Artificial Intelligence applications like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are good for a lot of things, but predicting the outcomes of sporting events isn’t a forte of these tools yet.
For starters, it’s difficult for the chatbots to keep up with the ever-changing statistics and health factors. For another, the bots are entirely dependent on the inputs you give it. We’ve learned this time and time again — most recently when it predicted Kansas would win the NCAA men’s tournament before the Jayhawks were bounced in the first round.
For posterity, we tested the sport’s knowledge of Microsoft’s Copilot one more time ahead of the 2025 Masters Tournament, being careful to give specific inputs and telling it exactly where to look for information. The final leaderboard it returned is not only highly unlikely, but predicts a winner that would break with numerous trends: Sepp Straka.
While Straka is not an unpopular pick this week — and one of our nine definitive golfers who can win — he’s unlikely to produce the four-day score of 275 that Copilot predicts. Of the last 26 Masters champions, 20 of them had already won or finished runner-up at another major. Straka has yet to do so.
Each of the last seven Masters winners finished inside the Top 15 at the previous two majors before playing Augusta. Straka missed the cut at the 2024 PGA Championship before a T56 at the U.S. Open and T22 at The Open Championship.
Straka’s best finish at The Masters was a T16 last year. He’s not a bad bet, per se, but not one you should take just because AI suggested it.
AI predicts Sepp Straka will win 2025 Masters
Here’s the input we gave Microsoft Copilot:
Using available information from DataGolf and the PGA Tour, analyze the 2025 Masters field and simulate all four rounds of play to determine a winner. Factor in this week’s weather forecast at Augusta National Golf Course. Include a cutline that narrows the field to the top 50 (plus ties) after 36 holes. Produce a final leaderboard after 72 holes.
And here’s the response it spit out about 30 seconds later:
To simulate the 2025 Masters Tournament and determine the winner, I followed a structured approach that involved several steps:
I started by listing the players who are participating in the 2025 Masters Tournament. This list included well-known golfers such as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, and others.
I factored in the weather forecast for Augusta National Golf Course for each of the four days of the tournament. The weather conditions were as follows:
For each player, I simulated their performance for each of the four rounds. The simulation took into account a base score range for a round (between 68 and 74) and a weather factor that could slightly adjust the score based on the day’s weather conditions. For example, sunny weather might have a smaller impact on the score compared to more variable weather conditions.
I calculated the total scores for each player after all four rounds. Additionally, I calculated the scores after the first two rounds to determine the cutline.
The cutline was applied to narrow the field to the top 50 players (plus ties) after 36 holes. This ensured that only the top-performing players continued to the final two rounds.
After applying the cutline, I calculated the final scores for the remaining players and sorted them to produce the final leaderboard. The player with the lowest total score after 72 holes was declared the winner.
Here is the final leaderboard after 72 holes:
Sepp Straka emerged as the winner of the 2025 Masters Tournament with a total score of 275 over the four rounds.
There you have it! AI predicts Sepp Straka, who has never finished in the Top 10 at the Masters, will slip on the green jacket Sunday night. Please find a better reason to bet on him than “because an AI chatbot told me to”. Please.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: AI predicted an unlikely Masters winner in 2025. Don’t bet on it.
Artificial Intelligence applications like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are good for a lot of things, but predicting the outcomes of sporting events isn’t a forte of these tools yet.
For starters, it’s difficult for the chatbots to keep up with the ever-changing statistics and health factors. For another, the bots are entirely dependent on the inputs you give it. We’ve learned this time and time again — most recently when it predicted Kansas would win the NCAA men’s tournament before the Jayhawks were bounced in the first round.
For posterity, we tested the sport’s knowledge of Microsoft’s Copilot one more time ahead of the 2025 Masters Tournament, being careful to give specific inputs and telling it exactly where to look for information. The final leaderboard it returned is not only highly unlikely, but predicts a winner that would break with numerous trends: Sepp Straka.
While Straka is not an unpopular pick this week — and one of our nine definitive golfers who can win — he’s unlikely to produce the four-day score of 275 that Copilot predicts. Of the last 26 Masters champions, 20 of them had already won or finished runner-up at another major. Straka has yet to do so.
Each of the last seven Masters winners finished inside the Top 15 at the previous two majors before playing Augusta. Straka missed the cut at the 2024 PGA Championship before a T56 at the U.S. Open and T22 at The Open Championship.
Straka’s best finish at The Masters was a T16 last year. He’s not a bad bet, per se, but not one you should take just because AI suggested it.
AI predicts Sepp Straka will win 2025 Masters
Here’s the input we gave Microsoft Copilot:
Using available information from DataGolf and the PGA Tour, analyze the 2025 Masters field and simulate all four rounds of play to determine a winner. Factor in this week’s weather forecast at Augusta National Golf Course. Include a cutline that narrows the field to the top 50 (plus ties) after 36 holes. Produce a final leaderboard after 72 holes.
And here’s the response it spit out about 30 seconds later:
To simulate the 2025 Masters Tournament and determine the winner, I followed a structured approach that involved several steps:
I started by listing the players who are participating in the 2025 Masters Tournament. This list included well-known golfers such as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, and others.
I factored in the weather forecast for Augusta National Golf Course for each of the four days of the tournament. The weather conditions were as follows:
For each player, I simulated their performance for each of the four rounds. The simulation took into account a base score range for a round (between 68 and 74) and a weather factor that could slightly adjust the score based on the day’s weather conditions. For example, sunny weather might have a smaller impact on the score compared to more variable weather conditions.
I calculated the total scores for each player after all four rounds. Additionally, I calculated the scores after the first two rounds to determine the cutline.
The cutline was applied to narrow the field to the top 50 players (plus ties) after 36 holes. This ensured that only the top-performing players continued to the final two rounds.
After applying the cutline, I calculated the final scores for the remaining players and sorted them to produce the final leaderboard. The player with the lowest total score after 72 holes was declared the winner.
Here is the final leaderboard after 72 holes:
Sepp Straka emerged as the winner of the 2025 Masters Tournament with a total score of 275 over the four rounds.
There you have it! AI predicts Sepp Straka, who has never finished in the Top 10 at the Masters, will slip on the green jacket Sunday night. Please find a better reason to bet on him than “because an AI chatbot told me to”. Please.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: AI predicted an unlikely Masters winner in 2025. Don’t bet on it.
