Who Will Win: A Checklist.
You’re tempted to say, by logic and experience, that any player who starts the Sunday round at 6 under or better can with this thing, this 89th Masters. In other words, these five players:
Rory McIlroy, who is 12 under;
his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, who is 10;
Corey Conners, who is 8 under;
his playing partner Patrick Reed, who is 6;
and Ludvig Aberg, also at 6 under.
Plus Scheffler. Don’t leave off Scheffler, who is 5 under. If all the aforementioned players go slip-sliding away on a firm, fast Augusta National course, Scheffler will be ready to pounce. It’s easier to win your third Masters (Scheffler won last year and in 2022) than your first, and McIlroy, DeChambeau, Conners and Aberg are all looking to host next year’s Champions Dinner.
As for Reed, the 2018 Masters winner and now a member of the 4Aces team of the LIV Tour, nothing in his putting game suggests he’s ready to win the Masters this year. Golfers don’t discover their putting game in the fourth round of the Masters. Not on those greens. Not to those hole locations. Pat can top-5, easily. But it’s hard to see him in Butler Cabin on Sunday night with Jim Nantz and Fred Ridley and Scheffler, doing the whole let-me-help-you thing.
So, the tells, GOLF.com-style. That is, your Masters bingo card:
Your winner will drive it on the fairway on 1, with a driver;
Your winner will leave his second shot below the hole on 1;
Your winner will make a tap-in, no-stress birdie on 2.
Your winner will layup on 3 and make par.
Your winner will hit it hole-high on the par-3 fourth;
Your winner, through his solemnity, will show a hint of a smile as he walks from the 5th green to the 6th tee;
Your winner will reach 8, the uphill par-5, in two;
Your winner, while making the human tunnel walk from 9 green to 10 tee, will exude confidence, acknowledge the cheering crowd, and look straight ahead.
Your winner will keep his golf ball dry on 11.
Your winner will have the honor on 12 and keep his golf ball dry there, too.
Your winner will have the honor on 13, will keep his golf ball dry there and go for the green in two;
Your winner may not have the honor on 15 but he will keep his golf ball dry there even if he has to layup to do it;
Your winner will stiff it on 16 and will never even think about the water there;
Your winner will come off 18 exhilarated and spent. He may not know he is the winner yet.
There could be a playoff. There could be other golfers behind him who could still tie him or win outright. Yes, of course: In all likelihood, the winner will come out of the day’s final twosome, McIlroy and DeChambeau, off at 2:30. But likelihood is a shaggy word. They play, and we watch, because we don’t know.
In the meantime, we look for hints and tells. They’re nervous, but we are, too.
Buckle in, people. It’s going to be a bumpy Sunday afternoon.
