Tour confidential: Rory vs. Scottie, Masters Threats, Anwa Preview

The sixth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur starts on Wednesday at Champions Retreat, just on the road of Augusta National. Three former champions-lottie Woad (2024), Anna Davis (2022) and Tsubasa Kajitani (2021)-are in the field and are looking for the first double winners, and the stacked Stanford University Women’s Golf Team have six players in the field. Which pre-tourney story line has the most attention?

Alan Bastable, Executive Editor (@alan_bastable): Like a proud New Jerseyite, hard for me not to go to Ganne, who comes from Holmdel, 30 minutes south of me. But I am most intrigued by Rianne Malixi, who won both the junior amateur from the American girls and the American women last summer (a performance only once before). If she can add the ANWA to her cloak, we must add a new term to the Golf Lexicon: The Malixi Slam.

Sean Zak, senior writer (@Sean_zak): Lottie Woad. Can we see the first title defense in this tournament? She is now by far the best amateur of the ladies’ for her 10th place not in the Women’s open last summer in St. Andrews and I think we see her go back at Augusta.

James Colgan, News and Functions Editor (@Jamescolgan26): Rachel Heck! We will hear from her for the first time she has given up a life on the LPGA tour in favor of life as a private equity analyst and air force intern. She was once the biggest prospect of the wave of ladies’ golf. Where is she now? I can’t wait to find out.

TGL, the Indoor Simulator League, supported by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, wrapped his debut season this week with Atlanta Drive GC that New York GC hit in the final of two nights. Reviews and reviews for the inaugural season were largely positive, but what is a tweak you would like to see before 2026?

Basis: I have to call the technology. Too many shots this season, the pros left out stunned. Would also like to see some fans filling virtual grandstands. Oh, and why no mascots?! A Boston Common Bullfrog jumps over the Arena would have an immediate impact.

Bag: Move Bergen to get a Sofi satellite umbrella organization in Dallas, so that Scottie Scheffler and Jordan can participate. Do what you can do to get them in season 2.

Chalice: Agreed, bag! More stars! I want to recommend the TGL to really settle in itself as the season progressed. That was not Guaranteed, and I thought the competition thought the right pitch of self-seriousness was. Now comes the difficult part: making invoicing every night.

Liv Golf is going to Miami this week for his first American event of the season and the fifth General. With the Masters on deck the following week, which LIV player has the most potential to win the green jacket?

Basis: It is Bryson – and will be until further message. But also difficult to look beyond a man who has already won twice this year: Joaquin Niemann. The master record of Niemann Trending has also been: T40 (2021), T35 (2022), T16 (2023) and T22 (2024). Feels ready for his first Masters Top-10 and maybe a green jacket.

Bag: It is first Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka second and probably Cam Smith third. Bryson has aroused our interest in Augusta in the recent memory, but something always seems to be a bit off with his approach there. Rahm is actually my choice to win, and reminds the world how damn good he is.

Colgan: You both gave the correct answer. It’s Bryson, then it’s Rahm, then it’s Brooks.

It is never too early to debate the opportunities of the Masters of Rory Mcilroy, who has already won twice this year (Pebble and Players) and 65-65 in the weekend in the Texas Children’s Texas open to complete T5. Prop Bet Time: World No. 2 Mcilroy vs. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler … Who did you get at Angc?

Basis: Heart says Rory, Soul says Rory, 99,946% of my being Rory says. But Wallet says Scottie.

Bag: I think the volatility of Rory’s game sometimes does not Play well in Augusta. If they were to play the masters of this year 10 times, I would say they bind twice, Rory beats Scottie twice and Scottie wins six times. Nobody has discovered that course (and golf, clearly) better than he.

Colgan: Sometimes a useful exercise in these cases is as follows: If I told you in two weeks, we would talk about Scottie’s third Masters -victory or Rory’s first, a bit more surprising to you? The answer is clearly Scottie, but I think that has more to do with the golf course than the player. Give me a neutral site struggle and it can be a death heating.

Bubba Watson drew some eyebrows this week when he offered this ringing approval by Scheffler’s Dominante 2024 season in an interview with Golf’s Sean Zak: “I know Tiger did some things in 2000, but Scottie’s year was the best we’ve ever seen.” That is. ” What do you say? Tiger 2000 vs. Scottie 2024: Which season was superior?

Basis: Vijay Singh’s 2004 (nine wins, 18 top 10s) would like a word! But to the question that is in the area, I give the nod to Tiger’s 2000, because of How He won: more than not by decimating fields. Of his nine wins, two were in Play -Offs. In his other seven winning weeks he had the upper hand at an average of 6.57 shots. His total strokes won that year was also amazing: 3.83 compared to Scheffler’s 3.1 in 2024.

Bag: Lol. Normally I would blame myself for not intervening when Bubba said this, but he offered it! I never asked him to compare the two. Unfortunately for him he was completely wrong and the Internet shouted the entire weekend in my entries. We can also use the same measurement that we often do with Player of the Year Awards: what season would Scottie Scheffler prefer to be 2024 or Tiger’s 3-Major 2000? You know the answer to that.

Colgan: But Tiger played against plumbers in 2000 !!! He could not handle the athletics of modern NBA!

Dave Pelz, one of the leading instructors and inventors of the game, died last weekend at the age of 85. If you think of Pelz’s inheritance, what will come in first?

Basis: I have always appreciated Pelz’s very scientific approach to the game. He did not leave much to chance and always pushed the envelope, be that with 60-degree wedges, 2-ball putters or determining whether golfers should put put/chip with the pin-in. About the latter issue, Pelz proved far back in 1990- In a Golf Magazine cover story-that there was no doubt about the wisest strategy: our colleague David Davin-Denunz’s Reminiscence of Pelz is Well Your Time.

Bag: How Phil Mickelson, one of the biggest golfers ever, spent most of his career to call on the name of Pelz while he has worked through shot selection. You would regularly hear Phil ask his Caddies: “Is this a complete 9 or a Pelz eight?” If it was not a complete shot, Mickelson would get 10 meters from the stock shot and call it a “pelz”. I’m not sure if there is something cooler than that.

Colgan: Twenty -one and twenty -two. The first, for the number of large championships that won his disciples; The last, for the number of times Pelz himself lost to Jack Nicklaus. You have to be pretty good at what you do on a few fronts to earn one of those figures.