2026 Masters Pool Picks: Favorites, Sleepers & Value Plays

Value picks and data-driven strategies to give you an edge in tiers-based pools for the 2026 Masters Tournament.

by Jason Lisk - Apr 8, 2026

Justin Rose was a key pick in last year's Masters pools, who will it be in 2026? (Photo: David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)

Welcome to our Masters Pool Picks Strategy article for 2026. In this article, we will update with news and info to consider when making your Masters picks for your golf majors pools and other contests.

As we add new content throughout Masters week, we will link it in this section:

• Strategies for Your Masters “Pick X” Entries – Wednesday, April 8
• Portfolio Advice and Building Your Masters Entries – Posted Tuesday, April 7
• Potential Masters Value Picks – Posted Tuesday, April 7
• Top 15 Favorites at 2025 Masters – Posted Monday, April 6
• Best Masters Performers (Last 5 Years) – Posted Monday, April 6
• Masters Pool Strategy Articles and Videos – Posted Monday, April 6

Playing in a Masters Pool? Here’s Your Full Cheat Sheet

Find the best picks for your Masters and golf majors pool with PoolGenius.

Our tools analyze odds, public pick data, and course history to help you make sharper, more strategic picks.

Strategies for Masters “Pick X” Pools

This section is for you if you play in a pool where you can pick golfers but are not restricted by putting them into tiers. This could include Majors pools, nominally designated as “One and Done” pools, which allow you to pick 3-5 (or more) golfers in each major.

We also have a strategy article for these types of pools, which you should review if you are in one. We are going to build on that by discussing some specific golfers for the 2026 Masters.

For Masters-Only Pools or When Golfers Can Be Reused

If you are making picks just for the Masters, or your picks in this tournament do not impact how you can pick in the future, then this section is for your pool.

Follow the Rule of 24

The advice in our strategy article was to focus on the “Rule of 24” when making your picks. What we mean by that is to generally limit yourself to picks from among the Top 24 golfers in the field.

That means we will mostly limit our picks to golfers in the 2026 Masters with win odds of +6500 or better. If you look at the Data Grid with all the golfers, we will consider golfers like Akshay Bhatia, Nicolai Hojgaard, Chris Gotterup, and Viktor Hovland to represent the outer bounds of the golfers we will pick.

If you have to pick three golfers, you will choose one out of every eight golfers. If you have to pick five golfers, it will be roughly one out of every five golfers from among the Top 25.

Match Picks to Pool Size

Let pool size and payout structure dictate how unique you get and whether your picks are skewed toward the top contenders or mix in more of the guys in the 15-24 range in tournament odds.

• Small Pools: If you are in a small pool, it’s fine to be a little heavier on picking from among the Top 12. If you are picking five golfers and are in a pool with only 50 entries, it is perfectly reasonable to have 3-4 of the Top 12 guys in odds on your entry.
• Large Pools: If you are instead in a pool with 5,000 entries and only the top 1-2% cash, you may want to have 2-3 of the top 12 and have the rest of your picks be lower-popularity from the next tier.

Which Golfers Will Be Relative Fades or Values?

Among the Top 12, in a pool where you can reuse golfers, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm look like the clear most popular choices, and depending on how many picks are required in your pool, could be drawing a pick on well over half of the entries.

When to Play Scheffler and Rahm?