All of the lead-up events to the first men’s golf major of the year, the Masters, have been completed. Kansas State senior Carla Bernat Escuder won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday. The annual Drive, Chip and Putt competition for youth golfers was held on Sunday.
It’s gray and rainy here in Pennsylvania, but in Augusta, Georgia, spring is in full bloom as the best golfers in the world tee it up at (arguably) the most recognizable course in the world from Thursday to Sunday.
Similar to recent years, much of the discussion leading up to this year’s Masters has revolved around two people: Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Scheffler won his second green jacket last year by four shots, which I (kind of) predicted, and he is looking to capture a third as the ever-present, almost-boring betting favorite. He has been plagued in the past by putting problems, but his short-game wizardry around Augusta’s sloped greens has elevated him above the rest of the field.
However, every pundit, writer and hater alike has been focused on McIlroy for more than 10 years. The Masters is the only thing standing in his way from the career grand slam, and some don’t think his legacy will be cemented until he wins. Just Google, “Rory McIlroy Masters,” and you’ll get a pretty good idea.
McIlroy has already won twice on tour this year, at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players, tournaments hosted at two of the best courses of the year outside of the majors.
Would I like to see him win? Sure. But as a golfer, I know how much pressure he is already putting on himself to play well at Augusta, and with the added attention, it is not a recipe for success.
Call me a Rory apologist (what can I say, I like Irish people), but the criticism and expectation to win is a little overkill.
Winning a golf tournament is hard. 96 players will tee it up. They’ll play four rounds of 18 holes. With victories often coming by 1- or 2-shot margins, the margin for error is infinitesimely small. So back off my boy.
Others coming into the tournament in good form include young phenoms Ludvig Åberg and Min Woo Lee, two powerful ball-strikers with very different personalities.
2-time major winners Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas have both struggled to close out tournaments in recent years, but their consistency has landed them both inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. I wouldn’t count out one (or both) of them to make a run this weekend.
Åberg and Morikawa both held shares of the lead going into the ninth hole on Sunday last year, but late stumbles led to second and t-3 finishes, respectively.
Not to forget the LIV guys, I think the Masters has provided a good litmus test for the level of play on the two tours in recent years, as it’s the first time in the season they compete directly against each other.
2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm has finished in the top 10 of every LIV event this year — they’re 50-something person fields, so take it all with a grain of salt — and last year’s U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau is talking the talk, as per usual.
However, something tells me we’re going to get an unexpected champion this year. Scheffler has been good — but not great — so far this season, and McIlroy seems to care about winning this tournament a little too much.
Without a doubt, the big names will rise to the top of the leaderboard, but I’d like to see the Tommy Fleetwood’s and Will Zalatoris’ of the world pull out the win coming down the stretch.
The boring pick: Scottie Scheffler
My pick: Ludvig Åberg
