Ranking the Talk of Augusta National, One Day Before the 87th Masters Begins

While kids were running all over the par-3 course, questions for the main event loomed: Is it Jordan Spieth's time? Will the defending champ repeat? How about Tiger?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — If it’s April, this must be Augusta. It’s tee time at the Masters. Are you ready?

Of course not. Just like the crew at The Ranking, you’re still in the shock-denial stage of depression after watching almost every team you've heard of (and listed on your bracket) blow up in the NCAA basketball tournament, and blow up good.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson will ceremonially tee things off Thursday morning on the golf front. Then a frenzy of green will begin.

Some things you need to know, courtesy of The Ranking, before you make yourself a pimento cheese sandwich and kick back …

10. Jordan Spieth

Will the real Jordan Spieth please stand up? We’ve seen Spieth win a Masters, almost win a Masters and blow a Masters. The former wunderkind’s last major title was six years ago, believe it or not. He said he spent four years searching for a swing and has finally re-engineered it in a way. While we’ve been looking for the real Spieth, so was he. Spieth’s artistry around the greens and on the fast, undulating greens make him a perennial Masters contender, but his play for the last few seasons has resembled an unfinished symphony. “I don’t feel I have all the weapons right now,” Spieth said, “But I have enough.” He’s got something to prove, which is not a bad thing.

9. Augusta National Municipal

Masters chairman Fred Ridley announced Wednesday that Augusta National Golf Club will join forces with the City of Augusta, the State of Georgia, The First Tee and Augusta Tech to give Augusta Municipal Golf Course a major upgrade. Ridley hopes it will be a model for other communities. Augusta Municipal is affectionately known as "The Patch," a nickname that may or may not have something to do with "Weed Patch." Augusta Tech will move its golf course management program to the course. There’s no talk of renaming it but The Ranking would pre-order any merchandise with an “Augusta National Municipal” logo sight unseen.

The essence of the Par 3 Contest: Players' kids, like Billy Horschel's, swinging away. Fore, please, indeed :: Mark Baker/AP

8. The Par 3 Contest

Wednesday showcased the best Hit And Giggle Show in golf. Also the only good one (if you like that kind of thing). Kids and babies in official white Masters jumpers. Girlfriends and wives trying to hit shots over the pond. The only thing missing were dogs. (There weren’t dogs, were there?) It makes for a family-friendly TV show that’s not too heavy on golf. The best news: The Par 3 course has been remodeled. Now there are spectator mounds and hillsides suitable as viewpoints, a thousand-percent improvement. In past years, the Par 3 crowds were so thick, nobody could see anything. Now it’s Must-See Golf instead of Don’t-Bother-Can’t-See Golf.

7. Rory McIlroy

The most exciting part of last year’s Masters finish was McIlroy and Collin Morikawa holing out back-to-back bunker shots at 18. McIlroy is part of a current (temporary) Great Triumvirate with Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. His power game seems like it’s made for Augusta but here he is, still needing a Green Jacket to complete the Grand Slam after assorted heartbreaks. He eagled 13 in the final round, had an outside chance to win and finished strong. “I felt like it was a breakthrough,” he said. Also, he smited LIV Golf standout Patrick Reed by one shot in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January so he honed his skills as a closer. Is this finally Rory’s year? Or is he going to be the next Ernie Els-Johnny Miller-Tom Weiskopf-Greg Norman Nearly Man to never get a jacket? Note: Most of Rory’s four major titles were won in soft or wet conditions. This weekend’s weather forecast calls for an onslaught of rain. Do the math.

6. Sir Nick

He could be back on his spread in Montana looking at Big Sky and mountains 50 miles away and fishing. But Sir Nick Faldo is here in Augusta for a Sky Sports broadcasting gig. What happened to the retirement? “I still like the big ‘uns,” Faldo said Tuesday as he stopped to chat beneath the clubhouse veranda. Nothing beats the Masters. Wednesday, Faldo was playing the revamped par-3 course in the annual Par 3 Contest and was that really the three-time Masters champ trying a putt backwards between his legs? It was. For the record, he missed. So don’t try this at home, kids. The Montana brown trout don’t miss Sir Nick being gone, however. Their life expectancy just got seven days longer … barring a Monday finish. (No, don’t jinx the tournament like that!)

