Masters 2024: Besides Tiger Woods' group, here are the best eight Masters groupings
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jason Day and Max Homa have won the Tiger lottery this year at Augusta National, as the two will play alongside Woods for the first 36 holes of the Masters.
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But what other groupings are most intriguing? Here are my favorite eight:
9:48 a.m. – Nick Taylor, Joaquin Niemann, Russell Henley
If you read my ranking-the-field piece, you’ll know that I’m high on all three of these guys. Taylor has the iron game and fearlessness to contend, and arguably nobody besides Scottie Scheffler has enjoyed a better past few months than Niemann. This will be a fun one for best-ball bettors.
10:18 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas
A healthy Zalatoris is fun to watch around Augusta National while Matsuyama is sneakily the Tour’s leader in strokes gained around the greens; I don’t think Matsuyama needs to rely on his chipping much, though. And then there’s Thomas, who has tons of question marks but actually has been strong on approach this year.
10:30 a.m. – Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Nick Dunlap
Despite turning pro, Dunlap gets the traditional U.S. Amateur winner grouping. Rahm will be anxious to prove he still is one of the best in the world post-LIV while Fitzpatrick has a good track record around here.
10:42 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele
The overwhelming favorite, Scheffler, gets a draw alongside McIlroy, who is hoping changing his Masters routine finally leads to a green jacket, and Schauffele, who I have ranked just behind Scheffler entering the week.
10:54 a.m. – Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Cam Smith
Clark isn’t your average first-timer, and if he’s on, he can ball-strike his way to smashing Fuzzy Zoeller’s title of last play to win in his Masters debut. Hovland is searching, but it could be entertaining whether he finds it or not. Smith disappointed last year after some stellar showings.
12:24 p.m. – Akshay Bhatia, J.T. Poston, Shane Lowry
I’ll make a bold prediction and say that Bhatia wins a green jacket before his career is over. And Lowry is my favorite pick to win who isn’t one of the superstar names.
1:12 p.m. – Adam Scott, Sam Burns, Cameron Young
Scott owns four top-20s in his last six Masters starts, so he’s still got some spark left around here, while Burns and Young are two guys who I look to perform similarly to Scott over their Masters careers. Young, in particular, has a really enticing skillset for this course.
1:48 p.m. – Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg, Sahith Theegala
Here you have two of the more creative minds in Spieth and Theegala, and the downright machine-like Aberg, who like Clark has Fuzzy in his sights.
