The five players to watch during the Masters

No golfer has won the title at the Masters Tournament, which begins Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club, more than once since Tiger Woods successfully defended his title in 2002.

That is the challenge facing Spain Jon Rahm who closed last year with a 69 to secure his second major title. He also won the 2021 United States Open.

Rahm, who signed with LIV Golf at the end of 2023, is among the favorites.

Here are five other players to watch:

Scottie Scheffler

The big favorite will be Scheffler, who is so precise from tee to green. When he makes putts, as he has been doing lately, he seems unbeatable.

World No. 1 Scheffler shot a six-under 66 in the final round to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. A week later, he shot an eight-under 64 to rally and win his second straight Players Championship, which no player had done since the tournament – ​​considered the unofficial fifth major – began in 1974.

The real test of his greatness, however, will depend on how he does in the official majors. The 27-year-old Scheffler, who finished second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, has one major title: the Masters in 2022.

Brooks Koepka

Koepka33, attempted the green jacket last year but failed with a score of 75 in the final round and finished in a tie for second place, four strokes behind Rahm.

The following month he captured the PGA Championship, his fifth major. One more and he would equal the total of Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino and Nick Faldo.

Koepka said his failure to close the deal at Augusta National last year paved the way for his PGA victory

“I think you learn from failure,” he told reporters at the PGA. “It makes you better. You realize the mistakes you’ve made.”

Phil Mickelson

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the three-time Masters champion Mickelson, 53, would miss the cut. He missed the cut last year at the US and British Opens and tied for 58th at the PGA Championship.

It wouldn’t be a shock if his name appeared on the leaderboard late Sunday afternoon.

That happened last year when he shot a 65 to finish second behind Rahm. In 2021, Mickelson won the PGA Championship at age 50, becoming the oldest golfer to win a major.

Could there be another week of magic? Mickelson on a course he knows so well?

Hideki Matsuyama

For one thing, Matsuyama32, is a former Masters champion. In 2021, he became the first Japanese to win a golf major, beating Will Zalatoris by one stroke.

Moreover, he has been playing exceptionally well in recent months.

In February, he recorded a score of 62 on Sunday to win the Genesis Invitational by three points.

In March, he finished 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then Matsuyama, who has nine tour victories, tied for sixth at the Players Championship. And on Sunday, he finished seventh at the Valero Texas Open.

Jordan Spieth

Put aside for a moment how he has performed recently – he hadn’t cracked the top 25 for almost two months until his 10th-place finish in the Valero Texas Open – and remember that Spiethonly 30, often comes alive when he takes on Augusta National.

Last year was no exception.

Spieth, now ranked No. 18, closed with a 66 to tie for fourth. In 2021 he finished in third place. In 10 appearances at Augusta since his Masters debut in 2014, Spieth, the 2015 winner, has posted six top-five finishes.

“From the moment I got here,” the three-time 2023 major champion told Golf Digest. “I was always very enthusiastic and I wanted to learn it and fall in love with it.”