With 2018 coming to an end, some golfers will be celebrating a great year whereas others will be looking at what went wrong. However, every player, regardless of their success or failure in 2018, will already be thinking about the major tournaments of 2019.
The first major of the year is The Masters. The defending champion is Patrick Reed and he is available at 28/1 with William Hill to retain his title. You must go back to Tiger Woods in 2002 to find the last time a player won back-to-back Masters and only two players have ever achieved the feat, with Nick Faldo being the other in 1990.
Therefore, it pays to look elsewhere and one man who will be desperate to add The Masters to his US Open success is Justin Rose. The Englishman has had three top-10 finishes in his last four attempts at Augusta National, finishing T2 in 2015 and alone in second place in 2017.
The 2012 US Open champion is one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Tour and claimed eleven top-10 finishes on the tour in 2018. At 16/1 with Ladbrokes, Rose makes a good bet to win the 2019 Masters.
When discussing potential Masters winners, it is impossible to ignore Jordan Spieth. The American won the tournament in 2015 and is a three-time major champion. He did not enjoy a great year in 2018 but finished third at Augusta and only once in his four renewals of The Masters has Spieth finished outside the top three places.
Spieth is the favourite to win the 2019 Masters at 10/1 with William Hill and these odds are sure to shorten if he is in good form heading into the tournament.
Justin Thomas won the first major of his career at the 2017 PGA Championship and finished T6 in the same event in 2018 but has yet to stamp his authority at The Masters. However, Thomas has a fantastic long game and he appears suited to Augusta despite previous results. The American knows that it takes to win a major and should deliver a much improved showing at the 2019 Masters.
You can back Thomas to win the 2019 Masters at 14/1 with Unibet.
A tempting bet at slightly longer odds is Brooks Koepka. The 28 year old has won three major titles in his career, including back-to-back wins at the US Open and the 2018 PGA Championship. He has a reputation for producing his best golf later in the year but Koepka is a man who clearly has the talent to win the 2019 Masters and can be backed at 16/1 with BetVictor.
Finally, there is one man we cannot ignore and his name is Tiger Woods. The legendary golfer showed some good form in 2018 and William Hill have him as 10/1 joint favourite to win the 2019 Masters. A T6 at the 2018 Open Championship and second at the 2018 PGA Championship suggest Woods is returning to his best.
The odds look a little short considering his most recent performances at Augusta but you can never rule out the Tiger.