Tag Archives: The Masters

The 2024 Masters – My Picks for the Winner, Sleepers, and Sentimental Dark Horse

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year for all golf fans – Masters week!

I hope I get a few comments from folks because I really am curious what other’s have for their picks to win and who are sleepers and/or dark horse predictions. Now, I don’t gamble so I’m not big on doing research on odds so my picks are just based on my gut.

Winner – I think the #1 player in the world Scottie Scheffler is a safe bet and he has been one of my favorite players since he won in 2022. He has played in four Masters starting in 2020 and has always finished in the top 20; last year he finished T10. Of course, he has won twice already this season so he is in great form coming into the championship.

Sleepers – There are a few but if I have to pick one as the winner, I am going with Brooks Koepka. I think he will play with a chip on his shoulder given his T2 finish last year and loss to Jon Rahm. It’s also interesting to see all the articles online that predict a LIV golfer will win this year; and Koepka fits the bill.

Other sleeper picks include:

Wyndam Clark: This is his first time at The Masters so I’m not sure how his game fits the course but I’m picking him because his form has been so good coming into The Masters .

Jordan Speith: He had been my favorite player since he turned pro and it’s a roller coaster ride being his fan. He is really not playing well but you can never count Jordan out at The Masters; and he did finish T4 last year.

Nick Dunlap: The young man turned pro this year after winning a PGA tournament as an amateur (the first to do it since Phil Mickelson 33 years ago). He was the #1 Amateur in the world before turning pro and it would be fun to see him win.

Brian Harman: The reason I pick him as a sleeper is because he is a lefty and there is a fascinating theory that The Masters favors lefties which is explained in a Golf Digest Video on YouTube and this video that explains hole #12

Sentimental Dark Horse Pick – I would love to see Keegan Bradley win The Masters. I have followed his career since he turned pro for two reasons (1) He’s a New Englander and Boston sports fan and (2) As a fan of the LPGA, I was familiar with his aunt, Pat Bradley. Over the years, I have come to like his personality too. I also felt sorry for him when he did not get picked for The Ryder Cup. He has played in The Masters eight times and his best finish is T22 (last year, he finished T23) so he really is a long shot but it would be so cool if he won.

Results for LIV players at The Masters

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First, congratulations to the 2023 Masters winner, John Rahm with a 12 under, final score of 276! First place prize money is $3.24 million but the green jacket is priceless.

I have not watched any LIV golf but like any golf junkie, I have seen all the social media chatter and I was curious if the assumptions about LIV golfers “letting their games go” by playing the limited 54-hole event tour might be true. So let’s look at the results.

I mentioned in my previous post, 18 LIV golfers qualified for The Masters. After two rounds. 12 made the cut, 4 missed the cut, and two withdrew from the championship. Or to put it another way – 67% of the LIV players in the championship made it to the weekend. I think anything over 50% should be viewed as a respectable outcome and probably much higher than many “golf analysts” would have predicted.

The four LIV players that missed the cut were: Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Jason Kokrak. To be honest this does not surprise me. The only one that surprised me was Bryson. I thought his game was in better shape. The two LIV players that withdrew were Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen.

Brooks Koepka was leading after the cut and the third round. The final pairing was Brooks Koepka and John Rahm. Master’s history reveals in the last 25 years, 21 winners have come from the last group. Another golf statistic, prior to this Masters, Koepka had won every major championship in which he lead going into the final round. However, Koepka lost his 2 shot lead quickly and John Rahm never looked back while Koepka lost all momentum.

Biggest surprise of the Masters was Phi Mickelson shoots 65 in the final round and is the club house leader (as Rahm and Koepka start the back nine) with a final total score of 280. Phil’s round is the lowest round for a player over the age of 50 at the Masters.

Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka tied for 2nd place with each earning $1.594 million.

Here is the final scores and finishes for the 12 LIV players that made the cut:

Nicknames for Golf’s Toughest 3-hole Stretches

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This week the Honda Classic is played at the Champions course, PGA National in Florida.  It is most famous for three holes (15,16, and 17) that are statistically some of the hardest holes on the PGA tour.  This 3-hole stretch of golf is called “The Bear Trap.”  At the 15th hole there is a large bear statue and a plaque for The Bear Trap.

It was designed by Jack Nicklaus (whose nickname is “The Golden Bear).  Below is a video of Nicklaus describing the holes; as well as Nick Price describing it from a players perspective.

It got me thinking about what other nicknames I could remember from watching golf on TV and surprisingly I could think of quite a few nicknames for other 3-hole golf stretches including:

Amen Corner at Augusta National (holes 11,12, and 13) where the Masters Tournament is played in early April.  This is probably the most famous nickname and was coined by Herbert Warren Wind in an article he wrote for Sports Illustrated in 1958.

The Green Mile at Quail Hollow (holes 16,17, and 18) where the Wells Fargo Championship is played end of April.

The Horrible Horseshoe at Colonial (holes 3,4, and 5) where the Crowne Plaza Invitational is played in late May.

Of course, this makes we wonder if I have a really good memory or watch way too much golf (I’m afraid it is probably the latter).