5. Scottie Scheffler

The No. 1 player in the world already has a green jacket (last year’s Masters) and a red cardigan (March’s Arnold Palmer Invitational). Of the Great Triumvirate, he seems the least like he’s on a hot streak. He plays at a high level a lot of the time, especially in big events and especially on the same courses. The only weak spot in his game is … nothing. Power precision irons, brilliant chipping and terrific putting. Winning consecutive Masters is not for mere mortals. Only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods accomplished it. A repeat would put Scheffler in rarefied company. The Ranking likes his chances and probably placed a few pesos on him to win before arriving in the non-gambling state of Georgia.

4. The Ball

It’s Masters week, nobody really cares about the word “bifurcation.” But it's big because the USGA and R&A recently proposed a rollback of the ball, effective 2026. So that means the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British Amateur would likely use a new, shorter-flying ball. Masters chairman Fred Ridley didn’t up and say the Masters will follow suit during his annual state-of-greenjacket-nation address, but he came close. The Masters supports the governing bodies and likely would follow them throw a hoop of flamethrowers (O.K., he didn’t say that part) when the time comes. Rory McIlroy has said he’ll support it and Tuesday, Tiger Woods said he was in favor of it. Tiger is in? That’s ballgame, folks.

3. The 13th Hole

Augusta National Golf Club—just say The National if you want to sound like a smug insider—added 35 yards to the world’s most famous par 5. The National (yeah, that’s right) had to buy a chunk of neighboring Augusta Country Club to make it happen. Watch players try the new walk up a steep slope from the 12th green to the new 13th tee, which is now back in a chute of fauna. (No, fauna is a Roman goddess, you fool, and means animals!) Make that flora. Or foliage. Well, the walk requires some effort. The Ranking can’t believe The National (you know it) didn’t install The Lloyd Mangrum Escalator or something. For, you know, Tiger Woods. Bottom line: Players now hit tee shots just about to the same spot in 1981, The Ranking’s first Masters, when they used bass-ackward persimmon woods and wound balls. Dustin Johnson, one of the game’s longest hitters, says he’s just going to lay up all week. (We’ll see.) That’s progress … right?

Brooks Koepka appears to have his swagger back :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

2. Brooks Koepka

The Ranking’s favorite Koepka brother is back, if winning a LIV Golf tournament over 47 other guys last week at a public course in greater Orlando counts as being back. Here’s why he matters: He looks and sounds like the old Brooks—you know, confident bordering on arrogant (that’s good in a champion golfer). “I’ve been playing good for a few weeks,” he said. “I get chills thinking what I’m capable of.” That’s the kind of tempting-the-golf-gods (or Tiger, which is the same thing) thing you never say unless your game is dead on and you know it. Koepka is the guy who coulda-should won the 2019 Masters—it would’ve been major No. 5 for him—but he handed it to Tiger by rinsing one in Rae’s Creek at No. 12 during Sunday’s final round. Koepka should be on your short list of No. 1 fantasy draft picks, like it or not.

1. Tiger Woods

This is the default to every ranking list. Best rock band? Sorry, Beatles. Best basketball team? Apologies, Connecticut. The most biggest story/deal/question mark this week? Guess again, Phil. It’s Tiger. Somehow, we’re still in "All Tiger All The Time" mode. The less he plays, the more compelling he becomes. How long will that continue? Probably as long as he keeps competing. The media were still all over 58-year-old Jack Nicklaus like drool on a bulldog when contended in the ‘98 Masters. So if Tiger plays, we care. Does he have a chance this week? Woods said his game and his endurance is better than last year at this time but walking remains the hard part. “It is what it is,” he said, recycling his favorite non-answer. That’s better than the inevitable alternative: It was what it was. For now, we’ll take it.