AUGUSTA: Five storylines to follow as the best players in the world descend upon Augusta National Golf Club this week for the April 11-14 Masters.
RAHM SEEKS RARE REPEAT
Jon Rahm, who dealt a stunning blow to the PGA Tour when he joined LIV Golf eight months after winning the 2023 Masters, returns to Augusta National looking to become only the fourth player to retain a Masters title.
Rahm entered the final round last year trailing 54-hole leader Brooks Koepka of LIV Golf by two shots but fired a three-under-par 69 that gave him a four-shot victory.
No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods in 2001-02 and before that only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) have pulled off the Augusta double.
MCILROY'S GRAND SLAM BID
Rory McIlroy has a chance this week to complete the career Grand Slam of winning golf's four major championships but will need to overcome an Augusta National layout that has been the site of several frustrating moments for the Northern Irishman.
McIlroy has been in contention several times at the Masters but seems to be hampered by one poor round each week, most memorably in 2011 when he began the final round with a four-shot lead but endured a harrowing back-nine collapse.
For McIlroy, who missed the cut at last year's Masters, a win would put him in elite company with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only players to achieve the career Grand Slam.
LIV GOLF CONTINGENT
A year after LIV Golf standard bearers Koepka and evergreen Phil Mickelson finished runner-up at the Masters, the field for the year's first major will feature 13 players from the Saudi-backed circuit, including reigning champion Rahm.
In addition to Rahm, the group of LIV players at the Masters also includes past champions Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Bubba Watson (2012, 2014), Sergio Garcia (2017), Patrick Reed (2018) and Dustin Johnson (2020).
Additionally, Joaquin Niemann, who has collected two LIV Golf individual titles this season, reigning PGA Championship winner Koepka, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk will be at the year's first major.
RED-HOT SCHEFFLER
Former champion Scottie Scheffler arrives at the Masters as the odds-on favorite to slip into the Green Jacket given to the tournament's winner given his stellar play this year which has solidified his position as one of the game's premier players.
Scheffler followed a five-shot victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by becoming the first player to successfully defend at the Players Championship and then missed a five-foot putt that would have forced a playoff at the Houston Open.
Despite falling short in his bid to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three consecutive PGA Tour starts, world number one Scheffler will be full of confidence on an Augusta National layout where he triumphed in 2022.
TIGER WOODS
Tiger Woods defied the odds at the 2019 Masters when he returned from spinal fusion surgery to win a fifth Green Jacket and now the 48-year-old, whose only PGA Tour start this year lasted 24 holes, will try to push the envelope even further.
Woods, in his only PGA Tour start since last year's Masters where he withdrew before completing the third round because of plantar fasciitis, played at Riviera in mid-February before a bout of the flu forced him to call it quits in the second round.
The 15-times major winner has never missed the cut at the Masters as a professional and this week is seeking a tournament record 24th consecutive made cut after tying Gary Player and Fred Couples last year. - REUTERS
