By Bernard Gallacher
The 87th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club is the eagerly-awaited first Major of the year.
The only change to the course from last year is the lengthening of the par-5 thirteenth from 510 yards to 545 yards, so it’s retained its outstanding beauty. This year’s field will comprise of PGA Tour players, DP World players, seven amateurs—in honour of Bobby Jones, co-founder of Augusta—two special invitees, and perhaps contentiously, 18 players from LIV.
Whatever your views on LIV Golf, the fact is that as one of the Majors, the Masters would have been seriously undermined had the likes of three-time winner Phil Mickelson, two-time winner Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and, of course, Open champion Cam Smith were prevented from playing.
The Masters 2023
This
year’s tournament is set up to be a real contest between the LIV players and
the rest led by the PGA Tour. The real winners,
though, will surely be the on-course patrons and the millions watching on TV
around the world.
I haven’t mentioned Tiger Woods, despite the fact he’s definitely playing, because it’s difficult to see how he can contend, having played no recent competitive golf—not to mention he’s still struggling to walk. That said, you just never know with Tiger. He knows his way around Augusta better than anyone else, having won it five times in the past. I won’t write him off just yet. I’d love to see him do well this year—the Masters is so exciting when Tiger is in contention.
Personally,
though, I hope Rory McIlroy wins and completes his Grand Slam, joining
only five others in the history of the game: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary
Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. He’s in a good place with his game—imperious
off the tee, and his putting has greatly improved since he teamed up with
Brad Faxon. If he’s in contention going into the back nine on the Sunday
afternoon, my money is on him to pull it off.
Scottie Scheffler, the current world number one and defending Masters champion, won the recent Players Championship, so his confidence is sky-high, and there are certainly no faults in his game.
Jon Rahm is desperate to win at Augusta and follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal. He’s been in superb form for the past four or five months and currently lies third in the World Golf Rankings. He has a good temperament and is a superb putter, amongst other things.
Sam
Burns, who won the recent Dell World Match Play, looks like an outstanding
prospect this year. Beating Scottie Scheffler in the semis and Cameron Young
comprehensively in the 18-hole final shows he has the temperament for the big
occasion.
Regarding
the LIV players, every one of the 18 players on the field will be desperate to
do well and collect precious WGR points—something they are unable to do in
their events. I’m certainly not writing off the likes of Dustin Johnson,
Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and so on. The eventual winner
could well come from the LIV stable, which would be uncomfortable, to say the
least, for the golf traditionalists out there.
Tyrell Hatton is my outside bet to do well this year and potentially even win. His technique is solid, he’s one of the best putters on Tour, and his confidence is high after finishing runner-up in this year’s Players Championship. He’s a proven winner—it’s only a matter of time before he wins a ‘big one’.
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