Early 2019 Masters Odds, Sleepers and Fades: Get Ready for a Wide-Open Tournament

In just a month's time, the best golfers in the world will be in Georgia prepping for the year's first major, The Masters.

Odds have been in flux for months now but this is where things stand at the top of the board after the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, won by Francesco Molinari.

Dustin Johnson is still the favorite at +1000, but DJ is followed closely by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose at +1200.

Justin Thomas is the lone golfer at +1400 while Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth sit at +1600. Jon Rahm (+1800) and Bryson DeChambeau (+2000) round out the top 10.

Things are really tight among the favorites and unless one of them gets hot over the next month, we probably won't have a clear-cut favorite at Augusta this year.

No player has put together an extended run of wins in 2019. Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy have been the most consistent players on tour, but they have yet to find the winner's circle. Other contenders like Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler have a win, but then they've both fallen off recently.

It's just tough to trust any of the guys at the top.

As the tournament gets closer, I'll keep an eye on their tee to green progression even more than I would for a normal tournament.

Last year's winner, Patrick Reed, isn't really the best example, but usually the winner of the Masters enters with a strong ball-striking resume.

The greens are just so fast that it's tough to count on some to scramble and hit a bunch of par savers, so we'll need to keep an eye out for players who are avoiding these situations as much as possible.

I've mentioned before that Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Si Woo Kim are already on my Masters card. DeChambeau and Koepka's numbers have crashed since last summer, so you'll probably want to wait and see what kind of form they are in before backing them at their current low numbers.

Kim on the other hand is still at 125-1 even though he's posted some good results this season. The 23-year-old Korean already has an impressive win on his resume in the 2017 Players Championship, and even though he's not all that consistent, he's capable of winning any tournament when his game is on.

Of course he's also capable of putting up a dud, like he did when he missed the cut by five strokes at Bay Hill.

As for the golfers I'm fading, Jason Day (+2500) and Cameron Champ (125-1) should be miles away from anyone's card at the moment.

Day just withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury, so the Aussie isn't even certain to be in the field at Augusta.

Champ, on the other hand, has a win this season but it didn't qualify him to be in the event. With questions about both Day and Champ's status, it's best just to steer clear.

I am likely done adding names to my card until the week of the event at this point. If there's a player that really catches my eye and he's about to get a win, I may fire early to get the best number because it will crash, but at this point a lot of the value has been sucked out of the board.

Players in good form have seen the numbers drop, but books aren't going to boost the numbers of the players lacking form until the week of the event.

So at this point, it's a waiting game.