The Masters
Last week was a different week for golf some might call it. It was another week where a PGA Tour event and a LIV event were played concurrently. These weeks are usually a media frenzy. The common media trend is which field is stronger that week, usually ending in yet another LIV, PGA Tour debate. Despite the media focusing on the wrong things, forever loved Canadian Corey Conners has won the Valero Texas Open for the second time. Conners will forever be a big name because Corey Conners first win at this event in 2019 came after having to Monday Qualify for the event. The last time that happened was in 210 by Arjun Atwal. Since that win, Conners has found so much success on the PGA Tour. Conners has competed in tour championships, the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the 2022 Presidents Cup. I think it's safe to say that after this Conners will go on a similar run. While Conner's victory was fun, Masters Week takes the cake.
Golf fans alike, we have made it to the best week of the year. The week where the most unique event is held at one of the most incredible courses on the planet, The Masters at Augusta National. Augusta National was designed in 1933 by Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie and since 1934 has hosted the coveted Masters Tournament. Since the course has opened the club has created an extremely unique atmosphere around the golf community. One of my favorite pieces of the Augusta National puzzle is their privacy, they take private clubs to a whole new level. Augusta is a for-profit corporation and discloses absolutely nothing to the public, including income, holdings, membership list, or ticket sales. Augusta could literally be sitting on mountains of money and nobody would know and honestly, most people wouldn't really care in the end. Another extremely valued staple is the traditions. The grounds of Augusta are filled with almost 100 years of roars, fist pumps, and smiles and through all that, some really awesome traditions were born. The champions dinner, which invites all the past champions at Augusta and is hosted by the prior year’s winner. A kind of “brotherhood” is created over a hot meal. Butler Cabin; Butler Cabin is a pivotal part of the event. This Cabin is the place every golfer wants to be in. Upon winning The Masters, the winning player is brought to Butler Cabin for the post win interview. Once the interview is completed, the prior year's winner gives the current winner the forever coveted green jacket. Although the winner does receive an actual trophy, this is the only thing the winners want. Upon winning this green jacket you become a part of history at Augusta. You are able to host your own champions dinner, you receive a special invite to play in the event every year, honorary membership to the club and your own locker in the champions locker room, oh, and tons of money. Not only is winning a major huge, but winning The Masters is just different, and this year we will have a little more drama than usual.
This year as we all know, there were so many questions if LIV players could compete in the majors. Since the decision to allow them to play in majors has been made the golf community has been buzzing. Between grudges held by specific players, questions of major-readiness of LIV players, and how LIV players are treated. So far in almost all of the press conferences there has been very little to no ill will and the players are just excited to have all of the top players playing in one event. With that being said the long awaited pairings were released, i’m sure this year was one of the tougher years when making the pairings. Overall they were very solid, a good mix between LIV and PGA Tour players. Some groups however were a little weaker or less exciting than expected. Earlier in the week there was speculation that Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka would be paired together but that unfortunately didn’t happen. Another pairing that was a little strange was Tiger’s pairing. Although he is with Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele who are top 10 players in the world, many thought Tiger would be paired with either Rory or Justin Thomas purely for the massive crowds and TV attention they’d grab. Other than those few things the pairing was very professional. Mega groups aside, here are a few players that you should keep an eye on. For starters last year’s champion Scottie Scheffler. He’s obviously playing the best in the world, undisputed. However, repeating at Augusta is pretty tough. Expect at the worst a top 15 out of Scottie. Another sneaky player this year is Jason Day. Day started the year ranked 112 in the world since then he has jumped down to 33 in the world. Since the start of 2023 he’s finished with two top 20’s three top 10’s and two top 5’s. This is a pretty serious stretch. Jason Day could be a lock for another top 10 this week. Lastly Jordan Spieth. This guy knows how to win at Augusta. It wouldn’t surprise me if Spieth did something very special this week. (Mike)
People buying into the Brooks hype this week are going to feel dumb when he misses the cut. Yes, he won a LIV event last weekend but I am not sure that really matters. Brook has stated that he may not be able to compete with the best anymore. He missed the cut at Augusta last year and I expect something similar this week. It is hard for me to picture a world where Brooks is in contention this weekend. I feel this way about all LIV players except DJ and Cam. I would even be slightly shocked to see DJ in contention, but anyone outside of those two would be unforeseen circumstances to me.
Augusta National had a chance to really make some compelling groups for this year's tournament. However, it feels like they really backed away from any groups with big name players from the PGA Tour and LIV. We will only see four events per year where all of the games best are playing, so it is a shame we do not get to see any of them paired up to start the week. I am hoping as play unfolds over the weekend that some delicious groups develop. Something along the lines of seeing Rory vs DJ or Rahm vs Smith to win on Sunday afternoon would be one of the more compelling Master finishes in modern times.
My pick for this week is Scottie Scheffler. It is impossible for me to pick against him right now. He is the best player on the planet and continues to play like it. Going back to back at Augusta is remarkably difficult, but it would just be one more feat for a guy that continues to stack accomplishments. My darkhorse for this week is Jason Day. I have picked Jason as a darkhorse a time or two this year already, but I really feel like he is destined to break through with a win at any moment. I have said for a long time that Jason Day would win this event as long as he qualified so let’s find out. (Tyler)