
89. Masters Teed’s edition on Thursday with the biggest field for decades and two players firmly in the center of attention: Scottie Scheffler and Rory McILroy.
Scheffler, contemporary world No. 1, enters Augusta National as a favorite betting for a good reason. The 27 -year -old man held the best place in the world ranking for two consecutive years and has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as the youngest player who won three green jackets.
On the other hand, Rory McIlroy, sentimental favorite. The Masters victory would finally complete the Grand Slam career for Northern Irish, widely considered one of the most talented golfers of their generation.
The excitement was tangible from the beginning. Golf legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson opened the tournament with traditional honest tees. All three, with combined 11 masters between them, were asked to whom they had hoped and believe they would win.
Their unanimous answer: Rory McILroy.
“I think Rory McILroy will win this year, and I hope yes, because it would give Golf great support to have another Grand Slam winner,” Gary Player said. Tom Watson agreed and called it his “intestinal feeling”.
Nicklaus added his own look. He shared that McIlroy recently visited him in Florida to go through a strategy for Augusta. They played the course mentally, shooting with a shot.
“When we finished, I didn’t open my mouth,” Nicklaus recalled. “I said,” Well, I wouldn’t change anything. I would play a course like that. “”
Nicklaus continued to say that McIlroy had all the talent in the world, there was no discipline to stay under pressure.
“That’s what he missed in my opinion. But this year it looks like he really leaned into it,” Nicklaus added.
In fact, McILroy showed a more measured approach in 2025, which played conservatively if the situation does not require aggression. This strategy helped him to win the Pebble Beach in February, followed by winning the players’ championships a month later.
McIlroy was set to evaporate on Thursday afternoon, while Scheffler was among the first appetizers.
As the masters depend, the question remains: will it be the world No. 1, which joins his growing legacy, or will McIlroy finally break on one title he missed?
(With Associated Press inputs)
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Published:
Aashish vashistha
Published on:
April 10, 2025