Fansided

5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2018 Masters

By Luke Norris

SAN DIEGO, CA - JANUARY 26: Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the 17th tee as Phil Mickelson looks on during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines North on January 26, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - JANUARY 26: Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the 17th tee as Phil Mickelson looks on during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines North on January 26, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – MARCH 01: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Adam Scott of Australia walk along the first hole during practice for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on March 1, 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – MARCH 01: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Adam Scott of Australia walk along the first hole during practice for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on March 1, 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR) /

Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm

Thursday, Round 1: 1st tee, 1:38 p.m.

Friday, Round 2: 1st tee, 10:42 a.m.

With no wins on his record for more than two years, Adam Scott comes to Augusta looking for some good luck. The former top-ranked player in the world has fallen to number 60 and hasn’t had a top-10 finish since the FedEx St. Jude Classic last summer, a span of 14 starts. However, he knows how to win at Augusta National. His victory at The Masters in 2013 was one of the most dramatic in recent memory and he has a good history at this tournament. He hasn’t missed a cut at Augusta since 2009 and to go along with his win, he has three other top-10 finishes in that time, including a tie for ninth a year ago.

After a long winless streak of his own, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy finally got back in the winner’s circle with a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational just a few weeks ago. Rory was in old-school form, which is funny to say about someone who’s still just 28 years old, and put on a show in the final round at Bay Hill with a closing 8-under 64 that included a 31 on the back nine to close out the competition. His ball-striking was sharp and he was making putt after putt on his way to an 18-under finish, the second-lowest total at Bay Hill in a decade. Everyone still remembers Rory’s final-round 80 at the 2011 Masters but enough time has passed and he comes in as one of the favorites this year. A win this week would give McIlroy the career Grand Slam, something that’s been accomplished by five players in the history of golf.

With all of the accolades of the other two players in this group, Jon Rahm comes in as the highest-ranked player of this trio at No. 3 in the world. It’s crazy to think that not even two years ago, Rahm was still an amateur and ranked 766th in the world. Fast forward to now and Rahm has four professional victories to his credit, including a victory earlier this year at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He is still somewhat of an enigma in these major tournaments because you just never know which Jon Rahm you’re going to get. Are you getting the guy that can dominate a tournament or the guy that in the final three majors of last year went MC, T-44 and T-58? Rahm finished tied for 27th at Augusta last year and if he stays within himself could contend. We’ll just have to wait and see which guy shows up.

Home/The Masters