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It’s officially Masters week. And while this year’s Masters feel more unusual than perhaps any Masters in history, the final major of 2020 is still full of stories. In fact, maybe because this Masters is more atypical than any other, the 84th edition of this tournament will be chock full of intriguing stories.
Some of the main storylines are rehearsals, of course. This is what happens when Rory McIlroy is still chasing the final major for his grand slam and Jordan Spieth is still roaming the desert. But others are fairly new, like Bryson DeChambeau winning an Ian Woosnam in the weight department and the possibility that a number of players will test positive for COVID-19 which would eliminate them from the tournament altogether.
A lot will be missed about this Masters – no Par-3 tournament, no customers, no cargo tents – but there is also a lot to celebrate. Let’s start with the fact that even in the midst of a global pandemic, Augusta National was able to safely hold the Masters tournament.
Here’s a look at the top 10 storylines going into what should be a fun week at Augusta National.
1. Bryson DeChambeau flexes: This could (and maybe should) be one of the main storylines to follow. DeChambeau is heading to Augusta National, a major champion determined to tip the course in his direction with hammered workouts and the confidence that comes with participating in the US Open. DeChambeau is still unlikely to win back-to-back majors (as a single player is unlikely to win an event), but this week it is less about whether he wins and more about how he wins. does it. trying to win. I recently broke down all the punches he could take and the few clubs he will actually need to carry. If DeChambeau plays Augusta the same way he played the US Open at Winged Foot, not only will he be a two-time major champion, but golf will have a much more public and pressing problem with regards to distance and how. whose most classic of all golf courses handles the modern game.
2. Tiger Woods returns as defending champion: In his four previous Masters title defenses, Woods finished T8, 1st, T15 and T3. It bodes well for this year even if the state of his game does not. Tiger is more likely to prepare Wendy’s for the Masters Champions Dinner than to win the golf tournament based on how he plays. And yet he is the wisest, most disciplined golfer in the business at this specific course. The dirty little secret of last year’s win was that he didn’t really do much at home … because he didn’t need to. He played the second nine in a sub – hardly what you crave at the Masters – and let everyone dive headlong into Rae’s Creek. There’s a path to a sixth green jacket for him, I guess, and it looks like 2019. But without a certain chaos affecting everyone not named Tiger and without the tee-to-green game he brought there. last year is much more complicated and much less likely than it was a year ago.
3. Rory McIlroy tries the slam … again: It seems that over the years the focus on McIlroy winning the Four Majors has probably waned a bit, but that doesn’t make the potential accomplishment any less historic. McIlroy enters the Masters playing … well but probably not at the level required to win. His big deal has been the iron game, which is currently at one of the lowest points of his career in terms of strokes won (see graph). Still, if he sniffs his head this weekend and there aren’t any other huge stories (Tiger, Brooks Koepka etc.), his attempt to join Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player as the only golfers to win it all. four majors will fully support the event.
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4. Lost Boys: There is a lot of. The two most notable – Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson – have combined eight major championships and almost no chance of winning this year. It’s been a difficult scene for both golfers in recent months (and years) on the PGA Tour, but Augusta appears to hold revitalizing powers. Spieth, for example, has never finished worse than T21 at the Masters, and Mickelson has only missed two cups since 1998. Either arguing this time around would be a stunner for those who have followed closely, but there is certainly had more bizarre results in the majors before.
5. Young superstars: A rookie hasn’t won the Masters in 40 years, but don’t be surprised if that changes this time around. The “there are so many young stallions” narrative is overcooked in golf, but a very specific set of circumstances – Masters delayed, historically good crop of rookies last year, no clients – has led to the real possibility that Woods slips the jacket over the shoulders of someone who is not yet born – Sungjae Im? Matthew Wolff? – when he won his first Masters.
6. The first (or the second): There are so many great players out there looking for their first major league that it almost seems inevitable that one of them will win like DeChambeau did at the US Open in September. Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Sc Chaudele, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau and Hideki Matsuyama are among these players and are also among the favorites of Augusta National. Even more interesting to me is the group stuck at a major win: Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Jason Day and Sergio Garcia are included. Remember, 225 golfers have won at least one major, but only 82 have done so at least twice. Several majors are part of what separates the greatest of all time from all the others.
7. Is Brooks back? Remember when Koepka finished T2 at last year’s Masters and would have won had he just stayed dry on No.12? I remember. That was before any injury issues, of course, and the past 15 months haven’t been very memorable for the four-time major winner. However, he just won a pair of weekend 65s at the Houston Open and is playing better than he’s been in a long time. Of his 14 world victories, he finished in the top 10 (as he did in Houston) in the tournament directly preceding the tournament he won eight times.
8. Meteorological effects: The way Augusta will play in November has been a bit of an exaggeration so far, which means how the weather could affect the event hasn’t necessarily been covered enough. The course looks pretty much the same, although McIlroy said the shards would be trickier because Bermuda isn’t dead yet – but the weather report looks like rain every four days in Augusta. It could mean a sloppier-than-normal event filled with mudballs and soggy fairways. This probably favors the bigger hitters (which it doesn’t, though?), But regardless, it’s something to watch out for throughout the week.
9. No customer: While there is no way to prove that the results of the PGA Championship and the US Open were altered because these events did not have the buzz of the normal big leagues, although all we know about what major championships are indicates to be true. How could 30,000 people watching you try to draw a 7 iron out of a thick rough around a cluster of trees all the way to a dome-shaped green? do not change your heart rate a bit? Former Woods caddy Steve Williams referred to it recently and noted how it hurts players like Tiger who are trying to capitalize on the out-of-control nature of a major week against more inexperienced golfers. That intoxicating feeling on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that can make your head swim in all directions will not come into play this year. Unfortunately we cannot experience the alternate reality of a Masters 2020 with existing bosses, but that’s something to remember when Wolff takes the lead in what should be a Saturday afternoon heat chamber that plays a lot more placid than it otherwise would.
10. COVID-19 test: The coronavirus has already claimed a Masters victim because Joaquin Niemann had to withdraw after testing positive. This has a legitimate effect on the outcome of the tournament. Niemann was not likely to win, but he was almost certainly among the 30-35 golfers most likely to do so. Players have always pulled out of major leagues for various illnesses and injuries, but the risk has never been so high or so pervasive as this year.
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