2023 Master Predictions
The 2023 Masters Tournament will be the 87th edition of the Masters Tournament. Of the four men’s golf championships, it will be the first held in 2023. Coming up soon, the Masters Tournament is scheduled to be played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. According to CBS news, the biggest question people are asking is who will be the winner at Augusta National?
Looking back at the 2022 Masters tournament winner, Scottie Scheffler, whose score was under par on 21 holes and beat Rory McIlroy in the end by 3 strokes, giving him a chance for a second consecutive win statistically. Rory McIlroy, finishing in 2nd last tournament, stated at this year’s press conference that he “felt last year that I maybe shed some of that scar tissue and felt like I sort of made breakthroughs, I’m feeling as sort of relaxed as I ever have coming in here just in terms of I feel like my game is in a pretty good place” (Morin, 2023). Rory’s confidence and close winnings gives unpredictable odds on the outcome of this upcoming tournament. Rory could easily come out as the winner and if he does it will complete his career grand slam. According to CBS, McIlroy with roughly 2.3 strokes per round, fits the model of the last 10 Masters champions ( Porter, 2023).
Tiger Woods, at last year’s tournament, finished with the score of 13-over-par. After a history of 5 masters winnings in total, one of his worst tournaments since 2012 was last year when he shot +5 over par and tied for 47th place. Experts don’t show much faith in his chances of winning this year’s tournament. The Augusta Chronicle states “five-time champion Tiger Woods is listed at +7500” compared to Scheffler and McIlroy sitting at +700. Woods’ accident in 2021 seems to have put a damper on his playing skills, leaving him with pain and lacking the chance to rank high in this year’s tournament.
John Rahm, finishing in 3rd overall in the 2022 Masters tour, is another likely match against Scheffler and McIlroy. Stated by GolfDigest, “Rahm entered Bay Hill gaining more than 3.25 strokes per round”( Powers, 2023). He is predicted to sit at +900, just +300 more than Scheffler and McIlroy. The 2023 Masters Tournament is showing that we’re in for an unpredictable outcome with the given players going head to head.