Masters Second-Round Leader Picks & H2H Best Bets

• After the first round of the Masters, Justin Rose is in first place with a three shot lead
• I’m bullish on a young phenom to overtake Rose and become the second round leader
• Read below for more Masters odds in the second round head-to-head betting markets

The first round of the Masters is in the books, with Justin Rose holding the lead by three strokes over Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners. Scheffler entered the event as the favorite to win his third green jacket in the last four years, and his number is now down to +210. In my 2025 Masters first-round leader article, I had Rose at +6500 to take the lead after 18 holes, so I’m searching for more winning bets that can be settled after Friday’s second round. Why wait to potentially win cash Sunday when you could enter the weekend flying high over some cold hard cash?

Masters Second-Round Leader Odds

The weather will be mainly sunny, with temperatures in the high 50’s in the morning, reaching a high of 70 mid-afternoon. Wind gusts will increase as the day wears on, with those competing in the morning holding the slight advantage. By virtue of his three shot edge, Rose is the +160 favorite to lead entering the weekend.

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Second-Round Leader Picks

• Scottie Scheffler +360
• Ludvig Aberg +550

This is now the fifth time Justin Rose has led after the first round, most in Masters history. Of the four previous instances (2004, 2007, 2008, 2021), the Englishmen failed to shoot anything better than a 71, with an average of two-over par, 74. On the campaign, he’s miserable on Friday’s also, ranking 184th of 186th players with an average of 73.0 strokes. Even though I was bullish on Rose to be first-round leader at +6500, I’m not on him to keep the charge going.

Enter Scottie Scheffler, since it’s often wise to not overthink things. He’s won two of the last three green jackets, has been inside the top-20 in all five trips to Augusta, and is fourth in Friday scoring average in 2025 (67.83). At +360, you’re getting him at almost the exact same price he was to win the whole tournament pre-event, so it’s pretty good value, considering he’s in a tie for second.

My other selection is Ludvig Aberg, who is also at -4, tied with Scheffler. In his Masters debut in 2024, only the boogie man Scheffler was better than the Swedish phenom over the course of 72 holes. Aberg’s odds are +550, and since I was banking on him winning the entire tournament in the 2025 Masters odds of +1800, why not keep the belief in him going to steamroll past the leader Rose?

Second-Round Head-to-Head Picks

• Sungjae Im (+110) over Russell Henley (-140)
• Cameron Smith (-140) over J.T. Poston (+110)

Playing in the same group Friday will be Sungjae Im (-1, 71) and Russell Henley (+7, 79). Given that there was a whopping eight shot difference between the two players on Thursday, you’d think Im had the worse score, considering he’s the underdog in this matchup.

What am I missing here? In round one, Sungjae had three birdies and just two bogeys, compared to Henley who had no birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey. On the campaign, Im is better on Fridays by a slight margin as well. He also has two top-10s in five starts at Augusta National, contrasted to Henley’s one top-10 in eight attempts. I’m definitely bullish on the underdog in this matchup, particularly because only one player had a worse score than Henley Thursday.

After going with one player who isn’t favored, I’m going with one of my players in the outright winner market this week, Aussie Cameron Smith. He’s expected to defeat J.T. Poston Friday in the eyes of oddsmakers, and I absolutely agree. He shot -1, 71 with a steady two birdie, one bogey round, compared to Poston’s +2, 74, that featured four bogeys and two birdies. In his Masters career, Poston has been solid, if unspectacular with a T-30, T-34 and a missed cut. Smith has been dynamite at this venue, with five top-10’s in his last seven attempts, including a runner-up and third place showing.

In 16 career major starts, Poston doesn’t have anything better than the aforementioned T-30th to his resume, while Smith has the 2022 Open Championship title to his credit, along with nine total top-10s in majors.