AUGUSTA, Georgia.— Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the man to beat at this week’s Masters where Rory McIlroy, oozing confidence after a marvelous start to the year, makes his 11th and perhaps best shot at completing the career Grand Slam.
Played amidst the blooming azaleas, towering pines and flowering dogwoods at Augusta National, the Masters may be the most anticipated of golf’s four majors and this year’s edition is no exception given a plethora of compelling storylines.
Not even the absence of Tiger Woods, a five-time champion and golf’s top attraction who is recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon, can dampen enthusiasm for an event that marks the spiritual start of spring.
Much of the excitement ahead of this year’s Masters revolves around Scheffler and McIlroy, the two best players in the world, who are in great form and could deliver a final-round duel for the ages if they are both in contention on Sunday.
“I think that it sets up to be headlined by those two. I really do. I think you have to begin there,” veteran broadcaster Jim Nantz said on CBS Sports’ Masters preview call.
World number one Scheffler, whose season debut was delayed by about a month after hand surgery following a December cooking accident, finished runner-up at his Masters tune-up in Houston for his third top-10 in six starts on the year.
A win for Scheffler, who first triumphed at Augusta National in 2022 and has a game that appears to be a perfect fit for the layout, would make him only the fourth golfer to retain a Masters title and first since Woods in 2001-02.
“It’s his happy place,” said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. “He can go there and play his normal game, and everybody can struggle to beat him. That’s just how good he is and how great a fit Augusta National is for him.”
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McIlroy is eager to become the sixth player to complete a career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors this week but to join that exclusive club he will need to overcome an Augusta layout that has been the site of several frustrating moments for him.
