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The world’s greatest golfers are descending upon Augusta this week for 2024’s first main. The Masters tees off on Thursday, and listed here are 5 storylines we’re expecting at this 12 months’s occasion.
Scottie Scheffler is an awesome favourite
It is Scheffler versus the sphere. Per ESPN Bet, the 2022 Masters winner is +475 to earn his second inexperienced jacket. Rory McIlroy (+1100) is a distant second, adopted by final 12 months’s winner, Jon Rahm (+1200). Xander Schauffele (+1400), Brooks Koepka (+1800) and Hideki Matsuyama (+1800) spherical out the highest 5 in pre-tournament odds.
Scheffler already has seven top-10 finishes in eight occasions this 12 months, together with back-to-back wins in March on the Arnold Palmer Invitational (-15) and The PLAYERS Championship (-20).
Tiger Woods returns
The perfect golfer of his technology, Woods is making one other comeback on the hallowed Masters. He final performed at The Genesis Invitation in February, however withdrew after the primary spherical. He additionally withdrew in the course of the third spherical of final 12 months’s Masters, one in every of three tournaments he appeared in in the course of the 2022-23 golf season. Per ESPN, it is a toss-up whether or not he makes it previous the second spherical this 12 months. Woods has the identical odds of creating the reduce as he does of lacking it (-115).
Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger and Ludvig Aberg are younger names to know
Bhatia received final weekend’s tune-up to the Masters, the Valero Texas Open, in a playoff at -20. Jaeger defeated Scheffler, Tony Finau and Taylor Moore by a stroke on the Texas Youngsters’s Houston Open from March 28-31. In the meantime, Aberg has seven top-10 finishes in 19 tournaments over the previous two seasons and was a member of Europe’s successful Ryder Cup group final 12 months. He made headlines by partnering with Viktor Hovland for a historic 9 and 7 match win towards Koepka and Scheffler.
Can Phil Mickelson construct on a powerful 2023 end?
Mickelson started the ultimate spherical of final 12 months’s Masters as an afterthought at one-under-par and 10 strokes again of first on the leaderboard. Nonetheless, he shot a superb 65 on Sunday and completed in a tie for second. A 3-time Masters winner, Mickelson solely has one top-10 end in LIV Golf this 12 months, however at all times appears to dial in at Augusta.
Bryson DeChambeau places previous Masters distress behind him
After as soon as infamously describing Augusta Nationwide as a “par-67,” DeChambeau has seen the Masters course get the higher of him. He missed the reduce the previous two years and has by no means completed within the prime 20. DeChambeau has 4 top-10 finishes in his previous 4 LIV Golf occasions, however as he is painfully conscious, the Masters is a completely totally different beast.
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