Sam Torrance casts his eye over those players best placed to challenge hot favourite Scottie Scheffler at the Masters.
It’s been almost nine months since the last men’s major, and the Players Championship – always something of an introduction to Augusta – was magnificent, so I’m really excited about the Masters this week.
I have watched it since I was eight years old and have never missed one, whether I was playing or tuning in to the broadcast. I love everything that makes the Masters so special, including that it is held on the same course every time. This year the second hole has been made slightly more difficult by moving the green back left, behind the trees.
Last year Jon Rahm arrived in great form, with six wins in the previous 12 months, and ended up winning the Green Jacket. This time, the Spaniard is winless since the Masters and, while he is an incredible player and I’m sure will put up a great defence, his move to LIV Golf makes it more difficult to compare his form to the other contenders’.
The man who has marked himself out as the one to beat this week is Scottie Scheffler, who will tee off at shorter odds than anyone since Tiger Woods in his heyday. The world No1 has two wins already in 2024 – the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players – and his worst finish in his last five starts is 10th.
Scheffler has an uncanny knack of peaking at this time of year – his eight PGA Tour wins, including at the Masters in 2022, have all come between February and April. He was tied for 10th last year and you simply have to have him right up there as the favourite.
Regular readers will know that I’ll never not tip Rory McIlroy, whose Masters credentials and history everyone knows. He has had some interesting starts of late, including a record 26 birdies at the Players.
Intriguingly, McIlroy recently worked with Butch Harmon, who is an incredible coach but also very good on the psychology. Last week he finished a season’s-best third and his greens-in-regulation stats were vastly improved. If he can pair that with his birdie habit, he could be on to something.
Other players in good form this year include world No5 Xander Schauffele, US Open champion Wyndham Clark and 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama.
Schauffele won the Tour Championship last season and has six top-10s from eight events this year. I really feel Augusta suits him – he has a lovely high ball flight and gets lots of spin, which is important on those tight greens. The only question is whether he can finish the job; we’ll see.
Clark won at Pebble Beach then finished second at both Bay Hill and Sawgrass. He can really play and he has shown it in the last few weeks.
Matsuyama won in LA with some magnificent shots, looks back to his best and has great knowledge of and affinity for the Masters, where he was also low amateur as a teenager.
This might be his first ever major, but I really fancy Ludvig Aberg. The Swede is a beautiful iron player and putter, as well as a great driver. Course knowledge is big at Augusta but then he has been watching it for years, so it’s not all new.
Rahm ius defending champion and one of Scheffler’s chief rivals at the Masters – Preview Day One
Bryson DeChambeau is another who I think the course suits, while Will Zalatoris has gone close twice already in his short career and his putting looks so much better lately.
It’s a huge ask on his debut but I think Matthieu Pavon could shine. The Frenchman is playing great and has settled into life on the PGA Tour after getting his first win in January.
Brooks Koepka tied for second at last year’s Masters and we know he relishes the biggest events. He’s capable of anything, won’t back off, and is a five-time major winner.
Plenty on the LIV Golf circuit fancy Joaquin Niemann as the true world No1, after he won twice this year. His best major finish is 16th at last year’s Masters, so it will be interesting to see how he does.
Sam Torrance’s Masters Top Five
1. Scottie Scheffler
T2. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm
4. Xander Schauffele
5. Ludvig Aberg
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam