Masters early starters in Round 1 face highest risk of missing the cut
Research shows players teeing off early at Augusta have lowest chance of making the weekend.
On the eve of The Masters, the opening three-ball of Austin Cook, Ted Potter Jr. and Wesley Bryan may be concerned to see that teeing off between 8am-9am U.S. time (1pm-2pm UK time) on the opening day has led to the lowest portion of cuts made in recent years.
Averaging tee-off times and cuts made (%) in 2016 and 2017, a study from bettingexpert.com, the world’s biggest social network of sports betting tipsters, shows the first hour on the Thursday has led to a lumpy 57% of green jacket hopefuls not making it through to the weekend.
However, after the early nerves have settled at Augusta, 9am-10am has historically been the best time to tee off, with a full 79% of mid-morning tee offs making the cut.
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That’s good news for 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett who heads out at 9.58am, while returning former world number one Tiger Woods has been handed an opening round time of 10.42am. Thankfully for Woods, the 10am-11am slot is the joint-second most successful with 67% of golfers teeing off in that hour making the cut.
As the rowdy patrons roll through the gates, navigating the Georgia course looks to become more testing with 55% of pros teeing off between 11am-12pm falling short of the cut line come Friday evening.
Bookmakers’ favourites Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and GolfMagic pick Justin Rose all tee off in the final hour, where the missed-cuts rate stands at a not-too concerning 36%.
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"Thankfully for favourite-backers, almost all of the big guns look to have been handed favourable tee off times at The Masters this year," said Henrik Lykkesteen, VP of commercial for Better Collective.
"Tiger Woods heads out in the second most successful hour for opening round tee times in terms of cuts made, while Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are out in the final hour which is statistically one of the better times to go off.
"We’re always looking to add another angle to the mix. With so many different stats surrounding a major tournament like The Masters it would be a shame to not use them all and we hope we’ve found an interesting pointer to give punters the edge this year."
