Masters men

With the Masters on Sky Sports getting ever closer, how are the leading contenders shaping up?

With the Masters on Sky Sports getting ever closer, how are the leading contenders shaping up?

A third victory for Tiger Woods in 2013 has seen the 14-time major winner's Masters odds cut yet again. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by two shots from another Masters fancy, Justin Rose, although it wasn't such a good week for several other of the Green Jacket hopefuls. Here's how the market leaders are shaping up ahead of the big tee-off on April 11: Tiger Woods (100/30): Tiger now dominates the Masters betting after his two-shot win at Bay Hill on Monday. The latest victory continued his habit of winning at his favourite venues and added to his successes at Torrey Pines and Doral earlier this season. The Bay Hill triumph also returned him to world number one so, with his putter continuing to look red-hot, he's very clearly the man to beat when he goes in search of his fifth Green Jacket next month. Rory McIlroy (9/1): Rory made a nightmare start to 2013 which reached a head when he walked off the course in round two when defending his Honda Classic crown. However, an eighth place, secured by a closing 65 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship has silenced the doubters. Indeed, there's now a feeling that the new Nike boy might be building to a magnificent Augusta peak. No longer world number one but can he get it back in Houston this week? Phil Mickelson (12/1): Like Tiger, Mickelson has blown hot and cold so far. He was absolutely red-hot when winning wire-to-wire in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and also impressed when third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. But on his very latest start at Bay Hill he looked completely out of sorts, shooting a 79 in round two to miss the cut by a distance. This week's Shell Houston Open is his last start before Augusta. Justin Rose (14/1): The Englishman has shown a level of high-class consistency only matched this season by Brandt Snedeker. He was a lip-out from making a play-off in his first outing of the year in Abu Dhabi and three strokeplay starts in the US have yield finishes of fourth at the Honda Classic, eighth when defending his WGC-Cadillac Championship crown and a runners-up finish behind Tiger Woods in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Brandt Snedeker (20/1): Snedeker was the story for the first month and bit of the season after a splendid run of high-class golf. Third in the season-opener in Hawaii, he was runner-up to Tiger at Torrey Pines and again to Mickelson in Phoenix before he deservedly got his hands on a trophy with victory at Pebble Beach. A rib injury then sidelined him for a month and it appeared he'd lost some of his mojo when he returned at Bay Hill last week and missed the cut. Charl Schwartzel (20/1): The 2011 Masters champion ended 2012 with 11 and 12 shot victories and, after two months off, came within a whisker of winning his season-opener at Riviera - particularly impressive given that it was his debut at the LA course. He's cooled a little since then though. He made a first-round exit in the Match Play, finished 9th and 16th in two Florida events and then had to settle for fourth in Malaysia last week when expected to come through and win on the final day. Adam Scott (25/1): The Aussie, who came so close to winning the 2011 Masters, had a curious week in Tampa Bay. After two rounds he was second only to unknown Shawn Stefani and looked in great position to win but on the weekend he went backwards. However, Scott's only other two strokeplay starts this season were a 10th at Riviera and a third at Doral (ranked 1st for ball-striking) so his game is obviously in good shape. Lee Westwood (28/1): The former world number one hasn't done too much wrong this season but the fact that he's fallen out of the world's top 10 for the first time since 2009 could be a sign of subtle decline. Looking at it more positively, he was fifth on his season debut in Dubai and challenged for the Honda Classic before finishing in a tie for ninth. Less inspiring though is his tied lacklustre 63rd place finish at Bay Hill which featured a pair of 75s. Luke Donald (28/1) Luke has had a fairly disappointing Masters build-up so far. He started his season with a 16th at Riviera, a second round loss at the Match Play and a 43rd in the WGC-Cadillac. A fourth place in defence of his Tampa title was more encouraging but, from there, he flew all the way to Malaysia only to play just two rounds. Amazingly, that was the first time he'd ever missed a cut in a European Tour event. Bubba Watson (33/1) It's not really clicked so far this season for the 2013 Augusta hero. He battled gamely to finish fourth in the season-opening Tournament of Champions but the 'flu-like symptons he felt there kept him out until Phoenix where he finished 15th. Bubba was also a decent 18th at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and, most recently 25th at Bay Hill after improving his finish with a closing 67. Watch the Masters live and exclusively on Sky Sports with all four days of action in HD & 3D with Red Button options of Amen Corner & 15th & 16th starting at 7pm on April 11.