Golf Australia magazine’s pundits were polled for their tips ahead of this lucky 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National. The brief was: give us the winner, a roughie and a dreamer. Consider their answers for your tipping comp responsibly.
John Huggan – Columnist-at-Large
BANKER: Jordan Spieth. If there is anyone in the field who owns every one of the attributes required to win a Masters it is the 2015 winner. Okay, it helps to hit the ball straight off the tee, but it isn’t 100 percent necessary at Augusta National. Not when you have Spieth’s powers of recovery and imagination. Besides, is anyone more fun to watch these days? So forget Scottie Scheffler. Too boring for me.
SURPRISE PACKET: Adrian Meronk. Hasn’t yet been on LIV long enough to see any sort of significant decline in his performance levels. History tells us (Brooks Koepka apart) that such a thing is almost certain to follow. But, no matter, this former Aussie Open champion has the game for Augusta - big and bold. The key will be, as ever, on the greens. Not ordinarily his strongest suit. But it isn’t Scottie Scheffler’s either. And he has a green jacket.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Tyrrell Hatton. For someone so good, he’s so very, very bad at Augusta. Hopeless even. Might just have something to do with a lack of patience. Hatton is not known for his ability to wait for the good shots to come. Then again, his LIV ‘decline factor’ might be kicking in early. Which is a shame for one of the most talented individuals out there. Put him down for an MC.
Mark Hayes – Media Figure
BANKER: Ludvig Aberg. Freak show in the making. As a rule, you should never tip first-timers at Augusta, but then again, you should never pick someone who hasn’t played in a major for your Ryder Cup team, either. Smashes the ball off the tee and apparently has ice in his veins at the critical moments. If not this year, it won’t be long, so I’m getting on early.
SURPRISE PACKET: Corey Conners. One of the most unassuming players on tour, so you probably don’t realise he’s had three top-10 finishes at the Masters in the past four years. Can be streaky – both ways to be fair – but if he can limit the bad ones to bogeys and nothing worse, most certainly among those with the potency required to salute.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: So many players, so little bandwidth. I’d love to say Justin Thomas, but it has a one percent chance of biting me on the Chaminda. So given that, I’ll say Patrick Reed because I just don’t rate him. Is that too blunt? Sorry, not sorry.
Paul Prendergast - Golf Plus Media
BANKER: Xander Schauffele. No.5 in the 'world', been close here before and pacing out his run-up after T2 at The Players and T5 at Valspar. The best Olympic gold medallist not to have won a major, despite obvious Goat Hill Park prowess.
SURPRISE PACKET: Min Woo Lee. Hardly a surprise packet but not since Greg Norman has an Aussie wanted a seat at the Champions Dinner more than this year when Jonny Rahm dished up Pintxos and Basque cider. A Green Jacket and a chance to set, or even cook, the menu in 2025 are massive motivators for 'The Chef', busted ring finger or no busted ring finger.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Bubba Watson. A two-time champion but at a golf course that places a premium on putting, Watson would need to find something magical in the water this week. Currently ranked 50th in putting on the LIV Tour that maxes out at 54 players each week. Might be a few others rolling it better, just sayin'.
Mike Clayton – Mike Clayton
BANKER: Scottie Scheffler. The best iron player who couldn’t putt since Johnnie Miller. Only difference being Scheffler has won at Augusta before - so none of the Miller, Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Tom Weiskopf curse to defeat. How is it possible there isn’t once green jacket amongst that quartet?
SURPRISE PACKET: Will Zalatoris. Another great hitter who doesn’t putt as well as he hits. So long as he avoids three-putting he’s got a shot.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Bryson DeChambeau. “Par is 67 for me around here.”Never tempt fate.
Karen Harding - Harding Media Services
BANKER: Rory McIlroy. Forget last year’s missed cut. Seven top-10s from his last ten Masters puts him right in it and last week’s third placing showed he has turned the corner in 2024. Surely has to win it eventually and this year is as good a chance as any so we can all relax.
SURPRISE PACKET: Russell Henley. Fourth in the Masters last year and fourth in Texas last week. He’s a Georgian native with a solid record at Augusta.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Akshay Bhatia. After that amazing win in Texas last week, it’s a big ask to back up here. And one fist pump after a birdie could throw that shoulder out again.
Callum Hill – Golf Australia Writer
BANKER: Well, Scottie Scheffler is the obvious choice, but that is pretty boring, so I won't bother with him. Will Zalatoris' string-bean figure has impressed me this year. He subbed in the broomstick putter (shoutout to Jimmy Emanuel) and still looks like he has voices in his melon when he stands over anything inside eight feet on the green. Aside from that, he has a runner-up and a T6 in his two trips to Augusta. He has come back from his lengthy lay-off. The guy is due to be kissed on the toosh by a golfing rainbow, and I just think he will win.
