The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Major contenders as Rahm bids to retain his crown
Courier Sport looks at some of the main contenders for the year’s first major championship.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER
The 2022 champion has been in brilliant form in 2024, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots and seven days later becoming the first player to win back-toback Players Championship titles at Sawgrass.
Switching putters on the advice of Rory McIlroy has proved vital, although missed short putts did cost him a third straight win in the Houston Open.
Rightly rated favourite for a second green jacket at the kind of odds previously only offered for peak-era Tiger Woods.
JON RAHM
Started last year with a four-putt double bogey on the first but still shot an opening 65 and ended up winning his second major title by four shots over LIV Golf duo Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
Remarkably returns to Augusta as a fellow member of the Saudibacked breakaway, a shock move which ensures his competitive sharpness will be under scrutiny. Will be hoping Koepka and Mickelson proved last year that experience of the course is more important than current form.
McIlroy’s 10th attempt to win the Masters and complete a career grand slam comes on the back of some underwhelming form since winning in Dubai in January, although the world No 2 two remains second favourite behind Scheffler.
His recent record at Augusta National includes a thrilling final round of 64 in 2022 and two missed cuts, and the four-time major winner is reportedly set to skip the pre-tournament par-three contest to fully focus on his bid to make history.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE
Schauffele insisted the best was yet to come in his career after narrowly missing out on the Players Championship title. He has seven PGA Tour titles to go with his gold medal from Tokyo, along with 11 top-10 major finishes, including three in his last five starts at Augusta.
LUDVIG ABERG
Aberg appears an unlikely contender – Fuzzy Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on their tournament debut back in 1979.
In addition, the Masters will be Aberg’s first appearance in any major, though the 24-year-old Ryder Cup hero only turned professional last June.