Mickelson looms ominously as stats suggest McIlroy will fall away

The 33/1 for Rory McIlroy to win the Masters is long gone after a stunning opening round of 65 saw the Ulsterman end the first day sharing the lead with Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.

Mcilroy is now 5/1 with Phil Mickelson now the second favourite but his Masters odds were cut into 6/1 after an opening round round of 70 which saw some incredible rescue play from the master of the short game.

Tiger Woods walked off the course with a massive grin on his face after shooting an opening round 71 – he has only broken 70 in the first round of a Masters once and he went on to finish fourth – and he remains 12/1 to win.

Quiros’ Masters odds weren’t cut as dramatically as McIlroy’s but the Sapniard now finds himself joint-fourth favourite at 14/1 alongside Matt Kuchar and K J Choi.

Backers of McIlroy and Quiroz may want to skip this paragraph as no first round leader who has shot 66 or lower in the Masters has ever gone on to win, and the way that Mickelson rescued what looked to be certain bogies yesterday, the value has to be in sticking with last year’s winner.

The second round gets underway at around 3.00pm and Ladbrokes are offering odds on who will finish the second round as leader.

Augusta was set-up relatively easy yesterday suggesting today will be a lot harder and scores may not be as high as the first day’s play.

McIlroy is favourite to finish the second day as favourite at 9/4 but he followed his scorching opening 63 at the Open last year with a miserable 80 suggesting little value in backing the Northern Irishman.

With the players at the top expected to group closer together with some high scoring, Mickelson looks a big price at 20/1 to finish the day as leader but we’re backing both Immelman (25/1) who confirmed his love of this event yesterday, and Sergio Garcia (25/1) who has regained his form.

A £20 stake on Sergio Garcia leading after the second round would return £520. Take advantage of Ladbrokes Masters odds.