US Masters Betting The Masters Tournament is a restricted golf major that is invitation-only and is arguably the most coveted title in professional golf. The winner gets to wear the green jacket, and Masters betting is always vigorous.

The Masters Tournament, known simply as The Masters in the United States, and as the US Masters in the rest of the world, is one of the greatest and most prestigious golf tournaments. It is one of the four Majors, but unlike the other three it is always played at the same golf course, Augusta National.

The Masters has many traditions, and since it is held in the Deep South a lot of those good-ole rituals were bigoted. The club that hosts the Masters was founded by a man who once said "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white and caddies will be black." Blacks were not allowed to play at Augusta (unless they were professionals playing at the Masters) until 1990. Women are still not allowed to be members. All caddies for the Masters had to be black (another "tradition") until 1982, when players were allowed to use their own caddies and not those employed by the golf club (all the Augusta club caddies had to be black).

The tradition of giving the winner a green jacket still continues, and the previous year's winner of the Masters puts the jacket on the new King of Augusta. It is fitting that Tiger Woods dominated The Masters in the 21st century, winning four times overall (his first victory was in 1997). Jack Nicklaus still holds the record for the most Masters titles with six.

US Masters betting is extremely popular amongst golf punters. The field for the tournament is the smallest of all the majors as there are only 90 spots, given out by invitation. It is the one tournament every pro golfer wants to win, so unless a player is injured the Top 50 in the world rankings participate.

The Masters currently offers a prize pool of $8,00,000. The greatest margin of victory was recorded by Woods, who also hold the tournament record for the lowest score (18 under par).

In 2010 Phil Mickelson gobbled up his third Masters title, adding to his wins in 2004 and 2006. Other three-time Masters champions include such legends of the sport as Sam Snead, Gary Player, and of course Nick Faldo.

Given its status and high profile players, it's not surprising that US Masters betting is very popular amongst golf punters the world over, and in the 2012 Masters - which starts on Thursday, April 5 and runs until Sunday, April 8 - early betting has Tiger Woods as the favourite, followed by Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood.

However, defending champion Charl Schwartzel should not be discounted, after he pulled off an inspired and deserving Masters win in 2011.