving accuracy is at a premium.

McIlroy will have to battle his inconsistency, but he appears to be in a position to contend for this major. 

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson has a great game for Augusta, and that is certainly evident in the fact that, of his four major wins, three of them have come at the Masters. 

With Mickelson, some inconsistency is always to be expected, but for the most part, he has been solid this year. He already has a win, and he has a third and 16th-place finish in his last three Tour events. 

Like Tiger and Rory, Phil is not the most accurate driver, and nothing has changed in that regard this year. 

The big key for Phil at Augusta is his putter. Phil has struggled on the greens at different times of his career, and he has been solid with his putter this year. 

Justin Rose

If forced to pick a golfer not named Tiger Woods to win the 2013 Masters, I am going with Justin Rose. 

Rose is starting to come into his own, and he has the kind of game that breeds success at Augusta. At 301.3 yards per drive, he is ninth on the Tour in distance. While he is 109th in strokes gained-putting, he has made some tweaks in his putting strokes that are really starting to pay off.

Rose has played well at Augusta—he was eighth last year, and 11th in 2011. He also has a hot hand right now. He was second his last time out—at the Arnold Palmer Invitational—and eighth and fourth in the two tournaments leading up to that.  

This could be his big coming-out party.