US Masters: make the most of British bias with Kuchar punt

Such has been the focus on Rory McIlroy and the rest of the British contingent in the build up to the Masters that plenty of brilliant players are slipping somewhat under the radar.

With a lot of British money going on the likes of McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, they are perhaps a little shorter than they otherwise would be, while some lesser-known Americans are a little long.

One player who stands a really good chance of claiming the Green Jacket is American Matt Kuchar who can be backed at a very decent 33/1 to win his first major.

He may not have a major to his name, but he has won some of the biggest tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the 2012 Players Championship and this season’s WGC-Accenture Match Play.

Alongside his one win of 2013 he’s also been incredibly consistent, making the cut in each of the seven stroke-play events he’s played on the PGA Tour and finishing inside the top 10 in each of his last two outings.

His record at Augusta also stands up to scrutiny.

In the past three renewals of the year’s first major he’s finished inside the top 30 on each occasion and last year gave it a real go, finishing tied third just two shots behind Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson who duked it out in a play-off.

While he may not be near the top of any stats worth studying for Augusta – such as driving distance and strokes gained putting – he’s ranked reasonably high across the board and his solid game should help him avoid the big numbers that derail so many players around Augusta.

At 33/1, a punt on Kuchar is one that’s well worth a long, hard think about.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.