SURPRISE PACKET: Brian Harman. Is a major champion a surprise packet? I don't know, I don't make the rules. But when you are north of 50/1, I am guessing you can be thrown into that category. He is a local lad, and lefties have an excellent track record at Augusta; expect him to contend and take his sweet time doing so.
TELL HIM HE'S DREAMING: I hate to say it, but Ryan Fox won’t see the weekend. God, that guy is struggling at the moment. Prove me wrong, please, Foxy!
Jimmy Emanuel – Contributor-at-Large
BANKER: Hideki Matsuyama. He’s done it before, in great form and is one of the best ball strikers on planet earth. As obvious a pick as the Pepsi Max Mark Hayes took from me instead of a water a few weeks back on course. Plus, we might get a second iconic caddie bow … that’s enough to get me on board.
SURPRISE PACKET: Denny McCarthy. First timers don’t win, it’s a power game now, he laid the sod over one last week … blah, blah and blah. This guy is arguably the best putter to set foot on the property since Ben Crenshaw. And it’s high time we got another different first name as a winner in the mould of Bubba, Fuzzy, Art, Cary, Herman etc. Honourable mention as both surprise packet and for having a funky first name to Tiger Woods.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Danny Willett. Would be easy to go for the veteran low hanging fruit (sorry Vijay Singh) but after shoulder surgery made him a questionable starter, there is no way the game will be ready for the 2016 champion to make the weekend. Consider the week a success anyway, if only for a great Spanish meal on Tuesday with the others draped in green jackets.
James Smith – Golf Australia Editor
BANKER: Jordan Spieth. Ten years on from his Augusta debut, he told the media this week he has the same “itch” for a big tournament win which he felt leading into his 2015 Masters title, following on from his painful ’14 defeat.
SURPRISE PACKET: Russell Henley. Been to Augusta seven times. Finished strongly last year for T-4. Form this year is strong with fourth-place finishes at Honolulu, in the Arnold Palmer in March and San Antonio.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Rory McIlroy. Is trying extra hard to regain the spark of his youth leading up to this year’s Masters. Has been trying to complete his career slam for a decade, and with so many younger, more focussed charges in the field, we won’t see him do it this year.
Rod Morri – Podcast Mogul
BANKER: It was Daniel Berger who coined the term ‘Jordan doing Jordan things’ after Jordan Spieth holed out from a bunker to beat him at TPC River Highlands a few years ago. There’s not been a whole lot of 'Jordan things’ in the years since but the full, electric display was on show last week in Texas and if that’s the Spieth that turns up to Augusta then we are in for a treat. Spieth remains one of the game’s most watchable players and no matter how he's been playing in the lead up, he always seems to produce some magic at Augusta.
SURPRISE PACKET: Ryo Hisatsune. The 21-year-old has flown almost completely under the radar (except for the eagle eye of Mike Clayton) despite earning his way on to both the European and PGA Tours before his 22nd birthday. He’s no stranger to winning having claimed the Open de France last year and three titles in a little over four months on the secondary Japan Tour in 2020. Would it be a surprise if he was in it come Sunday afternoon? Sorta, but not really. Exactly as a surprise packet should be.
TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Jasper Stubbs. Because he is actually living a dream. Pretty much any golfer who has ever managed to break par (no, not even close, thanks for asking) will have had a fleeting thought of ‘what if?’ and Stubbs need wonder no longer. He was brilliant at Royal Melbourne to earn his spot here and no matter what happens on the course this week, he is a winner.
Matt Cleary – Golf Australia Senior Writer
BANKER: It pains to say it because there are more interesting lumps of cabbage, but if Scottie Scheffler marries his other worldly ball-striking with four rounds of mid-20 putts-per-round numbers, he will win the 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
SURPRISE PACKET: Phil Mickelson came from the clouds with 65 in the last round last year to finish T2 but you only get one of those and old Lefty’s had his. This year it’s time for another LIV guy to bust the moves, and after a big feed of Jon Rahm’s Rodaballo al Pil-Pil, whatever that is, at the Champions Dinner, Sergio Garcia – just knocked off in a play-off in Miami last weekend – will be telling his story walking up 18 on Sunday. (It's a fish soup.)
TELL HIM HE'S DREAMING: Matt Cleary. Indeed, people have told him that rather a lot given he believes Tiger Woods can win the 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
Related Articles
Our Experts Tip the Open Championship
Our Experts' Tips for the U.S Open
