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Augusta National Golf Club has hosted The Masters for 91 years. The Masters takes place on the first weekend of April and is widely considered the best golf tournament. Although there have been changes over the years, Augusta has maintained its beauty, and the history of the course is plentiful. A par-72 measuring 7,510 yards with ryegrass fairways and bentgrass greens, Augusta is the ultimate challenge that can make even the best in the world look foolish. The Masters consists of the smallest field in golf, with 89 players teeing up on Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7, and 50 of them advancing to the weekend. Scottie Scheffler was victorious last year and enters this year as the favorite. Picking the winner of the Masters can be a crapshoot because of the unpredictability of golf, but this year I am confident in the ability of two guys to win the green jacket.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy has 36 worldwide victories and four major championships since turning pro in 2009, but the Irishman has yet to capture the green jacket. By no means has McIlroy struggled at Augusta. He has finished top-10 in seven out of the last nine years, highlighted by a solo second last year. Rory is a perfect fit for Augusta. Per data golf, the two most important skill sets to have at Augusta are driving distance and good approach shots. These are the two strongest aspects of McIlroy’s game, and are why he has found past success at Augusta. Rory is one of the best players in the world and is a perfect fit for Augusta, so many golf fans question why he hasn’t won. The truth is, winning on the PGA Tour is tough. I think this will be the year Rory’s fortunes change. McIlroy has been in good form, finishing second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and third at the WGC match play. McIlroy’s biggest struggle this year has been his putting, but following three straight tournaments where he lost strokes gained putting, Rory made a putter change. The Irishman has seen his putting improve, gaining 0.75 strokes putting last week. In his practice round at Augusta, he reportedly only needed 19 putts in 18 holes. The stats support Rory to win, and it would be the perfect story. The biggest name in golf (aside from Tiger) completing the Grand Slam in a year when professional golf has gone through turmoil is a perfect outcome. Maybe it is stupid to pick based on what would be the storybook outcome, but after all, Augusta National is a special place.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth enters the Masters in good form, finishing top-six in three of his last six events. Like McIlroy, Spieth has performed well at Augusta National historically with five top-three finishes, including a wire-to-wire win in 2015. Despite his success at this tournament, Spieth suffered one of the most heartbreaking losses in golf history in 2016, when he hit two balls in the water on the 12th hole and gave up a four-stroke lead. In this sense, much like McIlroy, Spieth is yearning to regain the green jacket and overcoming his demons would be a beautiful outcome. This is not to say that my reasoning for picking Spieth is solely based on storyline. As mentioned, he has had significant success at Augusta. In fact, his scoring average of 68.32 is the lowest of any player ever in tournament history. Spieth is the most creative player on tour and constantly is able to recover from seemingly impossible situations. At a course that is very firm and filled with tall oak trees, players will find themselves in peril throughout the week. With this in mind, scrambling is imperative to winning at Augusta, and no one is better at that than Jordan Spieth.
Ultimately, winning a golf tournament is incredibly difficult. A player can have their A-game, but all it takes is one bad swing or an unlucky bounce, and their chances will evaporate. In a sport where the top players are so close with their skill level, it can come down to the intangibles, such as composure and experience. Spieth and McIlroy possess all the abilities (both mental and physical) of a champion, so don’t be surprised to see one of them putting on the green jacket come Sunday evening.
Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.