Next week is the start of the major season with The Masters at Augusta National starting. Lets have a look at some of the key points and contenders for the title.
The biggest talking point will be last years champion, now LIV golfer, Jon Rahm. It will be his first event since his move to LIV and he returns to Augusta as defending champion. As is now expected a lot will be made about the LIV golfers coming to play, maybe more so as LIV has been unable to get world ranking points meaning some players are missing out for the first time. The organisers did show they want to get the best players at the event by offering Joaquin Niemann an invite after his impressive start to the year not just on LIV but the other events he has toured the world to play to try and get into The Masters.
As is also custom now pressure will be put on Rory McIlroy to see if he can complete his grand slam. It will be the first time that Rory is going to Augusta in a bit of poor form. He isn't missing cuts but after a -7 in the first round at The Players he drifted out of contention over the next 3 days as his game was very inconsistent. It may be what he needs to come in a little under the radar.
Everyone's favourite to win will be Scottie Scheffler. The man is in a different league at the moment winning the Arnold Palmer and The Players back to back and then finishing tied 2nd last week. It was a bit of a surprise for Scottie as he had a 5foot putt to force a playoff but actually missed, something we haven't been use to seeing since he changed his putter to a mallet style head.
There will be a number of other players hoping to take home the green jacket that will be worth keeping an eye on.
Wyndham Clark - back to back 2nd places finishes behind Scottie in the last month. Anyone who has watched the second series of Full Swing will see the improvement he has made over the last couple years.
Brooks Koepka - I am not a big fan of Koepka but no one can deny his ability to turn up at the majors. After a number of injuries it looked like his game was leaving him but after a turn in form he moved to LIV and his game has been pretty consistent since.
Matt Fitzpatrick - Matt is my long pick this year, his form has been a little off but he showed signs of recovery at The Players. Already a major winner with a US Open title Matt has the game to get it done. If his putter is behaving itself I think he has every chance.