By Nicholas Spurling
GEORGIA, USA – Focus narrows in on Augusta National for the 88th edition of the Masters Invitational and the hotly anticipated first major of the year – who could take home the highly coveted ‘green jacket’.
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Who to watch
The pedigree of the American contingent is strong and quite rightly at the forefront of the coverage early this week, including Scottie Scheffler, world number one, who goes into the week as the favourite. His iron play is so consistent he’s hard to look past but will his putter behave? Both he and Sam Burns are sharing the same house for the week and could be sharing the title of ‘Dad’ with both their wives back home expecting.
Other US contenders include last weeks winner and newest PGA Tour superstar, Akshay Bhatia who will no doubt put on another ball striking masterclass. Canadian born Xander Schauffele is showing the most consistent form of any player with a handful of top fives since the resumption of the tour.
Despite all this drama, Scheffler is hard to look past. When asked earlier this week what he and his coach have been working on he replied ‘nothing’. This statement of intent and his steady improvement in putting will no doubt strike fear into many of his colleagues.
Tiger Woods has big ambitions.. 29 years after his very first Masters appearance, Woods has the opportunity to write yet more history as he bids to make a record breaking 24th consecutive cut. Will he go even further and get his hands on a ‘green jacket’ for the 6th time and tie the great Jack Nicklaus. Much of the talk is about Tiger’s lack of physical fitness and tournament play but you can bet he’ll have a good chance of being there at the weekend and we can’t wait to see the GOAT in action.
‘Renegades’ vs Establishment. (LIV v PGA)
The LIV contingent sees 18 players enter the field including former champion Patrick Reed who would be a great outside bet, not forgetting the current holder of the ‘green jacket’ and the most recent signing to LIV Golf, Jon Rahm. When questioned about his form in the lead up to the tournament compared to that of last year Rahm calmly explained that ‘Once that gun goes off it’s the exact same, it’s still Golf’.
Another notable pick from LIV is Joaquin Neieman, at 28-1, the 25 Year old Chilean has been in blistering form winning three of his last six worldwide starts, making him arguably one of the best players in the world right now. What happens if a LIV Golfer takes the spoils this week? Will it add pressure to find a solution to the world’s best golfers playing against each other week in, week out?
Rory McIlroy is always a contender with his power and grace. Still looking for an exclusive Masters title to make up his ‘set’ of majors. After a blistering start to 2024, claiming a 1st place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic and a close second to Tommy Fleetwood the week before, he’s cooled off but he has the talent to win. Maybe a recent lesson with Butch Harmon will make the difference but his iron play and putting are going to need to be at their peak.
There are only four Englishmen playing, the lowest number in years. This includes major winner Matt Fitzpatrick, who would be a good outside bet as he’s gritty and competitive, often in contention for the top spot.
Play starts on Thursday at 07:40 EDT (12:40 BST) when the greats of the game Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson strike the first shots.
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