Trump Qualifies for 2019 Masters, Opens at 10,000/1 Odds to Win
Thanks to a poorly-worded rule dating back nearly a century, Donald Trump has qualified for the 2019 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia (Apr. 11-14).
The Masters, technically an invitational tournament, has numerous routes to qualification, including through “The Amateur Championship,” the common name for the British Amateur Championship. But since the rule printed in the official Masters rulebook does not capitalize “amateur championship,” POTUS successfully argued that his club championship at Trump International Golf Club qualifies him for the …
LOL, NO.
APRIL FOOL’S.
Sadly (as far as entertainment-value is concerned), Trump didn’t qualify for the Masters. But you already knew that.
The avid golfer did, however, claim a club championship that he never played in last year …
RT @GOLF_com: Trump International’s club champion in 2018? President Donald J. Trump. President Trump won his latest club championship…without even playing in it. https://t.co/7EGitD72qt pic.twitter.com/wEWbOdV8gY
— The Golf Shop (@TheGolfShopCo) March 12, 2019
… and he certainly talks a big game, all of which led the SBD team to start debating how the Commander in Chief would fare if he actually did tee off from the blacks at Augusta alongside the best golfers in the world.
Would Trump be able to break 100? Would he par a single hole? Would he record the worst round in the 82-year history of the tournament? (Almost certainly.)
Trump vs Augusta National Props
| Proposition | SBD’s Odds |
|---|---|
| Trump breaks 100 at Augusta | 6/1 |
| Over/Under Trump’s round-one score | 104.5 |
| Trump makes the cut at the Masters | 10,000/1 |
| Trump gets caught cheating at the Masters | 50/1 |
| Over/Under first-round score for Trump at the Masters | 104.5 |
| Over/Under number of pars in first round | 1.5 |
| Over/Under number of single-bogeys in first round | 6.5 |
| Trump records worst round in Masters history (96+) | 1/24 |
| Trump records worst single-hole score in Masters history (14+) | 4/1 |
Would Trump Be the Worst Ever at Augusta?
Trump is 72 years old and, while he has a very respectable USGA handicap of 2.2, our consensus is that he would not have the distance off the tee to shoot a respectable score at the Masters.
According to a Golf Digest story, he was averaging about 230 yards with his driver back in 2013. Over the years, the tees at the Masters have moved farther and farther back for tournament play. In 2000, it played 6,985 yards. By 2010, it was nearly 500 yards longer (7,435). In 2019, it will be a hair longer at 7,475 yards.
Trump uses the medium tees in his competitive rounds. If you think this swing (see below) has enough torque to reach Augusta greens in regulation, we beg to differ.
Breaking 100 would mean shooting, on average, 1.5 strokes over par per hole.
If we thought POTUS would be willing to bury his ego, play it safe, and lay up when necessary, we’d give him a fighting chance of staying in double-figures.
But we (all) know him better than that. He’d Tin Cup his round into the hundreds.
The highest official score in Masters history is 95 by amateur Charles Kunkle in 1956. (A 73-year-old Billy Casper, shot 105 in 2005, but never turned in his card.) Trump would have an extremely difficult time not setting a new high.
He should be able to keep his name out of the record books for worst single-hole score, though. Breaking the current record of 13 – co-owned by Sergio Garcia (15th hole, 2018), Tom Weiskopf (12th hole, 1980), and Tommy Nakajima (13th hole, 1978) – requires a meltdown of truly epic proportions. Tin Cup still fired a 12 on the 18th at the US Open!
Best Performances in Masters History
“For every Masters disaster there is an equal and opposite Masters miracle.” — Isaac Newton’s great-great-grandson, Sheamus
We have seen some truly remarkable feats at Augusta over the years, remarkable for all the right reasons.
As the 2019 edition approaches, here are some of the all-time records this year’s Masters favorites will be taking aim at.
| All-Time Masters Records | Score/Record Holder |
|---|---|
| Best single round in Masters history | 63 (Nick Price, 1986; Greg Norman, 1996) |
| Best four-round score in Masters history | 270 (Tiger Woods,1997; Jordan Spieth, 2015) |
| Youngest winner in Masters history | Tiger Woods, 1997 (21y, 3m, 14d) |
| Oldest winner in Masters history | Jack Nicklaus, 1986 (46y, 2m, 23d) |
| Most birdies in one round at the Masters | 11 (Anthony Kim, 2009) |
| Largest margin of victory in Masters History | 12 strokes (Tiger Woods, 1997) |
| Worst winning score in Masters History | 289 (1954, 1956, 2007) |
Tiger Woods’ name is emblazoned in the Masters record books and the four-time winner is actually tied for third in the 2019 Masters odds, despite being 43 years old and winning just one PGA tournament in the last six years.
The very top of the odds-list is reserved for two players still in their primes: Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
2019 Masters Odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy | +650 |
| Dustin Johnson | +1000 |
| Justin Rose | +1200 |
| Tiger Woods | +1200 |
| Justin Thomas | +1400 |
| Brooks Koepka | +1800 |
| Jon Rahm | +1800 |
| Jordan Spieth | +2000 |
| Bryson Dechambeau | +2200 |
| Rickie Fowler | +2200 |
It’s not often you see a golfer as short as +650 to win a major. Rory McIlroy is unquestionably the hottest golfer in the world right now. He’s played seven tournaments this season; he has six top-ten finishes, including a win at THE PLAYERS two weeks ago.
The Northern Irishman’s recent hot streak has put him back at no. 1 in the World Golf Rankings.
The Masters remains the one major title that has eluded McIlroy in his career, but he’s finished top ten in each of the last five tournaments, including a personal-best 4th-place in 2014 and a 5th-place last year. He’s only missed the cut once in ten appearances at Augusta (2010).
Is this the year he completes the career grand slam? Visit one of our top-rated sportsbooks to wager on (or against) that.
As for Trump, while you can’t actually wager on him to win the Masters, for obvious reasons, we are monitoring his chances at re-election in our 2020 Presidential Election odds tracker.
Sascha was a hockey player in his youth, a lawyer in his capricious mid-20s, and has been with SBD since 2014. He specializes in football, basketball, politics, baseball, and hockey.
